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Verdi: Simon Boccanegra is a movie adaptation of the famous Italian opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi in 1857. The film showcases the dramatic story of Simon Boccanegra, a 14th-century Genoese statesman, as he navigates political intrigue and personal struggles.
A Christmas Celebration: Send Round the Song is a heartwarming documentary film that captures the joy and warmth of the holiday season. It showcases a children's carol concert filled with classic Christmas songs and festive cheer. Join in the magical celebration as the young performers spread happiness and goodwill through their beautiful voices.
La Boheme follows the story of a group of struggling artists and their turbulent relationships in 19th-century Paris. Amidst poverty, love, and tragedy, they find solace and inspiration in the world of opera.
Herbert von Karajan conducts La Scala Orchestra and Chorus with soloists Leontyne Price, Fiorenza Cossotto, Luciano Pavarotti, and Nicolai Ghiaurov.
Aida is a story about unrequited love in a setting of war between Egypt and Ethiopia. The main character, a slave named Aida, falls in love with an Egyptian soldier, Radames, who is betrothed to the Pharaoh's daughter. As their love grows, Aida must make a heartbreaking sacrifice to protect her people and the man she loves.
Ghiaurov, Freni, and Bumbry were great voices in their time, and they are still effective here -- good enough musicians to put over the quite heavy vocal and expressive demands of their roles. Louis Quilico was never quite in that league, and he sounds a bit spread and woofy in places here, but he works hard and effectively to bring Rodrigo to life. Placido Domingo recorded his first Don Carlo, for EMI with Giulini, about 15 years before this production, but he looks and sounds fine here -- in the early 1980's he was doing very good Otellos and Lohengrins too, and Furlanetto, still in his 30's, brings a rich, young voice to an old part and succeeds in making the Grand Inquisitor vocally as well as expressively formidable. Levine brings both weight and energy to the score, and that reading fits well with the overall "traditional" design and production -- the Met's wardrobe budget must have been severely taxed, but everybody looks splendid.
In celebration of its 100th anniversary in 1983, the Metropolitan Opera hosts a four-hour performance uniting some of the world's most spellbinding opera singers and conductors. The event includes a ballet from Samson et Dalila and boasts incredible classical performances from Kathleen Battle, Plácido Domingo, Jose Carerras, Leonard Bernstein, Marilyn Horne, Leona Mitchell, Luciano Pavarotti and many more.
Il Barbiere di Siviglia is a comedic opera that takes place in Seville. The story revolves around a young couple who face challenges and obstacles to be together. With the help of a clever barber, they navigate through hilarious situations to achieve their ultimate goal.
It truly is an historic performance. Domingo looking and singing like a god pouring out golden tones; Renato Bruson sounds, like the sublime Verdian Baritone that he was at that time; Nicolai Ghiaurov proves again that he was one of the greatest "Verdi Basses"; Mirella Freni shows that there was more to her than just being Mimi and Susannah-in fact I can remember reading that at the time of the premiere of this production that there were fist fights (not unusual in La Scala's gallery) between Mirella's many fans--between those fans that just wanting her to continue singing the light lyric repertoire that they were use to her singing and those that felt she should and could sing the lyric-spinto repertoire which, of course, she proved that,indeed, she could (She's still singing more than twenty years later). This performance captures some of the best Verdi singers of the time doing dear ole wonderful Giuseppi proud.
Khovanshchina is a opera film based on the historical tragedy that occurred during the attempted reform of the Tsarist regime in the 17th century, focusing on the struggle for power between two political factions.
First brought to the stage in 1967 at Milano's La Scala to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of Toscanini, Verdi's Requiem is one of the most important compositions in 19th century liturgical music.
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Nicolai Ghiaurov
Nicolai Ghiaurov (or Nikolai Gjaurov, Nikolay Gyaurov, Bulgarian: Николай Гяуров) (September 13, 1929 – June 2, 2004) was a Bulgarian opera singer and one of the most famous basses of the postwar period. He was admired for his powerful, sumptuous voice, and was particularly associated with roles of Mussorgsky and Verdi. Ghiaurov married the Bulgarian pianist Zlatina Mishakova in 1956 and Italian soprano Mirella Freni in 1978, and the two singers frequently performed together. They lived in Modena until Ghiaurov's death in 2004 of a heart attack. Ghiaurov was born in the small mountain town of Velingrad in southern Bulgaria. As a child, he learned to play the violin, piano and clarinet. He began his musical studies at the Bulgarian State Conservatory in 1949 where he studied under Prof. Cristo Brambarov. Ghiaurov was awarded a state scholarship and from 1950 until 1955 he studied at the Moscow Conservatory. Ghiaurov's career was launched in 1955, when he won the Grand Prix at the International Vocal Competition in Paris and the First Prize and a gold medal at the Fifth World Youth Festival in Prague. Ghiaurov made his operatic debut in 1955 as Don Basilio in Rossini's The Barber of Seville in Sofia. In 1956 he moved to the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, singing his first Mephistopheles. He made his Italian operatic debut in 1958 in Teatro Comunale Bologna, before starting an international career with his rendition of Varlaam in the opera Boris Godunov at La Scala in 1959. 1962 marked Ghiaurov's Covent Garden debut as Padre Guardiano in Verdi's La forza del destino as well as his first appearance in Salzburg in Verdi's Requiem, conducted by Herbert von Karajan. Ghiaurov first shared a stage with Mirella Freni in 1961 in Genoa. She was Marguerite, he was Mephistopheles in Faust. Married in 1978, they lived in her hometown, Modena. They sang together frequently. He made his US debut in Gounod's Faust in 1963 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and he went on to sing twelve roles with the company, including the title roles in Boris Godunov, Don Quichotte, and Mefistofele. Ghiaurov made his Metropolitan Opera debut on 8 November 1965 as Mefistofele.[6] He sang a total of 81 performances in ten roles there, last appearing there on October 26, 1996, as Sparafucile in Rigoletto. During the course of his career, he also performed at Moscow's Bolshoi Theatre, the Vienna State Opera, Covent Garden, and Paris Opéra. In the late 1970s Ghiaurov sang the title role in the first complete stereo recording of Massenet's opera Don Quichotte. He was recorded frequently, and his discography includes complete recordings of many of his great stage roles, including Don Giovanni, Don Basilio, Ramfis, Colline, Banco, Gounod's and Boito's Mephistos and Boris Godunov, among many others. Ghiaurov and his wife Mirella Freni sang together in many operas, more notable ones being Simon Boccanegra (La Scala, 1971), Faust (Covent Garden, 1976), Don Carlos (Salzburg, 1976), Ernani (La Scala, 1982). In October 2000, at the age of 71, he gave an acclaimed performance at the 1st Herbert von Karajan Memorial concert under the baton of James Allen Gähres in Ulm, where he sang opera arias and duets by Cilea, Tchaikovsky and Verdi, together with Mirella Freni. ... Source: Article "Nicolai Ghiaurov" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
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