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Rossini’s comic masterpiece The Barber of Seville was based on Pierre-Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais’s French play Le Barbier de Séville and is the ultimate opera buffa. The score is a compendium of the composer’s wittiest and most brilliant writing, and includes the famous entrance aria Largo al factotum and a raft of superbly dynamic ensembles. This vibrant and youthful production features Florian Sempey, one of the world’s best Figaros, the ‘Rossini tenor’ Michele Angelini, vivacious and critically admired Catherine Trottmann, and the award-winning team of acclaimed director Laurent Pelly and conductor Jérémie Rhorer who directs his spirited period ensemble Le Cercle de l’Harmonie.

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REVIEW:

The cast are in modern dress but the interaction of characters is so forceful as to sweep away any lurking objections. Add to this some very fine singing, particularly from Michele Angelini’s glorious high tenor as Almaviva, and there is a great deal here to admire and enjoy.

– Lark Reviews

From grand spectacles to poignant close-ups, experience Helgi Tomasson's bravura interpretation of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet like you've never seen it before. With passionate choreography, spine-tingling swordsmansip, and a celebrated score by Sergei Prokofiev, San Francisco Ballet's passionate retelling of the Bard's greatest tragedy has packed houses around the world. Romeo & Juliet is one of the Company's most popular and widely toured ballets and has been seen by more than 200,000 people since it premiered in 1994. Choreographed by Helgi Tomasson, with sets and costumes by Jens-Jacob Worsaae, this visually stunning production and the brilliant dancers of San Francisco Ballet bring this powerful and touching tragedy - and Renaissance-era Verona - vivdly to life. "Tomasson lifts Shakespeare's complex and familiar language off the gilded pages and translates it into lucid classical choreography that is visceral, fresh, and ultimately sublime" (Huffington Post).

John Wayne's first television special, originally aired as Swing Out, Sweet Land on NBC-TV in 1970, is a patriotic and poignant journey through American history - with music, comedy and many famous friends. As host and narrator, Wayne walks through pivotal moments in America's past. His guests include Jack Benny as a citizen asking George Washington (Lorne Greene) about that dollar he supposedly threw across the Potomac River; Bob Hope and Ann-Margret entertaining the troops at Valley Forge; printer Red Skelton discussing dissent with apprentice Tom Smothers; Lucille Ball as Miss Liberty; and Bing Crosby as Mark Twain, philosophizing with freed slave Frederick Douglass (Roscoe Lee Brown). Also: Dean Martin as inventor Eli Whitney; Michael Landon as Peter Minuit, buying Manhattan Island from an Indian (Bonanza co-star Dan Blocker); brothers Rick and David Nelson fighting on opposite sides in the Civil War; Phyllis Diller as a 19th-century Presidential candidate; Dan Rowan and Dick Martin as the Wright brothers; Celeste Holm and Dennis Weaver as the parents of young Abraham Lincoln; Greg Morris as Crispus Attucks, a Negro who died in the Boston Massacre. Musical highlights include Ribbon of Steel by Johnny Cash, This Is a Great Country by Glen Campbell, Oh, Susannah by Roy Clark, Clementine by Leslie Uggams and God Bless America by the cast. JOHN WAYNE'S TRIBUTE TO AMERICA is a lavish and thoughtful timepiece of 20th-century television entertainment, presenting a parade of legendary stars in a humorous and hopeful celebration.

Polychoral music is so synonymous with 16th century Venice that it is easy to forget that the longest flourishing of this style- possibly even its invention- took place in Germany. Whether or not it was in Munich with the works of Orlande de Lassus that the Gabrielis first encountered its effects, polychoral music came to define German textures and techniques for over a century. Both apprentices and rivals to their Italian counterparts, composers such as Hieronymus Praetorius, Schutz, Hassler and Scheidt, as well as Austria’s Biber, fostered a tradition whose influence would extend all the way to the motets of Bach. This performance places a giant of Baroque choral music, Biber’s Missa Salisburgensis, alongside the Venetian choral works of Monteverdi from which it takes its inspiration. The combination is a heady one, a triumphal musical celebration uniquely appropriate to mark the 200th anniversary year of Salzburg’s affiliation with Austria.

