Madama Butterfly

Opera Gala - Live from Baden Baden(de)

Der Freischütz(de)

Weber was at the forefront of the rise of German Romantic opera and sought to dethrone Rossini from his position as the leading operatic composer in Europe. In his breakthrough and most popular opera Der Freischütz (The Marksman) composed in 1821, he succeeded in his aim of establishing a truly German form. Turning to the folklore and folk songs of his native land he took a story of a marksman who makes a pact with the Devil, vesting it with powerful intensity not least in the famous Wolfs Glen scene and an astonishing control of orchestral color and atmosphere.

Die Walküre(de)

The gorgeous and evocative Otto Schenk/Günther Schneider-Siemssen production continues with this second opera in Wagner’s Ring cycle. Hildegard Behrens brings deep empathy to Brünnhilde, the favorite daughter of the god Wotan (James Morris) who nevertheless defies him. Morris’s portrayal of Wotan is deservedly legendary, as is Christa Ludwig, as Fricka. Jessye Norman and Gary Lakes are Sieglinde and Siegmund, and Kurt Moll is the threatening Hunding. James Levine and the Met orchestra provide astonishing color and drama. (Performed April 8, 1989)

Siegfried(de)

Siegfried is the third of the four operas that constitute Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), by Richard Wagner.

La Bohème from the Royal Opera House(en)

Ever since its premiere in Turin in 1896, La bohème has been a huge hit with audiences across the world. Within two years, it had been seen in Buenos Aires, Los Angeles, Prague, Berlin, Manchester and beyond. With over 500 performances chalked up at Covent Garden alone, this opera is one of the most popular and enduring in the repertoire. In this performance from 2020, Sonya Yoncheva stars as the doomed seamstress Mimì, with Charles Castronovo as Rodolfo, who falls in love with her at first sight. Simona Mihai and Andrzej Filonczyk perform the roles of the on-off lovers, Musetta and Marcello. Poverty and passion collide in a story of friendship and fellowship, love and loss. Featuring some of Puccini’s best-loved music, this performance is conducted by Emmanuel Villaume.

Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, 2017)(en)

This is Laurent Pelly’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées staging of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, with a cast featuring Florian Sempey as Figaro, Catherine Trottmann as Rosina, and Michele Angelini as Il Conte Almaviva. Jérémie Rhorer conducts Le Cercle de l-Harmonie.

Dvořák: Rusalka(cs)

Praised by critics as “magnificent”, “breathtakingly theatrical” and full of “zestful imagination”, Melly Still’s “spine-tingling” Rusalka is a Glyndebourne classic – a magical contemporary reimagining of a much-loved fairy tale. Light and darkness, beauty and danger come together in this passionate tale of love against the odds. At once evocative and unsettling, this production collides two contrasting worlds in Rae Smith’s elegant designs made of “brilliant stage-pictures”. Rusalka’s forest home is a dappled space of sunshine and shadows, full of strange woodland creatures, while the Prince’s court is a world of sleek modernity and sophistication – a world of man.

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk(ru)

A young woman, married to a wealthy man, but miserably lonely; trapped within a world ruled with an iron fist. Katerina is driven by a lust for life and for love. Her husband, though, is impotent; her father-in-law a tyrant. No wonder, then, that she longs to free herself from this yoke. When Sergei starts work on the family estate, she sees in him a chance for salvation. However, their subsequent affair marks the beginning of a descent into crime.

Amadeus(en)

Disciplined Italian composer Antonio Salieri becomes consumed by jealousy and resentment towards the hedonistic and remarkably talented young Viennese composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Swan Lake(en)

Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, a ballet in three acts, is present by the Ballet Company of the National Opera of Ukraine, with music provided by the Orchestra of the National Opera of Ukraine, conducted by Mykola Dyadura

Tosca by Giacomo Puccini(fr)

As part of the 2019 Aix-en-Provence Opera Festival, filmmaker Christophe Honoré delivers an innovative staging of Giacomo Puccini's famous drama. His cleverly staged "opera within the opera" is a melancholy homage to the fascinating figure of the diva, who thrives on art and love and upsets the laws of time and death.

The Phantom of the Opera(en)

The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.

