The Singing City

This film is a docufiction on the great Toscanini directed by well-known filmmaker Larry Weinstein; who pushes the boundaries of conventional documentary storytelling by borrowing tools from fiction films; including dramatic reconstructions and historical cinematic stylings.

Developed from footage filmed during a road trip between São Paulo and Caraíva at the turn of 2008 to 2009, "coração-PALAVRA" grows from a domestic record into an essay film about memory, time, and plural forms of fatherhood. Drawing on a home archive accumulated over nearly two decades, the film moves between past and present to explore what endures and what changes in relationships between fathers and sons.

With an intimate look into the band's life, this concert documentary is about the farewell concert of cult Hungarian band 'Kispál és a borz'.

Opera confronts us with extremes of emotion, sometimes delivering unforgettable, life-changing experiences. Fuoro sacro (‘Sacred Fire’) seeks out singers who have the power to pierce our hearts, presenting three of them at work in the most intimate details of their rehearsals and preparations. Ermonela Jaho, Barbara Hannigan and Asmik Grigorian are watched closely as some of their secrets are revealed: how they inhabit their roles and transform words and notation on a page into that intangible but powerful magic being communicated to audiences from the opera stage. Over 90 minutes of extras are included featuring vocal warm-ups and live performances accompanied by pianists Evgenia Rubinova, Reinbert de Leeuw and Francesco Piemontesi.

With Sounds of Dortmund, Dortmund Opera picks up where MusiCircus left off in the 2018/19 season. Once again, musical groups and all Dortmund residents were invited to become part of the performative sound collage. For one day, Dortmund was to be filled with music, noises, sounds, and performances. A poetic sound art work that focuses on the diversity of the city with its individual sounds.

Discover Verdi’s magnificent ‘hometown’, the Parma region. From the small village of Le Roncole, near Parma, where Verdi was born, to the estate situated close to Parma, where Verdi always returned and chose to spend most of his life, despite the great triumphs he achieved in Milan, Venice, Naples and other major cities. We discover how Verdi ‘still lives on’ in the region and has even shaped the local landscape, from the daily life of a simple farmer to that of one of the world’s greatest opera stars, Leo Nucci, who is a regular guest at the Verdi Festival in Parma. From the 27-opera box set ‘Tutto Verdi’.

This film traces the life of Jan Kapr, a prominent Czech composer of the 20th century. A documentary opera with an ambitious libretto and playful and refined editing work, Kapr Code is an unexpected celebration of creativity that shakes up our ideas of biography and pays tribute to the importance of resisting homologation and censorship through art and creation.

Go inside the building that has been the source of some of the greatest moments in music, ballet and opera.

Do Not Be Anxious — Be Fast And Be Quiet

Watching the Vienna Philharmonic, Georg Solti, and a stellar cast record Wagner's immense Götterdämmerung for Decca in the fall of 1964 provides a thousand lessons in the art of working under pressure. For this classic documentary, The Golden Ring, a BBC camera crew eavesdropped as producer John Culshaw guided his engineering team through tricky technical maneuvers far removed from the relative ease of modern digital editing. What utter concentration and focus Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen, Gottlob Frick, and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau bring to their collective and individual singing! Solti, for his part, oozes energy and exactitude as he pleads for greater precision and frets over details in the car en route to the sessions.

Most likely made for the large Neapolitan immigrant population in the States, Roberto Leone Roberti’s love poem to Naples more than captures the heartache of the countless émigrés who were forced by economic circumstances to leave their homeland.

Oriza Hirata is Japan's leading playwright and director, who runs his own theatrical company, Seinendan. Theatre 2 (Observational Film Series #4) examines the dynamic relationship between theatre and the society through depicting Hirata's activities. In order for his art and his not-so-commercial company to survive this highly capitalistic modern society, what kind of strategy does Hirata have and practice?

Featuring never-before-seen footage, concert performances and intimate interviews, filmmaker Ron Howard examines the life and career of famed opera tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

Antonio Pappano takes an in-depth look at one of the most famous and dramatic of all operas - Puccini's Tosca. This documentary goes behind the scenes of the recent production of Tosca by the Royal Opera House, conducted by Pappano and starring some of the hottest names on the opera stage today - Angela Gheorghiu, Bryn Terfel and Jonas Kaufmann. Pappano examines the drama and musical language of Tosca and explores Puccini's creative genius in producing one of the greatest of theatrical experiences.

In “The Oratorio,” filmmaker Martin Scorsese helps tell the story of an 1826 performance that forever changed America’s cultural landscape with the introduction of Italian opera to New York City.

Sivandivan is a documentary about an uncompromising royal singer who refused to adapt to the norm of how a female artist should behave. And for that, she has had to pay dearly. She is now 72, has no family, not many know who she is and to those who do, she is an outcast.This movie is about Siv’s revenge and comeback.

How can emotion come to light on the opera set? Does it come from singing, acting or music? How can someone become the incarnation of Verdi's masterpiece? Following world famous French soprano Natalie Dessay from the first repetitions until the premiere under the direction of Jean-François Sivadier, we meet a very special woman, a piece of art, a myth: LA TRAVIATA.

Through abrupt soundtrack shifts, this short film jumps between historical political imagery to explore the cinematic language of propaganda, unpacking complex concepts through sensory explosions — from the Brazilian military dictatorship to the Chinese revolution.

This short documentary gives us insight into the singing prowess of renowned tenor Ben Heppner, one of Canada’s pre-eminent musical ambassadors.

This film takes you through the inspiring journey of Venezuela's Coro de Manos Blancas (White Hands Choir) while exploring their daily struggles and lives. Established in 1995 as part of Venezuela's El Sistema program, the White Hands Choir provides artistic opportunities for children, youth, and adults with disabilities, utilizing music for social development and inclusion.