After the founding of the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in 1999, another project of intercultural understanding is derived from the friendship between Barenboim and the Palestinian humanist Edward Said. The inauguration of the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin marked a new phase within the political and educational engagement of musician and pedagogue Daniel Barenboim. After a successful world career as a pianist, conductor and musical teacher with political aspirations, the creation of this place is perhaps Barenboim’s most enduring work and at the same time a project of the heart. “Beyond the Music” portrays this innovative academy whose mission is committed to the humanistic ideals of its founders and ultimately a clear message of peace: music creates understanding.
Making of “Turandot”
Anna The Great – A life for the opera stage
A documentary about the great soprano Anna Netrebko by the russian filmmaker Dmitry Sapun which follows her at home in Russia and New York and on the road as she prepares for her performances. It also features interviews with Anna herself, her family, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Piotr Beczala and many of her supporters such as Valery Gergiev and Plácido Domingo.
Making of “Fidelio”
Thunderous applause and loud cries of “bravo” greeted the premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Fidelio” at the inaugural performance of the first opera season in Valencia’s new Palau de les Arts on 25 October 2006. Attending the stellar performance in architect Santiago Calatrava’s breathtaking theater complex was Queen Sofía of Spain, who added to the glamour of the event. With this spectacular production directed by Pierluigi Pier’Alli, Valencia has put itself back on the map of the international opera world. Calatrava’s sweeping structure recalls the organic forms of Catalonia’s “Modernisme” style. Hints of Gaudì and traces of Gothic arches and nave-like spaces project a feeling of openness and freedom. Not surprisingly, “Fidelio” was chosen to inaugurate the theater’s main concert hall – an about freedom set in Spain, and in which the contrast between the darkness of Florestan’s dungeon and the light of justice and love embodied by Leonore is both heard in the music and seen on the stage.
Super Diva – Opera for Everyone
By exploring and explaining popular operas in unorthodox ways, the soprano Catarina Molder is opening the world of opera for new audiences in the most colourful and accessible style. Each episode is including intimate interviews, emblematic arias from famous operas set in unexpected situations, special opera themed recipes and finally a band that covers a great aria in their own style. PROGRAM: Puccini: Madama Butterfly; Verdi: Aida; Verdi: Un ballo in maschera; Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro; Offenbach: Les contes d’Hoffmann; Wagner: Der fliegende Holländer; Wagner: Tannhäuser; Humperdinck: Hänsel und Gretel ; da Silva: Guerras de Alecrim e Mangerona (The Wars of Rosemary and Marjoram); Purcell: Dido and Aeneas
Stefan Herheim: The Drama Lies in the Music
One of the world’s most sought-after opera directors, Stefan Herheim, has begun an intense rehearsal period at the MusikTheater an der Wien, where he will shed new light on Johann Strauss II’s classic operetta “Die Fledermaus”. We get unique access to the process behind one of his most ambitious and controversial interpretations, set in Nazi-occupied Vienna in 1938. With the cameras up close, artistic breakthroughs, creative triumphs and moments of deep doubt are revealed. The ensemble is challenged, and expectations are sky-high. The question is as simple as it is dramatic: Will Herheim’s new “Fledermaus” end up as a success… or a scandal?
Olaf Bär – Portrait, Part 1
Overture 1912 – Deutsche Oper Berlin
In 2012 the Deutsche Oper in Berlin had ist centennial celebrations. Although today’s building was not opened until 1961, the history of the house on the Bismarckstrasse goes further back: it was built in 1912 and opened as Deutsches Opernhaus upon the initiative of a group of people from Berlin–Charlottenburg as the citizen’s opera in opposition to the Königliche Hofoper, now Staatsoper Unter den Linden. The film illustrates all facets of the different eras of this Berlin opera institution from the beginning
until today through interviews with artists closely connected to the Deutsche Oper Berlin as well as a large variety of archive footage that also includes documentations of rehearsals and performances from the last 100 years.
Kirill Kondrashin
Prometheus – Poem of Fire
According to the ancient Greek legend, Prometheus brought fire and culture to mankind, thus saving the world from being destroyed by Zeus. Through the ages, this story has inspired countless artists, poets and musicians to some of their grandest creations.
Christopher Swann’s film is based on a 1993 televised concert from Berlin’s Philharmonic Hall.
The program features music by Beethoven, Liszt, Skriabin and Nono based on the legend of Prometheus. The four compositions could not be more diverse in style and conception, representing highly different approaches: from the Prometheus as bringer of plague and destruction to the punished Prometheus chained to a rock.
In this film, Christopher Swann stresses a visual approach to this variety of ideas, using a number of modern film techniques to underscore and illustrate the musical presentation.
Performances by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Claudio Abbado are first-rate, although it is the presence of Argerich that will make this DVD an obligatory purchase.