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As the curtain rises, there's a crisis at the box office and impending disaster on stage as diva Denyce Graves loses her voice. Visits to a Harley Street specialist fail to remedy the problem, leaving just hours to locate a replacement for the leading role in Carmen.
It's a stressful time for almost everyone concerned as two productions—an opera and a ballet—go into rehearsals and over budget. Almost everything that can go wrong duly does so.
Not all the staff are happy with the radical changes in the Opera House work schedules planned to be implemented. Meanwhile, the Royal Ballet is off to Washington.
A silent war waged behind the famous Crush Bar and further confrontation between management and unions over rates of pay feature in tonight's behind-the-scenes developments at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden.
The new Director at the Royal Opera has the task of finding the right balance between financial and aesthetic considerations.
The main problem for the Royal Opera House is an ever-present one: to secure the hundreds of millions of pounds needed to keep the opera and ballet companies performing in London while the Covent Garden building is refurbished. But plenty of people are ready to pay £1,750 to join the Princess of Wales in the audience for the Winter Gala.
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An exploration of opera in unconventional ways attempting to attract not just existing opera fans, but also those less familiar with the art form. The host guides the viewer to the places of origin of each opera, and explores the culture, history—and modern and current trends and how they apply to opera.
For centuries in western culture, opera has been the greatest show on earth. Historian Lucy Worsley explores how history and opera go hand in hand. She visits the great European cities where some of the most famous operas were written, tells the stories of the colourful characters who composed them, and shows how they reflected the turbulent times they were composed in and the lives, hopes and fears of the people who lived in them. Whilst Lucy visits the cities and European opera houses, Antonio Pappano, music director of London's Royal Opera, helps us understand some of those operas' greatest musical moments.
Sarah is a young autistic woman with an extraordinary ability for lyrical singing. She begins taking lessons with renowned soprano Leonor Delise, but there is tension in the relationship. Sarah will learn to turn her silences into emotions; Leonor will have to restore her faith in humanity and reconcile with her daughter. Music will be the bond that transforms their lives.
Three zany puppets bring to life our greatest opera treasures, as Joan Sutherland, the world’s most famous soprano, performs their highlights. The puppets make up the audience: Sir William, a wise old goat; Little Billy, his nephew; and Rudi, a rather boisterous lion. Sutherland first introduces them to the story of each opera. Then, backed by the London Symphony Orchestra and a first-rate cast, she moves onto the opera stage, complete with elaborate sets and elegant costumes. After each exquisite aria, the diva comes back to her inquisitive friends and unfolds the plot.
In 2016, Opera North’s extraordinary journey through Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen came full circle, in a series of six full Ring cycles. Comprising the four operas which make up Wagner’s epic masterpiece, Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, more than 15 unforgettable hours of music and passion are now also available online, in full, for free.
Spanish maestro Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos (1933-2014) concluded his acclaimed international conducting career spanning nearly six decades with two memorable years as the revered Principal Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. Recorded live at Copenhagen's new DR Koncerthuset, Koncertsalen from 2012 to 2014, this exclusive recording combines Fruhbeck de Burgos's powerful interpretation of Ludwig van Beethoven's complete symphonies with his spectacular renditions of Hector Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique and Richard Strauss's Eine Alpensinfonie, as well as Joaquin Rodrigos's popular Concerto de Aranjuez, with world-renowned Spanish guitarist Pepe Romero.
