Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta performed at the Royal Albert Hall.
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Mark Stone
Jack Point
Lisa Milne
Elsie Maynard
Andrew Kennedy
Colonel Fairfax
Felicity Palmer
Dame Carruthers
Anew production of Tannhäuser, which was premiered on 26 July 2019 and presented the Bayreuth debut of conductor Valery Gergiev, as well as the house debut of young soprano star Lise Davidsen. Tobias Kratzer’s staging presented Tannhäuser as a wildly contemporary parable of art and freedom which was praised as “novel” and “wrenching” (New York Times) and received exceptional press acclaim. hey were joined by mezzo soprano Elena Zhidkova’s Venus (“scene stealing”, according to Opera Today), baritone Markus Eiche’s Wolfram and Stephen Milling’s Landgraf.
Prince Abesalom runs into an orphaned Eteri while hunting, falls for her and brings the woman to his palace as his fiancé. The Prince’s aid Murman loses his self-control at Eteri’s beauty and gives her a spelled necklace as a wedding gift. Eteri contracts a mysterious disease that only Murman is capable to heal.
The opening of Cher’s Take Me Home Tour, featured in this 1981 HBO special, perfectly captures her star power and wit. True to her love of spectacle and self-parody, the show began with a drag queen impersonating Cher in her iconic Take Me Home album outfit, lip-syncing the titular disco hit. Just as the audience embraced the illusion, the real Cher appeared—not as herself, but as Laverne, her brash housewife character from her '70s TV show. This unexpected, campy juxtaposition was pure Cher: audacious, hilarious, and clever. The “real” Cher emerged only after this self-referential intro, highlighting her playful awareness of her larger-than-life persona. The opening set the tone for a tour brimming with theatricality and charm. In one climactic moment, Cher soared above the stage, carried by dancers as the audience’s ecstatic cheers cemented her dominance as a live performer. Decades later, the footage retains its magic, a testament to Cher’s ability to captivate like no one else.
Tan Dun portrays the Venetian explorer's travels to the Far East as a journey of both inner and physical discovery, a voyage depicting spiritual experiences as well as a geographical expedition. Pierre Audi's mythical staging and Jean Kalman's fabulous set design complement the composer's own musical direction, forging the dazzlingly versatile soloists, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and Cappella Amsterdam to a stunning symbiosis of elements across time and space, a true testimony to cultures intertwined in globalization.
Drama lyrique in five acts, after the play by Maruice Maeterlink
Running through Bartók’s disenchanted tale, whose haunting music was initially condemned as unplayable, and the expression of despair in Poulenc’s monologue, the director Krzysztof Warlikowski perceives a shared dramatic thread, a shared feminine consciousness and a shared sense of imprisonment and suffocation: for the woman who penetrates the confines of Bluebeard’s castle and Elle, the woman who clings to a telephone conversation with a man as the only thing worth living for, are condemned to share the same fate. And this man she speaks to, does he really exist? Unless the director has interpreted Cocteau’s words to the letter and the telephone has become a “terrifying weapon that leaves no trace, makes no noise”…
Based on real events and drawing on Georg Büchner's revolutionary play, Alban Berg's Wozzeck turns a grimly tragic narrative of violence and murder into one of the most powerful and original operas of the 20th century. Berg's uncompromising portrayal of brutality and madness generated much controversy, but the significance of Wozzeck was soon recognised; its compelling lyrical expansiveness, large-scale dramatic gestures and remarkable musical structures producing music of overwhelming emotional intensity. The Financial Times declared this to be 'a beautiful, moving, engrossing production… this is a consummate Wozzeck, blending clarity, lyricism, compassion and crushing force.'
The life and career of Italian opera singer Farinelli, considered one of the greatest castrato singers of all time.
The soldier Wozzeck (Christian Gerhaher) flits through a world that he is unable to decipher. The doctor torments him with absurd medical experiments; the captain humiliates and ridicules him. And Wozzeck’s lover, Marie (Gun-Brit Barkmin), with whom he has a child, cuckolds him with the drum major. Wozzeck becomes a murderer, stabbing Marie to death. Georg Büchner’s drama fragment, on which Alban Berg based his first opera, is an unflinching case study of social injustice and human suffering. But it is also a grotesque piece that thrives on exaggeration – and in which only a fine line separates the unfathomable from the ridiculous. Accordingly, director Andreas Homoki forgoes all realism.
