Adaneth - Arts & Literature

The Golden Age of Spanish painting began in the late sixteenth century and flourished throughout the seventeenth century, coinciding with the Dutch Golden Age. While the Netherlands was revolting against Spanish rule, Spain was developing its own artistic signature. Philip II, an absolute monarch in a society dominated by the Catholic Church, commissioned the construction of El Escorial in 1563. The enormous palace and monastery complex near Madrid was decorated by great Spanish and Italian masters. Spain’s unimaginable wealth, amassed largely during the country’s period of colonial gold fever – Spain called itself ‘the Empire on which the sun never sets’ – brought painters abundant commissions for the king, churches and private collectors. Spanish art flourished. The Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, has the largest and most diverse collection of Spanish art outside Spain. The Small Skylight Room and the adjoining Spanish Room in the New Hermitage house the collection's most valuable Spanish paintings. They include works by El Greco, Jose Ribera, Francisco de Zurbaran, Diego Velazquez, Bartolome Murillo and Francisco de Goya. Among these masterpices are: The Apostles Peter and Paul (late 1580s) by El Greco; Nailing Christ to the Cross (1582), by F. Ribalta, the founder of the Spanish school of Dramatic Realism; Saints Sebastian and Irene (1682) by Jose Ribera; St Lawrence (1636), King St Fernando III (1630s) and The Childhood of the Virgin (late 1650s-1660s) by Francisco de Zurbaran; Luncheon (1630s) and Portrait of Count Olivares (c.1640) by Diego Velazquez. In addition, the Hermitage's Spanish collection includes 13 works by Bartolome Esteban Murillo including two Biblical epics - Isaac Blessing Jacob and Jacob's Ladder (1665-1670), The Rest on the Flight into Egypt (1665-1670) - and the genre painting Boy with a Dog (1650). The late-18th, early 19th century Spanish school is represented by Goya's Portrait of Antonia Zarate (1811).

The State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg houses a relatively small but choice collection of 15th- to 19th-century British paintings, among them Thomas Gainsborough's vibrant Portrait of a Lady in Blue (c. 1770) and his rival Sir Joshua Reynolds' vast Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents (c. 1786), commissioned by the Russian Empress Catherine II. The Hermitage collection features over 450 items, including very rare works by masters of the English school. Including portraits from the famed War Gallery created by English painter George Dawe, who was awarded a prestigious commission to produce more than 300 images of Russian generals for the Gallery of 1812 in the historic Winter Palace, now part of the museum complex. The 17th/18th century portraitist, Sir Godfrey Kneller, is represented by Portrait of Grinling Gibbons, and Portrait of John Locke. Sir Joshua Reynolds, the first president of the Royal Academy of Arts, is represented by The Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents (1786-1788) (a work commissioned by Russian Czarina Catherine II to symbolise young Russia's growing strength), The Continence of Scipio (1788-1789) and Cupid Untying the Zone of Venus (1788). Other English paintings include: Venus Comforting Cupid, Stung by a Bee, and Portrait of George, Prince of Wales, and Prince Frederick, Duke of York (1778) by Benjamin West, the second President of the Royal Academy; Portrait of a Lady in Blue (1780) by Thomas Gainsborough; The Iron Forge (1773) and Firework Display at the Castel Sant Angelo (The Girandola) (1778-1779) by Joseph Wright of Derby, to name but a few.

The Hermitage houses its collection of 17th Century Dutch painting in six rooms. They include 20 masterpieces by Rembrandt, as well as some of the greatest genre paintings by a range of Dutch Realist artists, such as Jan van Goyen and Jacob van Ruisdael (landscapes); Jan Steen, Gerald ter Borch, Pieter de Hooch, Adriaen, and Isaac van Ostade (genre paintings), Paulus Potter (animal paintings), Willem Claesz Heda and Willem Kalf (still life), as well as two portraits by Frans Hals. A special display room is devoted to paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn, featuring some of his greatest portrait paintings and historical works, including: Flora (1634), The Descent from the Cross (1634), Abraham's Sacrifice (1635), David and Jonathan (1642); The Holy Family (1645), Portrait of an Old Man in Red (1652-4), and The Return of the Prodigal Son (1668-9).

The seventeenth century marked the Golden Age of Flemish painting. Flemish painting occupies four rooms on the first floor in the New Hermitage. Being one of the largest collections in the world, it contains the works by Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens and Frans Snyders, the famous artists of the 17th -century. On the first floor of the New Hermitage is displayed more than 500 pictures by leading members of the Flemish school, including: Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Frans Snyders. Among the 20 masterpieces by Rubens are Perseus and Andromeda (1620-1621), Portrait of a Lady-in-Waiting to the Infanta Isabella (1623-1625), The Union of Earth and Water (Antwerp and the Scheldt) and Bacchus (1638-1640), as well as over 20 drawings. The work of the celebrated Flemish portrait painter Anthony van Dyck is represented in the Hermitage by 24 paintings, most of which being displayed in the adjoining room. Large-scale paintings by Frans Snyders from the “Shops”series, the hunt scene paintings by Paul de Vos and “The Bean King” by Jacob Jordaens give an insight into the diversity of subject genres practiced by 17th-century Flemish masters.

