Summary: Peace has been declared between Spain and France, and to seal the treaty, King Philip II weds Elisabeth of Valois - who is passionately in love with the king's son, Don Carlo. Nicholas Hytner (2010 recipient of ISPA's Distinguished Artist Award) directs this Royal Opera House co-production of Verdi's 1886 Italian rendition, while acclaimed stage designer Bob Crowley contributes stylized sets...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: A tale of deception, misplaced love, and supernatural vengeance, Giselle reaches into the heart of European folklore and the ancient connections between dance and spirituality. This exquisite production by the Royal Ballet features the original choreography of Marius Petipa - perhaps the most influential ballet master and choreographer in the history of Western performance, whose Giselle...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: Based on a play by Jean Racine, Mozart's fourth opera-written when he was only 14 years old-displays all the hallmarks of the fresh, inventive writing that was to flourish into extraordinary genius in Mozart's later works. This 1993 production takes Mitridate, a story of jealous love and political intrigue, to the highest levels of operatic achievement with a cast starring Bruce Ford, Jochen...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1993
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Summary: When Tanja Liedtke, the new artistic director of Sydney Dance Company, died in an accident, Rafael Bonachela and two other internationally renowned choreographers were quickly engaged to temporarily fill that void by creating one work each during 2008 - from, as it were, a blank canvas. Bonachela subsequently applied for and won the artistic director position, and this program maps out the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: The Royal Opera House has been staging La Bohème - one of the most frequently performed operas in the world - for more than 30 years. This production marks the return of veteran director John Copley to Covent Garden to oversee the 23rd revival of Puccini's classic work, in which the carefree attitude of youth and the harsh realities of life are contrasted through the affair of Mimì and Rodolfo....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Shakespeare's famous play was adapted for opera in 1867 by "Ave Maria" composer Charles Gounod, who found the tragic romance well suited to his musical style. Filmed at the Royal Opera House in 1994, this staging features Roberto Alagna as Roméo in a performance that made him an international star, with Leontina Vaduva as Juliette and François Le Roux as Mercutio. The Nicolas Joël production...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1994
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Summary: Once regarded as a "lost" opera because of early censorship and controversy, Stiffelio has now established its rightful place in the Verdi canon. In this cherished recording from the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, José Carreras delivers a stirring performance as the Protestant minister whose faith is shattered when he discovers his wife's adulterous liaison with a family friend. Carreras...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1993
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Summary: Based on Book IV of Virgil's Aeneid, Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas contrasts both musically and dramatically the supernatural with personal tragedy. This performance - a collaboration between the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet - spotlights Sarah Connolly and Lucas Meachem, who play out the epic story of love and despair between Dido, Queen of Carthage, and the Trojan demigod Aeneas....
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2009
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Summary: Staged by acclaimed director Francesca Zambello and conducted by legendary Mozart authority Sir Charles Mackerras, this 2008 production of Don Giovanni never shies from the work's inherent passion and spectacle. Shadows infuse the set through much of the performance (while a massive Madonna, fastened to a central urban facade, presides overhead), but the ominous chiaroscuro eventually gives way...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: Known for his daring interpretations of other Mozart operas, Scottish director David McVicar offers viewers a fresh and energetic version of Le Nozze di Figaro in this 2006 Royal Opera House production. McVicar helms an outstanding cast that includes Erwin Schrott, a bass-baritone previously celebrated for his work in Don Giovanni, as well as the gifted Miah Persson and Gerald Finley. The Royal...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: "The Royal Opera's new staging of La Fille du Régiment will probably go down in history as one of the company's great achievements," says The Guardian of the romantic comic opera. This 2007 Laurent Pelly production made the reputation of stars Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Flórez - dubbed "King of the High Cs" for his ability to hit the famously rapid succession of nine top notes in the aria...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2007
