An intimate portrait of Birgit Nilsson (1918–2005) on the occasion of her centennial on 17th May 2018: The Swedish soprano had an incredible technique and was the world’s leading dramatic soprano between 1955 and 1975. Rare TV and archive footage shows Nilsson at work, and is complemented by interviews with Plácido Domingo, Otto Schenk, James Levine, Nina Stemme, Jonas Kaufmann and many others. The film reveals a sensitive woman behind the honest, down to earth, quick-witted artist, who had “a voice like fire and ice” (Sir Antonio Pappano). The documentary was shot at the farm in Bastad/ Sweden, where Nilsson grew up and spent the summers until the end of her life, at the Royal Opera in Stockholm, where the legendary Wagnerian singer made her operatic debut in 1946, and in places like the Bayreuth Festival, the Wiener Staatsoper and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where Nilsson was the star and box office draw.
Verdi, Il Trovatore
He was trained to be a stage designer in the Münchner Kammerspiele. He became famous for his video clips for Rammstein and Madonna. His directing of the films ‘North Face’ and ‘Young Goethe in Love’ took him to Hollywood level. As an opera director, Philipp Stölzl, now tackled his first Verdi: ‘Il trovatore’ with a cast of high-class singer including Anna Netrebko als Leonora and Plácido Domingo as Count Luna – both of them making their debut in these roles. Daniel Barenboim conducts the Staatskapelle Berlin.
Hommage à Séville
¡Cincuentañero! – Rolando Villazón’s 50th Birthday Gala
Rolando Villazón assembles his friends, all of them prominent guests, for a festive gala concert. The first part of the performance is dedicated to his musical heartfelt friend Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, followed by “hits” from opera, operetta and popular songs from Europe and Mexico in the second part. The singers are accompanied by the Camerata Salzburg under Lithuanian conductor Giedre Šlekyte. “A showcase of great operatic voices” (Salzburger Nachrichten)
3 Stars in Vienna
Bathed in the warm light of the setting sun, Vienna’s imperial Schönbrunn Palace provides a romantic setting for this open-air concert held shortly before the final match of the Euro 2008 football championship. And shining even more brightly than the palace are the stars of the evening, Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazón and Plácido Domingo. The trio’s first joint concert, given at Berlin’s Waldbühne for the 2006 football World Cup, was recorded by UNITEL CLASSICA and awarded the Platinum DVD for sales of over 50,000 DVDs in Germany and over 100,000 worldwide. The Schönbrunn concert also broke records with 3.3 million viewers watching the concert live or deferred in Germany and Austria.
Amor, vida de mi vida – The Zarzuela Concert
A typically Spanish musical genre, the zarzuela is a Spanish-language opera with spoken dialogues and filled with pleasant-sounding, often folkloric tunes cast in arias, duets, four-part choruses and dances. While zarzuelas never really made it into the repertoires of theaters outside the Spanish-speaking countries, the many passionate, fiery, or lyrical vocal pieces have continued to thrive in concerts and recitals all over the world. One of the most renowned and ardent supporters of zarzuela melodies is Plácido Domingo, who is featured here in a concert given at the 2007 Salzburg Festival. Belying his 66 years, the world-famous tenor sings these rousing, seductive melodies with the beguiling sweetness of a much younger man. Delicately painted character studies enhanced with occasional harmonic slides, sighing motifs and castanet laughter – Domingo transports the enraptured listener to the calles and plazas of Madrid and Seville.
Salzburg Festival: Verdi, Il Trovatore
“Anna Netrebko – better than Maria Callas” (Süddeutsche Zeitung) – Since her sensational success in “La Traviata” the soprano Anna Netrebko, now even more popular than ever before, returns regularly to the great festival hall at the Salzburg Festival. This time she shines as Leonora in Giuseppe Verdi’s tragic opera “Il Trovatore” at the side of Placido Domingo and the critics go wild: “A triumph” writes the New York Times, while the Neue Zürcher Zeitung speaks of “truly divine sounds”. Alvis Hermanis staged the plot that revolves round two rival brothers who love the same woman and only learn they are related at the moment of her death, using sets that “in their opulent adherence to detail and fantastically illuminated atmosphere (…) offer much more than just a decorative sight for sore eyes“ (Salzburger Nachrichten).
Plácido Domingo at Arena di Verona
Opera legend Plácido Domingo returns to the spectacular Arena di Verona with a programme dedicated to the great Italian composers Verdi and Giordano. Jordi Bernàcer conducts the orchestra of the Arena di Verona from the center of the Arena, which creates an incredible surround sound, embedded in a perfectly staged light show. The musical heart of the evening are long excerpts from La Traviata, where Domingo’s dark voice fits wonderfully for the role of Germont. An extraordinary evening, culminating in long applause for the charismatic singer. “Domingo performed with bravura, alternating with the spectacular Saioa Hernández” (operaactual.com).
Plácido Domingo Gala – 50 Years at the Arena di Verona
What a pompous and exquisite gala to celebrate opera legend Plácido Domingo in the breathtaking Arena di Verona! 50 years ago the young Madrilenian singer Plácido Domingo gave his debut at the ancient open-air theatre: the beginning of a lasting and exceptional relationship. To mark the anniversary, Domingo presents a programme entirely dedicated to Verdi, performing three of his most complex and majestic baritone roles. No effort was spared to create an unforgettable evening in a unique atmosphere in the completely sold-out amphitheatre, which has been at the heart of Italian entertainment for almost 2,000 years. Whether as Babylonian king Nabucco, Scottish general Macbeth or as Doge Simon Boccanegra: Domingo’s versatility and aura is more than impressive, with “top phrasing and articulation, his baritone with full and sonorous intonation and a unique timbre – all this substantiates his exceptional position” (Das Opernglas). At the side of Domingo shines an excellent cast including Anna Pirozzi and Arturo Chacón-Cruz, supported by a perfectly rehearsed ballet under the baton of conductor Jordi Bernàcer who sovereignly leads the Orchestra of the Arena di Verona from scene to scene. A triumphal, almost historic moment for Domingo and the Arena di Verona!