The Hermitage has one of the world’s largest collections of Dutch seventeenth- and eighteenth-century painting. Today it consists of over one and a half thousand pictures. Many of the masterpieces, by Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Jacob van Ruisdael, Paulus Potter, Frans van Mieris, Gerard ter Borch and Pieter de Hooch, a diptych (1430s) by Robert Campin (Master of Flemalle), considered to be one of his masterpieces; St Luke Drawing the Virgin by Rogier van der Weyden; and The Healing of the Blind Man of Jericho (1531) by Lucas Van Leyden. The exhibition of Dutch painting is one of the largest in the Hermitage collection. It occupies six rooms on the first floor in the New Hermitage. Being the largest in area, the Tent- Roofed Hall represents the diversity of genres practiced in 17th-century Dutch art. Exhibited here are the works by the famous landscape artists Jan van Goyen and Jacob van Ruisdael, the genre painters Jan Steen, Gerard Terborch, Pieter de Hooch, Adriaen and Isaac van Ostade, the animalist Paulus Potter, the masters of still-life painting Willem Claesz Heda and Willem Kalf. The portraits by Frans Hals are on view as well. A separate room displays the works by Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn. The Hermitage boasts the largest collection of works by the great Dutch artist, which is represented by paintings on biblical and mythological subjects, as well as by portraits. Among its examples of the German school of the Northern Renaissance, the museum also has a rare work (Portrait of a Young Man) by the talented German portraitist Ambrosius Holbein, elder brother of Hans Holbein, as well as five works by the celebrated German portrait painter Lucas Cranach the Elder, including his masterpieces Venus and Cupid (1509) and The Virgin and Child under an Apple Tree (c.1525), together with the beautiful Portrait of a Lady (1526). 16th-century portraiture includes the Portrait of Palatine Otheinrich (1540s) by the painter and engraver Georg Pencz, a pupil of Albrecht Durer, and a characteristic twin portrait, by Christoph Amberger.

A 2011 Art documentary series directed by Vladimir Ptashchenko, with English narration. This series contains 6 films about European art of the Middle Ages. Italian Renaissance, Netherlandish painting, Great Flemings, 17th century Dutch painting, English art, Golden Age of Spanish painting. The film will help to compare creations created in different European traditions and understand art in its various manifestations. The Hermitage has a wide collection of Italian art, lodged in 30 rooms in both the New and Old Hermitage, encompassing its development from the 13th century to the beginning of the 19th century. The pride of the collection are works by the great masters of the Renaissance, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Giorgione, Titian and Michelangelo. The collection represents diverse artistic schools and trends in Italian art, as well as creative work of many outstanding painters of the time. Of just ten or twelve original works by Leonardo known in the world today, Russia possesses two, both in the Hermitage: Madonna with a Flower (The Benois Madonna, 1478) and Madonna Litta (1490-1491). Raffaello Sanzio - Raphael - is also represented by two works: Madonna Conestabile (1502-1503) and The Holy Family (1506). In addition, there are copies of Raphael's famous frescoes in the Vatican Gallery, the Raphael Loggias. The originals were painted by the artist's pupils after his design in 1518-1519. Giorgione's Judith is widely recognized as among the artist's most perfect creations. Tiziano Vecellio, known as Titian, who dominated the Venetian school of art during the first half of the 16th century, is represented mainly by works from his mature period (1559-1570). Other Italian artists whose works are exhibited at The Hermitage include: the revolutionary Caravaggio; the fresco painter and landscape artist Annibale Carracci, leader of the classical Bolognese school; the Neapolitan decorative artist Luca Giordano; the flamboyant etcher Salvatore Rosa; the Novaro artist Gianmaria Crespi known as Il Cerano; the fresco genius Giambattista Tiepolo; and the view-painter Francesco Guardi.

A 2021 Documentary directed by Giovanni Piscaglia, hosted by Jeremy Irons. To mark the 200th anniversary of Napoleon’s death, this documentary explores the complex relationship between Napoleon, culture and art. It is about the language he used to build a new imperial iconography and a new architectural style, in a reconstruction that will also allow us to reflect on the relationship between power and image mediated by art, as well as look at the regimes of the twentieth century and the world today. A unique tour from Brera Academy in Milan to the Louvre in Paris in the company of the best art historian experts and Jeremy Irons who passes his fascination to the viewers. Produced by 3D Produzioni, Nexo Digital with the support of Gallerie d’Italia Intesa Sanpaolo Bank.

