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Blood into WineMaynard James Keenan is known as the front man for Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer. In the mid-1990's, on a whim, the reclusive rock star left Los Angeles and moved to an Arizona ghost town (population 300). A wine enthusiast, Keenan began to envision a world class wine region on the Verde Valley's craggy slopes and with wine mentor Eric Glomski (former David Bruce winemaker and current owner... |
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Tommy (The Who)The Who's 1969 rock opera, about a deaf, dumb and blind child who is eventually cured and becomes a rock celebrity, is given a characteristically flamboyant film treatment by Ken Russell. |
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The Naked NightAmong the real connoisseurs, this film is considered one of the finest gems; an early, expressionistic master-piece. Vibrantly vital, rule-breaking, paving the way for the establishing of Swedish film as Art... The story centres around a small, run down circus company, touring the south of Sweden in very early 20th century. Every day is a fight for survival, for food, shelter and human dignity.... |
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The Swimming PoolThe atmosphere of false serenity mastered in this tragedy brought international recognition to Deray and reunited former Schneider Delon couple on screen with undeniably electric results. Jean-Paul and Marianne spend lazy holidays at their villa in idyllic Southern France. However when Harry and his attractive young daughter Penelope show up, the dreamy summer days are suddenly filled with... |
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Knife in the WaterPolanski's first feature is a model of economic and imaginative filmmaking. A young couple invite a hitchhiker to accompany them on a sailing weekend. The tension between the men intensifies and dangerous emotional games are played which end in violence. |
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Cul-de-SacEccentric black comedy in which two gangsters on the run take refuge in an old castle on a desolate island and find their nemesis in the effeminate owner and his voluptuous wife. The two gangsters share a rather bizarre passive, aggressive relationship that quickly disintegrates when interrupted by the strangers. Eventually a even more bizarre bonding develops between the couple and Stander, one... |
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DreamsThe story revolves around two women in the fashion business, one photographer and one model. ”Here Bergman confirms that it is, after all, he – and he alone – who has the genius of film in his blood--- it is sheer film poetry” wrote one leading critic after the opening of 'Dreams'. Women have always played a major part in Bergman’s life: both on the screen, the stage and in private.... |
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Apocalypse (France Télévisions Distribution rights)Apocalypse World War 2APOCALYPSE tells us about this huge conflict through the tragic destiny of those who went to war (soldiers), those who suffered from it (civilians), and those who ran it (political and military leaders). The “horrible yet familiar” war led to the deaths of 50 million men and women across the world – making for the first time as many civilian victims as there were military casualties. |
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Vue du ciel (France Télévisions Distribution rights)Earth from aboveThe seasons episode + Episode 1 Gabon: Plan B Gabon is among the world’s last earthly paradises. Its territory, 85% of which is all forest, is twice the size of France, and elephants outnumber inhabitants. Many men and NGOs are fighting to protect the country’s natural resources as Gabon prepares to become the Africa’s latest tourist resort. Episode 2 Japan: Consumption, Our Imprint on... |
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La RondineLa Rondine, PucciniSet in France during the Second Napoleonic Empire (1852-70). The courtesan Magda de Civry, provided for by the banker Rambaldo, meets the young Ruggero Lastouc who has just arrived from the province at a party at her home. She meets him in disguise in a Parisian café where she falls in love with him, in the belief that by doing so she can reawaken a magical adventure she had in the past. Just... |
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Cosi Fan TutteSalzburg Festival : Cosi Fan Tutte, MozartWith the new production of Mozart’s Cosí fan tutte from the coming Salzburg Festival 2009, the German Director Claus Guth will conclude his Mozart/Da Ponte cycle, which he first started with “Le nozze di Figaro” (starring Anna Netrebko) in 2006, followed by “Don Giovanni” (starring Christopher Maltman, Erwin Schrott, Matthew Polenzani, Annette Dasch, Dorothea Röschmann) in 2008. The... |
