Adaneth - Arts & Literature

Composer: Richard Strauss Librettist: Hugo von Hofmannsthal Premiere: 26 January 1911, Dresden (Hofoper) Language: German Subtitles: English Synopsis: https://www.opera-arias.com/strauss-r/der-rosenkavalier/synopsis/ Orchestra and Chorus of The Royal Opera House Conductor: Georg Solti Cast & Characters: Kiri Te Kanawa: The Marschallin Anne Howells: Octavian Aage Haugland: Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau Barbara Bonney: Sophie Jonathan Summers: Herr Von Faninal Cynthia Buchan: Annina Robert Tear: Valzacchi Marianne: Phyllis Cannan Paul Crook: Host Roderick Earle: Police Commissar John Gibbs: Notary John Dobson: Major Domo to Faninal Kim Begley: Major Domo to the Marchallin Dennis O'Neill: Singer Rosenkavalier (The Knight of the Rose or The Rose-Bearer), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from Louvet de Couvrai's novel Les amours du chevalier de Faublas and Molière's comedy Monsieur de Pourceaugnac. It was first performed at the Königliches Opernhaus in Dresden on 26 January 1911 under the direction of Max Reinhardt, with Ernst von Schuch conducting. Within two months of its premiere, the work was translated into Italian and performed at La Scala. The opera's Austrian premiere was given by the Vienna Court Opera on the following 8 April. The work reached the Teatro Costanzi in Rome seven months later on 14 November. The United Kingdom premiere of Der Rosenkavalier occurred at the Royal Opera House in London on 29 January 1913. The United States premiere took place at the Metropolitan Opera on the following 9 December. A number of Italian theatres produced the work for the first time in the 1920s, including the Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi (1921), Teatro Regio di Torino (1923), Teatro di San Carlo (1925), and the Teatro Carlo Felice (1926). The Salzburg Festival mounted Der Rosenkavalier for the first time on 12 August 1929 in a production conducted by Clemens Krauss. The opera has four main characters: the aristocratic Marschallin; her 17-year-old lover, Count Octavian Rofrano; her brutish cousin Baron Ochs; and Ochs's prospective fiancée, Sophie von Faninal, the daughter of a rich bourgeois. At the Marschallin's suggestion, Octavian acts as Ochs's Rosenkavalier by presenting a ceremonial silver rose to Sophie. But Octavian and Sophie fall in love on the spot, and soon devise a comic intrigue to extricate Sophie from her engagement, with help from the Marschallin, who then yields Octavian to Sophie. Though a comic opera, the work incorporates weighty themes (particularly through the Marschallin's character arc), including infidelity, aging, sexual predation, and selflessness in love. Der Rosenkavalier is notable for showcasing the female voice, as its protagonists (light lyric soprano Sophie, mezzo-soprano Octavian, and the mature dramatic soprano Marschallin) are written to be portrayed by women, who share several duets as well as a trio at the opera's emotional climax. Some singers have performed two or even all three of these roles over the course of their careers. There are many recordings of the opera and it is regularly performed.

A 1975 Documentary film directed by Kaneto Shindo about the life of the great Japanese master of cinematography Kenji Mizoguchi (1898 - 1956). Audio in Japanese with English subtitles.

A 2009 BBC Arts Documentary narrated by Samuel West. Click on CC for English subtitles. The story of the Mystic Nativity - Sandro Botticelli's beautiful image of hope in troubled times. This masterpiece was painted 500 years ago in Florence, at the height of the city's fame & influence. Botticelli's Mystic Nativity is a painting that lovers of mystery fiction should like: a Renaissance masterpiece crammed with cryptic symbols disguising a dangerous message. But it is much more besides. Painted in 1500 by one of the most famous artists of all time, it is a supremely beautiful vision of maternal love, earthly harmony and heavenly ecstasy. But the painting also has a dark side. It was inspired by the preaching of Savonarola, the puritanical friar who held Florence in his grip in the 1490s. He purged the city of non-Christian art, destroying it on the notorious Bonfire of the Vanities. But he himself met a violent, fiery end, and Botticelli had to carefully hide the Mystic Nativity's dangerous meaning. Only a recent chance discovery by a scholar fully unlocked the painting's message. The painting was the first Botticelli work to arrive in Britain, brought here in 1799 by a wealthy young owner of slave plantations. It would have cost him just a few pounds at a time when Botticelli's name was all but forgotten. But before long, the painting would be on display to an audience of millions at the world's biggest ever art exhibition held in industrial Manchester.

