This film tells the story of one of the most magic moments of music. The beginning of 1964 held a great surprise for the music world: Maria Callas returns to the opera stage as prima donna. Her “Tosca” at the Royal Opera House becomes a sensation. Not even the Beatles received more press coverage. All this, for an artist whose glorious career was said to be over, with the singer herself passing over to legend. It is no longer her performances, but her scandals that, are dominating the headlines. Unlucky in love with her billionaire boyfriend Aristotle Onassis, Maria Callas wants to show them all that the title of ”Primadonna assoluta” is still rightfully hers. On condition that famed stage director Franco Zeffirelli takes on the production, the exceptional vocalist is prepared to take on the role of Tosca. Her fans queue outside the Royal Opera House in London’s Covent Garden for four, even five nights. To get their hands on the sought after tickets, they spend the freezing winter nights in sleeping bags and on fold up chairs. The film tells the story of the event from today´s perspective and features interviews with Antonio Pappano, Rolando Villazón, Rufus Wainwright, Thomas Hampson, Anna Prohaska Wolfgang Joop, Jürgen Kesting, Brian McMaster, Kristine Opolais. As bonus the performance of Tosca´s second act is included. It is one of the most dramatic acts in opera history. The film recording is one of the few opportunities to see Maria Callas on stage and witness her emotional dramatics and vocal competence.
W.A. Mozart: Don Giovanni
The world-famous singer, conductor and the holder of 14 Grammy Awards Plácido Domingo came up, as conductor and artistic director, with a unique Don Giovanni at the Estates Theatre Prague, where the opera had its premiere 230 years ago. The production boasts an original classic scene, traditional costumes, designed by Theodor Pištek, the Oscar winner “Best costume design” for the Amadeus movie and authentic stage direction matching the performance features from 1787. The production is conceived as a replica of the legendary staging by the National Theatre Opera from 1969. The opera shines under the direction of Jirí Nekvasil, which is further enhanced by stars of the Czech opera scene, handpicked by Maestro Domingo himself. Also adding vitality to the production are four winners of the renowned, international vocal competition, Operalia, which Domingo himself founded in 1993: Irina Lungu, Dmitry Korchak, Julia Novikova, and Simone Alberghini. “The palpable sense of history, enthusiasm of the cast and excitement of the star conductor all contributed to an atmosphere that made the performance seem larger than life.” (Bachtrack)
Giovanna d’Arco
With more than 50 years of experience as film director, Peter Greenaway (Nightwatching, Eisenstein in Guanajuato, The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover) combines the worlds of film and opera at the Festival Verdi in Parma with an all new approach to Verdi’s Giovanna d’Arco, staged and edited by himself and Saskia Boddeke. Turning the auditorium into part of the set, Greenaway includes the unique architecture of the Teatro Farnese into his staging. With the help of spectacular video and light installations, he creates a completely new opera experience, using a striking imagery that includes depictions of the Madonna, modern manga girls and the real faces of refugee children. “It is a thrilling moment when threads of light spread over the darkened arches during the overture, shaping the architecture and flooding the whole area with changing light patterns.” (Daily Express)
Arminio
Max Emanuel Cencic excels with his celebrated and award-winning production of George Frideric Handel’s masterpiece Arminio at the International Handel Festival Karlsruhe. The remarkable counter-tenor Cencic, who dedicates himself to the revival and performance of the music of the 18th century, demonstrates once more that Baroque singing can be both technically brilliant and at the same time modern and emotionally engaging. His enchanting staging of Arminio is the fulminant revival of the heroic story. When premiered in 1737 at London’s Covent Garden, Arminio strangely received only six performances, despite being praised as “a miracle” and “in every respect excellent and vastly pleasing” by contemporaries. Handel’s opera fell into oblivion – until Cencic put it into the limelight, resulting in the “rehabilitation of the piece” (FAZ). Cencic’s production of Arminio, which created a furore when performed at the Theater an der Wien, features the ensemble Armonia Atenea under the baton of George Petrou and stars the stage director in the leading role: “Cencic is not only as counter-tenor but also as stage director at the peak of his success” (Süddeutsche Zeitung).
Mosè in Egitto (Moses in Ägypten)
A rarely performed masterpiece, Gioachino Rossini’s Mosè in Egitto at the Bregenz Festival staged by Lotte de Beer, who retrieves this hidden gem of opera literature for a spectacular staging. De Beer, one of the most soughtafter stage directors of her generation (International Opera Newcomer Award 2015) teams up with the Dutch theatre collective Hotel Modern to tell the story of the Biblical Exodus. Their unique production concept for Mosè in Egitto revolves around the ingenuity of Hotel Modern. The theatre group conjures up its own reality by using live animations to portray the mass scenes and the parallel narratives of the people and the slaves. Miniature cameras, thousands of puppets, models of villages and cities and a spectacular aquarium installation present the biblical tale of plagues and the parting of the Red Sea on the Bregenz stage – “a stroke of genius” (Der Standard).