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Benvenuto CelliniSalzburg Festival : Benvenuto Cellini, BerliozHector Berlioz‘s “Benvenuto Cellini, a French opera written in the 1830s, is so complex, richly detailed and prolifically imaginative that Berlioz‘s contemporaries often considered it unplayable. However, this is resoundingly proven false in the 2007 Salzburg Festival production of director Philipp Stölzl, conductor Valery Gergiev (“the wild man of music“) and a high-caliber cast... |
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L'OrfeoLa Scala: L'Orfeo, MonteverdiKnown for its dramatic power and lively orchestration, Monteverdi's Baroque masterwork has obtained a position of supreme importance in the history of opera. This new production is staged and designed by Robert Wilson, who the New York Times has described as “a towering figure in the world of experimental theater, an explorer in the uses of time and space onstage”; conducted by Rinaldo... |
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Il Viaggio a ReimsLa Scala: Il Viaggio a Reims, RossiniIl Viaggio a Reims is Rossini's last opera in the Italian language (all of his later works were in French). Commissioned to celebrate the coronation of French King Charles X in Rheims in 1825, the work has been critically acclaimed as one of Rossini's finest compositions. It is a demanding work, requiring 14 soloists (three sopranos, one contralto, two tenors, four baritones, and four basses). ... |
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RigolettoRigoletto, VerdiConsidered one of Giuseppe Verdi’s greatest accomplishments, and certainly his most touching portrayal of a father-daughter relationship, Rigoletto continues to marvel audiences worldwide with its tragic plot and its trademark Arias (La donna e’ mobile, Caro nome, Cortigiani vil razza dannata). This production from Italy’s most important Festival entirely dedicated to the genius of Verdi... |
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NormaNorma, BelliniAt 30, Bellini wrote Norma. It became his greatest achievement and is now regarded as an example of the supreme height of the Bel Canto tradition. The title role is generally considered one of the most difficult in the soprano repertoire and includes the famous Aria Casta Diva. Set in Gaul, at the time of Ancient Rome, Norma tells the story of the tragic love triangle between the aging priestess... |
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Lady Macbeth of MtsenskLady Macbeth of Mtsensk, ShostakovichEven though it was acclaimed at the time of its creation, Shostakovich’s opera Lady Macbeth was condemned in the Soviet Union in 1936, 2 years after the first performance, and banned for almost thirty years. It tells the story of the unhappy Katerina who is driven to murder so she can pursue her romance with Sergei, one of her husband’s workers. In 1998, Florence’s Maggio Musicale (one of... |
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I PuritaniI Puritani, BelliniFollowing five years of extraordinary success with La Sonnambula, Norma and Beatrice di Tenda, I Puritani, the last opera written by a young Bellini, who died at age 34, is the richest example of transition from the lyrical classicism to the passion of romanticism. The first performances, in Paris, 1835, interpreted by the most beautiful voices of the time, became a legend. For this production... |
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The NutcrackerMariinsky Kirov Ballet's The Nutcracker TchaikovskyThe premier of what is known to be one of the world’s most famous ballets, the Nutcracker, took place at the Mariinsky Theater of Russia in 1892. Mikhail Shemiakin, Russian émigré and world-renowned avant-garde artist and sculptor reinterpreted the historical ballet to suit a more colorful audience. Known as the sophisticated and witty Nutcracker, Mikhail Shemiakin’s version is a more... |
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Don QuixoteDon Quixote, MinkusThe most well-known and resilient adaptation of Don Quixote is that of Russian choreographer, Marius Petipa, that first premiered in 1869. Alexander Gorsky revitalized the work in a 1902 performance including the famous Anna Pavlova, who danced the role of the street dancer and eventually was responsible for bringing the piece to the West in 1924. The ballet became a staple of the Moscow Bolshoi... |
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The WeddingThe Wedding - Stravinsky & The Ballets RussesIIgor Stravinsky started to compose The Wedding using folk texts that he adapted, relating the story of a Russian peasant wedding. The score for the first two scenes was finished in the spring of 1915 but the complete work was only finished two years later on April 4, 1917 in Morges. Diaghilev decided to put these choreographic scenes on the program of his Ballets Russes in June 1923. The... |
