Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony is undoubtedly the most popular of all his symphonies. The composer stages a gradual victory over his doubts and asserts his creative vocation and his newfound faith in the cosmos. The audience is immediately struck by the opening chaos orchestrating a magniicent funeral. The sublime final chorus enraptures listeners as it celebrates the Last Judgement and the divine love that is spread everywhere. Resurrection takes up in a spectacular way the question of a hypothetical renewal: the Stadium de Vitrolles near Aix has been preserved in a state of beauty ravaged by twenty-five years of abandonment and clandestine occupations. Inside this iconic building Romeo Castellucci tackles the enigma of a mysterious rebirth. “It became big, very big, beyond huge, beyond gigantic.” (Opera Today)
Renaud Capuçon – The Boundless Violin
Violinist and conductor Renaud Capuçon lives entirely for his art. Driven by an overflowing curiosity and an insatiable thirst for sharing, the native of Chambéry, who has enlightened thousands of people with his daily performances on social networks, has since returned to the whirlwind of rehearsals, concerts and recordings that have marked his career. For a year, Andy Sommer and Romain Girard accompanied Renaud Capuçon on his many travels and projects, capturing the unflagging energy of this mad lover of music, who strives to make it accessible to all audiences. Collecting numerous testimonies from close friends and family (his wife Laurence Ferrari, his sister Aude Giraudon) and musician friends (pianist and maestro Daniel Barenboim, violist Gérard Caussé, conductor Daniel Harding), the filmmakers have created a moving portrait of this “musician and entrepreneur”, capable of uniting the older and younger generations around him.
Kalédoscope
In almost thirty years, Mourad Merzouki has blown up the bars of the cage. As a pioneer in the transition of hip-hop dance from the street to the stage, he has contributed to the evolution of this aesthetic and given it a prominent place in the contemporary choreographic landscape. From boxing to circus, passing through classical music or aerial dance, from one creation to the next, the audience is immersed in a new universe, always singular, poetic and visual. In this vast artistic blending constituting his repertoire, Mourad Merzouki appears as a creator-alchemist. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the Kalypso festival and the end of his term of directorship at the Centre chorégraphique national de Créteil et du Val-de-Marne, Mourad Merzouki offers a kaleidoscopic tour of his artistic career. From Käfig (1996) to Zéphyr (2021), he has taken extracts from his repertoire, echoing their universes for the first time live on stage. Placed side by side, they reveal a delightful palette of colours.
Giselle
The La Scala production of Yvette Chauvirè’s version of the unforgettable choreography by Coralli – Perrot, in a modality designed by the director of the Ballet Manuel Legris.
Les Vêpres siciliennes
“The Teatro Massimo succeeds in creating a masterpiece. This is also due to music director Omer Meir Wellber.” (Neue Zürcher Zeitung) Giuseppe Verdi composed Les Vêpres siciliennes (The Sicilian Vespers) – a story of oppression and revolt against the French rulers – in French. Palermo-born writer and director Emma Dante links the opera to present-day Palermo with the city’s mafia past and the tragic deaths of judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. This was the catalyst for a series of uprisings and social actions that led to the reopening of the Teatro Massimo and the re-appropriation of urban spaces, which are reflected in Dante’s production. While Emma Dante’s imagery creates a richness and intensity feast for the eyes, musical director Omer Meir Wellber ties the knot to make this production from the Teatro Massimo a true gem.
Arena di Verona Festival 2022: Carmen
After many worldwide successes as Carmen, Elina Garanca now makes her long-awaited debut on the world’s largest opera stage, the nearly 2,000-year-old Arena di Verona. “With perfect diction, [Elina Garanca’s] bohemian is a true stage beast who makes a mockery of life with panache, taunting her lover just out of prison with sarcastic ‘taratata’ and then daring to face an adverse fate with implausible aplomb.” (Crescendo-Magazine.be). Italian film and stage director Franco Zeffirelli also made his debut at the Arena back then with Carmen. On the occasion of his 100th birthday, his three versions were put together for the first time in a “best of” version. The side set painted for the first edition and the large number of people and wide movements that characterized the original production are set back on stage. Highlights of the 2003 and 2009 stagings are skillfully combined with this. The 2022 production is hence something never seen before, which even proposes scenography’s elements that haven’t been realized in the previous stagings, but were originally planned by Zeffirelli.
Rossini Opera Festival 2022: Le Comte Ory
“French soprano Julie Fuchs was a superb Adèle […] a terrific soprano, light yet incisive, and the pinpoint accuracy of her coloratura was staggering.” (Bachtrack.com) Le comte Ory is a comedic opera by Gioachino Rossini set in medieval France. The opera, Rossini’s only French comedy, is known for its sparkling music, including well-known arias such as Adèle’s aria “En proie à la tristesse”, Comte Ory’s aria “Que les destins prospères” and the duet Ory-Isolier “Voyez donc, voyez donc le traître”. Rossini’s score is characterized by its elaborate vocal lines, quick-witted humour, and beautiful ensemble pieces. Le comte Ory is a delightful and light-hearted comedy that showcases Rossini’s skill at blending humour and music.
Arena di Verona Festival 2022: Turandot
The Arena di Verona honours Italian stage director and filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli and his legendary production of Turandot. His imposing cinematographic production reproduces imperial China thanks to its impressive scenery and scenes, enriched by the sumptuous costumes of the Oscar-winning Japanese costume designer Emi Wada. Everything helps to highlight the atmosphere of the drama of enigma per excellence, where life itself is in danger and the answer lies in love, which melts the protagonist’s icy heart. “Netrebko does not merely sing it: she interprets it. What emerges is a character much more human and ultimately truer than usual” (La Stampa)
Rossini Opera Festival 2022: Otello
Otello is an opera by Gioachino Rossini based on William Shakespeare’s play Othello. Set in Cyprus, the opera tells the story of the Moorish general Otello, who is manipulated by his ensign Iago into believing that his wife Desdemona is unfaithful. As a result, Otello succumbs to jealousy and murders Desdemona, only to realize too late that he has been duped by Iago. In the end, Otello kills himself in remorse. Rossini’s Otello significantly differs from William Shakespeare’s play (and Verdi’s opera), particularly by elevating the character Rodrigo to a major role alongside Otello and Iago, having earned the work the nickname “opera of the three tenors”. “The three warriors acting out their masculinity are all tenors: Antonino Siragusa gives the scheming Iago in an ingratiating and at the same time sharply determined manner; Enea Scala, on the other hand, impresses as Otello […] Dmitry Korchak impresses above all with “Che ascolto”, his virtuoso aria of despair that gets under the skin.” (Tagesspiegel)
Hélène Grimaud – Memory Recital
Hélène Grimaud presents the first part of a special two-part recital from the beautiful natural surroundings of south west Bavaria, a place which the pianist sees as one of her spiritual homes. “Memory” features music from her Deutsche Grammophon album of the same name: Grimaud brings her trademark sensitivity and poetic touch to a personal selection of reflective and atmospheric works by Satie, Debussy, Chopin and Valentin Silvestrov, the Ukrainian composer whose music has fascinated her for decades.