A 2010 BBC Arts, History Documentary narrated by Samuel West. Click on CC for English subtitles. Painted over five centuries ago, Filippo Lippi's nativity is like no other: the birth of Christ in a dark, wooded wilderness. Its beauty inspired Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli. But it also conceals a deeply personal story. It was painted for Cosimo de' Medici, a wealthy banker who feared that his money was dragging him straight to hell. The artist's life was equally surprising. One of the most celebrated painters of his day, Filippo Lippi was also a Carmelite friar, but he was no stranger to the temptations of the flesh, to which he frequently yielded. Shortly before painting his Adoration, he caused uproar by seducing a twenty year-old nun. His paintings rejoice not just in divine beauty, but in that of women. In later times, the Adoration's history was interwoven with that of rulers and dictators. It became a bargaining chip after Napoleon's allies seized twenty merchant ships. And in the 20th century, it was hidden by the Nazis in a potassium mine, where American troops stumbled upon it. The painting even inspired mutiny amongst US officers when the American authorities tried to appropriate it for the National Gallery of Art in Washington.

A 2022 Arte Documentary. Audio in French with English subtitles. Albrecht Dürer ( 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528), was a German painter, printmaker, and theorist of the German Renaissance. Born in Nuremberg, Dürer established his reputation and influence across Europe in his twenties due to his high-quality woodcut prints. He was in contact with the major Italian artists of his time, including Raphael, Giovanni Bellini, and Leonardo da Vinci, and from 1512 was patronized by Emperor Maximilian I. Dürer's vast body of work includes engravings, his preferred technique in his later prints, altarpieces, portraits and self-portraits, watercolours and books. His well-known engravings include the three Meisterstiche (master prints) Knight, Death and the Devil (1513), Saint Jerome in his Study (1514), and Melencolia I (1514). His watercolours mark him as one of the first European landscape artists, while his woodcuts revolutionised the potential of that medium. “Whatever was mortal in Albrecht Dürer lies beneath this mound,” reads the epitaph on Northern Renaissance master Albrecht Dürer’s grave. The elegy’s suggestion of his superhuman status is not without merit. When Dürer died in 1528 at the age of 56, his fame was unparalleled for any artist from north of the Alps. A contemporary of Michelangelo, Dürer espoused the traditions and techniques of Renaissance Italy (and had traveled there) while placing creative emphasis on printmaking and continuing the cultivation for the Northern tradition of meticulous detail. Perhaps most fascinatingly (at least to our contemporary moment), Dürer was the first artist to master the self-portrait. Other artists had included their likenesses before Dürer, but Dürer returned to the subject repeatedly, rewarding it with its own tropes and techniques. He painted three self-portraits in this lifetime and completed several others as engravings and drawings (the first he made silverpoint at the age of 13). Far and away the most well-known of any of these portraits is the last he painted, made at the age of 28, in 1500. The image is widely regarded as one of the most influential self-portraits in history.