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Johann Sebastian Bach was undoubtedly the greatest musical thinker of his age. Dubbed ‘the Old Testament of music’ by the conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow, the Well-Tempered Clavier is acknowledged to be one of the most significant works ever written for the keyboard. Each of these 24 preludes and fugues encapsulates its own mood, and Bach’s delight in mixing technical strictness with freedom of expression has made this work an indispensable element of Western culture for centuries. Sir András Schiff is heralded as one of the finest Bach interpreters today, and this first complete performance at the prestigious BBC Proms was summed up as ‘stupendous’ by The Independent.

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REVIEW:

That he played the one hundred and ten minutes of the First Book from The Well-Tempered Clavier from memory was a feat in itself; that he played it without a blemish was remarkable, and that he imbued it with such happiness was something to remember. Played without an interval, and with both feet firmly planted on the stage, we come as near to Bach’s harpsichord as you can get from a modern Steinway concert grand piano.

– David's Review Corner (David Denton)

Olga Busuioc's 'performance of sustained dramatic intensity and vocal brilliance... brings direction and shape to the Miskimmon "concept"' (The Arts Desk), in a Festival-premiere Butterfly revived from the 2016 tour. The Guardian lauds her reading's 'perception of clarity... dispassionate... yet full of heart... sensuously and expertly played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the eagerly responsive baton of Omer Meir Wellber' with praise for Guerrero's 'Pinkerton, sung with soaring, willful, preening grace' and a 'Sharpless, richly and sympathetically portrayed by Micael Sumuel'. 'Elizabeth DeShong's Suzuki was more striking - a rock of sanity and compassion, with a voice of superb authority' and 'the chorus under it's new master Nicholas Jenkins sounded luminous in it's humming serenade' (Telegraph)

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Johann Sebastian Bach was undoubtedly the greatest musical thinker of his age. Dubbed ‘the Old Testament of music’ by the conductor and pianist Hans von Bülow, the Well-Tempered Clavier is acknowledged to be one of the most significant works ever written for the keyboard. Each of these 24 preludes and fugues encapsulates its own mood, and Bach’s delight in mixing technical strictness with freedom of expression has made this work an indispensable element of Western culture for centuries. Sir András Schiff is heralded as one of the finest Bach interpreters today, and this first complete performance at the prestigious BBC Proms was summed up as ‘stupendous’ by The Independent.

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REVIEW:

That he played the one hundred and ten minutes of the First Book from The Well-Tempered Clavier from memory was a feat in itself; that he played it without a blemish was remarkable, and that he imbued it with such happiness was something to remember. Played without an interval, and with both feet firmly planted on the stage, we come as near to Bach’s harpsichord as you can get from a modern Steinway concert grand piano.

– David's Review Corner (David Denton)

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What a pompous and exquisite gala to celebrate opera legend Plácido Domingo in the breathtaking Arena di Verona! 50 years ago the young Madrilenian singer Plácido Domingo gave his debut at the ancient open-air theatre: the beginning of a lasting and exceptional relationship. To mark the anniversary, Domingo presents a programme entirely dedicated to Verdi, performing three of his most complex and majestic baritone roles. No effort was spared to create an unforgettable evening in a unique atmosphere in the completely sold-out amphitheatre, which has been at the heart of Italian entertainment for almost 2,000 years. Whether as Babylonian king Nabucco, Scottish general Macbeth or as Doge Simon Boccanegra: Domingo’s versatility and aura is more than impressive, with “top phrasing and articulation, his baritone with full and sonorous intonation and a unique timbre – all this substantiates his exceptional position” (Das Opernglas). At the side of Domingo shines an excellent cast including Anna Pirozzi and Arturo Chacón-Cruz, supported by a perfectly rehearsed ballet under the baton of conductor Jordi Bernàcer who sovereignly leads the Orchestra of the Arena di Verona from scene to scene. A triumphal, almost historic moment for Domingo and the Arena di Verona!

