"La Clemenza di Tito" was Mozart's last stage work. It was commissioned for an Imperial coronation ceremony while Mozart was at work on "Die Zauberflöte" and was composed in great haste. Indeed, time was so short that composition of the secco recitatives was assigned to Mozart's pupil Süssmayr. As in the earlier "Idomeneo", Mozart sought to produce an opera seria that was dramatically viable. He enlisted the poet Mazzolà to substantially revise the Metastasio libretto, which had already been set some fifty times. The number of arias was reduced from 25 to 11, and ensembles and choruses were added to enliven the proceedings. Though perhaps not the very top-drawer Mozart, the music is wonderful.
The sets and costumes by Ponnelle are truly reflective of the 'grand style'. Plus the fact that the two lead characters are portrayed by top singers in their absolute prime - both Gruberova and Araiza weren't even 35 years old at the time of this performance, makes this production the most convincing both dramatically and musically.
A silent black-and-white comedy inspired by the fizzing rollercoaster of Largo al factotum - the familiar aria from Rossini's The Barber of Seville - featuring the young apprentice hero and a recalcitrant, increasingly monstrous hairball.
During World War II, two French civilians and a downed British Bomber Crew set out from Paris to cross the demarcation line between Nazi-occupied Northern France and the South.
Verdi’s grand opera “Aida” is given an intimate treatment in Busetto, Italy, in 2001, in a staging with young singers, all coached by the legendary tenor Carlo Bergonzi and staged by Franco Zeffirelli.
A tragic and secretive romance ensues over many years after two men meet while herding sheep on Brokeback Mountain in this opera based on Annie Proulx's short story and its subsequent Oscar-winning film adaptation.
Celeste is a renowned opera diva who retired early for the man she loved to live on a crumbling and beautiful estate in the heart of a rainforest in Far North Queensland.
Originally commissioned to celebrate the completion of the Suez Canal and the opening of Cairos new opera house, Verdis Egyptian epic Aida is here seen in a spectacular new staging in the Teatro Regio Torino by the Oscar-winning American film director William Friedkin, creator of such famous movies as The Exorcist and The French Connection.
This is Laurent Pelly’s Théâtre des Champs-Élysées staging of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia, with a cast featuring Florian Sempey as Figaro, Catherine Trottmann as Rosina, and Michele Angelini as Il Conte Almaviva.
The Biblical story of Belshazzar's hubristic arrogance, set against the valour of the young warrrior-leader Cyrus, provided the 20-year-old Rossini with a dramatic story enriched by West-Eastern implications which still speak to us today.
Popular movie trailers from 1980
These some of the most viewed trailers for movies released in 1980:
The advantages and pleasures of crossing the channel by Hovercraft. In this film a sales executive, with his car and engineering samples, travels to Lille for a business appointment; and a family goes to Paris for a holiday.
The wealthy doctor Shashikant marries a servant girl, the much-loved Gauri. When an old flame makes makes contact with Shashikant, pride jeopardizes their marriage and the lives of their children.
Narda receives superhuman powers and becomes Darna. Darna and her child brother Ding start by fighting the Hawk Woman; next they face-off with the Giant, and both foes are destroyed.
Yoko is upset when her father remarries and begins rebelling against her new stepmother. First, this is accomplished by promiscuity and partying but eventually her schemes take a much darker turn.
Comments
Have you watched La Clemenza di Tito yet? What did you think about it?