La mostra Canova - Thorvaldsen La nascita della scultura moderna rappresenta un’occasione per conoscere la scultura tra Sette e Ottocento nel confronto fra il genio italiano di Antonio Canova (Possagno 1757 – Venezia 1822) e quello danese di Bertel Thorvaldsen (Copenaghen 1770 – 1844). Riconosciuti e celebrati in tutto il mondo, i due scultori furono protagonisti e rivali della scena romana, luogo dove trascorsero la maggior parte della loro vita; a Roma, infatti, raggiunsero una notorietà tale che portarono l'Urbe a capitale della scultura moderna. Canova vi si era trasferito da Venezia nel 1781, mentre il più giovane Thorvaldsen raggiunse la capitale italiana da Copenaghen nel 1797. Nei due decenni successivi e oltre, Canova e Thorvaldsen si sfidarono sugli stessi soggetti, come le Grazie, Amore e Psiche, Venere, Ebe, dandone ciascuno la propria interpretazione all’insegna della modernità. - Antonio Canova (Possagno, 1º novembre 1757 – Venezia, 13 ottobre 1822) è stato uno scultore e pittore italiano, ritenuto il massimo esponente del Neoclassicismo in scultura e soprannominato per questo «il nuovo Fidia». Antonio Canova esprime nelle sue creazioni la ricerca della perfezione, la bellezza e la purezza dell'arte antica, con un'attenzione tutta nuova nel rendere più espressivi ed umani i volti e gli atteggiamenti del corpo, assenti nelle statue della mitologia greca-romana, a cui egli si ispirava. La precisione delle linee, delle forme e la delicatezza delle superfici nei suoi modelli nascondono un duro lavoro di ricerca e di misurazione delle proporzioni, che rispondono ai canoni di bellezza ideale; questi sono i motivi per cui viene considerato tra i maggiori scultori di tutti i tempi, capace di dare raffinatezza al marmo e capace di eguagliare e superare lo splendore antico delle sculture greche-romane, sotto il segno, appunto, del suo soprannome, "Nuovo Fidia". - Bertel Thorvaldsen, noto in Italia come Alberto Thorvaldsen o anche Thorwaldsen (Copenaghen, 17 novembre 1770 – Copenaghen, 24 marzo 1844), è stato uno scultore danese, esponente del Neoclassicismo e maggior rivale di Canova. Operò principalmente a Roma, sua patria artistica adottiva. La sua fama fu grandissima fra i contemporanei e pari a quella di Canova; ancora oggi è riconosciuto come uno dei più influenti scultori di quel periodo storico.

Una co-produzione 3d Produzioni, Andiamo Avanti Productions e SkyArte del 2020, realizzata con il contributo della Fondazione Eduardo De Filippo e del MIBACT, con la regia di Didi Gnocchi e Michele Mally. Il passato straordinario della produzione teatrale di uno dei più importanti intellettuali del '900 e l'attualità del suo pensiero: la capacità di leggere i segnali della società ancora prima che si sviluppassero in modo evidente. Uno straordinario racconto narrato per la prima volta dalla sua famiglia, attraverso foto, filmati, lettere e ricordi inediti.

A 2012 Arts Documentary hosted by Jay McInerney. Click on CC for English subtitles. Novelist Jay McInerney explores the life and writing of F Scott Fitzgerald, whose masterwork The Great Gatsby has just been filmed for the fifth time. Fitzgerald captured the reckless spirit of New York life in the roaring twenties - the flappers, the parties, the bootleg liquor, the inevitable reckoning, and the hangover to come. In Gatsby, he created a character who reinvented himself for love - just as Fitzgerald would, not once, but twice. Fitzgerald never wrote an autobiography. He left us something better - letters. Romantic, arrogant, humble letters; letters to editors, publishers, lovers, or friends. These letters reveal the inner thoughts of a man whose real life was never far from the fiction he wrote.

