David Portillo

The plot is almost identical to Donizetti’s Don Pasquale except that the “old man” is not a fool here and his relationship with his nephew, Henry, is loving. It is more human and tender but still has bite. All the old man, Sir Morosus, wants is silence. Richard Strauss' Die schweigsame Frau was first presented in 1935; Hitler and Goebbels refused to attend because Stefan Zweig, the librettist, was a Jew and Strauss refused to remove his name from the program after the Nazis had insisted it be excised. It was a great success but was withdrawn for just that political reason after only three performances. Presented here is the complete, with some minor tweeks, uncensored version.

D’étranges créatures rôdent la nuit, dans les bois près d’Athènes, et différents mondes y vivent sans se croiser. Les Amants ne savent pas que les Rustiques existent. Ni les Rustiques ni les Amants ne savent qu’ils sont entourés des fées. Et seul l’ingénieux Puck peut voyager d’un monde à l’autre. Illogique, direz-vous ? Bien sûr, puisqu’il s’agit d’un songe ! Mais qu’on se rassure : tout l’art de Shakespeare, magistralement adapté par Benjamin Britten, est de transformer cette confusion en une féérique comédie des amours.

There are more than 300 Bach choirs and Bach ensembles worldwide, most of which are made up of amateurs. For many, their lives are inextricably linked with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. What do people seek and find in his music? What connects them across continents? What fascination lies in the music of the famous German composer, which manages to transcend borders, cultures, religions and centuries? The film embarks on a journey through six continents to meet amateur musicians and singers who have made Bach their "centerpiece".

For Theodora, a princess who has converted to Christianity, earthly existence means nothing compared to the promise of eternal salvation. She disobeys the command issued by the Roman Emperor to worship Jupiter, preferring instead to die in the name of freedom of religion. The globally celebrated countertenor and Handel specialist Bejun Mehta debuts as a conductor at MusikTheater an der Wien with the La Folia Barockorchester.

Après une soirée à l’opéra, des invités se retrouvent pour dîner chez l’aristocrate Edmundo Nóbile. Une fois le repas terminé, les convives se rendent compte qu’ils ne peuvent quitter la demeure. La porte est ouverte, mais une force invisible empêche qui que ce soit d’entrer ou de sortir…

Dans cette production légendaire, le réalisateur John Dexter et le décorateur David Reppa ont brillamment capturé le drame austère du seul long opéra de Poulenc, qui raconte l’histoire d’un groupe de religieuses prises dans le tourbillon de la Révolution française. Maria Ewing est Blanche de la Force, une novice aristocratique qui fuit son couvent lorsqu'il est profané, pour revenir rejoindre ses confrères alors qu'elles sont conduites à leur exécution. La légendaire Régine Crespin, lors de sa dernière apparition au Met, est Madame de Croissy, la prieure dont la mort atroce hante Blanche. Jessye Norman chante Mère Lidoine, la nouvelle prieure, et Florence Quivar est la Mère Marie réconfortante. Le maestro français Manuel Rosenthal dirige.

François Girard, whose revelatory 2013 take on Parsifal set the recent Met standard for Wagner stagings, now unveils a spellbinding new vision of the composer's tale of a cursed sea captain doomed to sail the open ocean for eternity. With sweeping sets by John Macfarlane, Girard’s new production turns the Met stage into a rich, layered tableau reminiscent of a vast oil painting. Valery Gergiev conducts a brilliant cast led by bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin as the Dutchman, with German soprano Anja Kampe making her anticipated Met debut as the devoted Senta, whose selfless love is what the Dutchman seeks. Bass Franz-Josef Selig is her father, Daland, and tenor Sergey Skorokhodov is her deserted former lover, Erik. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to more than 2,200 theaters in more than 70 countries worldwide.

One of Mozarts most enchanting works, Die Zauberflöte is a fairy tale that uses familiar archetypes to ask provocative and difficult questions about religion, the nature of power, the bonds of family, and of course love. Premiered just months before Mozarts death, Die Zauberflöte in many ways represents a new departure for the composer. Catching the spirit of revolution in the air, Mozart turned his attention for the first time from court opera to popular opera, writing this singspiel (sung-play) for a new and much broader audience. Celebrated Canadian directing duo Barbe & Doucet make both their British and Glyndebourne debuts here with their new Die Zauberflöte, a veritable theatrical feast of eccentricity. (The Guardian). Ryan Wigglesworth conducts an outstanding cast including Russian soprano Sofia Fomina as Pamina, David Portillo as her beloved Tamino, Brindley Sherratt as Sarastro, and the ebullient Björn Bürger as Papageno.

Breaking the Waves tells the story of Bess McNeill, a religious young woman with a deep love for her husband Jan, a handsome oil rig worker. When Jan becomes paralyzed in an off-shore accident, Bess’s marital vows are put to the test as he encourages her to seek other lovers and return to his bedside to tell him of her sexual activities.