Adaneth - Arts & Literature

Genius, ambition and narcissism are the hallmarks of any forger. In this episode of the series "Italy: Journey into Beauty" we will talk about the characteristics and activities of forgers, characters who live in the shadows but then reveal their work at the most unexpected time.

Una Produzione Sky Italia e Direzione dei Musei Vaticani del 2013. Antonio Paoloucci, direttore dei Musei Vaticani, fa da guida alla visita delle opere più importanti raccolte in due millenni di storia: oltre 40 affreschi e dipinti, dalla Cappella Sistina di Michelangelo alla Trasfigurazione e alla Scuola di Atene di Raffaello, per arrivare al Torso del Belvedere dello scultore greco Apollonio, al celebre Gruppo del Laocoonte di Agesandro, Atanodoro e Polidoro e alla deposizione dalla croce di Caravaggio. Non mancano poi le opere di Leonardo da Vinci, Van Gogh e Dalì conservate nei Musei Vaticani.

A 2013 Sky Italia Documentary created by Donato Dallavalle and directed by Marco Pianigiani. Audio in English. An extraordinary journey to discover the most evocative works of art collected in two millennia of history inside the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, revealing its masterpieces as they have never been seen before. A mega-production made by a troupe of 40 professionals who have explored the length and breadth of the Vatican Museums: evocative shots taken at night through the rooms where some of the rarest and most precious works in the world are kept, ranging across all cultures and all the eras. Viewers will be able to immerse themselves in the great masterpieces of art history: Caravaggio's paintings, the Laocoon and the Belvedere Torso, feeling enveloped by the never so real frescoes of the Sistine Chapel. From the masterpieces of classical statuary to Michelangelo's Pietà, up to Fontana's modern sculptures; from the paintings of Giotto, Leonardo Da Vinci and Caravaggio to those of Van Gogh, Chagall and Dalì; from the extraordinary frescoes of Raphael's Rooms, such as "The School of Athens", to the spectacular Michelangelo's masterpieces in the Sistine Chapel such as the "Creation of Adam" and the majestic "Last Judgment". These are the stages of a unique and exciting journey, conducted with the authoritative guide of the Director of the Vatican Museums, Professor Antonio Paolucci. Through past, present and future.

I Am La Scala (Original title: La Scala - La storia segreta) is a 2016 Documentary Film directed by Angelo Bozzolini. Audio in English narrated by Rebbeca Front. The 200-year-old story of Milan's illustrious opera house, La Scala, home to the great tenor Placido Domingo, conductor Arturo Toscanini and acclaimed soprano Maria Callas. Participating: Mario Botta, Riccardo Chailly, Marco Contini, Plácido Domingo, Patti Smith and others.

A 2016 Nexo Digital, Magnitudo Film and Sky Arte Documentary, directed by Luca Viotto (Audio in English). A journey through the city of Rome to discover the four Papal Basilicas of the Eternal City: St. Peter's, St. John in the Lateran, St. Mary Major, St. Paul Outside the Walls and the works of art enshrined within them. Four experts in art history will tell the story of the Basilicas: Antonio Paolucci, Director of the Vatican Museums, leads us to the discovery of St. Peter's, showing us the treasures of the most famous church of all Christianity, while Paolo Portoghesi, an internationally renowned architect, accompanies us in the history of St. John in the Lateran. Claudio Strinati, a famous art historian, tells us about the wonders of the basilica of St. Mary Major, while Micol Forti, director of the Contemporary Art Collection of the Vatican Museums, will be the guide to discovering St. Paul Outside the Walls. The experts, each according to their own passionate and peculiar point of view, will lead the viewer to discover the treasures kept in each Basilica through original and engaging stories.