Opera Title: Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Libretto: Lorenzo Da Ponte Premiere: 26 January 1790, Vienna (Burgtheater) Language: Italian Synopsis: https://www.opera-arias.com/mozart/cosi-fan-tutte/synopsis/ Characters & Interpreters: Fiordiligi: Gundula Janowitz Dorabella: Christa Ludwig Ferrando: Luigi Alva Guglielmo: Hermann Prey Despina: Olivera Miljakovic Don Alfonso: Walter Berry Conductor: Karl Böhm Orchestra: Wiener Philharmoniker Chorus: Wiener Philharmonia Chor Recorded: 1970 Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti, K. 588, is an opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Mozart and Da Ponte use the theme of "fiancée swapping", which dates back to the 13th century; notable earlier versions are found in Boccaccio's Decameron and Shakespeare's play Cymbeline. Elements from Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and The Taming of the Shrew are also present. Furthermore, it incorporates elements of the myth of Procris as found in Ovid's Metamorphoses, vii. Place: Naples Time: the 18th century ACT I Ferrando and Guglielmo are convinced of the fidelity of Fiordiligi and Dorabella, the two sisters to whom they are betrothed. Don Alfonso, on the other hand, claims all women are fickle and wagers that he can prove it. The young men agree to take Alfonso's test, and he tells the sisters that their husbands-to-be have been enlisted into the army. Once the men have departed, the sisters' maid Despina is persuaded by Alfonso to introduce two young Albanian friends (Ferrando and Guglielmo in disguise) to Fiordiligi and Dorabella. Each "stranger" then begins to court the other's fiancée, and they begin to make progress after pretending to take poison. Despina disguises herself as a doctor and successfully cures the Albanians. ACT II When Ferrando learns that Dorabella has yielded to Guglielmo, he becomes yet more determined to win Fiordiligi's heart. Eventually, she too succumbs and a double wedding is planned - with Despina, again in disguise, as the notary. Just as the army is heard returning, the Albanian newlyweds disappear and Ferrando and Guglielmo appear in their place. Producing the marriage contract, they remonstrate with the sisters, who soon confess their deceit. After paying Alfonso his wager, Ferrando and Guglielmo forgive Fiordiligi and Dorabella.

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Vienna Singverein Choir Conductor: Herbert von Karajan Soloist: Anna Tomowa-Sintow Helga Muller Molinari Vinson Cole Paata Burchuladze 1 Requiem d-moll KV 626: I. Introitus - Requiem: Adagio II. Kyrie: Allegro - Adagio III. Sequenz - No. 1 Dies irae: Allegro assai III. Sequenz - No. 2 Tuba mirum: Andante III. Sequenz - No. 3 Rex tremendae Sequenz - No. 4 Recordare III. Sequenz - No. 5 Confutatis: Andante III. Sequenz - No. 6 Lacrimosa IV. Offertorium - No. 1 Domine Jesu: Andante con moto IV. Offertorium - No. 3 Hostias: Andante - Andate con moto V. Sanctus: Adagio - Allegro VI. Benedictus: Andante - Allegro VII. Agnus Dei VIII. Communio - Lux aeterna

The Firebird, Suite (1945) New Philharmonia Orchestra Filmed at the Royal Festival Hall, London 14 September 1965 1. Introduction 2. Dance of the Firebird 3. Variations of the Firebird 4. Pantomime I 5. Pas de deux (The Firebird and Ivan) 6. Pantomime II 7. Scherzo, Dance of the Princesses 8. Pantomime III 9. Round Dance of the Princesses (Khorovode) 10. Infernal Dance 11. Lullaby (The Firebird) 12. Finale

Featuring great performances from legendary artists of the golden age, classic archive offers a unique historical glimpse into our classical heritage. Wagner Tannhäuser: Overture Orchestre National de l'ORTF Filmed at the Besançon XXI International Festival 15 September 1968 Tannhäuser (German: full title Tannhäuser und der Sängerkrieg auf Wartburg, "Tannhäuser and the Minnesängers' Contest at Wartburg") is an 1845 opera in three acts, with music and text by Richard Wagner (WWV 70 in the catalogue of the composer's works). It is based on two German legends: Tannhäuser, the mythologized medieval German Minnesänger and poet, and the tale of the Wartburg Song Contest. The story centres on the struggle between sacred and profane love, as well as redemption through love, a theme running through most of Wagner's work. The opera remains a staple of major opera house repertoire in the 21st century.

Wagner: Tristan Und Isolde (Prelude & Liebestod) Orchestre National de l'ORTF Filmed at the Besançon XXI International Festival 15 September 1968 Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde) is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. As always, Wagner wrote the words for the opera himself. He took the famous old legend which had been told by the German poet Gottfried von Strassburg. "Liebestod" (German for "love death") is the title of the final, dramatic music from the 1859 opera Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner. It is the climactic end of the opera, as Isolde sings over Tristan's dead body. The Prelude and Liebestod is a concert version of the overture and Isolde's Act 3 aria, arranged by Wagner, which was first performed in 1862, before the first performance of the opera itself in 1865. The Liebestod can be performed either in a purely orchestral version, or with a soprano singing Isolde's vision of Tristan brought back to life.

