The story of Cio-Cio-San, called Butterfly, a young Nagasaki geisha who, abandoned by her American lover after giving birth to their son, ultimately kills herself, continues to impress audiences today. In this outstandingly authentic and elegant production from the Sferisterio Opera Festival, Puccini's highly emotional music is expertly delivered. The superior cast is headed by Raffaella Angeletti, "certainly one of the best Butterflies of our time" (ForumOpera.com), who has performed this role in many Italian theatres, as well as in Madrid and at the Vienna Staatsoper.
The production was the Vienna State Opera debut for the young Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan – the Argentinian tenor Marcelo Álvarez, took the title role.
There are elements of Eurotrash in this outdoor Aix-en-Provence summer opera production. Nevertheless, the splendid singing and acting transform the story, normally treated as farce, into something considerably more serious.
In the awe-inspiring Teatro Olimpico,Vicenza, Cecilia Bartoli, recognised as one of the best singers of our time, gives the most outstanding recital of work from a variety of composers such as Caccini, Schubert, Handel, Vivaldi, Bellini, Donizetti,Mozart, Rossini, Viardot and Bizet.
The Italian and international press were unanimous in their praise for "Peter Grimes" at La Scala, which revived the tradition of Britten's operas on the lyric stages of Italy.
Julia Bullock, Joyce DiDonato and Jakub Jozef Orlinski star in Katie Mitchell’s thrilling new production of Handel’s Theodora in an alternative modern-day reality, Theodora, a religious fundamentalist, plots for the resistance against the Roman occupation.
Popular movie trailers from 2011
These some of the most viewed trailers for movies released in 2011:
Henry is a grouchy, irritable and overall unhappy birthday clown. As he complains about everything, he realizes 8-year-old birthday girl Coral has a frown just as long as his.
A young Russian woman, smuggled into America by human traffickers, and a notorious Egyptian transporter hired to drive her from the Mexican border to New York City, form an unlikely bond that transforms them and threatens to derail the traffickers' plans.
JJ Justice is a man in transition. A once successful right-wing radio broadcaster, who's lost his edge, his wife and any hope of airing in a real market.
The 'Hidden Faith of Our Founding Fathers' is perhaps the first and only documentary to go where no film has ever gone before: into the hidden faith of America's founding fathers.
The film is a short story about a guy called Steve who has struggled with the Christian faith, having seen his parents, who are both Christians, break up because of his dad's unfaithfulness.
Comments
Have you watched Madama Butterfly - Macerata yet? What did you think about it?
