Summary: Once regarded as a "lost" opera because of early censorship and controversy, Stiffelio has now established its rightful place in the Verdi canon. In this cherished recording from the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, José Carreras delivers a stirring performance as the Protestant minister whose faith is shattered when he discovers his wife's adulterous liaison with a family friend. Carreras...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1993
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Summary: In what many believe to be the finest production of Verdi's Otello in modern times, Plácido Domingo and Kiri Te Kanawa lead a world-class cast under the forceful and sensitive musical direction of Sir Georg Solti. This is an outstanding performance of the first of the composer's two late Shakespearean operas, widely regarded as masterpieces of the form. The production is helmed by Elijah...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 1992
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Summary: Staged by acclaimed director Francesca Zambello and conducted by legendary Mozart authority Sir Charles Mackerras, this 2008 production of Don Giovanni never shies from the work's inherent passion and spectacle. Shadows infuse the set through much of the performance (while a massive Madonna, fastened to a central urban facade, presides overhead), but the ominous chiaroscuro eventually gives way...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: Known for his daring interpretations of other Mozart operas, Scottish director David McVicar offers viewers a fresh and energetic version of Le Nozze di Figaro in this 2006 Royal Opera House production. McVicar helms an outstanding cast that includes Erwin Schrott, a bass-baritone previously celebrated for his work in Don Giovanni, as well as the gifted Miah Persson and Gerald Finley. The Royal...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: A tale of deception, misplaced love, and supernatural vengeance, Giselle reaches into the heart of European folklore and the ancient connections between dance and spirituality. This exquisite production by the Royal Ballet features the original choreography of Marius Petipa - perhaps the most influential ballet master and choreographer in the history of Western performance, whose Giselle...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2008
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Summary: Today Opera Easy zeroes in on one of the most fascinating and intriguing operas in all of operatic history,” says host Natalie Choquette. “The composer of today’s featured work was born in Germany in 1819 but became a naturalized Frenchman. He was called the King of the Operetta, having written over 90 popular and hilarious operettas for the Parisian stage during the Second Republic. Yet...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: In a span of under two years, Giuseppe Verdi produced his three most popular operas. “The Holy Trinity,” as they are still known today, began with Rigoletto and ended with La Traviata. The piggy in the middle,” says host Natalie Choquette, “is Opera Easy’s featured work today. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Verdi’s 1853 melodramatic masterpiece about love and vengeance: Welcome to Il Trovatore!”
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: “Today we feature not one but two operas. But don’t worry, both these operas are in one act and barely last an hour each. Since they were composed, just before the beginning of the 20th century, they’ve almost always been performed together. In fact, they’ve become so inseparable that they are often referred to as “the terrible twins” - terrible because both tales tell of jealousy and betrayal...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: In this program, host Natalie Choquette explains that Tosca is one of the few operas about an opera singer. It’s also one of the most violent, erotic, melodramatic works in the operatic repertoire (which no doubt explains its popularity!), and today this timeless masterpiece is even more convincing than many a reality TV show. No opera needs a diva in the title role more than Tosca, and many...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: “Welcome to Opera Easy,” says host Natalie Choquette. “If I were to ask you to name an opera set in Japan based on a play by an American playwright and with music composed by an Italian…would you recognize Giacomo Puccini’s Madama Butterfly? I hope so because Madama Butterfly is today’s Opera Easy featured work!”
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: If I were to ask you what is the most romantic story in history, what would your answer be?” asks program host Natalie Choquette. “Would it be Dante’s Paolo and Francesca, antiquity’s Anthony and Cleopatra, or Brad Pitt and Jennifer Anniston? Probably not. No, I bet that your spontaneous answer would be that history’s most famous pair of lovers are Romeo and Juliette. And wouldn’t you know it,...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: In this program, host Natalie Choquette introduces viewers to L’Elisir d’Amore, a charming and romantic comic opera by Donizetti that is set in an Alpine village. The poor, innocent Nemorino is in love with the intelligent and beautiful Adina. He is convinced that only a love potion will allow him to win her. He pays the quack Doctor Dulcamara for the potion with the money he receives for...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: “Opera is usually full of drama, tragedy, and death. In fact the writer George Bernard Shaw once said that he knew when it was the end of an opera because no one was left alive on stage. But there are also many comic operas, operas that are full of comic characters and situations. According to the great composer Giuseppe Verdi, the greatest comic opera ever written is the subject of today’s...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: In this program, host Natalie Choquette informs viewers that no opera is more popular than Bizet’s Carmen. Its music is instantly recognizable, whether in concert or on television commercials. And yet Carmen was not a success at its premiere, nor did Bizet ever see his creation. In fact, due to the amount of ankle shown, the opera was actually considered scandalous!
