But I, being poor, have only my dreams. I have spread my dreams under your feet. Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams... So begins Deborah Warner’s captivating 2008 production of Purcell’s timeless opera Dido and Æneas: a careful warning that suits the tragic story only too well. Swedish mezzo-soprano Malena Ernman as a disarming Dido is at the head of a stellar cast joined by Les Arts Florissants under William Christie’s direction.
In 2009, Frédéric Mistral’s tale of love and loss in Provence came to the Opéra de Paris with a new production of Gounod’s 1864 opera Mireille. Nicolas Joel’s naturalistic staging frames the accomplished performances of Albanian soprano Inva Mula as Mireille and American tenor Charles Castronovo as her ardent country lover Vincent.
At the Opéra Royal de Wallonie-Liège, stage director David Hermann and music director Christian Zacharias lead a production of Otto Nicolai's 1849 opera The Merry Wives of Windsor, a work that draws its inspiration from William Shakespeare's beloved eponymous play.
Dollhouse: The Eradication of Female Subjectivity in American Popular Culture charts the rise and fall of fictional child pop star Junie Spoons as her life story (and the ensuing disasters) unfolds, as told by those who knew her. Set in the bubble gum pop world of Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan and told a la VH1's Behind The Music, Junie's story tops itself one scandal after another as she rockets to international stardom and then faces the aftermath of a life under scrutiny.
Amour, the messenger of the gods, tells Orpheus that he may descend to the underworld and return with Eurydice. His singing has the power to appease the Furies and animate the blessed Shadows. Yet, his voice cannot reassure Eurydice who despairs of the feigned indifference of Orpheus, put to the test by Jupiter. Raphaël Pichon conducts the opera of operas and Aurélien Bory displays the giddiness of the mental and supernatural spaces traveled by Orpheus and beyond. Marianne Crebassa plays a new breeches role with Hélène Guilmette (Hélène in Le Timbre d’argent) and Lea Desandre (the title role in Alcione).
The production of “Les Passantes”, a poem written by Antoine Pol and set to song by Georges Brassens in 1972, was entrusted to Charlotte Abramow, a young 24-year-old director and photographer. This video presents a succession of aesthetic photographic tableaus representative of the place of women today.
Donizetti's French masterpiece was in the hands of Italian conductor Antonello Allemandi. This maestro, a bel canto specialist, captured the fire and intensity of the passions from the get-go, making the overture a superbly eloquent transition to a musical world based on beautiful lines and colors that elaborate distress and make it compellingly elegant. Allemandi demonstrated a full authority over the stage for the musically complex scenes, and in the arias and duets he demonstrated his confidence in the artistry of distraught singers by establishing ample tempos to support their soaring vocal lines while he concentrated on pulling every possible nuance from the pit players.
Paying tribute to one of their most popular hits, "Ventura Highway," 1970s soft rock icons America take the stage in a memorable concert recorded live at the Ventura Theater in Ventura, Calif. Pleasing the crowd with such classic tunes as "A Horse with No Name" and "I Need You," the trio is also joined by guests Andrew Gold and Stephen Bishop for eight numbers on the 14-song set list. Extras include behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.
Famously known as the live music capital of the world, Melbourne has achieved iconic status. Countless local artists have launched their careers on the storied stages of the city’s inner north, even while gentrification threatens the scene’s viability and other issues, including sexism, continue to undercut it.
The Sax Man tells the story of a beloved street musician, Maurice Reedus Jr. , and how this once rising star fell from the heights of the stage to the humility of the street. As he spends his later years longing for the good old days, Maurice receives a surprise opportunity to reunite with his old band to take to the stage one more time giving him one final shot to show who Maurice Reedus Jr. really is. . .
A 10 year old girl living in Croatia, her Gypsy Grandmother dies leaving a curse on the family set by her Grandfather. A schoolboy who moves into her town befriends her and helps her to find the Grandfather to lift the curse from her family.
In an uncertain future, a group of crazy and less than obedient squad, fight the great war. This league of misfits uses humor to get along the hard life of a soldier. In spite of the constant teasing, this fraternity look up to each other in hard time.
A Jumpin' Night in the Garden of Eden was the first film to document the klezmer revival, tracing the efforts of two founding groups, Kapelye and Boston's Klezmer Conservatory Band, to recover the lost history of klezmer music. For nearly a millennium, this vigorous and soulful music was part of the celebration of Jewish life in Eastern Europe. In the early decades of this century, the music took root in America. Klezmer musicians learned hundreds of tunes by ear and their ears were open to Gypsy, Ukrainian and Greek melodies of the old world, as well as to the new sounds of American jazz. Music born in Eastern Europe lived on in the imaginations of composers for New York's Yiddish theater, men whose tunes entered the mainstream through such unlikely adapters as the Andrew Sisters. Eventually Klezmer went underground as its audience assimilated into mainstream American culture.
Gurwinder comes from Punjab, he’s been working for years as a farm hand in Agro Pontino, not far from Rome. Since he first came in Italy, he’s been living with the rest of the Sikh community in Latina province. Hardeep is also Indian, but her stress is Roman, and she works as a cultural mediator. She, born and raised in Italy, is trying to free herself from the memories of a family that emigrated in another age, while he is forced, against his faith, to take methamphetamine and doping to bear the heavy work pace, to be able to send money in India.
The Lives of Hamilton Fish is a film whose story is told through songs. Two men both named Hamilton Fish were pronounced dead on the front page of a Newspaper in 1936, one was a famous statesman and the other, a notorious cannibal.
Who is Lydia Loveless? Singer/songwriter, alt-country queen, cow punk, hard rocker? The second coming of Hank Williams or Patti Smith? Or just a bubbling cauldron of hormones and emotions holding steadfast to the ideal of keeping rock & roll alive?
Adele has recieved iconic status from fans and industry proffesionals alike. With sold out concerts around the world and multiple awards to her name Adele came from humble beginnings and has gone on to be one of the biggest Artists in the world.
She was signed in 2006, released her debut album in 2008, and the follow-up in 2011. And the rest, as they say, is history. But Adele Adkins' history is one that deserves investigation, analysis, documentation and review. Using rare archival interviews (during which she speaks candidly about her life and career), live and studio performance footage, and contributions from collaborators and industry insiders, ADELE: THE ONLY WAY IS UP reveals just what it is that has transformed this seemingly ordinary girl from Croydon into the most successful musical icon of the third millennium.
A film exploring the innovative world of Acoustic FingerStyle guitar featuring interviews with many leading players including Andy McKee, Kaki King, Newton Faulkner and Tommy Emmanuel. Acoustic Uprising looks at the rich history of FingerStyle and the fusion of musical ideas the style has become known for.