The Blu-ray Experience: Opera & Ballet

Oct 1, 2008

0h 50m

★ 8.0

Overview

Including world-class artists such as Bryn Terfel, Cecilia Bartoli, Anne Sofie von Otter, Jose Cura, Simon Keenlyside and Agnes Letestu, this 50-minute sampler will give you a taste of many beloved classics in opera and ballet.

Genres

Music

Documentary

Production Companies

Opus Arte

The Blu-ray Experience: Opera & Ballet Trailers

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Cast

Papageno, Die Zauberflöte, Mozart

Bryn Terfel

Papagena, Die Zauberflöte, Mozart

Cecilia Bartoli

Carmen, Bizet

Anne Sofie von Otter

Self (archive footage)

José Cura

Self (archive footage)

Simon Keenlyside

Self (archive footage)

Agnès Letestu

Self (archive footage)

Dmitri Hvorostovsky

Self (archive footage)

Yvonne Naef

Self (archive footage)

Verónica Villarroel

Self (archive footage)

José Martinez

Self (archive footage)

Will Hartmann

Self (archive footage)

Dorothea Röschmann

County Durham, England, 1984. The miners' strike has started and the police have started coming up from Bethnal Green, starting a class war with the lower classes suffering. Caught in the middle of the conflict is 11-year old Billy Elliot, who, after leaving his boxing club for the day, stumbles upon a ballet class and finds out that he's naturally talented. He practices with his teacher Mrs. Wilkinson for an upcoming audition in Newcastle-upon Tyne for the royal Ballet school in London.

7.1

The Phantom of the Opera

Sep 22, 1925

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

7.0

Cavalleria rusticana

Jun 15, 1982

Franco Zeffirelli directs these two legendary La Scala productions telling tragic tales of jealousy. Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana features performances by Elena Obraztsova, Plácido Domingo, and Renato Bruson. Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci stars Teresa Stratas, Plácido Domingo, and Juan Pons. Both are conducted by George Pretre. This production of Pagliacci earned director Franco Zeffirelli the coveted Emmy as Best Director in the category of Classical Music Programming.

8.0

Winterreise

Feb 13, 2021

Franz Schubert's "Winterreise" is considered the pinnacle of German art song. Hans Zender (1936 - 2019) arranged the cycle in 1993, and his version for tenor and small orchestra brings to light emotions that pulsate beneath the surface in Schubert. Similar to Hans Zender, the choreographer Christian Spuck is also concerned with a journey into the interior of the human being.

0.0

Giselle

Jan 27, 2014

The peasant girl Giselle discovers the true identity of her lover Albrecht – and that he is promised to another. This is one of The Royal Ballet’s most loved and admired productions, faithful to the spirit of the 1841 original yet always fresh at each revival. This performance features former Bolshoi star and now Royal Ballet Principal Natalia Osipova in a breath-taking interpretation of the title role.

8.1

Die Walküre

Feb 23, 1990

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)

7.5

Siegfried

Feb 23, 1990

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

8.0

Amadeus

Sep 19, 1984

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

0.0

Madama Butterfly

Jan 9, 1986

Opera at La Scala Milan

6.9

Center Stage

May 12, 2000

A group of 12 teenagers from various backgrounds enroll at the American Ballet Academy in New York to make it as ballet dancers and each one deals with the problems and stress of training and getting ahead in the world of dance.

8.6

The Nutcracker

Dec 16, 1977

The Nutcracker is Mikhail Baryshnikov's breathtaking and critcally acclaimed Emmy nominated production. The thisspectacular performance is danced by the magnificent team of Baryshnikov, one of the greatest classical dancers of the century, and Gelsey Kirkland, both chowcased at the peak of the their careers, with members of the American Ballet Theatre.

0.0

Bizet: Carmen

Nov 19, 2013

With the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and conductor Brian Castles-Onion, a gritty set design, sumptuous bold costumes, stunning choreography, and the inestimable direction of Gale Edwards and Bizet's glorious opera is brought to life like never before in this second Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour.

8.0

Ghost Light by John Neumeier

Mar 19, 2021

The Hamburg Ballet was one of the first ballet companies internationally to return to its studios after the first lockdown. The ballet Ghost Light by John Neumeier deals with isolation and the feelings and fantasies an empty stage may evoke. Developed in fragments using small groups of dancers and under the constraints imposed by Covid-19, the choreography reflects situations, fears, relationships, memories, and emotions experienced during the pandemic.

6.7

Carmen

Mar 14, 1984

A film version of the famous Bizet opera, where a soldier (Don Jose) falls in love with a beautiful factory worker (Carmen), but she does not reciprocate his feelings.

6.4

Madame Butterfly

Nov 22, 1995

Cio-Cio-San, a young Japanese geisha, seeks to fulfill her dreams through marriage to an American naval officer. Her faith in their future is shattered by his empty vows and the loss she endures touches something deep within us all.

6.1

Matthew Bourne's Romeo + Juliet

Oct 22, 2019

Matthew Bourne's Romeo and Juliet is a passionate and contemporary re-imagining of Shakespeare's classic love story. Bursting with youth, vitality and Matthew Bourne's trademark storytelling.

0.0

Bolshoi Ballet: A Hero of Our Time

Apr 9, 2017

Pechorin, a young officer, embarks on a journey across the majestic mountains of the Caucasus, on a path set by his passionate encounters. Disillusioned and careless, he inflicts pain upon himself and the women around him… The story, based on the larger-than-life hero Pechorin, is adapted from Mikhail Lermontov’s literary masterpiece in three separate stories recounting his heartbreaking betrayals. Is Pechorin a real hero? Or is he a man like any other? This brand new production by choreographer Yuri Possokhov is a tragic poetic journey that can only be seen at the Bolshoi. Filmed live on April 9th 2017.

0.0

The Bolshoi Ballet: A Contemporary Evening

Mar 19, 2017

For one evening, the Bolshoi takes on a new challenge with audacity in The Cage by Jerome Robbins, Harald Lander’s Études and Alexei Ratmansky’s Russian Seasons.

8.0

The Metropolitan Opera: Roméo et Juliette

Jan 21, 2017

Diana Damrau and Vittorio Grigolo are opera’s classic lovers in Gounod’s lush Shakespeare adaptation. Director Bartlett Sher’s “brilliant and inspired new production … is a revelation” (Huffington Post), and has already won acclaim for its vivid 18th-century milieu and stunning costumes during runs at Salzburg and La Scala. Emmanuel Villaume conducts the sumptuous score.

0.0

Verdi: Nabucco

Jan 7, 2017

The legendary Plácido Domingo brings another new baritone role to the Met under the baton of his longtime collaborator James Levine. Liudmyla Monastyrska is Abigaille, the warrior woman determined to rule empires, and Jamie Barton is the heroic Fenena. Dmitri Belosselskiy is the stentorian voice of the oppressed Hebrew people.