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The Rite of SpringThe Rite of Spring - Stravinsky & The Ballets RussesIts première at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Paris, on May 29, 1913 caused a veritable scandal. The audience was shocked by the primitive violence of the ballet. It was so radically rejected that the ballet was cancelled after eight performances. Although long forgotten, thanks to the relentless work of Millicent Hodson, Nijinsky's original choreography was recreated. After fifteen... |
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Swan LakeSwan Lake, TchaikovskyAfter his birthday celebration, Prince Siegfried sees a flock of swans and journeys into the forest to hunt them. In the forest, the swans gather at the lake. Siegfried is about to shoot one, when suddenly she transforms into a beautiful young woman – Odette, queen of the swan-maidens. The maidens are under a spell cast by the evil magician Rothbart, forced to become swans; only eternal love... |
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The FirebirdFirebird - Stravinsky & The Ballets RussesFirebird is a Russian folk tale in two scenes (premiered on June 25, 1910 in Paris – commissioned by Serge de Diaghilev). Serge de Diaghilev heard Stravinsky for the first time on February 6, 1909, the day when his Fantastic Scherzo and Fireworks were created. Diaghilev was extremely impressed by this last work. Since his Ballets Russes had already performed for a season in Paris in 1909 and... |
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BoltBolt, ShostakovichDimitri Shostakovich's second ballet, Bolt, brings serious and popular music and dance all together including Komsomol routines, Red Army marches, circus acrobatics, and vaudeville antics. Its first and last performance at the Leningrad State Academy Theatre of Opera and Ballet was in 1931. Critics argued that, while the ballet's storyline was topical – addressing the threat of industrial... |
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Les Ballets Russes de DiaghilevAt the beginning of last century, Les ballets russes of Diaghilev shoved aside conventions and opened the door wide to modernity, introducing the collaboration between painters, musicians and cutting edge choreographers. They remain one of the most audacious adventures of the 20th century. On the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of the Russian Ballets, four essential works are presented in... |
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The Antarctica ChallengeThe Antarctica Challenge: A Global WarningWhen the United Nations announced that they were going to screen The Antarctica Challenge: A Global Warning at the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen December 7 to 18, 2009, it sparked a media frenzy. This film is the only one to be screened to 190 world leaders and 11,000 delegates as they create the world’s first climate change policy. Why? Because this is the only film to... |
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La TraviataLa Scala: La Traviata, VerdiLa Traviata, music by Giuseppi Verdi, libretto by Francesco Maria Piave is based on The Lady of the Camelias. It was first performed at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, March 1853. Courtesan Violetta Valéry meets a new admirer, Alfredo Germont who confesses his love. Trouble intrudes with Alfredo's father who demands she renounce his son since the scandal of Alfredo's affair with her has... |
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La Forza del DestinoLa Forza del Destino, VerdiThis production of Giuseppe Verdi’s tragedy La Forza del Destino is conducted by Zubin Mehta and designed by Ezio Frigerio. Violeta Urmana and Marcello Giordani give stunning performances in the roles of Donna Leonora and Don Alvaro, portraying the tragic love story between the two characters with the utmost vehemence. |
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Il TritticoLa Scala: Il Trittico, PucciniIn honor of Puccini’s 150th birthday, La Scala brings his incomparable Il Trittico to the stage. Luca Ronconi is the talented director able to unite and at the same time give a different character to Il tabarro, Suor Angelica and Gianni Schicchi. |
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Il Barbiere di SivigliaIl Barbiere di Siviglia, RossiniRossini completed all the music for Il Barbiere di Siviglia in less than three weeks. This “Opera Buffa”, hated at its first performance only to become a hit within a week, is one of the most performed operas worldwide, and certainly Rossini’s most famous and beloved one. It features numerous Arias that have reached such a status of fame to sound familiar to anyone’s ears (i.e. Figaro’s... |