The Met — Il Trovatore(it)

Soprano Anna Netrebko appears in her highly anticipated Met role debut as Leonora, the tortured heroine who sacrifices her own life for the love of the Gypsy troubadour. Dmitri Hvorostovsky sings Count di Luna, Yonghoon Lee is Manrico in his Met role debut as the title character, Dolora Zajick sings her signature role of the gypsy Azucena, and Štefan Kocán is Ferrando. Marco Armiliato conducts Sir David McVicar’s Goya-inspired production.

The Metropolitan Opera: Rusalka(en)

Renée Fleming sings one of her signature roles, the title character in Dvořák’s sumptuously melodic Rusalka. The story of the opera, which is about a water spirit’s tragic romance with a human prince, is drawn from several folktale sources including Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Little Mermaid.” Star conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin leads a cast that also includes Piotr Beczala as the handsome Prince whom Rusalka yearns to love; Dolora Zajick as the cackling swamp witch Ježibaba; Emily Magee as the Foreign Princess, Rusalka’s rival; and John Relyea as Rusalka’s father, the Water Sprite.

Berlioz: La Damnation de Faust(fr)

Radiant mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and dashing Italian tenor Marcello Giordani are unlucky lovers in La Damnation de Faust, Hector Berlioz’s classic take on dancing with the devil.

Tchaikovsky: Iolanta / Bartók: Bluebeard's Castle(ru)

Valery Gergiev conducts Mariusz Trelinski’s thrilling new production of these rarely heard one-act operas. Anna Netrebko stars as the blind princess of the title in Tchaikovsky’s lyrical work, opposite Piotr Beczala as Vaudémont, the man who wins her love—and wakes her desire to be able to see. Nadja Michael and Mikhail Petrenko are Judith and Bluebeard in Bartók’s gripping psychological thriller about a woman discovering her new husband’s murderous past.

Andrea Chenier(en)

France, 1792. Chenier is an idealistic poet, in love with the aristocratic Maddalena. While Chenier supports such notions as "liberte, fraternite egalite," his sympathies do not extend to the current Reign of Terror. Likewise, the Revolutionary Tribunal has no need for poets or their girlfriends, especially those judged to be an Enemy of the State. Heads will roll.

Amahl and the Night Visitors(en)

A destitute, crippled child and his mother are visited late one night by three traveling strangers who claim to be following a star so that they may bring gifts to a newborn king. The yearly live telecasts of Gian Carlo Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors were a cherished Christmas tradition throughout the 1950s. In addition, since its premiere in 1951, Amahl has been performed regularly by community groups and small opera companies throughout the US, making it the single most popular American opera. This production, staged by the composer himself and originally telecast on Christmas Day, 1955, is a testament to the work’s enduring power to move the heart and stir the soul. Starring Rosemary Kuhlmann as the Mother and Bill McIver as Amahl. Members of the Symphony of the Air are under the direction of Thomas Schippers.

Madama Butterfly - Teatro alla Scala(it)

The West is a Land of Infinite Beginnings(en)

Alone in the woods, a young man is pursued by a horrifying specter and by visions of his deceased sisters. A meditation on the precarious uncertainty of the American Dream and the role that uncontrollable forces play in our lives, The West is a Land of Infinite Beginnings is inspired by a harrowing scene from the opera Proving Up, by composer Missy Mazzoli and librettist Royce Vavrek.

Médée(en)

Possibly mythology’s most unfathomable character: Medea, the sorceress, betrayed by her husband Jason, takes revenge by offering the latter’s lover a poisoned dress and then killing her own children. Such a destiny, so often portrayed in the arts, could not but be embodied at the Opera. In 1693, Marc-Antoine Charpentier premiered his only “tragédie lyrique”, based on a libretto by Thomas Corneille, at the Académie royale de Musique – forerunner of the Paris Opera – in the presence of Louis XIV. Three centuries after its creation, this baroque score of great orchestral wealth returns for the first time to the stage of the Paris Opera, under the baton of William Christie. Renowned for his exceptionally articulate interpretations, director David McVicar transposes the action to the Second World War, thus reinforcing the heroine’s tragic character.

Mutiny on the Buses(en)

Bus driver Stan Butler agrees to marry Suzy, much to the anguish of Mum, her son-in-law, Arthur, and daughter Olive. How, they wonder, will they ever manage without Stan's money coming in? Then Arthur is sacked, and Stan agrees to delay the wedding. Meanwhile, he hits on an idea: Arthur should learn to drive a bus. Somehow he does just that, and even gets a job. Stan then blackmails the Depot Manager into giving him the job of driver on the new money-making Special Tours Bus. A great idea ...if only the inspector hadn't taken Stan on his trial run to the Windsor Safari Park

Nelly and Monsieur Arnaud(fr)

Nelly leaves her lazy, unemployed husband to work for retired judge Mr Arnaud, forty years her senior, after he offers to clear her bills for her. While she types his memoirs the two develop a close friendship, but Arnaud becomes jealous when Nelly begins dating his good-looking young publisher.

