Discovered at age nine and a celebrated composer by age eighteen, George Frideric Handel experienced a meteoric rise to success, with forty-two operas performed on three continents in his lifetime. As enduring as Handel's operatic work is, the prodigious German genius is best known for his oratorio Messiah. Now you can learn in poignant detail how Handel's magnum opus came to be.
Susannah Cibber
Charles Jennens
Young Handel
Robert Jennens
Claus Guth's exciting 2017 staging of Handel’s "Rodelinda" at Madrid’s Teatro Real, featuring Lucy Crowe and Bejun Mehta as Rodelinda and Bertarido, with conductor Ivor Bolton. After the successes of "Giulio Cesare" in 1723 and "Tamerlano" in 1724, Rodelinda completes the trilogy of Handel’s great opera seria masterpieces. The work was composed in 1725 using Nicola Francesco Haym’s libretto, a work inspired by Antonio Salvi’s earlier libretto which had been itself adapted from Pierre Corneille’s tragedy "Pertharite, roi des Lombards". Rodelinda thus brought one of the most glorious compositional periods in the Handel’s career to a close, about a decade after his arrival in the British capital. Mixing romantic storytelling and political intrigue, Handel produced one of his most beautiful scores, a true operatic tour de force.
Director Peter Sellars helms this provocative adaptation of George Frideric Handel's opera "Giulio Cesare," sung in the original Italian by soprano Susan Larson (who plays Cleopatra) and countertenor Jeffrey Gall (in the role of Julius Caesar) but set in a very different locale: a futuristic Middle East. Sellars personally wrote the English subtitles included in this version to match the tone he intended for his vision.
Presents Handel as a key figure in the development of Baroque music. Illustrates with musical selections his contributions to 18th century music including the oratorio form perfected in 'THE MESSIAH.'
In 1909, several years after Korea is forced into becoming a Japanese colony, freedom fighters plot the daring assassination of Japan's prime minister during their quest for independence.
VH1's official kickoff to Super Bowl weekend with a special concert salute to the armed forces at Luke Air Force Base in Glendale, AZ. Fall Out Boy and Charli XCX headline with host Nick Lachey.
The picture is dedicated to the exploits of the Soviet underground fighters and partisans who heroically fought against the German invaders during the Great Patriotic War. The image of the main character of the railway worker Ales Arlovich is collective, but it is based on the fate of the Soviet underground fighter Fyodor Krylovich, who committed the largest land sabotage of the Second World War at the Osipovichi railway station.
While investigating the furtive world of illegal doping in sports, director Bryan Fogel connects with renegade Russian scientist Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov—a pillar of his country’s “anti-doping” program. Over dozens of Skype calls, urine samples, and badly administered hormone injections, Fogel and Rodchenkov grow closer despite shocking allegations that place Rodchenkov at the center of Russia’s state-sponsored Olympic doping program.
Crash and Burn chronicles the thrilling and turbulent career of Irish racing driver Tommy Byrne, who rose from a rough, working-class background to the cusp of Formula 1 in the 1980s. Directed by Seán Ó Cualáin, the film explores Byrne's undeniable talent and rebellious personality, which set him apart on the track but also clashed with the conservative and elite world of Formula 1. Byrne’s story is filled with highs and lows, from his dominance in lower racing categories to his brief, rocky stint in Formula 1 and subsequent struggles. The documentary combines interviews, archival footage, and personal insights to portray the complexities of Byrne’s character and his “what could have been” legacy in motorsport.
Uncompromising millennial radicals from the United States and the United Kingdom attack the system through dangerous technological means, which evolves into a high-stakes game with world authorities in the midst of a dramatically changing political landscape.
Rome is on the thresh-hold of the Holy year 1925, the city wishes to present itself as 'spotless' to the outside world. The appearance of a child's corpse puts an end to these aspirations. The police arrest a small time crook who has committed a robbery but has nothing to do with the murder of the child.
A documentary about Cairo Jazz Festival's Amr Salah and his struggle every year to bring people and arts together in a country where 70% of people are under 30 and the Officials do not care about culture too much.
WAR OF WORDS is an energizing, controversial and inspiring feature documentary that lifts the lid on the fast growing UK Battle Rap scene. The documentary is an examination of an exciting subculture of youth in the UK today; their creativity and work ethic, their passion for language and ability to control their own destiny. It investigates freedom of expression and respect for other cultures and lifestyles. While the language is often harsh and unflinching, the 'anything goes' philosophy of the battle arena results in one of the most harmonious and creative scenes in youth culture. The film is a truly entertaining expose on how the UK has embraced this American art form, creating one of the most exciting youth subcultures happening right now.
Recorded live at the Kilden Performing Arts Centre in Kristiansand, Norway, this concert features 17 of Rolf Løvland and Fionnuala Sherry’s greatest hits including “You Raise Me Up” – made famous in the States by Josh Groban; and “Nocturne” – the song that launched their career with a victory at the Eurovision Song Contest on 1995. The event celebrates the Norwegian-Irish duo’s two decade career that includes eight studio albums with sales in excess of 5 million copies. The concert features the Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra along with special guest artists such as Ole Edvard Antonsen, Tracey Campbell, Cathrine Iversen and Espen Grjotheim.
Donkeys inhabit and communicate with each other - and the filmmakers - in a Sanctuary.
The senior year of a girls’ high school step team in inner-city Baltimore is documented, as they try to become the first in their families to attend college. The girls strive to make their dancing a success against the backdrop of social unrest in their troubled city.
About the last two years of movie goddess Jayne Mansfield’s life and the speculation swirling around her untimely death being caused by a curse after her alleged romantic dalliance with Anton LaVey, head of the Church of Satan.
This in-depth look into the powerhouse industries of big-game hunting, breeding and wildlife conservation in the U.S. and Africa unravels the complex consequences of treating animals as commodities.
When Harvard PhD student Jennifer Brea is struck down at 28 by a fever that leaves her bedridden, doctors tell her it’s "all in her head." Determined to live, she sets out on a virtual journey to document her story—and four other families' stories—fighting a disease medicine forgot.
A nonfiction account of the Ferguson uprising told by the people who lived it, this is an unflinching look at how the killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown inspired a community to fight back—and sparked a global movement.
About the extraordinary doctors and activists—including Paul Farmer, Jim Yong Kim, and Ophelia Dahl—whose work 30 years ago to save lives in a rural Haitian village grew into a global battle in the halls of power for the right to health for all.