Famous Scenes from Pagliacci(1934)

Meeting Venus(en)

Celebrated Swedish opera star Karin Anderson is slated to appear in an internationally-telecast production of Tannhauser. Ms. Anderson balks at the notion of working with obscure Hungarian conductor Zoltan Szanto. The much-anticipated production may never get off the ground, thanks to labor-management difficulties, intramural jealousies, and clashing egos. Amidst all this chaos, the mismatched Anderson and Szanto fall in love.

Killer Housewives(es)

In Madrid, Azu's husband Filipe is smug and boorish, but it's his money she slips to family members constantly in need of cash and that she uses to buy gifts for her lover, Pablo. Things start to fall apart when Pablo wants to leave her and when Filipe wants to evict Azu's cousin from a butcher shop he rents. Azu hatches a plan that relies on her sister, her cousin the butcher, and his mentally-challenged delivery man. When things start to go wrong, can Azu make them right?

All About My Wife(ko)

A man asks a womanizer to seduce his wife in order to catalyze a divorce.

Mozart Apollo et Hyacinthus(en)

First of all it is impossible to conceive of the creative genius who wrote this music when only [...]. Add to this the outstanding musicianship of the young singers/actors and orchestra members.Christiane Karg has a voice that is pure beauty; her range, precision and her ability to convey tremendous emotion are astounding.Her aria "Laetari, iocari" is a tour de force, tossed off with the greatest ease. Then there is the beautiful duet she sings with Maximilian Kiener. This is to die for! The staging, the singing and the acting are of an extremely high level. On the second disc Christiane Karg plays a totally different character, wily and playful, but oh, that voice!

Let's Sing Again(en)

An orphan (Eight-year-old boy soprano Bobby Breen) gets a chance to sing opera in New York.

Das Liebesverbot(en)

This Wagner opera is rarely performed because of the scandals that engulfed the Magdeburg Theatre when it was performed in 1836 under the title The Novice of Palermo, and became known as a cursed opera from which the composer had to distance himself. Wagner's adaptation of the story reflects the rebellious mood of a Revolutionary Germany, vindicating sensual love and attack the fanatical repression of sexuality by a puritanical and hypocritical authority. As the prose says, "Shame to him whose cruel striking/Kills for faults of his own liking!". One of the most extraordinary musicals based on a text by Shakespeare, especially worthy of a new performance as it is four hundred years since the death of the Bard.

Moses und Aron(en)

One of the greatest revolutions in the history of mankind happened around 3000 years ago: the transition from polytheism to monotheism through the prophet Moses. God revealed himself directly to Moses, instructing him in absolute truth. Moses was charged with leading the people of Israel to the Promised Land and escaping from Egyptian slavery. Moses came to embody the relationship between the human and divine truth. God’s call to Moses presented a new idea that exploded all previous religious concepts: ‘One God – unique, eternal, intangible, inconceivable’. Moses understands this concept, but is unable to express it, and therefore God appoints Moses’ brother Aaron as his spokesman. They are bound to fail: Aaron can only approach sharing the idea by compromising its meaning, whilst Moses is left to search fruitlessly for “the word I lack …” This production of Arnold Schoenbergs opera was filmed during the Ruhrtriennale 2009.

The Phantom of the Operetta(es)

Aldo and his girlfriend Lucy reopen an abandoned opera house, but find out that the place is inhabited by a group of Phantoms wearing the Claude Rains 1943 Phantom of the Opera costume.

The Gay Desperado(en)

Opera singer Chivo is currently playing a singing cowboy, and Mexican bandito Braganza kidnaps him (along with Jane, an heiress) so he can learn to become more like the American movie gangsters he admires.

The Kitchen(en)

Jennifer's thirtieth birthday party is supposed to be a special day. But what starts out as a day of celebration quickly spirals into a most ill-fated day Jennifer wishes she could forget, in this ensemble comedy set entirely in a kitchen.

A Girl, a Guy, and a Gob(en)

Steve is a shy quiet man who is an executive for a shipping firm. He meets Dot at the Opera where she had his seats and the next day she shows up as his temporary secretary. Then Coffee Cup comes to town to see Dot, his gal. When Steven is with Cecilia, everything is boring. When he is with Dot and Coffee Cup, everything is exciting and he falls for Dot. But Coffee is getting out of the Navy in a few days and he plans to marry Dot.

Manhattan Parade(en)

Director Lloyd Bacon's 1931 drama takes a different look at the Broadway arena by focusing on the owners of a theatrical costume shop.

Parsifal(de)

A psychological interpretation of the opera mixing in references to the history of Germany, Wagner’s life, German literature and philosophy. The action is centered on Wagner’s death mask. Kundry is the main character – one might read the film as the story of her redemption rather than that of Amfortas.

Waitress: The Musical(en)

A waitress and expert pie-maker dreams of a way out of her small town and rocky marriage.

Giacomo Meyerbeer - Les Huguenots (Die Hugenotten)(de)

Peter Grimes(en)

Benjamin Britten's opera as performed by the English National Opera, with Philip Langridge in the title role.

7 Deaths of Maria Callas(en)

A meditation on the female body as a source of both power and pain that focuses on the tragic figure of renowned American-Greek opera singer Maria Callas (1923-77), whose stunning soprano voice captivated audiences around the world in the mid-20th century while her life was wracked by scandal and personal suffering.

Easy to Get(en)

In the third of Pathe's Gay Girls comedy series, Harry Myers is a married man who strings one of them along until his wife Isabel Withers, comes along. Later one of them gets a job as a co-respondent in a divorce suit, and Myers is the divorce-seeking husband.

Dalibor(cs)

Dalibor is based on events that took place in the 15th century: having led a peasant revolt, the Knight Dalibor of Kozojedy was imprisoned, by order of King Vladislav II of Bohemia, in a tower in Prague Castle that still bears the name “Daliborka” to this day. Legend has it that he learned to play the violin while he was incarcerated, and that the people passing by the tower would be moved on hearing his music.

Elektra(de)

The richness and intensity of Richard Strauss's masterful one-act opera, in Herbert Wernicke's compelling production, vividly portrays the relentless pursuit and ecstatic realization of vengeance. Featuring Linda Watson, Jane Henschel, Manuela Uhl, Rene Kollo, and Albert Dohmen. The Philharmonia Chor Wien and Münchner Philharmoniker are conducted by Christian Thielemann