The Fortress(ko)

Ancient Korea, 17th century. The powerful Khan of the Jurchen tribe of Manchuria, who fights the Ming dinasty to gain China, becomes the first ruler of the Qing dinasty and demands from King In-jo of Joseon to bow before him; but he refuses, being loyal to the Mings. On December 14th, 1636, the Qing horde invades Joseon, so King In-jo and his court shelter in the mountain fortress of Namhan and prepare to defend the kingdom.

In the Name of...(pl)

The contemporary story of a priest who launches a centre for troubled youth in a small parish. He is a good priest and is well-liked by his congregation, which remains unaware of his complicated past.

Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day(en)

Ricky, Julian and Bubbles are about to get out of jail, and this time, Julian vows to go straight, even open a legit business. Soon the Boys will all be rich. At least that's what they've told the parole board. But when they arrive back at the park, they find it's not the same old Sunnyvale - and it's not the same old Jim Lahey, Trailer Park Supervisor.

Here Today(en)

Veteran comedy writer Charlie Berns, who is slowly but surely losing his grip on reality, befriends a talented young New York street singer Emma Payge. Together, they form an unlikely yet hilarious and touching friendship that kicks the generation gap aside and redefines the meaning of love and trust.

The Clink of Ice(fr)

An alcoholic writer is visited by an incarnation of his cancer.

Batman: The Long Halloween, Part Two(en)

As Gotham City's young vigilante, the Batman, struggles to pursue a brutal serial killer, district attorney Harvey Dent gets caught in a feud involving the criminal family of the Falcones.

Breathless(es)

In the DR, hardened cop Manolo tries to take down an infamous drug cartel; meanwhile, his daughter has fallen in love with Lorenzo, a construction worker who's unwittingly gotten embroiled in the drug cartel's dealings.

Christmas with the Tuches(fr)

After having resigned from his post as President of the Republic, Jeff and his family are happy to be back in their village of Bouzolles. As the end of the year holidays approach, Cathy asks for a unique gift: to reconnect with her sister Maguy, and her husband Jean-Yves, with whom Jeff has been angry for 10 years. The reconciliation could have gone smoothly, except that during a lunch, Jeff and Jean-Yves, will once again find a subject of contention: Christmas. This family feud, which should never have left Bouzolles, will turn into a standoff between Jeff and a giant of Internet distribution.

Ema(es)

Ema is a magnetic and impulsive dancer in a reggaeton troupe. Her toxic marriage to choreographer Gastón is beyond repair, following a decision to give up on their adopted child Polo. She sets out on a mission to get him back, not caring who she’ll need to fight, seduce or destroy to make it happen.

Beyond the Reach(en)

A high-rolling corporate shark and his impoverished young guide play the most dangerous game during a hunting trip in the Mojave Desert.

The Cameraman(en)

A photographer takes up newsreel shooting to impress a secretary.

Bacurau(pt)

Bacurau, a small town in the Brazilian sertão, mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita, who lived to be 94. Days later, its inhabitants notice that their community has vanished from most maps.

The Disciple(mr)

Self-doubt, sacrifice and struggle converge into an existential crisis for a devoted classical vocalist as the mastery he strives for remains elusive.

Hi(en)

A simple story about how loneliness can be distinguished between two household roofs

Eternals(en)

The Eternals are a team of ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years. When an unexpected tragedy forces them out of the shadows, they are forced to reunite against mankind’s most ancient enemy, the Deviants.

Passing(en)

In 1920s New York City, a Black woman finds her world upended when her life becomes intertwined with a former childhood friend who's passing as white.

City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold(en)

Mitch Robbins' 40th birthday begins quite well until he returns home and finds his brother Glen, the black sheep of the family, in his sofa. Nevertheless he is about to have a wonderful birthday-night with his wife when he discovers a treasure map of Curly by chance. Together with Phil and unfortunately Glen he tries to find the hidden gold of Curly's father in the desert of Arizona.