Zwischenmusik

Frank E. Jessop presents a revue of the dancing and singing acts of the time.

Little heroine, a music school student, wanders through the backstreets of Warsaw's Old Town and discovers a world to which others have no access. It is a world of extraordinariness and beauty of sounds. And these are sounds that are the most important thing for the girl – the hubbub of children, the sounds of the street, the puffing of a tractor, the tuning of an organ, the sweeping of a broom and the sound of jets flying overhead.

More than anything in the world, Rusalka, a mysterious and elusive water nymph, yearns to become human to win the heart of a young prince. But this metamorphosis comes at a price: she will lose her voice and be damned forever should their love story fail. Rusalka, a lyrical fairy tale inspired by The Little Mermaid and Undine, is Dvořák’s penultimate work and one of his greatest successes. In Opera Ballet Vlaanderen’s production, Norwegian director and choreographer Alan Lucien Øyen adds a new dimension to this masterpiece of the Czech repertoire by representing the main characters on stage twice: by a singer and a dancer. This doubling reinforces the opera’s deeply dreamlike nature. The impressive South African soprano Pumeza Matshikiza embodies the character of Rusalka, while the Lithuanian conductor Giedré Šlekytė leads the orchestra with brio and intensity.

Day 2 of the Ring Cycle. DVD release June 2009.

Day 3 of the Ring Cycle. DVD release June 2009.

In Mea Culpa, Christoph Schlingensief blurs a delicate line: he ignores the threshold that separates the healthy from the sick. By making his cancer the subject of an opera, premiering on the largest German-speaking theater, he is putting the art district under pressure: a wonderful institution like the Burgtheater must use its artistic resources lavishly to reveal the entire "truth" about us humans. At the end of the day, when the scenery on Janina Audick's revolving stage has finally come to rest, when Isolde's last Liebestad has been sung enchantingly beautifully by Elfriede Rezabek and indescribable jubilation breaks out, then Schlingensief is completely alone with his illness.

This opera revolves around the demonic collective possession suffered by the Ursuline nuns in the convent of Loudun in 1634. The story concentrates on the handsome but doomed Urbain Grandier who fights against fanaticism and evil.

The history of the gypsy Aleko who couldn't forgive the betrayal of his wife.

A prototype of modern music videos, this is an animated film set to the music of two popular tunes recorded by Herb Alpert and his Latin-flavored brass ensemble - "Spanish Flea" and "Tijuana Taxi". Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2003.

A talented tap dancer who can't get an audition uses his prowess at playing craps to gain ownership of a musical show, making himself the star.

Maria Ewing, as Dido, heads an outstanding cast of young British singers in a film adaptation of Henry Purcell’s much-loved tragic opera. With spectacular sets, this intense tale of heroism, passion, betrayal and ultimate tragedy is played out against a backdrop of fiery rituals, evil spells and pageantry.

Members of an opera company performing Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor" find their lives parallel those of the characters.

Early recordings of Franco Zeffirelli's 2006 production of Verdi's opera which saw Roberto Alagna's high-profile exit during the second performance. Egypt and Ethiopia are at war. Radames is appointed commander of the Egyptian forces by the King, whose daughter, Amneris, loves Radames. It is in fact Amneris' Ethiopian slave Aida whom Radames loves. Ramades wins the war against the Ethiopians, capturing Aida's father Amonasro in the process. On his return to Egypt he faces a choice between marrying Amneris or betraying his country through his love for Aida.

Early Vitaphone short.

A Super-8 short-film adaptation of S.E. Hinton's "The Outsiders" styled as a music video/silent-film -- director Juli Saragosa has a different take on greaser masculinity than did Francis Ford Coppola.

Live performance at Opernhaus Zürich in 2006. Nello Santi conducting Orchester der Oper Zürich and Chor der Oper Zürich. Directed for the stage by Gilbert Deflo.

Comments on the background and popularity of disc jockey "Emperor" Bob Hudson, who bases his shows on the idea that radio is a fantasy.

This spectacular opera film was taped in 1967 and is based on the 1966 Salzburg Festival production directed by Herbert von Karajan himself, who also conducts the fabulous Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The production features the three greatest exponents of their respective roles at the time: Grace Bumbry’s magnificently seductive-toned Carmen, Mirella Freni’s ineffably lovely, touching Micaëla and Jon Vickers’s thrillingly manic-depressive Don José. On its release the film was hailed by Die Presse, (Vienna) as a “unique artistic event”, while Le Monde felt that Karajan’s production brought “a whole new dimension” to the opera, “combined with a magisterial interpretation”. A classical and utterly dramatic approach to probably the world's most beloved opera – Karajan’s Carmen is as much a delicacy for opera fans as it is a perfect starter for newcomers.

Recorded in 1992 at the Ludwigsburger Schlosstheater, this release from Art Haus Musik features a performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's two-act opera Die Zauberflote. The production stars Deon Van Der Walt as Tamino and Ulrike Sonntag as Pamina and includes music by The Ludwigcburger Festspiele

Anthony Minghella’s stunning production of Puccini’s opera opened the Met’s 2006–07 season and was seen by thousands of people around the world as part of the company’s Live in HD series. Patricia Racette is Cio-Cio-San, the trusting and innocent young geisha of the title, who disastrously falls in love with American Navy lieutenant B. F. Pinkerton (Marcello Giordani), only to be abandoned by him. Maria Zifchak is her loyal servant Suzuki and Dwayne Croft is Sharpless, the sympathetic American consul who does all he can but is unable to avert tragedy. Performance Date Mar 7, 2009