Known for Acting
After Tosca (2019), which marked Puccini’s entry into its repertoire, the Festival celebrates the centenary of the composer’s death this year by putting on his ‘Japanese tragedy’ Madame Butterfly: the cruel story of a vulnerable but strong and wilful heroine, driven by her blind perseverance to ritual suicide. By enveloping her with a bright lyricism and a supremely refined orchestration, Puccini reaches the heart of his artistic identity – reminding us of the real pleasure of tears. Conducting the orchestra of the Opéra de Lyon, Daniele Rustioni offers the finest of backdrops to Ermonela Jaho, whose rare combination of force and delicacy has made her a go-to choice in this wonderful yet harrowing role, in which she is making her prized debut in Aix.
François Girard, whose revelatory 2013 take on Parsifal set the recent Met standard for Wagner stagings, now unveils a spellbinding new vision of the composer's tale of a cursed sea captain doomed to sail the open ocean for eternity. With sweeping sets by John Macfarlane, Girard’s new production turns the Met stage into a rich, layered tableau reminiscent of a vast oil painting. Valery Gergiev conducts a brilliant cast led by bass-baritone Evgeny Nikitin as the Dutchman, with German soprano Anja Kampe making her anticipated Met debut as the devoted Senta, whose selfless love is what the Dutchman seeks. Bass Franz-Josef Selig is her father, Daland, and tenor Sergey Skorokhodov is her deserted former lover, Erik. This live cinema transmission is part of the Met’s award-winning Live in HD series, bringing opera to more than 2,200 theaters in more than 70 countries worldwide.
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 Herbert Blomstedt (Actor), Gewandhausorchester (Actor), Ute Feudel (Director)
This Beethoven Symphony No. 9 from the outstanding Beethoven 9 Project of Christian Thielemann and the Wiener Philharmoniker, first time recorded in HD and 5.0 surround sound, is accompanied by a one hour-long documentary featuring Christian Thielemann and Germany´s most eminent music critic, Prof. Joachim Kaiser. From insights into Beethoven´s musical thinking to interpretational comparisons, including excerpts from performances by Karajan, Bernstein, Järvi, to historical perspectives – no aspect of Beethoven´s Symphony No. 9 will remain untreated!
The first-ever recording on film of Maurice Béjart's Ninth Symphony! Fifty years after its premiere, the Tokyo Ballet and Béjart Ballet Lausanne present Maurice Béjart’s groundbreaking choreography to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in Tokyo's NHK Hall. With nearly 200 artists on one stage, Beethoven’s score was performed by the Ritsuyu-kai Choir, the soloists Kristin Lewis, Mihoko Fujimura, Kei Fukui, and Alexander Vinogradov, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta.
Claudio Abbado conducts Brahms, Schoenberg & Beethoven - Lucerne Festival Opening Concert (2013)
Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra performing Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 7, 8 and 9
Christian Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra performing Beethoven Symphonies 1-9