This program will give you an unforgettable experience of traveling through the mountains and peaks, streams and lakes of the Dolomites - mountains of extraordinary beauty located in the provinces of Trentino and Veneto - this is the eastern part of the Alpine mountain range, which is better known as the "Italian Alps". 1. Three Peaks / Dolomites 2. Serfaus Alpine region 3. Dolomites - Missourina 4. Foothills of the Alps - Füssen (Neuschwanstein Castle) 5. Dolomites / Latemar - Carezza lake 6. Stubai Alps 7. Karwendel

A 2002 PBS Biography Documentary narrated by Keith David and Kevin Conway as the voice of Mark Twain. Samuel Clemens rose from a hardscrabble boyhood in the backwoods of Missouri to become, as Mark Twain, America’s best-known and best-loved author. Considered in his time the funniest man on earth, Twain was also an unflinching critic of human nature who used his humor to attack hypocrisy, greed and racism. He created some of the world’s most memorable characters as well as its most quoted sayings. And, in his often-misunderstood novel Huckleberry Finn, he gave the world the masterpiece that Ernest Hemingway would call the true beginning of American literature. Mark Twain tells the story of the writer’s extraordinary life—full of rollicking adventure, stupendous success and crushing defeat, hilarious comedy and almost unbearable tragedy.

- ACT II - A garden outside Isolde's chamber in King Mark's castle in Cornwall Isolde waits for Tristan as King Mark and his court leave on a hunt. She brushes aside Brangäne's warning of danger, particularly from Melot, answering that he is Tristan's friend and has arranged the hunt so that Tristan can meet her. Brangäne, suffering pangs of remorse for her part in the love between Tristan and Isolde, begs her to defer the meeting. Isolde says that not Brangäne, but love itself (Frau Minne) was responsible for their love. She gives the signal by extinguishing a torch, telling Brangäne to keep watch. Tristan arrives and the lovers embrace, praising the night as the friend of their love, as opposed to the inimical day. Night, as Tristan explains, is equivalent to death and death will not part them, but unite them forever: only in death can their love be truly fulfilled. Brangäne's warning of the approach of day goes unheeded and they are taken by surprise when Kurwenal rushes in, followed closely by King Mark, Melot and the court. King Mark rejects Melot's claim to have saved him from shame, as nothing can remove the deep wound of Tristan's betrayal. He asks why Tristan, his dearest friend, has betrayed him, recalling that when his wife died he refused to marry again for Tristan's sake, intending him as his heir, bowing only to the wishes of his people whenTristan added his voice to theirs. Tristan had found him a peerless bride and his joy in her had made him more vulnerable than before. Tristan replies that he is unable to offer an answer that his uncle would understand. He asks Isolde if she will follow him in death. She consents and he kisses her on the forehead, arousing the wrath of Melot, who draws his sword. Tristan draws his sword to defend himself, but lets it fall and is wounded by Melot. - ACT III - Tristan's ancestral castle in Brittany Tristan, his wound still unhealed, lies under a tree as a shepherd plays a mournful tune while keeping watch for a ship which is bringing Isolde. Tristan wakes, but is unsure where he is. Kurwenal tells him that he has been brought home to recover from his wound. Tristan replies that he has already been in death's kingdom and only returned to find Isolde, who still tarries in the realm of light. Kurwenal explains that Isolde has been sent for, as the only one able to heal his wound, as she had done before. In delirious excitement, Tristan thinks he sees the ship approaching. Finding this is not so, he is reminded by the shepherd's mournful tune of the same song which accompanied the griefs of his childhood, when he learnt that his father had died before he was born and his mother on giving birth to him. He curses the potion, bearing both love and death, which he himself had brewed. The shepherd's tune changes to a cheerful strain -the ship has been sighted. As Kurwenal goes to the shore to meet Isolde, Tristan tears off the bandage from his wound. He is only able to murmur Isolde's name, before dying at her feet. As she reproaches him for dying before her, another ship is sighted. Kurwenal tries to bar the gate as King Mark and Melot arrive with Brangäne. Kurwenal kills Melot and is killed by Mark's men, falling at his master's feet. The king grieves to find this carnage. He had been told of the potion by Brangäne and had not only forgiven Tristan and Isolde but had come to unite them. Isolde, oblivious of her surroundings, is transfigured as she joins Tristan in death.