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Tristan und IsoldeLa Scala: Tristan und Isolde, WagnerTristan und Isolde is the timeless medieval romance of the tragic love-triangle: King Mark, his wife Isolde and the hero, Tristan in three acts by Richard Wagner based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Strassburg. Under Daniel Barenboim’s baton and Patrice Chéreau’s direction, the 2007-2008 La Scala season began with Tristan und Isolde, a project carefully conceived through the... |
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Roméo et JulietteSalzburg Festival : Roméo et Juliette, GounodDon Giovanni, probably Mozart’s most famous opera, is the opening production of the Festival in 2008. Following his successful production of Le nozze di Figaro in Salzburg, German stage With its four duets for the title couple Charles Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette is one of the most famous love tragedies in opera literature. Stage director Bartlett Sher (winner of this year’s best director of... |
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OtelloSalzburg Festival : Otello, VerdiVerdi’s last tragic opera, Otello, like Shakespeare’s play, is a shattering psychological drama. The new production for the Salzburg Festival is directed by Stephen Langridge, who in 2006 attracted attention with his production of Offenbach’s Bluebeard in Bregenz. Riccardo Muti, one of the best Verdi conductors of our time, is returning to Salzburg. Alongside to the Spanish baritone Carlos... |
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Don GiovanniSalzburg Festival : Don Giovanni, MozartDon Giovanni, probably Mozart’s most famous opera, is the opening production of the Festival in 2008. Following his successful production of Le nozze di Figaro in Salzburg, German stage director Claus Guth is preparing his second Da Ponte opera. In the title role British baritone Christopher Maltman, Winner of the Lieder Prize at the 1997 Cardiff Singer of the World Competition will be making... |
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MediterraneaLa Scala Ballet brings to the Teatro degli Arcimboldi what could be called a "sold out" premiere, which has indeed been the case worldwide for Mauro Bigonzetti’s much celebrated Mediterranea, a production that La Scala is adding to its repertoire in world exclusive. On this occasion, for the fifteenth anniversary of the show (created for the Balletto di Toscana in 1993), Mauro Bigonzetti... |
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AidaLa Scala: Aida, VerdiIn 1872 Giuseppe Verdi presented his masterpiece, Aida, for the first time in Europe, at La Scala. Aida’s history begins with the debut in Milan, after the Cairo premiere in February 1872, in which the staging was entrusted to the composer himself, Giuseppe Verdi. On the stage of La Scala, at the premiere of the 2006-2007 season, Aida delighted the audience who paid homage to Riccardo... |
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Don CarloLa Scala: Don Carlo, VerdiDon Carlo is possibly the most intense, deep, nuanced, rich, and masterful work of the “mature” Giuseppe Verdi, an extensive and monumental showcase of everything Verdi. It is also the Verdi opera that exists in the most number of versions. The version of this “Grand Opera” that will officially inaugurate the 2008-09 La Scala Opera Season is the 1884 Four Acts version that Verdi... |
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Maria StuardaLa Scala: LMaria Stuarda, DonizettiMaria Stuarda (Mary Stuart) is a tragic opera, tragedia lirica, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti to a libretto by Giuseppe Bardari based on Friedrich von Schiller’s 1800 play MARIA STUART. It received its premiere on December 30, 1835 at La Scala and is based on the lives of Mary, Queen of Scots and her cousin Queen Elizabeth I. During the negotiations of a marriage proposal between Queen... |
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Pharaoh's DaughterPharaoh's Daughter, PugniThe Pharaoh’s Daughter was created by Marius Petipa in 1862 for the Bolshoi Theatre in St. Petersburg. The ballet was immensely popular with the public and adored by the ballerinas. After the composer, Pugni, in a fit of anger, destroyed the piano score, Petipa began to stage the ballet without music; the music was added later. Petipa, who addressed the members of the corps-de-ballet as “ma... |
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Burlesque UndressedImmodesty Blaize Presents Burlesque Undressed the ultimate Film on Burlesque starring burlesque queen Immodesty BlaizeBURLESQUE UNDRESSED is a lavish and dazzling journey right into the heart of the art-form, featuring a compelling mix of live performance, interviews from burlesque stars past and present, captivating music and all-round show-stopping entertainment. This high-definition special tells the real story of the genre, charting its rise and fall from early British roots to an American evolution,... |
