Classics On A Summer's Evening

Classics on a Summer's Evening is an outdoor concert for an enormous audience which was staged in an architecturally striking public square in Dresden in July 1999. It features the most glamorous young husband and wife currently active on the international operatic scene, soprano Angela Gheorghiu and tenor Roberto Alagna. Along with these fine performances comes Giuseppe Sinopoli--before his untimely death at age 54--who was considered one of Europe's finest opera conductors, and, in the Dresden orchestra and chorus, performers who match his creative energy.

Puccini - Madama Butterfly

Madama Butterfly is, with Bohème, the most loved and staged of Puccini’s works. This Blu-ray production was staged at the 2007 Puccini Festival in Italy’s Torre del Lago, Puccini’s home town. Starring as Cio Cio San is the Russian soprano Elmira Veda. This version is only available as Blu-ray.

Massenet - Thais

With the “Méditation”, Jules Massenet probably wrote one of the most famous melodies of our time. It originates from his comédie-lyrique Thaïs, which – unlike Massenet's operas Werther or Manon – never made it into the international opera repertoire. Presumably because the two main roles of Thaïs and Athanaël demand something almost superhuman from the singers. In the new production by Peter Konwitschny at the Theater an der Wien, the American soprano Nicole Chevalier is one of the most exciting singers currently on stage in the title role. At her side, the young Austrian bass-baritone Josef Wagner celebrates his house‍ debut. This is a fascinating and musically excellent performance of a timeless classic of the opera repertoire.

Gounod - Romeo et Juliette

Romeo and Juliet is the most famous love story of all time. In Charles Gounod's operatic adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona “Saimir Pirgu and Aida Garifullina mesmerize as the tragic lovers” (Euronews). Charles Gounod is one of the great representatives of French lyric drama and due to his famous aria “Je veux vivre”, ravishing melodies, magical duets and the unique ballet scene in Act IV, Roméo et Juliette continues to gain much popularity. This production by Stephen Lawless once again demonstrates the abundance of ideas that Shakespeare’s legendary tale is able to inspire, even in the 21st century. In addition to the lavish stage sets and the carefully chosen costumes and props, the production captivates the audience thanks to its refined dramaturgical logic

Farinelli

The life and career of Italian opera singer Farinelli, considered one of the greatest castrato singers of all time.

Così fan tutte

Who loves whom in Così fan tutte, Mozart’s and Da Ponte’s cruelly comic reflection on desire, fidelity and betrayal? Or have the confusions to which the main characters subject one another ensured that in spite of the heartfelt love duets and superficially fleetfooted comedy nothing will work any longer and that a sense of emotional erosion has replaced true feelings? Così fan tutte is a timeless work full of questions that affect us all. The Academy Award-winning director Michael Haneke once said that he was merely being precise and did not want to distort reality. In only his second opera production after Don Giovanni in 2006, he presents what ARTE described as a “disillusioned vision of love in an ice-cold, realistic interpretation”.

Hippolyte et Aricie

In October 1733, the audience at the Académie Royale de Musique witnessed the birth of a revolutionary work: Hippolyte et Aricie. With its inventiveness and musical richness, Rameau’s opera marks a break in the history of French music. A similarly revolutionary duo – Jeanne Candel and Raphaël Pichon – get to grips with this work for the Opéra Comique.

Richard Strauss - Der Rosenkavalier

Richard Wagner: Tannhäuser

Witness the Zurich Opera's stunning production of Richard Wagner's masterpiece "Tannhauser," conducted by Franz Welser-Most and featuring Peter Sieffert (Tannhauser), Solveig Kringelborn (Elisabeth) and Roman Trekel (von Eschenbach). Initially produced in Dresden in 1845, "Tannhauser" instilled a sense of wonder in a few of Strauss's ardent friends and admirers, among them Robert Schumann and Franz Liszt. Opera buffs will love it.

L’Italiana in Algeri

Live performance from the Schwetzinger Festspiele, 1987. At the age of 21, Italian composer Giacchino Rossini penned the masterful comic opera “L’Italiana in Algeri” (“The Italian Girl in Algiers”) in less than a month. The composer’s youthful exuberance comes across in this infectious 1987 performance. Though she’s known mainly for her Wagner roles, acclaimed German mezzo-soprano Doris Soffel shines in the title role of Isabella. Ralf Weikert conducts, and Mauro Pagano oversees sets and costumes.

Marriage of Figaro

Shortly after WWII, the DEFA Studios produced a series of operas and operettas which belonged to the classical German musical heritage. This enchanting film, the very first opera production of DEFA, stands out because of its lavish decor and costumes, its outstanding actors and their masterful voices of that time.