Composer: Richard Wagner Librettist: Richard Wagner Premiere: 10 June 1865, Munich (Royal Court and National Theatre) Language: German (English subtitles) Synopsis: https://www.opera-arias.com/wagner/tristan-und-isolde/synopsis/ Tristan und Isolde (Tristan and Isolde, or Tristan and Isolda, or Tristran and Ysolt) is an opera, or music drama, in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting. Wagner referred to "Tristan und Isolde" not as an opera, but called it "Eine Handlung" (literally drama or plot), which was the term used by the Spanish playwright Calderón for his dramas. Wagner's composition of Tristan und Isolde was inspired by his affair with Mathilde Wesendonck and the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. Widely acknowledged as one of the peaks of the operatic repertory, Tristan was notable for Wagner's advanced use of chromaticism, tonality, orchestral colour and harmonic suspension. The opera was profoundly influential among Western classical composers and provided inspiration to composers such as Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Karol Szymanowski, Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg. Many see Tristan as the beginning of the move away from conventional harmony and tonality and consider that it lays the groundwork for the direction of classical music in the 20th century. SYNOPSYS - Previous History: To free Cornwall from paying tribute to Ireland, Tristan, nephew of King Mark of Cornwall, had killed Morold, the champion of Ireland, in single combat. Severely wounded in the battle, Tristan had made his way to Ireland where, under the assumed name of Tantris, he had been healed by the magical arts of Isolde, daughter of the king. Isolde, who had been betrothed to Morold, recognised Tristan (a piece broken out of his sword matched the fragment in Morold's head), but spared his life. On his return to Cornwall, to satisfy jealous courtiers that he was not aspiring to the throne, Tristan had persuaded his uncle to ask for the hand of Isolde. - Act I - On board Tristan's ship returning from Ireland to Cornwall: Raging at her fate, Isolde laments that she has not her mother's magic art of calling up a storm to wreck the ship. She is angry that Tristan keeps apart and sends her attendant Brangäne to summon him. Tristan answers mildly that he must steer the ship; but his retainer Kurwenal answers roughly that Tristan is not Isolde's vassal, singing a vigorous song, taken up by the sailors and clearly audible to Isolde, celebrating Tristan's killing of Morold. Isolde tells Brangäne how she had spared Tristan's life when he was in her power and complains bitterly that he has repaid her by seeking her as a bride for his old uncle, an insult that no one would have dared if Morold were alive and Cornwall still owed tribute to Ireland. Brangäne reminds her of the love potion which her mother has given her, but Isolde thinks only of the poison which is in the same chest. When Kurwenal announces their imminent arrival in Cornwall and tells her to prepare to land, she gives him a message for Tristan: he must make amends for an unatoned wrong. She orders Brangäne to pour the poison into a golden goblet. When Tristan arrives, she reproaches him with having avoided her during the voyage. He replies that he intended no discourtesy, but rather greater respect by keeping his distance from his uncle's bride. Isolde claims that Morold's blood still lies between them, as she was not party to any reconciliation. He offers his sword for her to kill him if Morold was so dear to her, but she says King Mark would hold it against her if she killed him. Instead she offers a drink of atonement. Understanding her intention, he drinks and Isolde seizes the goblet and drinks the remainder. But Brangäne has substituted the love potion and they fall into each other's arms, oblivious of all around them, as the ship reaches land and King Mark approaches to claim his bride. Conductor: Daniiel Barenboim Chor & Orchestra: Bayreuther Festspiele Staged & Directed by: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle Set & Costume design by: Jean-Pierre Ponnelle Cast & Characters: René Kollo: Tristan Matti Salminen: König Marke (King Marke) Johanna Meier: Isolde Hermann Becht: Kurwenal Robert Schunk: Melot Hanna Schwarz: Brangane Helmut Pampuch: Ein Hirt (a shepherd) Martin Egel: Ein Steuermann (a helmsman) Robert Schunk: Ein Junger Sieemann ( a young sailor)

Act 3. Kingdom of the shades The act opens in Solor's room where Magadeva is waiting to console his master. He offers up the opium pipe to Solor who, twice has a vision of Nikiya. After the second vision Solor has a mystical experience and is transported to the Kingdom of the Shades where he is reunited with NIkiya.