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Summary: Created to celebrate the Royal Ballet's 75th birthday, this is a spectacular performance based on the classic choreography of Marius Petipa and the influential Sergueev/De Valois production of 1946 - seen by many as a defining event in the history of the Royal Ballet. Here, dancers Alina Cojocaru and Federico Bonelli enact one of the most beloved of classical ballets, which combines in a single...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: Aida was acclaimed at its first performance in 1871 and has grown in stature ever since to become one of the best-loved and most-performed grand operas of all time. Filmed at the Royal Opera House, Elijah Moshinsky's 1994 production of Giuseppe Verdi's extravagant and magnificent Egyptian opera features Cheryl Studer in the title role and a cast that includes Dennis O'Neill and Luciana...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1994
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Summary: This modern retelling of Humperdinck's fairy tale opera - described by Richard Strauss as "a masterpiece of the highest quality" - combines Romanticism, lyricism, and exuberant playfulness in a rich orchestration. Director Laurent Pelly places the siblings in a cardboard shack, and the iconic gingerbread house has been re-envisioned as shelves of child-enticing junk food. This popular...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: In what many believe to be the finest production of Verdi's Otello in modern times, Plácido Domingo and Kiri Te Kanawa lead a world-class cast under the forceful and sensitive musical direction of Sir Georg Solti. This is an outstanding performance of the first of the composer's two late Shakespearean operas, widely regarded as masterpieces of the form. The production is helmed by Elijah...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1992
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Summary: The world of opera has spawned true works of comic genius. There’s Rossini’s Barbiere di Siviglia, Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, and Mozart’s rather serious comedy of manners Nozze di Figaro. But today’s featured work can be rightfully hailed as a true comic masterpiece. No, I don’t mean the operatic treatment of Corner Gas; I mean Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte or, to give it an equivalent English...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: “At the turn the 20th century, the most popular French opera was not Carmen but an opera whose principal character was the Devil. This 1859 opera was based on one of the most celebrated works of German literature and did nothing less than revolutionize French opera. Welcome to Opera Easy’s featured work: Charles Gounod’s opera Faust,” says host Natalie Choquette.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: “There is a rescue opera that is dramatic and comic and is like an episode of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Good versus bad; virtue pitted against evil. Can love conquer all? Can the virtuous prince vanquish all obstacles ? Come and find out,” says program host Natalie Choquette, “as we explore the world of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera Die Zauberflöte - or, if you prefer, The Magic Flute.”
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: If I were to ask you what is the most romantic story in history, what would your answer be?” asks program host Natalie Choquette. “Would it be Dante’s Paolo and Francesca, antiquity’s Anthony and Cleopatra, or Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston? Probably not. No, I bet that your spontaneous answer would be that history’s most famous pair of lovers are Romeo and Juliette. And wouldn’t you know it,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: In a span of under two years, Giuseppe Verdi produced his three most popular operas. “The Holy Trinity,” as they are still known today, began with Rigoletto and ended with La Traviata. The piggy in the middle,” says host Natalie Choquette, “is Opera Easy’s featured work today. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Verdi’s 1853 melodramatic masterpiece about love and vengeance: Welcome to Il Trovatore!”
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: In this program, host Natalie Choquette introduces viewers to Die Entführung aus dem Serail. This Mozart rescue opera is set in Pasha Selim’s palace in 18th-century Turkey where Constanze, her maid Blondchen, and the servant Pedrillo are held prisoner. Before Constanze’s beloved, Belmonte, can set them free, he has to deal with the Pasha’s servant, the eunuch Osmin. A series of comic and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: “Welcome to Opera Easy,” says host Natalie Choquette. “If I were to ask you to name an opera set in Japan based on a play by an American playwright and with music composed by an Italian…would you recognize Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly? I hope so because Madama Butterfly is today’s Opera Easy featured work!”
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: Today Opera Easy zeroes in on one of the most fascinating and intriguing operas in all of operatic history,” says host Natalie Choquette. “The composer of today’s featured work was born in Germany in 1819 but became a naturalized Frenchman. He was called the King of the Operetta, having written over 90 popular and hilarious operettas for the Parisian stage during the Second Republic. Yet...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: “Opera is usually full of drama, tragedy, and death. In fact the writer George Bernard Shaw once said that he knew when it was the end of an opera because no one was left alive on stage. But there are also many comic operas, operas that are full of comic characters and situations. According to the great composer Giuseppe Verdi, the greatest comic opera ever written is the subject of today’s...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004