Lohengrin

After Tristan und Isolde (2016), Parsifal (2017) and Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg (2018) this is the fourth installment of the exclusive, multiyear partnership between Deutsche Grammophon and the Bayreuth Festival, in which the Yellow Label is the exclusive audiovisual partner of the mythical Wagner festival, releasing each edition's new production on Blu-ray. This year, we are proud to release on Blu-ray the celebrated production of Lohengrin which was premiered on 25 July 2018, featuring an illustrious cast including Piotr Beczala and Anja Harteros in their house debuts, as well as the acclaimed return of Waltraud Meier to the Bayreuth Festival. The New York Times praised Piotr Beczala’s Lohengrin as “outstanding”, Anja Harteros [making] her impressive Bayreuth debut” as Elsa, and Ortrud “played with dominant presence by the incomparable Waltraud Meier”.

Sternenhoch

Trapped in an abusive marriage, a wealthy German prince desperately seeks a way out. But what appears to be the road to salvation soon turns into a highway to hell. The universal language of music meets the international language of Esperanto in this debut opera by Ivan Acher. The carpenter, forest worker, designer and composer has cleverly blended electro-acoustic and contemporary music to breathe life into Ladislav Klíma’s expressionist novel, The Sufferings of Prince Sternenhoch.

Carmen

In the early 19th century, in Seville and the surrounding area, Carmen seduces the sergeant Don José, who deserts the army to be with her. But the beautiful gypsy falls in love with the bullfighter Escamillo, much to Don José’s despair.

Madame Butterfly

Cio-Cio-San, a young Japanese geisha, seeks to fulfill her dreams through marriage to an American naval officer. Her faith in their future is shattered by his empty vows and the loss she endures touches something deep within us all.

Krenek: Karl V

Ernst Krenek's theatrical piece Karl V. consisting completely of twelve-tone series should have premiered at the Vienna State Opera. The political situation in the Vienna of 1933 and the fact that Krenek was despised by the Nazis because of this Jazz opera Jonny spielt auf, prevented the première. It only took place five years later in Prague, however Krenek had already emigrated to the USA. Karl V was the last emperor to hold to the idea of a Christian empire in which the sun never set, although its downfall was always inevitable, for numerous reasons. For the second production of Karl V. in the Nationaltheater, Carlus Padrissa in particular seeks out political power systems that are highly topical, and so very precisely analyses the treatment in the theatrical piece. At the core of the intellectually and linguistically highly qualified libretto, written by the composer himself, Karl V. reflects on his life and makes his confession to a young monk below Titian's La Gloria.

The Metropolitan Opera: Norma

Deep in a forest where druids and warriors seek revenge against the conquering Romans, Norma is scorned by the Roman proconsul Pollione, with whom she has two children. Her kindness turns to fury when she discovers that Pollione has taken Adalgisa, a novice priestess, as his new lover. When Pollione loses his high rank in the army and is offered as a sacrifice, Norma promises him freedom under one condition.

The Metropolitan Opera: The Exterminating Angel

After the acclaimed Met premiere of Thomas Adès's "The Tempest" in 2012, the composer returned with another masterpiece, this time inspired by filmmaker Luis Buñuel's seminal surrealist classic "El Ángel Exterminador", during the 2017–18 season. As the opera opens, a group of elegant socialites gather for a lavish dinner party, but when it is time to leave for the night, no one is able to escape. Soon, their behavior becomes increasingly erratic and savage. The large ensemble cast tackles both the vocal and dramatic demands of Adès's opera with one riveting performance after another. Tom Cairns, who also penned the work's libretto, directs an engrossing and inventive production, using a towering wooden archway to trap the characters onstage. And Adès himself takes the podium to conduct the frenzied score, which features a host of unconventional instruments, including the eerie electronic ondes Martenot.

The Metropolitan Opera: Tosca

Sir David McVicar’s bold new staging of Tosca, Puccini’s operatic thriller of Napoleonic Rome, thrilled Met audiences when it rang in the New Year in 2018. Only weeks later, the production was seen by opera lovers worldwide as part of the Met’s Live in HD series of cinema presentations. In this performance, Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva is the passionate title diva, opposite charismatic tenor Vittorio Grigolo as her lover, the idealistic painter Mario Cavaradossi. Baritone Željko Lučić is the menacing Baron Scarpia, the evil chief of police who employs brutal tactics to ensnare both criminals and sexual conquests. On the podium, Emmanuel Villaume conducts the electrifying score, which features some of Puccini’s most memorable melodies.

