Giacomo Puccini's bittersweet opera of high-spirited bohemians and the doomed love between Rodolfo, the idealistic poet and Mimi, the consumptive flower-maker, is a beautifully balanced series of tableaux depicting the infectious joie de vivre of youth and the tragic waste of disease and separation. The legendary and incomparable partnership of Mirella Freni and Luciano Pavarotti as the two lovers has been captured in this special live recording from stage of the San Francisco Opera. Brian Large has adapted Francesca Zambello's production for video, further illuminating the fascinating interaction of Puccini's characters. Gino Quilico sings Marcello, the colorful and moody painter, whose tempestuous relationship with the flirtatious Musetta (sung by Sandra Pacetti), comically mirrors the more profound love of Rodolfo and Mimi. Nicolai Ghiaurov sings Colline.
Jan 1988
The show tells the story of a group of songwriters who hung out together at the bar 30 years ago and who penned some of America's most popular music.
Jul 2005
The magic flute : opera in two acts [(DVD) videorecording] / by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, libretto by Emmanuel Schikaneder from the Opernhaus Zürich. Intertwining music of purity and beauty with the conventions of musical comedy, this opera is an exploration of man's search for truth and his confusion between the forces of light and dark. Mozart's final operatic legacy is a great work of the Enlightenment era.
Jan 2000
Would Napoleon have ever become Emperor without his Josephine? This two-part documentary series revisits the life of an incredibly modern woman from her childhood spent in the island of Martinique, to her coronation as Empress at age 41, and finally to her death from a simple cold ten years later in her palace, Malmaison.
Sep 2012