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: “What is the most romantic story in history: Romeo and Juliet, or Mayerling, or perhaps La Dame aux Camélias? Well for many, Alexandre Dumas’ story La Dame aux Camélias is by far the most moving and tragic love story ever told,” says host Natalie Choquette in this program. “The composer Giuseppe Verdi thought so too; his operatic adaptation of the book is perhaps the most popular opera in the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: The world of opera has spawned true works of comic genius. There’s Rossini’s Barbiere di Siviglia, Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, and Mozart’s rather serious comedy of manners Nozze di Figaro. But today’s featured work can be rightfully hailed as a true comic masterpiece. No, I don’t mean the operatic treatment of Corner Gas; I mean Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte or, to give it an equivalent English...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: The celebrated Grimm Brothers fairy tale is the inspiration for Engelbert Humperdinck’s most famous opera - and this segment of Opera Easy. With music of incredible charm and fantasy, the opera tells the story of two children who become lost in the forest and are captured by an evil witch. Thanks to the ingenuity and trickery of the children and the help of fairies and forest spirits, the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: “How does a medieval court jester wind up involuntarily having his daughter assassinated? Stay with us for an intriguing and passion-filled tale of vengeance, love, and betrayal,” says program host Natalie Choquette. “Sound like The Young and the Restless? No, it’s Giuseppe Verdi’s operatic masterpiece, Rigoletto!”
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: “At the turn the 20th century, the most popular French opera was not Carmen but an opera whose principal character was the Devil. This 1859 opera was based on one of the most celebrated works of German literature and did nothing less than revolutionize French opera. Welcome to Opera Easy’s featured work: Charles Gounod’s opera Faust,” says host Natalie Choquette.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: “Tragedy makes for great opera. Opera is full of stories of unrequited love such as Romeo and Juliet, of jealousy and murder such as Otello, and of ultimate happiness ruined by premature death such as in La Traviata. But of all the tragic tales that inspired composers, one of the most effective and lasting is one inspired by Greek mythology - no, not Oliver Stone’s tragic film adaptation of the...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2005
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Summary: In this program, host Natalie Choquette introduces viewers to Die Entführung aus dem Serail. This Mozart rescue opera is set in Pasha Selim’s palace in 18th-century Turkey where Constanze, her maid Blondchen, and the servant Pedrillo are held prisoner. Before Constanze’s beloved, Belmonte, can set them free, he has to deal with the Pasha’s servant, the eunuch Osmin. A series of comic and...
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2006
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Summary: “Opera has its ABCs, the most popular works in the repertoire: A is for Aida and C is for Carmen, but do you know what B stands for? It’s Bohème, and it is the subject of today’s Opera Easy segment,” says host Natalie Choquette.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: “There is a rescue opera that is dramatic and comic and is like an episode of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Good versus bad; virtue pitted against evil. Can love conquer all? Can the virtuous prince vanquish all obstacles ? Come and find out,” says program host Natalie Choquette, “as we explore the world of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera Die Zauberflöte - or, if you prefer, The Magic Flute.”
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004
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Summary: “Here’s a real quiz question. Can you name this famous opera written to an Italian libretto based on a revolutionary French play by an Austrian composer and first produced in Vienna in 1786? Any idea? Well, Opera Easy’s featured work today is - drum roll, maestro - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro!” says host Natalie Choquette.
Format: software, multimedia
Publisher / Publication Date: Films Media Group 2004