Tristan und Isolde

Take a perfect cast, a great conductor and a groundbreaking staging in-out makes a 'Tristan' for eternity. The 1983 performance in Bayreuth was a great moment for the world of opera. The ensemble performance of René Kollo, Johanna Meier and Matti Salminen with, then as now the Wagner admirer, Daniel Barenboim conducting the Bayreuth orchestra inspired singers and instrumentalists to peak performance. Jean-Pierre Ponnelle created a dream-beautiful stage.

A Night at the Opera

The Marx Brothers take on high society and the opera world to bring two lovers together. A sly business manager and two wacky friends of two opera singers help them achieve success while humiliating their stuffy and snobbish enemies.

Shawn Mendes: Live in Concert

In his hometown of Toronto, Shawn Mendes pours his heart out on stage with a live performance in a stadium packed with adoring fans.

O'Dessa

A farm girl is on an epic quest to recover a cherished family heirloom. Her journey leads her to a strange and dangerous city where she meets her one true love – but in order to save his soul, she must put the power of destiny and song to the ultimate test.

Battle of the Year

A down-on-his-luck coach is hired to prepare a team of the best American dancers for an international tournament that attracts all the best crews from around the world, but the Americans haven't won in fifteen years.

One Chance

This film follows the remarkable and inspirational true story of Paul Potts, a shy, bullied shop assistant by day and an amateur opera singer by night.

The Big Store

A detective is hired to protect the life of a singer, who has recently inherited a department store, from the store's crooked manager.

Industrial Symphony No. 1: The Dream of the Brokenhearted

After her boyfriend ends their relationship, the dreamself of a heartbroken woman floats through the air over an industrial wasteland singing ballads of love.

Emo: The Musical

Ethan, a sullen high-school student whose life is defined by what he hates, finds love with a blindly optimistic Christian girl Trinity, much to the annoyance of his angst-filled band mates and her evangelistic brethren.

Too Late Blues

Ghost is an ideological musician and leader of a jazz band who would rather play his blues in the park to the birds than compromise himself. His peripatetic performances lead him to cross paths with a singer, while his masculinity is thrown into question following a violent brawl.

Ghosts

In the town of Normal Valley, an eccentric magician named Maestro entertains the local children every day in his spooky mansion. One stormy night, the town's mayor leads a group of angry citizens to the mansion in an attempt to run Maestro out of town.

Love Happy

The Marx Brothers help young Broadway hopefuls when they get mixed up with gangsters due to a tin of sardines containing Romanoff diamonds.

Whitney Houston: Live in Concert

Pop sensation Whitney Houston captured live in concert in 1991. Amongst the hits performed are 'I Wanna Dance With Somebody' and 'Saving All My Love For You'.

Metallica: Through the Never

Trip, a young roadie for Metallica, is sent on an urgent mission during the band's show. But what seems like a simple assignment turns into a surreal adventure.

Silk Stockings

After three bumbling Soviet agents fail in their mission to retrieve a straying Soviet composer from Paris, the beautiful, ultra-serious Ninotchka is sent to complete their mission and to retrieve them. She starts out condemning the decadent West, but gradually falls under its spell—with the help of an American movie producer. A remake of Ninotchka (1939).

Hounddog

A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.

Madonna: The Immaculate Collection

The Immaculate Collection is the first commercially released greatest videos compilation by singer Madonna. Released on November 13, 1990 to accompany the audio CD, it contained hits spanning 1983-1990. The collection won "Best Long Form Video" category at the 1991 MTV Video Music Awards. Includes the following videos: 1. Lucky Star 2. Borderline 3. Like a Virgin 4. Material Girl 5. Papa Don't Preach 6. Open Your Heart 7. La Isla Bonita 8. Like a Prayer 9. Express Yourself 10. Cherish 11. Oh Father 12. Vogue 13. Vogue (1990 MTV Awards Show Performance)

Studio 666

Legendary rock band Foo Fighters move into an Encino mansion steeped in grisly rock and roll history to record their much anticipated 10th album. Once in the house, Dave Grohl finds himself grappling with supernatural forces that threaten both the completion of the album and the lives of the band.

Shakira In Concert: El Dorado World Tour

Shakira is a global superstar who, by the age of 18, had taken Latin America by storm. Now, she celebrates her triumphant return to the stage in 2018 with a thrilling concert film documenting her acclaimed El Dorado World Tour.

The Tales of Hoffmann

A melancholy poet reflects on three women he loved and lost in the past: a mechanical performing doll, a Venetian courtesan, and the consumptive daughter of a celebrated composer.

Teen Spirit

A shy teenager living on the Isle of Wight dreams of pop stardom. With the help of an unlikely mentor, she enters a singing competition that will test her integrity, talent, and ambition.