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10 Orchestre National de la RTF Filmed in Paris, 15 June 1963 The Symphony No. 1 in F minor, Op. 10, by Dmitri Shostakovich was written in 1924–1925, and first performed in Leningrad by the Leningrad Philharmonic under Nicolai Malko on 12 May 1926. Shostakovich wrote the work as his graduation piece at the Petrograd Conservatory, completing it at the age of 19. The work has four movements (the last two being played without interruption).

Stravinsky: Symphony Of Psalms Orchestre Philharmonique et Choeurs de l'ORTF Filmed at the ORTF, Paris, 14 June 1967 The Symphony of Psalms is a choral symphony in three movements composed by Igor Stravinsky in 1930 during his neoclassical period. The work was commissioned by Serge Koussevitzky to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. The symphony derives its name from the use of Psalm texts in the choral parts. The three movements are performed without break, and the texts sung by the chorus are drawn from the Vulgate versions in Latin. Unlike many pieces composed for chorus and orchestra, Stravinsky said that it is not "a symphony in which I have included psalms to be sung." On the contrary, "it is the singing of psalms that I am symphonizing." Although the piece was written for the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the world premiere was actually given in Brussels by the Société Philharmonique de Bruxelles on December 13, 1930, under the direction of Ernest Ansermet. The American premiere of the piece was given soon afterwards by Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with the chorus of the Cecilia Society (trained by Arthur Fiedler) on December 19, 1930. The first recording was made by Stravinsky himself with the Orchestre des Concerts Straram and the Alexis Vlassov Choir at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris on February 17 and 18, 1931.

Un documentario Arte France del 2021 diretto da Cyril Leuthy. Audio in francese con sottotitoli in Italiano. Follow this link to watch the documentary with English subtitles: https://www.bitchute.com/video/6eG0KVi9VUAg/ Una leggenda del palcoscenico e dello schermo, Maurice Chevalier è stato un cantante, attore e intrattenitore consumato, incarnando la fantasia e il fascino della sua nativa Parigi nel corso della sua carriera decennale. Una carriera che lo ha portato alla fama in Europa e in America e ci ha lasciato un vasto repertorio di brani classici e performance cinematografiche.

Russell Merritt's multimedia essay on Eisenstein-Prokofiev collaboration. In one of the great artistic collaborations of the 20th century, Sergei Eisenstein and composer Sergei Prokofiev worked closely on three films together. Here Russell Merritt, author of "Recharging Alexander Nevsky: Tracking the Eisenstein-Prokofiev War-horse," details their partnership and outlines the aesthetic results in this exclusive audio essay, juxtaposed with photographs and clips from the film.

A 1993 Documentary Film directed by David M. Thompson. It traces the career of the cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, responsible for the photography on films like 'Apocalypse Now', `The Conformist', `Last Tango in Paris', `The Last Emperor', `Dick Tracy' and `The Sheltering Sky'. Three-Time Oscar-Winning Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro has worked with some of the most extraordinary film directors of our time, including Bernardo Bertolucci, Francis Ford Coppola, Warren Beatty, and Carlos Saura, to make some of the most breathtaking films of our time. Over the course of his remarkable thirty-five-year career, Storaro has brought visual life to many of the films that have become centerpieces of contemporary cinema. The film follows Storaro at work with Francis Ford Coppola, Warren Beatty and Bernardo Bertolucci. Explores Storaro's methods of working and his philosophy of lighting.