Opera at La Scala Milan
"Yenufa" is an outstanding phenomenon in the music of the 20th century. Drawing on Moravian folklore, Janáček faithfully and deeply conveyed the drama of a peasant girl. The composer followed the path of Mussorgsky, revealing the spiritual life of people through the recreation of intonations of living speech. The libretto is based on a drama written in a naturalistic manner. Free from naturalism, Janáček's music has powerful emotional strength and psychological truth. It was written during a difficult period in the composer's life (illness and death of his daughter).
This concert film documents the debut Sydney solo shows of English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Thom Yorke, one of the most acclaimed musicians of his generation. Filmed against the iconic backdrop of the Sydney Opera House across two nights on the Forecourt in November 2024, this film covers all aspects of Yorke's career as a recording artist and Radiohead frontman, offering fans an intimate peek behind the curtain as he ties the many eclectic strands of his career together with his show-stopping falsetto and magnetic stage presence.
Deep in a forest where druids and warriors seek revenge against the conquering Romans, Norma is scorned by the Roman proconsul Pollione, with whom she has two children. Her kindness turns to fury when she discovers that Pollione has taken Adalgisa, a novice priestess, as his new lover. When Pollione loses his high rank in the army and is offered as a sacrifice, Norma promises him freedom under one condition.
After the acclaimed Met premiere of Thomas Adès's "The Tempest" in 2012, the composer returned with another masterpiece, this time inspired by filmmaker Luis Buñuel's seminal surrealist classic "El Ángel Exterminador", during the 2017–18 season. As the opera opens, a group of elegant socialites gather for a lavish dinner party, but when it is time to leave for the night, no one is able to escape. Soon, their behavior becomes increasingly erratic and savage. The large ensemble cast tackles both the vocal and dramatic demands of Adès's opera with one riveting performance after another. Tom Cairns, who also penned the work's libretto, directs an engrossing and inventive production, using a towering wooden archway to trap the characters onstage. And Adès himself takes the podium to conduct the frenzied score, which features a host of unconventional instruments, including the eerie electronic ondes Martenot.
Sir David McVicar’s bold new staging of Tosca, Puccini’s operatic thriller of Napoleonic Rome, thrilled Met audiences when it rang in the New Year in 2018. Only weeks later, the production was seen by opera lovers worldwide as part of the Met’s Live in HD series of cinema presentations. In this performance, Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva is the passionate title diva, opposite charismatic tenor Vittorio Grigolo as her lover, the idealistic painter Mario Cavaradossi. Baritone Željko Lučić is the menacing Baron Scarpia, the evil chief of police who employs brutal tactics to ensnare both criminals and sexual conquests. On the podium, Emmanuel Villaume conducts the electrifying score, which features some of Puccini’s most memorable melodies.
“And, 'twixt the shadows and frights of nocturnal splendors, My beloved will secretly be hiding. Say what you will, say what you may.” The sound of a distant whistle and theorbo calls a sleeping singer through the empty streets of Stuttgart in a midnight journey to the opera house. ‘dei notturni splendori’ is an experimental opera film made for the Staatsoper Stuttgart in the early months of the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown. Anderson Matthew captures the singer Helene Schneiderman through a midnight dream with a hand-cranked kino camera in an ecstatic 35mm photo roman, in search for her own performance of the Tarquinio Merula madrigal Folle é ben chi se crede from 1638.
When a beautiful young woman in rural Moravia becomes unexpectedly pregnant, she learns that love is sometimes only skin-deep. Janáček took Gabriela Preissová's grim tale of infanticide and redemption, and condensed it into a masterful, spine-chilling drama. The tragic plight of the protagonists is presented with unsentimental realism that cannot help but trigger a response of deep compassion. Premiered at the National Theatre in the composer's hometown of Brno 115 years ago, the opera took him nine years to complete and is the first in which his distinctive voice can clearly be heard.
Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Salzburger composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.
A Ukrainian comic opera with spoken dialogue in three acts with music and libretto by the composer Semen Hulak-Artemovsky (1813–1873). The orchestration has subsequently been rewritten by composers such as Reinhold Glière and Heorhiy Maiboroda. This is one of the best-known Ukrainian comic operas depicting national themes.
Taylor Swift takes the stage in Dallas for the Reputation Stadium Tour and celebrates a monumental night of music, memories and visual magic.
The Marx Brothers take on high society and the opera world to bring two lovers together. A sly business manager and two wacky friends of two opera singers help them achieve success while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.