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From The Royal Ballet’s classical origins in the works of Petipa, to the home-grown choreographers who put British Ballet on the world stage, this mixed programme highlights the versatility of the Company. Petipa’s Raymonda Act III is Russian classical ballet summarized in one act, full of sparkle and precise technique, while Ashton’s Enigma Variations is quintessentially British in every way – from its score by Elgar and period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman, to Ashton’s signature style, the essence of British ballet. Concerto, MacMillan’s fusion of classical technique with a contemporary mind, completes a programme that shows the breadth of the Company’s heritage. “The Royal Ballet is at the top of its game in a new triple bill of MacMillan, Ashton, and a pinch of Petipa…” (The Guardian) “O’Sullivan dances with a sunbeam brightness and zest to match her tangerine-colored costume… The ‘Nimrod’ variation is a memorable evocation of mature friendship; catching at the shifting currents of conversation and companionship with a finespun physicality… Princely Vadim Muntagirov follows suit with pantherine leaps and there’s strong support from the soloists and fluffy-hatted corps.”

Excellent…a rolling mass of desire, repression and duplicity FINANCIAL TIMES "This fresh, insightful version of a morally murky play finds the RSC on flying form" MAIL ON SUNDAY When a young novice nun is compromised by a corrupt official, who offers to save her brother from execution in return for sex, she has no idea where to turn for help. When she threatens to expose him, he tells her that no one would believe her. Shakespeare wrote this play in the early 1600s, yet it remains astonishingly resonant today. Artistic Director Gregory Doran directs this new production of Shakespeare’s astonishingly resonant work.

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From The Royal Ballet’s classical origins in the works of Petipa, to the home-grown choreographers who put British Ballet on the world stage, this mixed programme highlights the versatility of the Company. Petipa’s Raymonda Act III is Russian classical ballet summarized in one act, full of sparkle and precise technique, while Ashton’s Enigma Variations is quintessentially British in every way – from its score by Elgar and period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman, to Ashton’s signature style, the essence of British ballet. Concerto, MacMillan’s fusion of classical technique with a contemporary mind, completes a programme that shows the breadth of the Company’s heritage. “The Royal Ballet is at the top of its game in a new triple bill of MacMillan, Ashton, and a pinch of Petipa…” (The Guardian) “O’Sullivan dances with a sunbeam brightness and zest to match her tangerine-colored costume… The ‘Nimrod’ variation is a memorable evocation of mature friendship; catching at the shifting currents of conversation and companionship with a finespun physicality… Princely Vadim Muntagirov follows suit with pantherine leaps and there’s strong support from the soloists and fluffy-hatted corps.”

Described as ‘a joyous romp’ (Opera News), Donizetti’s dramma giocoso shows us what can go wrong when the egos of the actors get in the way of putting on a good show. From the prima donna and the sub-par lead tenor, to the seconda donna’s boisterous mother (played by a bass singer) and all the characters in between, everyone is playing the diva whilst the director pulls his hair out in frustration, and questions of who will fund the production are raised... Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali (‘The Conventions and Inconveniences of the Stage’) – a joyful play on words in itself – more commonly known as Viva la mamma! is a two-act farce that shines an exaggerated spotlight on the behind-the-scenes working of a theatre and the rehearsal process with hilarious results. Laurent Pelly directs this masterpiece of comic timing and satire, marking the continuation of his celebrated relationship with Opéra de Lyon.

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Georges Bizet died at the tragically young age of 36 while Carmen was still in it's first run, and he never witnessed the huge international acclaim his opera received. Filled with jealousy and passion, the gripping and ultimately tragic narrative of Carmen initially shocked audiences, but with an abundance of memorable tunes, it remains unchallenged as one of the most popular operas ever written. Carmen received it's premiere at the Opéra Comique in Paris in 1875, and this internationally acclaimed production, performed on period instruments, represents a triumphant return to it's home theatre. 'Carmen has never sounded more revolutionary, romantic or thrillingly vibrant' (The Times, London).

