Mezzo

Live broadcast of the opera performance held on November 10, 2012 at the Opéra national de Lorraine in Nancy, performed by five world-class countertenors.

With this DVD and Blu-ray of Rodelinda, one of Handel’s most emotionally complex operas, conductor Emmanuelle Haïm adds to her impressive Erato catalogue of the composer’s works. The imaginative production, by Jean Bellorini, was seen at the Opéra de Lille in Autumn 2018, and the cast features soprano Jeanine De Bique in the title role, countertenor Tim Mead as her husband Bertarido and another countertenor, Erato’s rising star Jakub Józef Orliński as Unulfo. Reviewing the production, Le Monde noted Emmanuelle Haïm’s “intimate connection with this music, which she knows how to unleash in all its violence, passion and heart-wrenching expressivity.”

Prince Siegfried is celebrating his coming of age. The Queen Mother informs him that, the following day, during the grand ball held to mark his birthday, he must choose a future wife. Displeased at not being able to choose her out of love, he goes into the forest during the night. It is then that he spots a flock of swans. He raises his crossbow, prepares to shoot, but stops immediately: before him stands a beautiful woman dressed in white swan feathers, followed by twelve other women dressed in the same way, four of whom are nicknamed ‘little swans’. ‘Swan Lake’ is a ballet by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, comprising four acts and four scenes, or three acts and four scenes. The staging is based on a libretto by Vladimir Begichev and Vasili Geltser. The story is an ancient German legend recounting the tale of the beautiful Princess Odette, transformed into a swan by the curse of the evil sorcerer Rothbart. Recorded live at the Palais Garnier, Paris, on 17 December 2005.

On the way to the Trojan War, the king of Mycenae killed a sacred doe belonging to Diana, an offense for which the goddess of war demands the sacrifice of the daughter of the leader of the Achaeans.

Feature film.

Opera by George Frideric Handel filmed on March 29, 2016 at the Theater in Vienna, Austria.

Recorded at the Teatro Alhambra on May 10 and 11, 2023.

A beautiful homage both to Ernst Reijseger's music and genre ambiguity. This documentary tries, and mostly manages, to balance the picture by capturing private solo improv sessions, both indoors and outdoors, that display Reijseger's mastery over different colors and tones - with the same astounding technique and soulful commitment. Interspersed with beautiful country- and city-side footage that evokes his ever contemplative music, Do You Still? also features intimate and sometimes bitter-sweet statements by Reijseger on his early years, "career" choices, mannerisms, anxieties and shortcomings.

Since William Christie founded Les Arts Florissants in 1979, they have strengthened year after year their reputation as one of the world’s premiere ensembles for early and Baroque music. For this 40th anniversary concert from 2019 at the stunning Philharmonie de Paris, core artists from “Les Arts Flo” reunite to perform some of the ensemble’s trademark pieces, from Lully’s Atys—a long-forgotten masterpiece they revived in 1987 over 230 years after its last performance—to the great operas of Rameau and gems by the likes of Charpentier, Purcell, and Handel. This celebratory concert features another first for the storied ensemble, as Christie shares conducting duties with Paul Agnew! Riveting from beginning to end, this Baroque Odyssey encapsulates all the qualities—world-class instrumentalists, impeccable Baroque vocalists, cannily chosen repertoire—that have made Les Arts Florissants such a beloved and enduring fixture in the classical world.

This seminal work of avant-garde opera from composer Philip Glass and director Robert Wilson arrives full-circle, coming to France, the site of its 1976 Avignon Festival world premiere, at the tail end of this 2014 revival tour for a landmark Theâtre du Châtelet production and a first ever filming by award-winning arts filmmaker Don Kent. Eschewing conventional narrative, the opera revolves loosely around pacifist Einstein’s relationship to the creation of the atomic bomb.

In the 1980s, Algeria experienced a tumultuous social context which reached its peak during the riots of October 88. This wave of protest, with youth as its figurehead, echoed the texts of raï singers. Thirst for freedom, misery of life and the aspirations of youth are among the main themes of their works which will inspire an entire generation. More than music, raï celebrates the Arabic language and becomes a vector of Algerian culture, thus providing the cultural weapons of emerging Algerian nationalism With Cheb Khaled, Cheb Mami and Chaba Fadela as leaders of the movement, raï is also a way of telling and reflecting the essence of Algeria in these difficult times. While the threat weighs on artists in Algeria, their exile allows raï to be exported internationally and thus, to bring the colors of Algeria to life throughout the world.

Written in 1865, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland was a popular success. All British schoolchildren and their parents knew about the escapades of the young Alice. With a new score by Philip Glass, a figurehead of American minimalism, choreographers Amir Hosseinpour and Jonathan Lunn reimagine and reinvent Lewis Carroll's fantastical world. Freed from the original narrative, the dancers of the OnR Ballet play a new gallery of contemporary creatures and characters, joined by actress Sunnyi Melles.

In Tamerlano, Handel defied rules both written and tacit—offering a main role to a mature tenor at a time when the castrato voice dominated; and not shying away from shocking scenes that other composers approached hesitantly, like suicide. Pierre Audi’s elegant, minimalist staging allows an all-star cast of singers to highlight the work’s many dramatic elements, proving that Baroque opera can still move and thrill us as it did 300 years ago!

Flamenco Hoy is the first live play directed by the great Spanish filmmaker Carlos Saura. For this staging it has more than 20 artists of the new generation, all of them possessing a great talent and very recognized in their field, exhibiting a lively, brilliant show, full of strength and energy. The dance, composed of 8 excellent dancers is presented with its varied samples of the traditions acquired over the years and its use of new trends such as jazz and contemporary. The cante is represented by 2 portentous cantaores who interpret the compositions and arrangements of Chano Domínguez, internationally recognized Spanish pianist and several times nominated for the Grammy. 4 musicians of great level complete the music scene.

The recording of Antonio Vivaldi's first opera from Teatro La Fenice, conducted by Diego Fasolis