In January 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, the final nights of the "20/20 Experience World Tour", director Jonathan Demme captures what makes the show soar: gifted musicians, deft dancers and a magnetic star.
Up All Night: The Live Tour is a DVD release from the British-Irish boy band One Direction, which was released on 28 May 2012. The video concert DVD was recorded as part of One Direction's Up All Night Tour at the International Centre in Bournemouth, includes songs from their multi-platinum debut album Up All Night and five covers, including "I Gotta Feeling", "Stereo Hearts", "Valerie", "Torn" and "Use Somebody".
This film follows the remarkable and inspirational true story of Paul Potts, a shy, bullied shop assistant by day and an amateur opera singer by night.
This concert, recorded to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the landmark musical Les Miserables, gathers the casts of the show's 2010 original production at the Queen's Theatre, the 1985 original production by the London company, and the 2010 production at the Barbican together for one performance. Together with talents like Michael Ball, Hadley Fraser, and John Owen-Jones, the performers present the play's musical numbers in a semi-theatrical style, fully costumed and with all the emotion of the musical's heyday.
S&M2, the live concert film from Metallica and the San Francisco Symphony is the concert event of the year! S&M2 features 20 songs from the two-night event that opened San Francisco’s new Chase Center, with many Metallica fan favourites and two unique classical songs chosen by San Francisco Symphony Musical Director, Michael Tilson Thomas. S&M2 is newly re-edited by the band, with re-mixed and remastered audio, for a whole new look and sound from the original theatrical run in October 2019.
On September 22nd 2011, Adele played The Royal Albert Hall in London. A dream come true moment and a highlight of her record breaking year with the album '21'.
When the 'Big Four' - Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth and Anthrax - shared a stage together on 22nd June 2010 in Sofia, Bulgaria, the show was beamed live into over 550 theatres worldwide via satellite in a special HD cinematic event. The Big Four Live from Sofia includes full shows from all four bands as well as behind the scenes and interview footage. The legendary concert from the Sonisphere Festival was one of only 7 shows across Europe when the four monsters of metal shared a stage for the first time.
Lady Gaga Presents The Monster Ball Tour at Madison Square Garden is a 2011 concert special documenting the February 21 and 22, 2011 shows of Lady Gaga's The Monster Ball Tour. It features concert footage as well as pre-concert and backstage content.
The Prismatic World Tour Live is a sensory explosion of eye-popping theatrics, daring acrobatics and of course, all the hits. This concert film is a visually stunning production that captures Katy’s fun-loving personality and artistic vision. Spanning the entire length of the arena floor, the innovative Prismatic Tour stage allows Katy to share intimate moments with her fans in a unique shared connection with the music. Directed for the stage in seven thematic acts, this unmissable spectacle features hit after hit after hit, and The Prismatic World Tour Live truly captures the excitement, color and energy of the live Katy Perry extravaganza.
Michael Kamen conducts the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in support of metal rockers Metallica in this 1999 concert performance.
Where We Are: Live from San Siro Stadium features the entire 23 track concert filmed at San Siro Stadium in Milan in June 2014, as well as 24 minutes of bonus content including backstage footage of One Direction and their crew.
Bo Burnham is back with a new one-man show full of his patented songs and wordplay, as well as haikus, dramatic readings, blasphemy, and so much more in his first hour-long special, shot live in his home town of Boston.
A concert film that the former Pink Floyd singer-songwriter made on various tour dates between 2010 and 2013, when he was playing his former group's 1980 double-album in its entirety.
Live Aid was held on 13 July 1985, simultaneously in Wembley Stadium in London, England, and the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, United States. It was one of the largest scale satellite link-ups and television broadcasts of all time: watched live by an estimated global audience of 1.9 billion, across 150 nations. "It's twelve noon in London, seven AM in Philadelphia, and around the world it's time for Live Aid...!"
Graced with a velvet voice, 21-year-old Violet Sanford heads to New York to pursue her dream of becoming a songwriter only to find her aspirations sidelined by the accolades and notoriety she receives at her "day" job as a barmaid at Coyote Ugly. The "Coyotes" as they are affectionately called tantalize customers and the media alike with their outrageous antics, making Coyote Ugly the watering hole for guys on the prowl.
The Marx Brothers help young Broadway hopefuls when they get mixed up with gangsters due to a tin of sardines containing Romanoff diamonds.
A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.
A detective is hired to protect the life of a singer, who has recently inherited a department store, from the store's crooked manager.