REVIEW:

Ms. Antonacci comes across as a totally convincing Carmen, vocally and dramatically. Her Habanera is spicy, alluring and sung with utter confidence and swagger, while her Second Act Les tringles des sistres tintaient shows her displaying an exotic style quite perfect for this colorful number. Straight through the opera she is consistently excellent, conveying effectively every aspect of the conniving and manipulative side of seductress Carmen’s character. Andrew Richards is splendid as Don José, the soldier hopelessly enamored of Carmen and tortured by her rejections. His Second Act Flower Song (La Fleur Que Tu M’avais Jetée) is sung with tenderness and passion. His dramatic skills are impressive throughout: note how effectively he becomes a different Don José in the final act, degenerating to desperation and finally to a murderous level in answer to Carmen’s final rejection.

Anne-Catherine Gillet as Micaëla is also quite fine. She has an angelic soprano voice, which is especially beautiful and strong in the upper ranges. In the First Act Parle-moi de ma mere she sings with great passion and arresting innocence. Her Third Act Je dis que rien ne m’épouvante is also quite good even if at moments she veers toward stridency. Nicolas Cavallier as Escamillo is also impressive, and the rest of the cast is very convincing.

As suggested above, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and his fine orchestra also deliver stellar work for their part. Gardiner’s tempos are brisk, and the orchestra’s playing is always spirited, precise and full of feeling. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever heard better phrasing and orchestral playing in any other recorded performance of Carmen. Try the Act II Overture and notice how subtly Gardiner shapes the music as it builds from its demure opening to a lively exotic dance and then transitions right into Carmen’s brilliantly sung Les tringles. Of course, the Prelude at the opera’s outset is brilliantly played too and all the accompaniments throughout the opera are consistently well done.

The costuming is historically accurate and quite realistic: clothes of the factory workers and smugglers appear worn and sometimes tattered, though Carmen’s attire is usually a cut or so above the others’. I wouldn’t necessarily associate the costuming with Spain but it is nevertheless quite fitting throughout the opera. Sets are rather sparse and the lighting is often faint, leaving dark scenery, which is generally quite effective here.

Stage Director Adrian Noble clearly understands drama and the theater. Here he does not tamper with the essentials of the opera’s story or time period as so many other stage directors have lately done with this and other operas. That said, he does add—with good historical foundation though—a few touches that mostly enhance this production. For example, using the aforementioned Smith’s Edition Peters Urtext, he inserts a scene where Moralès looks out toward the audience and observes an incident along with fellow soldiers to his left and right. He wittily describes its action: a young wife is secretly handed a message from her lover while strolling with her oblivious older husband. This scene is employed instead of a pantomime, which was used in some early performances of Carmen but thereafter abandoned. In any event, this subtle tidbit helps fill out the picture of life in Carmen’s Seville. In the end, Noble’s treatment of Carmen must be judged an imaginative and fresh take on this warhorse opera.

The camera work, picture clarity and sound reproduction on this Blu-ray disc are excellent. As for the competition on video, not surprisingly it is plentiful. There are two splendid Franco Zeffirelli renditions from the Arena di Verona: one on TDK, from 2003, featuring the brilliant Marina Domashenko as Carmen and led by Alain Lombard; the other is on BelAir Classiques, from 2014, with Ekaterina Semenchuk in the lead and Henrik Nànàsi conducting. Of these two I would favor the earlier one. There is an excellent version, but updated to current times, on Unitel Classica, from 2010, featuring a star-studded cast of Béatrice Uria-Monzon and Roberto Alagna in the leads, and Marina Poplavskaya as Micaëla and Erwin Schrott as Escamillo. But Calixto Bieito’s staging won’t be to everyone’s taste, with its use of Mercedes Benz cars, flat screen televisions, simulated sex scenes and other added features. On purely musical grounds it is excellent and probably the equal of the Gardiner/Naxos, but it falls short owing to its sometimes wayward and somewhat incoherent production. The Lombard/TDK features a fine production, but so does this Naxos effort, and in the end its strengths outweigh the others’. The Gardiner/Naxos would thus be my first choice in video format.

