Parsifal
The Met assembled an ideal cast for François Girard’s acclaimed new production of Wagner’s final masterpiece: Jonas Kaufmann in the title role of the fool “made wise by compassion”, René Pape as Gurnemanz, the veteran Knight of the Grail, Katarina Dalayman as Kundry, Peter Mattei is Amfortas, the anguished ruler of the Grail’s kingdom, and Evgeny Nikitin sings the evil magician Klingsor.
Casts & Crew
Jonas Kaufmann
Katarina Dalayman
René Pape
Evgeniy Nikitin
Rúni Brattaberg
Maria Zifchak
Peter Mattei
Jennifer Forni
Lauren McNeese
Andrew Stenson
Mario Chang
Mark Schowalter
Ryan Speedo Green
Kiera Duffy
Lei Xu
Irene Roberts
Haeran Hong
Katherine Whyte
Heather Johnson
Daniele Gatti
Also Directed by François Girard
A dance drama telling of a man's journey back into memory and imagination to escape, and finally overcome, a personal crisis. A convent school dormitory is the setting for a chronicle of fleeting impressions told through dance, music and images ranging from the erotic to the violent, and are infused with a mixture of high romanticism and gritty urban toughness.
Filmed in Modena, Italy across two nights in November 1993 as part of Peter Gabriel's acclaimed Secret World Live tour in support of the Us album, the show is elaborately presented and choreographed with two stages joined by a narrow pier. Peter Gabriel has always been a charismatic live performer with the ability to draw his audience into the onstage world he has created and rarely has this been better captured than on Secret World Live.
A collection of vignettes highlighting different aspects of the life, work, and character of the acclaimed Canadian classical pianist.
A man searching for his childhood best friend — a Polish violin prodigy orphaned in the Holocaust — who vanished decades before on the night of his first public performance.
A railroad worker has arrived at a halt in his life, at the same stopping point as his locomotive - a place situated between memory and imagination where the spectator may integrate himself into the poetic fiction.
Spans 300 years in the life of one famed musical instrument that winds up in present-day Montreal on the auction block. Crafted by the Italian master Bussotti (Cecchi) in 1681, the red violin derives its unusual color from the human blood mixed into the finish. With this legacy, the violin travels to Austria, England, China, and Canada, leaving both beauty and tragedy in its wake.
Based on the best-selling novel by Alessandro Baricco, this visually stunning film tells the story of a French trader who finds unexpected love far away from home.
Mohawk archaeologist Baptiste Asigny engages in a search for his ancestors following a tragic terrain slump in the Percival Molson Stadium.
THE SOUND OF THE CARCERI explores the deep relationship between music and architecture through a high-tech 'virtual confrontation' between Bach and his contemporary, the architect Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Using a striking visual style, director Francois Girard ('The Red Violin' and 'Thirty-Two Short Films about Glenn Gould') places Yo-Yo Ma within a series of computer-generated, three-dimensional recreations of Piranesi's well-known prison etchings. Through Yo-Yo Ma's and music producer Steven Epstein's struggle to recreate and interact with the imaginary space that Ma performs in, the film examines the complexity of illusion, of representation and reality.
Also Directed by Barbara Willis Sweete
Pajama-clad and elderly, WWI Flying Ace Billy Bishop wanders around his relic-filled attic reminiscing about his battle years.
This excellent Deutsche Grammophon Blu-ray DVD was made during a Metropolitan Opera company performance of “La Fanciulla del West” in December 2010. The performance marked the centenary of the world premiere of the opera at the old Metropolitan Opera in 1910 with Caruso as Ramirrez or Dick Johnson, Emmy Destinn as Minnie, Pasquale Amato as Jack Rance and Arturo Toscanini as the conductor. Puccini helped in the production of the opera and was present in the audience on the night of the premiere.
Rossini’s charming take on the Cinderella story features a brilliant cast, led by bel canto stars Joyce DiDonato in the title role and Juan Diego Flórez as her Prince Charming. Alessandro Corbelli delivers a comic tour de force as Don Magnifico, Cinderella’s stepfather. Pietro Spagnoli is Dandini, the Prince’s valet, who, disguised as his master, puts the prospective brides to the text, and Luca Pisaroni is the philosopher Alidoro, who takes the place of the fairy godmother. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads Cesare Lievi’s whimsical production.
Shakespeare’s lovers never looked and sounded as good as in this romantic film adaptation of Charles Gounod’s beloved opera “Roméo et Juliette”, starring one of classical music’s most popular and successful couples, Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu. A spectacular medieval castle and its surrounding countryside provide the breathtaking setting for this timeless tale of warring families and star-crossed lovers. Conductor Anton Guadagno leads the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra through the opera’s beautiful arias and duets in this fresh interpretation of Gounod’s masterwork.
Live performance Oct. 29, 2011. Fabio Luisi conducting Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Stage director Michael Grandage.
A vibrant kaleidoscopic tribute to the guitar that meshes dance, mime, visual art, and virtuoso performances to create a spectacular yet intimate celebration of the instrument. For one exciting week the city of Toronto plays host to the International Guitar Festival. The streets echo with the sounds of the instrument as the great masters from every tradition gather to play for each other -- John Williams from England, Leo Brouwer from Cuba (classical), Turibio Santos from Brazil (folk), Vladimir Mikulka from Czechoslovakia (avant-garde), Rik Emmett and Kim Mitchell from Canada, Steve Morse from the USA (rock).
A documentary portrait of Chinese pianist Yundi Li that captures the poetic intensity of this young virtuoso as he works with the great Maestro Seiji Ozawa to prepare for his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. This is interwoven with Yundi on tour in his home country, where we meet his family, gain insight into his upbringing and are exposed to the massive scale of piano culture in China.
When this sumptuous production by Giancarlo del Monaco opened in 1995, legendary tenor Plácido Domingo gave a riveting performance as the fiery revolutionary Gabriele Adorno, a tenor part. In the 2010 revival, he made history by taking on the baritone title role, one of Verdi’s most fascinating characters, and thrilling audiences with his multifaceted and gripping portrayal. Boccanegra is beset on all sides, juggling political adversaries bent on murder with his love for his long-lost daughter Amelia (Adrianne Pieczonka). James Levine’s conducting brings out all the color and surging emotion of Verdi’s magnificent score.
Rising Met star Angela Meade is Elvira, the young woman caught between three men: her lover, the nobleman-turned-outlaw Ernani (Marcello Giordani); her guardian, the rich, elderly de Silva, who wants her for himself (Ferruccio Furlanetto); and Don Carlo, the King of Spain, who also desires Elvira (Dmitri Hvorostovsky). Verdi’s early drama is full of sweeping melody and rousing rhythms, delivered masterfully by the Met Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Marco Armiliato.
Amina sleep-walks her way into the bedroom of a nobleman who is staying at the village inn. Enraged and humiliated, her fiancé breaks the engagement. The nobleman attests to her innocence, and Amina offers a demonstration of sleep-walking.