Pique Dame
Former Music Director Mariss Jansons returns to Amsterdam to conduct Pique Dame at the Dutch National Opera with “his” Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. He encounters a noteworthy cast and under his baton the orchestra sounds “brilliant and splendid“ (Der Tagesspiegel). Renowned director Stefan Herheim staged Tchaikovsky’s much-loved opera about a young man who, for the prospect of earthly wealth, gambles away his chance for love and happiness. Herheim, whose stagings are famous for their multi layered levels of interpretation, attempts to reflect on the composer’s hidden love for men. “The Latvian maestro, the intriguingly performing orchestra, the smartly-chosen soloists, and director Stefan Herheim have succeeded in staging an extraordinary production” (Die Presse). “Stefan Herheim makes a great picture show out of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Pique Dame’” (NMZ). “A masterpiece” (Der Standard).
Nijinsky – A Ballet by John Neumeier
„Nijinsky“ is the title of this „choreographic approach“ to a dance phenomenon that has been part of Neumeier‘s life ever since the beginning of his career. During his approximately ten years as a dancer, Vaslav Nijinsky set a new standard both technically and expressively, while in his choreographic work he pointed the way towards modern dance. His personal fate and mental illness that forced him to spend the last 30 years of his life in various asylums and in the keeping of his wife gave his short artistic career an even more aweinspiring and sensational quality. All three aspects – the dancer, the choreographer and the person Nijinsky – form the starting point for John Neumeier‘s latest creation. Neumeier, who as early as 1979 presented a short ballet „Vaslav“, is regarded as one of the leading Nijinsky experts worldwide. Nevertheless, it was not without reluctance that he took up the task of honouring through dance a dance legend: „In creating a work about a historical person, what aspect should we concentrate on? Who was he truly: The man? The artist? Which witness, what information can we trust, which theories should one follow? What point of view can we take towards the complex puzzle Nijinsky? An instinctive choice must be made…“ and sensational quality.
Le nozze di Figaro
For the 225th anniversary of Mozart’s death, La Scala Theatre presents a new production of Le nozze di Figaro that had been entrusted to the extraordinary director Frederic Wake-Walker (author of a production of La finta giardiniera which was the revelation of the Glyndebourne Festival in 2014). He focusses the action of the piece on the instability of love: “Le nozze di Figaro presents us with an impossibility – a world where everyone is loving and forgiving.” The approach to his direction is “elaborate and very innovative” and “also musically, the new production of Figaro is worth a tour to Milan.” (NZZ) “the cast is magnificient.” (Kurier) “… when Diana Damrau enters as the Countess, we get a performance of special gravitas. Even the orchestra, under Franz Welser-Möst’s baton, melts to such grace.” (Financial Times)
Lucio Silla
This dramatic opera is associated with one of Mozart’s sojourns in Milan. The Austrian genius was sixteen when he composed this jewel of bel canto dedicated to the general and dictator of Ancient Rome: Lucio Silla made its debut on 26 December 1772, when Mozart was almost seventeen. It was the third opera that he had staged in the Regio Ducal Theatre, Milano. The staging by Marshall Pynkoski, specialized in eighteenth-century operas with particular insights into Baroque dance, drama and gestures, pays „attention to detail, making use of scenes and eighteenth-century impeccably decorated costumes designed by a specialist of the genre in film, Antoine Fontaine“ (delteatro.it). „The female cast is remarkable“ (La Repubblica).
Romeo and Juliet
This classic choreography of Romeo and Juliet by Kenneth MacMillan, set to the immortal notes of Prokofiev, is legendary in La Scala´s repertoire. In this ballet the choreographer MacMillan deals with the matter paying great attention to human relations, lyricism and psychological tension, without neglecting moments of humour, through the dynamics and the emotions of ballet d’action. Set and costumes are designed especially for La Scala by Mauro Carosi and Odette Nicoletti. The stars of this masterly performance are Roberto Bolle and Misty Copeland, together for the first time in this ballet. Iconic ballerina Misty Copeland makes history as the first African American Female Principal Dancer with the prestigious American Ballet Theatre. In addition to her dance career, Copeland has become a public speaker, celebrity spokesperson and stage performer. She has written two autobiographical books and narrated a documentary about her career challenges, A Ballerina’s Tale. In 2015, she was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time Magazine, appearing on its cover. It’s the first performing Ballet DVD featuring Misty Copeland!