– MusicWeb International

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This special collection includes three Royal Ballet performances of Tchaikovsky’s beloved masterpieces: Anthony Dowell’s majestic production of the beautiful and romantic tragedy Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty in its detailed re-creation by Monica Mason of the landmark 1946 production, and Peter Wright’s classic production of the quintessential Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker. These spectacular and iconic ballets present the virtuosity and skill of the whole Company. "Osipova was riveting throughout... [Golding] demonstrates real brilliance and prowess." ( Swan Lake - The New York Times) "fresh and reinvigorated - Nutcrackers come and Nutcrackers go but the Royal Ballet's version is a hardy perennial. Peter Wright's version of Lev Ivanov's original 1892 ballet has undergone changes since its debut in 1984 but it remains the one by which all others must be judged. Francesca Hayward dances like a dream child as Clara, expressive, musical and guileless and is ably partnered by Alexander Campbell as Hans-Peter." (The Nutcracker - The Stage) "If you want spectacle at the ballet then this Sleeping Beauty is for you. Based on the opulent production that reopened the Royal Opera House after the Second World War, Monica Mason and Christopher Newton’s staging is a sumptuous homage to the splendour of the French court of Louis XIV. With so much richness on stage, in costumes, sets and the sheer number of courtiers and fairytale characters, the view from the stalls is full to bursting." (The Sleeping Beauty - The Times)

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Sarah Lamb and Vadim Muntagirov star as tragic lovers Manon and Des Grieux in this performance of Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon, a classic of the Royal Ballet repertory. Nicholas Gerogiadis’s period designs set the ballet in the contrasting worlds of Paris Luxury and Louisiana swampland, while the intense emotion of MacMillan’s choreography is complemented by a score drawn from Massenet’s music. The impassioned pas de deux from Manon and Des Grieux drive this tragic story, and make Manon one of MacMillan’s most powerful dramas. “Kenneth MacMillan’s retelling of Abbe Prevost’s cautionary tale of a young man brought low by an amoral young beauty has been a mainstay of the Royal Ballet repertoire since 1974. The current revival is vividly played and danced by some first-rate casts.” (The Financial Times)

The rich baritone delivering memorable melodies like "Sundown," "Carefree Highway," "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," and the title song made him a mainstay of the '60s-'70s singer-songwriter boom and a national treasure of his native Canada. This documentary portrait captures Gordon Lightfoot at 80 as his reflections upon his life and six-decade career are complemented by observations from contemporaries and admirers like Anne Murray, Ian & Sylvia, Randy Bachman, Geddy Lee, Sarah McLachlan, more. 90 min. Widescreen; Soundtrack: English; Subtitles: English; theatrical trailers.

The famous traditional Chinese tale of La Fresque ('The Painting on the Wall') tells of two travellers who take shelter at a small temple, one of whom becomes so enraptured by the image of a beautiful girl in a fresco that he is transported into another dimension. Angelin Preljocaj, one of France's leading contemporary choreographers, explores this mysterious relationship between representation and reality with a spectacular and unforgettable ballet filled with dynamic action, emotive lyricism and powerful responses to the music of Nicolas Godin, one half of the celebrated music duo Air. La Fresque has been admired for it's 'breath-taking scenes' (La Terrasse) and it's 'dark and splendid beauty' (L'Humanité).

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During his years in Italy, Handel absorbed the music of his contemporaries and mastered new stylistic trends. Though the staging of La resurrezione was a memorable event in the Roman musical world, it was the production of Agrippina that marked Handel’s definitive investiture as an operatic composer. It met with enormous success and an unprecedented number of performances followed. Its melodic power is overwhelming and in his creation of credible and vivid characters, the alternation of recitative and arias, and sheer theatrical power, Handel established the template that was to last for the remainder of his operatic career. The production on the present release was filmed in March 2016 at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, Austria, and was directed by Robert Carsen.

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Recorded at the Philharmonie am Gasteig, Munich, 2016. As an artist in residence with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, the American cellist Yo-Yo Ma had the opportunity to do what is perhaps the second thing he loves the most after playing: sharing his love of music with others. Yo-Yo Ma doesn’t fade away into the music, nor does he take a worshipful attitude towards the pieces he performs. From the moment he walks onto the stage, he exudes charisma that immediately confirms his truly exceptional status as the “best cellist in the world”. With its ten variations on a theme of knightly character for full orchestra, Richard Strauss’ tone poem “Don Quixote” not only depicts the colourful adventures of Cervantes’ chivalrous hero, but also functions as a virtuoso display of glorious solo melodies embedded in stunning orchestral passages. It is, in a way, a second Strauss cello concerto that can take it up with any other late-19th century piece of this kind. Joining “the Don” later is a viola solo that personifies the faithful Sancho Panza and is played by Wen Xiao Zheng.