- Act 2, Scene 1.Room inside the palace. The Raja enters followed by Solor. It had been decided before ther were born tha Solor and Gamzatti would one day marry. Gamzatti enters and is preseted to Solor. At this point the High Brahmin enters, whereupon the Raja dismisses all so that they would be alone. The High Brahmin tells the Raja of Solor's vow of love to Nikiya at the fire in hopes that the Raja will have Solor killed. However, the Raja rebukes the High Brahmin and dismisses him. He secertly decides to have Nikiya killed instead. Nikiya is summoned by Gamzatti to the palace where Nikiya sees a portrait of Solor. The two fight over Solor's love until Nikiya grabs and knife attempting to kill Gamzatti, only to be stopped by the servant Aya. Nikiya, horrified by what she almost did, leaves the palace. - Act 2, Scene 2. The Palace Garden. A grand party, celebrating the engagement of Solor and Gamzatti is being held in the Raja's palace garden. The scene begins with a festive Fan Dance, followed by many festive dances including the engagement adagio and solos of the betrothed: Gamzatti and Solor. At the end of the celebration Nikiya arrives uninvited and dances for the couple but cannot help showing her feeling for Solor. Upset, the Raja secretly summons the royal assisstant Aya and instructs her to find a basket of flowers and put a poisonous snake inside. Aya gives the basket to Nikiya who dances until she is fatally bitten. The High Brahmin gives her an antidote. However, at the last moment Nikiya, seeing Solor and Gamzatti together, throws the antidote away chosing instead death.

Composer: Ludwig Minkus Librettist/Text Author: Marius Petipa Librettist/Text Author: Sergei Khudekov Ballet Company: Bolshoi Ballet Choreographer: Yuri Grigorovich Choreographer: Marius Petipa Cast & Characters: Nikiya: Svetlana Zakharova Solor: Vladislav Lantratov Dugmanta: Alexeii Loparevich Gamzatti: Maria Alexandrova Noble Warrior: Vladislav Lantratov Rajah: Alexei Loparevich The High Brahmin: Andrei Sitnikov Corps de Ballet: Bolshoi Ballet Orchestra: Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra Conductor: Pavel Sorokin Television Director: Vincent Bataillon Lighting Designer: Mikhail Sokolov Set Designer: Nikolay Sharonov Costumer Designer: Nikolay Sharonov La Bayadere is set in ancient India. It is a story of love, intrigue, & betrayal between Solor (the warrior prince), Nikiya (the chosen bayadere), Gamzatti (a princess) and the High Brahmin (spiritual leader of the realm). Yuri Grigorovich's sumptuous recreation of Petipa's choreography, with breathtaking sets and costumes designed by Nikolay Sharonov, stars Svetlana Zakharova as the Bayadere Nikiya, Vladislav Lantratov as Solor and Maria Alexandrova as Gamzatti whose alluring presence challenges Solor's love for Nikiya. Act 1.Outside the temple. The High Brahmin, monks and servants gather around the sacred fire, just outside the temple, to celebrate the Indian Ritual of Fire. Magadeveya (a trusted servant & fire dancer) and his compaions are summoned by the High Brahmin to light the sacred fire. Temple dancers (Bayaderes) come out of the temple, gather around the fire and dance the Ritual of Fire dance orchestrated by the High Brahmin. After the dance Nikiya, the chosen bayadere (or temple dancer), enters from the temple to dance a solo fire dance. At this point, while the other bayaderes dance around the fire, the High Brahmin confesses his love to Nikiya. Taken back, she refuses his pledge of love. Upset, the High Brahmin ends the Indian Ritual of Fire, He leaves followed by the Bayaderes, monks and servants. Magdeveya stays behind waiting for his master Solor (the warrior prince) to return from a hunt. Solor enters the glen and Magdeveya tells him that Nikiya will return later to meet him. Solor and Magdeveya leave as Nikiya comes back to fill a vase with water from the well. It is at this point Solor returns. They dance and swear their love over the sacred fire. Magdeveya returns to warn them that the High Brahmin will return. At that moment the High Brahmin looks out from the temple and sees the lovers together. Urged by Magdeveya, Nikiya and Solor leave just as the High Brahmin enters. Angered by what he has seen, the High Brahmin swears that someone will pay. La Bayadère ("the temple dancer") (Russsian: Bayaderka) is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux created by the dramatist Sergei Khudekov and French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. The ballet was staged especially for the benefit performance of the Russian Prima ballerina Ekaterina Vazem, who created the principal role of Nikiya. La Bayadère was first presented by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on 4 February [O.S. 23 January] 1877. From the first performance the ballet was universally hailed by contemporary critics as one of the choreographer Petipa's supreme masterpieces, particularly the scene from the ballet known as The Kingdom of the Shades, which became one of the most celebrated pieces in all of classical ballet. By the turn of the 20th century, The Kingdom of the Shades scene was regularly extracted from the full-length work as an independent showpiece, and it has remained so to the present day. Nearly all modern versions of La Bayadère are derived from the Kirov Ballet's production of 1941, which was a severely redacted edition staged by Vakhtang Chabukiani and Vladimir Ponomarev in Leningrad in 1941.

