Howard Spence has seen better days. Once a big Western movie star, he now drowns his disgust for his selfish and failed life with alcohol, drugs and young women. If he were to die now, nobody would shed a tear over him, that's the sad truth. Until one day Howard learns that he might have a child somewhere out there...
Sharkey, part of the sinister world of child trade, picks up Vlado, an orphan of war, dreaming of freedom and a better life. They embark upon a strange and enlightening journey through war torn Bosnia. As they struggle to get out of the country and fight to stay alive, they find a special love and compassion from which emerges their ultimate moral and spiritual redemption.
An Hungarian youth comes of age at Buchenwald during World War II. György Köves is 14, the son of a merchant who's sent to a forced labor camp. After his father's departure, György gets a job at a brickyard; his bus is stopped and its Jewish occupants sent to camps. There, György find camaraderie, suffering, cruelty, illness, and death. He hears advice on preserving one's dignity and self-esteem. He discovers hatred. If he does survive and returns to Budapest, what will he find? What is natural; what is it to be a Jew? Sepia, black and white, and color alternate to shade the mood.
With this wonderful production, Mozart’s “Munich” opera returns to the place where it was first performed in 1781, the lovingly restored Cuvilliés Theatre, a veritable jewel of Rococo architecture. In Dieter Dorn’s production, the characters are real people of flesh and blood, their emotions and conflicts intelligible to every member of the audience. The cast includes some of the finest Mozart singers of our day, headed by the British tenor John Mark Ainsley in the title role, while Kent Nagano in the orchestra pit appears to unleash an elemental force of nature.
The ruthless gangsters of New York and the rough cowboys of the dusty prairie; the magic of cinema and the rich sound of a symphony orchestra. The Danish National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Sarah Hicks, performs masterful pieces by legendary film composer Ennio Morricone, accompanied by Sonny Bono, Bernard Herrmann and Nino Rota.
A must-have for all sci-fi fans, available on Blu-ray & CD; CD includes a download code for the full album + 3 bonus tracks. Featuring film music hits from multiple Oscar-winning movies. Including film music tracks from Star Wars, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, The Fifth Element, Interstellar, 2001 – A Space Odyseey, Blade Runner and Alien. Released just before the new Star Wars movie hits the cinemas (19 December 2019). Concert orchestration is based on the original orchestration of the film soundtracks. Includes spectacular sound effects. Featuring David Bateson, the voice of Agent 47 from the Hitman series, in a spoken word part.
Kent Nagano superbly masters the challenges presented by this score, shapes the dynamics with subtle intensity, and casts the score in a mellow glow. As Marfa, the spurned lover of Ivan Khovansky‘s son Andrei, Doris Soffel unfolds such a rich palette of sonorities, from the pathos of the lower ranges to shaded discant heights, that “one is tempted to speak of a Russian mezzo”. The final chorus, which Mussorgsky did not compose, is played in the orchestrally transparent version of Igor Stravinsky – the third great Russian composer who contributed to making “Khovanshchina“ a timeless, gripping stage work. With his stripped-down sets and historicising costumes, director Dmitri Tcherniakov, one of the new voices of contemporary Russian theatre, builds a bridge to the political present. A lesson in history and music!
Agents Are Forever is performed by the Danish National Symphony Orchestra under the baton of film music expert Hans Ek, with spectacular spy and detective film soundtracks and the very best of James Bond film music.
In 2005, the Staatsoper Berlin and its orchestra, the Staatskapelle Berlin under musical director Daniel Barenboim, celebrated a series of events to celebrate the 80th birthday of French conductor and composer Pierre Boulez. Artistically associated for decades with Barenboim and Berlin, Pierre Boulez is one of today's most distinguished composers and conductors. As part of the celebration, Boulez conducted a performance of Mahler's "Resurrection" Symphony at the Berlin Philharmonie. With his uncompromising approach to the score, Pierre Boulez's Mahler readings have long fascinated critics and audiences alike. Boulez eschews the romanticized readings common in performance tradition and, instead, reveals the real joy and terror in Mahler's large-scale symphonies.
Nele is a young call center agent who moonlights as a cloakroom attendant at the State Opera. When she falls in love with the small-time street dancer Kolja, she must confront the demons of her past and descend into the underworld. At the same time, talent scout Höllbach notices Nele's singing talent and offers her a great opportunity for a career as an opera singer. Axel Ranisch's modern adaptation of Orpheus and Eurydice is a cinematic opera pastiche between Puccini, Handel and Christian Steiffen.
Documentary on musician Robbie Robertson.
Live performance from Oper Leipzig, 26 November 2005.
Thirteen-year-old Paula lives with her mother on a well-kept estate in a small town surrounded by nice neighbours. But Paula's view of normality has been sharpened by her extensive and consistent diet of horror movies.
A striking interpretation of Mozart's opera that became a sensation at the 2008 Salzburg Festival. This is not only a rethinking of the place and time of the opera, but also a deep disclosure of the characters' characters, their ambiguous inner world. A simple, at first glance, plot is turned by the creators of the play into a dynamic psychological thriller.
"Jazz Seen" is an exploration of the life of William Claxton, whose photographs turned the world of jazz on its keen and perceptive ear. Various jazz artists, photographers, and actors recount memories they had with Claxton and explore his work, while parts of his life are re-enacted by actors.
In this concert from his great European tour Duke gives a big band concert to be remembered in Brussel’s Marni Theatre. Featuring star soloists Money Johnson on trumpet, Paul Gonsalves on saxophone, and Joe Benjamin on bass, and even a surprise appearance from singer Anita Moore, this recording is another gem in the Duke’s discography and a must-have for fans.
The charismatic and inspiring Claudio Abbado and the mesmerising young pianist Yuja Wang, with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, hold the audience spellbound in this opening concert of the 2009 Lucerne Festival. Prokofiev's popular and vibrant Third Piano Concerto demonstrates the composer's sharp musical wit, and Yuja Wang is a brilliant exponent of the work. Following this, and chiming beautifully with the festival's theme of the relationship between art and nature, Mahler's First Symphony is given an illuminating and rapturously received performance.
The annual New Year’s Eve Concert is one of the highlights in the calendar of every classical music fan in Berlin and beyond. On New Year‘s Eve, the Berliner Philharmoniker invite an exceptional soloist for a festive gala. Together, the musicians bid farewell to the old year and welcome the new. The 2004 concert was conducted by Simon Rattle and featured Sally Matthews (soprano), Lawrence Brownlee (tenor), Christian Gerhaher (baritone), Rundfunkchor Berlin, Knabenchor des Staats- und Domchores Berlin. On the programme: Ludwig van Beethoven: Leonore - Overture, Carl Orff: Carmina Burana.
Concert Hall of the Culture and Convention Centre Lucerne, 18-19 August 2004