Arturo Toscanini: Hymn of the Nations, is a 1944 film directed by Alexander Hammid, which features the Inno delle nazioni, a patriotic work for tenor soloist, chorus, and orchestra, composed by Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi in the early-1860s. For this musical work, Verdi utilized the national anthems of England ("God Save the King"), France ( "La Marseillaise") and Italy ("Il Canto degli Italiani"). It is one of only two secular choral works composed by Giuseppe Verdi. Although written for the 1862 International Exhibition in London, it premiered at Her Majesty's Theatre on 24 May 1862. It became the centerpiece of a 1944 propaganda film, Hymn of the Nations, where it was performed by the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini with the Westminster Choir and Jan Peerce as tenor soloist. In December 1943, Arturo Toscanini filmed a performance of this music for inclusion in an Office of War Information documentary about the role of Italian-Americans in aiding the Allies during World War II. Toscanini added a bridge passage to include arrangements of "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the United States and "The Internationale" for the Soviet Union and the Italian partisans. Joining Toscanini in the filmed performance in NBC Studio 8-H, were tenor Jan Peerce, the Westminster Choir, and the NBC Symphony Orchestra. The film also included the overture to Verdi's opera La Forza del Destino. The narration was written by May Sarton, film editing by Boris Kaufman, and narration read by actor Burgess Meredith. The original version was released on VHS by Blackhawk Films, which retitled it Arturo Toscanini Conducts Giuseppe Verdi. During the Cold War, the US government crudely censored "The Internationale" out of the film. The version continued to be released without any acknowledgement of censorship. The uncensored version was thought to have been lost until a print was rediscovered in Alaska.

The original Televised Concerts 1948-1952, March 15-22, 1952 at Carnegie Hall, New York City. 1. March 15, 1852 at Carnegie Hall, New York City. Introduction: César Franck (1822-1890) - Rédemption: Symphonic Interlude Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) - En Saga: Tone Poem, Op.9 Claude Debussy (1862-1918) - Nuages - Fètes - Gioacchino Rossini (1792-1868) - William Tell: Ouverture 2. March 22, 1852 at Carnegie Hall, New York City. Introduction: Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) - Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op.67 Ottorino Respighi (1878-1936) - The Pines of Rome: Symphonic Poem The Pines of Villa Borghese The Pines near a Catacomb The Pines of the Janiculum The Pines of the Appian Way

God Rot Tunbridge Wells! is a 1985 British musical television film directed by Tony Palmer, written by John Osborne and starring Trevor Howard, Christopher Bramwell and Dave Griffiths. Music conducted by Charles Macferras. It was aired on Channel 4 in 1985 and was made to mark the 300th anniversary of Handel's birth. Shortly before death, George Fredrick Handel (1685-1759), old, blind, portly, sometimes raging and usually reflective, narrates a look back over his life. As he tells his story, his music plays as background or is performed on screen. Cast & Characters: Trevor Howard – Elderly Handel Christopher Bramwell – Young Handel Dave Griffiths – Handel in middle age Isabella Connell – Princess of Wales Anne Downie – Vittoria Turquini Beth Robens – Handel's Mother Simon Donald – Prince Ruspoli

Hamlet at Elsinore is a 1964 television version of the c. 1600 play by William Shakespeare. Directed by Philip Saville, with Christopher Plummer, Robert Shaw, Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland and Jo Maxwell. Produced by the BBC in association with Danish Radio, it was shown in the U.S. on NET. Winning wide acclaim both for its performances and for being shot entirely at Helsingør (Elsinore in English), in the castle in which the play is set. It is the only version (with sound) of the play to have actually been shot at Elsinore Castle. This programme was recorded and edited on video tape (2" quadruplex) and not 'filmed'. It was the longest version of the play telecast in one evening up to that time, running nearly three hours. The Canadian actor Christopher Plummer took the lead role as Hamlet and earned an Emmy Award nomination for his performance. In supporting roles were Robert Shaw as Claudius, Donald Sutherland as Fortinbras, Roy Kinnear as the Gravedigger and Michael Caine, in his only Shakespearean performance, as Horatio. Sutherland, Caine and Shaw were, at the time, almost completely unknown to American audiences, and just before the presentation's first U.S. telecast, Plummer began to gain popularity in the U.S. because of his appearance in the 1965 musical film The Sound of Music. The production was originated by Danish television, which lacked the financial resources to realize the project and turned to the BBC for help. Videotaped at Kronborg Castle in Elsinore, Denmark, in September 1963 by a Danish crew with the director and actors supplied by the BBC, it represents a technical milestone for the BBC as a full-length play had never been videotaped on-location before. The producer, Peter Luke, deliberately cast lesser-known actors as it was felt using major stars would prove a distraction. Plummer, Shaw and particularly Caine would become stars within a year to two of the original broadcast, and Sutherland would become a star in 1970 after the release of the film MASH. Jo Maxwell Muller, who was only 18 years old, was cast as Ophelia on the insistence of Plummer. Cast & Characters: Christopher Plummer as Hamlet Robert Shaw as Claudius, King of Denmark Alec Clunes as Polonius Michael Caine as Horatio June Tobin as Gertrude, Queen of Denmark Jo Maxwell Muller as Ophelia Dyson Lovell as Laertes Donald Sutherland as Fortinbras Roy Kinnear as the Gravedigger Horatio is, so far, the only classical role played by Michael Caine, who had never received dramatic training.