A 2005 Art Documentary Film about the French Baroque composer Marc-Antoine Charpentier, written and directed by Olivier Simonnet. Audio in French with English subtitles. Music from: Actéon, Sonate a 8, Epitaphium Carpentarii, Medée, with Le Parlement de Musique, Fabio Biondi, Jordi Savall, Europa Galante, Academie Baroque, and more. Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his Te Deum, Marche en rondeau. This theme is still used today as a fanfare during television broadcasts of the Eurovision Network, the European Broadcasting Union. Marc-Antoine Charpentier dominated the Baroque musical scene in seventeenth century France because of the quality of his prolific output. He mastered all genres, and his skill in writing sacred vocal music was especially hailed by his contemporaries. He began his career by going to Italy, there he fell under the influence of Giacomo Carissimi as well as other Italian composers, perhaps Domenico Mazzocchi. He would remain marked by the Italian style and become the only one with Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville in France to approach the oratorio. In 1670, he became a master of music (composer and singer) in the service of the Duchess of Guise. From 1690 Charpentier composed Médée, on a piece by Corneille. It would be a determining failure in his career of composer: he devoted himself henceforth to religious music. He became the composer of the Carmelites of Rue du Bouloir, Montmartre Abbey, Abbaye-aux-Bois and Port-Royal. In 1698, Charpentier was appointed music master for the children of the Sainte-Chapelle du Palais. After having obtained from the king Louis XIV a softening of Lully's monopoly, Molière turned to Charpentier to compose the music for the intermissions of Circe and Andromeda, as well as sung scenes for the revivals of The Forced Marriage, and finally the musical pieces of The Imaginary invalid. He composed secular works, stage music, operas, cantatas, sonatas, symphonies, as well as sacred music, motets (large or small), oratorios, masses, psalms, Magnificats, Litanies. At his death, Charpentier's complete works must have numbered about 800 opus numbers, but today only 28 autograph volumes remain, or more than 500 pieces that he himself took care to classify. This collection, called Mélanges, is one of the most comprehensive sets of musical autograph manuscripts of all time.

A 2022 Arte Documentary Film. Audio in German with English subtitles. The Venetian painter Canaletto is the undisputed master of veduta painting. His views of European cities became famous as early as the 18th century. On the occasion of his 300th birthday, the film embarks on a journey in the footsteps of the artist. It leads to Venice, Dresden and Warsaw as well as into the artist's illusionistic bag of tricks. Canaletto's vedutas are supposedly photographically accurate depictions of residences, streets and squares. The artist acts as director, lighting technician and stage builder all in one and stages lively panoramas as if the city were a big stage. In doing so, Canaletto uses many perspectival tricks that he learned from his uncle, an accomplished veduta and stage painter, in the world capital of opera: Venice. Filled with characters and stories, Canaletto's large-scale cityscapes paint a fascinating picture of old, historical Europe that is burned deep into our collective consciousness. To this day, the artist's works fill us with a longing for the ideal city. But are Canaletto's vedutas of Venice, Dresden and Warsaw accurate representations of the European city, or are they fiction themselves? The documentation explores the biographical and artistic life of the painter and travels in his footsteps from Venice via Florence to Dresden and finally to Warsaw, whose old town, which was destroyed in World War II, was rebuilt based on paintings by Canaletto.

A 2018 Arte Documentary Film directed by Margarete Kreuzer. Audio in German with English subtitles. Andrea Mantegna (1431-1506) and his brother-in-law Giovanni Bellini (1425-1516) were possibly the greatest painters of 15th century renaissance Italy. A documentary on their art, their influence on each other, and their rivalry.