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Czech-born composer Jaromír Weinberger, best known for his opera Schwanda the Bagpiper, was forced to flee to America in order to escape Nazi terror. Frühlingsstürme, staged in 1933 but soon closed down by the Nazi government, was the last operetta of the Weimar Republic. It is filled with cultural complexity, combining serious operatic style with light comedy, and presents a thrilling story involving a doomed love affair set against war between Japan and Russia. This lavish production is staged by the award-winning Australian director Barrie Kosky.

The Beethoven cycle of the 21st century! Christian Thielemann’s and Wiener Philharmoniker’s recording of BEETHOVEN 9 had been their first recording in HD of all nine Beethoven symphonies, accompanied by nine hour-long documentaries, one on each symphony, featuring Thielemann and Prof. Joachim Kaiser. From insights into Beethoven’s musical thinking to interpretational comparisons, including excerpts from performances by Karajan, Böhm, Bernstein, Järvi etc., to historical perspectives – no aspect of Beethoven’s symphonic oeuvre will remain untreated! “Thielemann’s recordings of the Beethoven symphonies stand head and shoulders above the countless and mostly undistinguishable versions on offer.“ (Die Presse) “The Vienna Philharmonic literally grew beyond itself that evening in the Konzerthaus.“ (Neue Züricher Zeitung) Missa Solemnis: Thielemann “conjured up the gigantic cosmos of the Missa with such lightness and grace that its mystery seemed to reveal itself.“ (FAZ)

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The contemporary face of The Royal Ballet is shown in works from three of today's leading choreographers. Christopher Wheeldon's Within the Golden Hour is based around seven couples separating and intermingling, to music by Vivaldi and Ezio Bosso and lit with the rich colours suggested by sunset. In Flight Pattern, Crystal Pite combines Górecki's haunting “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs” with a large dance ensemble to create a poignant and passionate reflection on migration. Between them, Medusa is new work inspired by the Greek myth, created for The Royal Ballet by the acclaimed choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, which juxtaposes Purcell arias with an electronic score by Olga Wojciechowska.

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The contemporary face of The Royal Ballet is shown in works from three of today's leading choreographers. Christopher Wheeldon's Within the Golden Hour is based around seven couples separating and intermingling, to music by Vivaldi and Ezio Bosso and lit with the rich colours suggested by sunset. In Flight Pattern, Crystal Pite combines Górecki's haunting “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs” with a large dance ensemble to create a poignant and passionate reflection on migration. Between them, Medusa is new work inspired by the Greek myth, created for The Royal Ballet by the acclaimed choreographer Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, which juxtaposes Purcell arias with an electronic score by Olga Wojciechowska.

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The Verbier Festival is one of classical music’s greatest events. In celebration of the festival’s 25th anniversary, this unique concert brings together 36 classical stars in an unprecedented evening of ingenious programming and captivating performances. The line-up includes the world’s greatest violinists, violists, cellists and pianists as well as other leading performers conducted by Valery Gergiev and Gabor Takacs-Nagy. Founder and director Martin T:son Engstroem writes: “We started this incredible adventure in 1994, and 25 years on, our Festival has become one of the world’s most important cultural events. But it is not just another festival; our vision right from the beginning was to build something which combined important musicians with a very visible youth and learning element. This is what we set out to do and this is what we achieved.”

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Francesco Cavalli, a natural successor to Monteverdi, was the most famous and influential Italian opera composer during the mid-17th century. Cardinal Mazarin, chief minister to the king, commissioned Cavalli to create a Parisian spectacle to celebrate the wedding of the ‘Sun King’ Louis XIV and the Infanta of Spain. Ercole amante (‘Hercules in Love’) was the flattering subject chosen for this regal extravaganza combining larger-than-life characters with mythology, and genuine human emotions with natural and cosmic phenomena. The result is a sumptuous Baroque spectacle, conceived on a vast scale in this lavish production by directors Valerie Lesort and Christian Hecq.