Berlioz - Symphonie Fantastique, Op.14 Orchestre de Paris Conducted by Herbert von Karajan Filmed in Paris, June 25 1970 Director Roger Benamou Symphonie fantastique: Épisode de la vie d'un artiste … en cinq parties (Fantastical Symphony: Episode in the Life of an Artist … in Five Sections) Op. 14, is a program symphony written by the French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. It is an important piece of the early Romantic period. The first performance was at the Paris Conservatoire on 5 December 1830. Franz Liszt made a piano transcription of the symphony in 1833 (S. 470). Symphonie fantastique is a piece of program music that tells the story of a gifted artist who, in the depths of hopelessness and despair because of his unrequited love for a woman, has poisoned himself with opium. The piece tells the story of the artist’s drug-fueled hallucinations, beginning with a ball and a scene in a field and ending with a march to the scaffold and a satanic dream. The artist’s lust is represented by an elusive theme called the idée fixe — the object of fixation. After attending a performance of William Shakespeare's Hamlet on 11 September 1827, Berlioz fell in love with Irish actress Harriet Smithson, who played the role of Ophelia. He sent her numerous love letters, all of which were unanswered. When she left Paris in 1829, they had still not met. Berlioz wrote Symphonie fantastique as a way to express his obsession. Smithson did not attend the premiere in 1830, but she heard the work in 1832 and realized the piece was about her. Berlioz began to court Smithson and later manipulated her into marriage by swallowing a lethal dose of opium in front of her. Hysterical, she accepted the proposal, upon which Berlioz produced a vial of antidote from his other pocket. The two were married in 1833 and eventually separated. The symphony has five movements, instead of four as was conventional for symphonies of the time: I. "Rêveries – Passions" (Daydreams – Passions) – C minor/C major II. "Un bal" (A Ball) – A major III. "Scène aux champs" (Scene in the Fields) – F major IV. "Marche au supplice" (March to the Scaffold) – G minor V. "Songe d'une nuit du sabbat" (Dream of a Witches' Sabbath) – C minor/C major

A 2020 France TV History Documentary hosted by Stéphane Bern. Audio in French with English subtitles. Stéphane Bern embarks on a journey that will take him to Austria, Germany and the Czech Republic, in the footsteps of one of the greatest composers in history: Ludwig van Beethoven. Two and a half centuries after his birth, his works continue to be performed and sold all over the world. The man was a visionary who revolutionized his art and bequeathed humanity an exceptional heritage. After growing up in Bonn, Beethoven began his musical career in Vienna where his success hides a terrible secret: the composer has been deaf since he was thirty. He will never hear some of his works.

A 2018 France TV History Documentary hosted by Stéphane Bern. Audio in French with English subtitles. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is considered a universal genius, whose fate continues to intrigue. In Austria, Stéphane Bern goes to discover the wonders of baroque art, the sumptuous Viennese palaces, the most beautiful operas in Europe, and the Palace of Versailles where, at the age of 6, he had surprised Louis XV with his precocity. An independent and daring traveler, Mozart refused to comply with the demands of the Court and became one of the first "free lance" musicians in the history of music. “Secrets of History” also lifts the veil on his numerous amorous conquests and on the mysteries surrounding the circumstances of his death.