In this feature-length documentary Plácido Domingo describes his favourite roles in opera – and in so doing tells his own life story more fully and poignantly than ever before. The programme is full of clips of his performances, and seasoned with contributions from colleagues such as Kiri te Kanawa, Luciano Pavarotti, and Zubin Mehta. This film sums up Domingo’s whole career as a tenor; now that he sings baritone roles it is a comprehensive overview of the entire tenor oeuvre of the man described by BBC Music Magazine as ‘the greatest singer of all time’. Our guide is the great man himself, in interviews edited from eight hours of conversation in which Domingo reveals more about his life, his thoughts about singing, opera and the world, and what drives him to achieve yet more goals than he has ever done on television before. As he says, “If I rest, I rust”. Most of all this film celebrates some of the finest tenor performances ever filmed, with extensive extracts of what he has selected as his eleven finest roles.
Mozart’s Final Symphonies
Frans Brüggen and his Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century re-invent the classical masterpieces of Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven and other early 18th century composers by playing them on period instruments and interpret the music as if written yesterday. After almost 30 years of traveling all around the globe they now, in their 99th world tour, play Mozart with the spirit, freshness and eagerness of their first concert. On the programme Mozart’s Final three Symphonies including No. 40, the first ever played symphony by Frans Brüggen and his band.
Vadim Repin – a Magician of Sound
Born in Siberia in 1971, Vadim Repin started to play violin at the age of five and had his first stage performance six months later. At only eleven he won the gold medal in all age categories in the Wienawski Competition and gave his recital debuts in Moscow and St Petersburg. In 1985 at fourteen he made his debuts in Tokyo, Munich, Berlin, Helsinki; a year later in Carnegie Hall. Two years later Vadim Repin was the youngest ever winner of the most prestigious and demanding violin competition in the world, the Reine Elisabeth Concours. From the vastness of Siberia to world fame, the violin virtuoso Vadim Repin returns to where his career began, for a Brahms tour, far away from the cultural centre of Moscow. From Irkutsk at Lake Baikal to Novosibirsk, we follow the magnificent artist to the West, where Yehudi Menuhin once called him the ‘most perfect violinist in the world’ he ever heard.
Thomas Quasthoff sings Soul – ‘Tell it like it is’
The German magazine Stern describes Thomas Quasthoff as ‘the man with the most beautiful voice in the world’. Furthermore, his power of interpretation and unerring sense of taste go hand in hand not only when performing Italian arias but also when singing famous American songs. After his performance and recording of ‘Tell it like it is’ at the famous A-Trane jazzclub in Berlin, ‘unbounded cheering’ (Die Welt) by the audience had the effect of singling out certain numbers. With each of their appearances in February 2010, Thomas Quasthoff and his hand-picked instrumentalists (Bruno Müller, guitar, Frank Chastenier, keyboard, Dieter Ilg, bass, Wolfgang Haffner, drums) worked their way deeper into these pieces of jazz and soul. Works by Marvin Gaye, Percy Mayfield, Tony Joe White, Stevie Wonder, John Lennon, Ray Charles, Randy Newman, et al.
Jamiroquai plays Avo Session
The British jazz, funk and acid jazz band, Jamiroquai, started out as the most prominent component in the early 1990s London-based acid jazz movement. Subsequent albums have explored other musical directions such as pop, rock and electronica. Jamiroquai have sold more than 35 million albums worldwide and won a Grammy Award in 1997. At the Avo Session they perform their world-famous hits.
Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara play Avo Session
British rock meets afro-sound from Gambia. The sound of a nation with no borders, a place that needs no passport, no visa. This is where the deep roots of African music nourish the raw electric groove of rock and roll, where Gnawa spirit rhythms come up against Chicago distortion, where snaky N’awlins rhythm has a West London howl, and a Sahel Wail.
Razorlight play Avo Session
Razorlight is one of today’s best Britpop bands. After his earlier incarnation as a solo acoustic singer songwriter, supporting bands like The Libertines, bandleader Johnny Borrell fashioned Razorlight as an intense electric rock band with catchy songs and took the band out on the road.
Mary J. Blige plays Avo Session
With over 40 million albums sold worldwide, nine Grammys and just as many albums not to mention the unequivocal title ‘Queen of Hip Hop Soul’: Mary J. Blige is a true diva in the best sense of the word. Her music is as big as her personality and like any true diva this native New Yorker is also a style icon.
Justin Nozuka plays Avo Session
The Canadian singer-songwriter, Justin Nozuka is an exceptional talent. On his debut album ‘Holly’, which has been released in Europe, Canada, Japan and the United States, he was compared with such greats as Marvin Gaye, Jeff Buckley and Ben Harper – even though Nozuka was only 19 years old at the time. His follow up album ‘You I Wind Land And Sea’ was released in 2010 and it proofs that Justin just got even better.
Sheryl Crow plays Avo Session
On her album, ‘1000 Miles From Memphis’, Sheryl Crow takes us back to her formative years in Kennet, Missouri, 100 miles from Memphis, where, as a little girl in the sixties, she learned the honesty and simplicity that would become the foundation of her worldwide success. Her music was shaped by the sounds of her hometown: bluesy soul, with just a touch of Motown. Sheryl’s retrospective is a continuation of that successful career. At the Avo Session she performs her legendary hits as well as songs from her new album.