Dal Teatro La Fenice di Venezia, il tradizionale concerto di Capodanno diretto dal Maestro Fabio Luisi con arie, duetti e passi corali interpretati dai solisti Eleonora Buratto (soprano) e Fabio Sartori (tenore) e dal Coro del Teatro La Fenice. Ad impreziosire l'evento momenti di danza con gli allievi della Scuola di Ballo dell'Accademia Teatro alla Scala, su coreografie di Frédéric Olivieri. Track List: Giuseppe Verdi: I Due Foscari "Alla Gioia...Tace Il Vento, E' Quieta L'Onda" (Il Coro) Giacomo Puccini: Manon Lescaut (Intermezzo) Giacomo Puccini: Tosca "E Lucevan le Stelle" (Fabio Sartori) Giacomo Puccini: Tosca "Vissi d'Arte" (Eleonora Buratto) Giuseppe Verdi: La Traviata "Di Madride Noi Siam Mattadori" (Il Coro) Che Spettacolo la TV - Omaggio ai 70 anni della Televisione Italiana: Arrangiamento di Stefano Pierini Giacomo Puccini: Madama Butterfly "Coro a Bocca Chiusa" (Il Coro) Giacomo Puccini: Madama Butterfly "Un Bel Dì Vedremo" (Eleonora Buratto) Giacomo Puccini: Turandot "Nessun Dorma" (Fabio Sartori) Amilcare Ponchielli: La Gioconda "Danza delle Ore" Giuseppe Verdi: Nabucco "Va' Pensiero" (Il Coro) Giacomo Puccini: Turandot "Diecimilla anni al nostro imperatore" ('Padre augusto, conosco il nome dello straniero! Il suo nome è… Amor!') (Eleonora Buratto) Giuseppe Verdi: La Traviata "Libiam Ne' Lieti Calici" (Eleonora Buratto, Fabio Sartori, Il Coro) Orchestra e Coro del Teatro La Fenice Direttore Fabio Luisi Maestro del coro Alfonso Caiani Soprano Eleonora Buratto Tenore Fabio Sartori Gli allievi della Scuola di Ballo dell'Accademia Teatro alla Scala Coreografie di Frédéric Olivieri.

The wonderful music of the Strauss family in the traditional New Year's concert at the Goldener Saal, Wiener Musikverein. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Conducted by Herbert von Karajan Kathleen Battle (soprano) Vienna State Ballet. Track list: Johann Strauss, Jr (1825-1899): Der Zigeunerbaron Overture Josef Straus (1827-1879): "Soharenklange" op.235 Johann Strauss, Jr : "Annen-Polka" op.117 Josef Strauss : "Delirien- Walzer" op.212 Johan Strauss, Jr : Die Fledermaus Overture Johann Strauss, Sr (1804-1849): "Beliebte Annen-Polka op.137 Polka Francaise Johann Strauss, Jr : "Vergnugungszug" op.281 Johann(Jr.) & Josef Strauss : "Pizzicato Polka" Johann Strauss, Jr : "Kaiser-Walzer" op.43 Johann Strauss, Jr : "Perpetuum Mobile" op.257 Musikalischer Scherz Johann Strauss, Jr : "Unter Donner und Blitz" op. 324 Polka Schnell Johann Strauss, Jr: "Fruhlingsstimmen" op.410 Walzer; Kathleen Battle, soprano Josef Strauss : "Ohne Sorgen" op.271 Polka Schnell Johann Strauss, Jr : "An der schonen, blauen Donau" op.314 Walzer Johann Strauss, Jr : "Radetzky-Marsch" op.228

ACT III - Scene 3: The bridal chamber Following the good wishes of their attendants, Elsa and her husband are left alone for the first time. Their delight in one another is soon undermined by her regrets that she cannot call her husband by his name and her fears that he may leave her. A hysterical vision of the swan returning to take him away leads to the fatal question. Telramund bursts in with his followers and is killed by Lohengrin, who tells the nobles to bring the body before the king. He calls Elsa's ladies to dress her and tells her he will answer her question before the king. Scene 4: The banks of the Scheldt The king thanks the people for their support in defending Germany against the heathen. The body of Telramund is carried in, followed by Elsa and her husband, who tells the king he will not be able to lead the people of Brabant into battle. He is absolved from blame for Telramund's death. Explaining that Elsa has been tricked into asking the forbidden question, he answers it: he is one of the champions of the Holy Grail, who are sent out into the world to defend the cause of right. But they must leave once their identities are known. He is Lohengrin, son of Parsifal, who wears the crown of the Grail. He prophesies that Germany will never be conquered by the eastern hordes. The swan appears and Lohengrin bids farewell to Elsa, telling her that if he had been able to stay, her bother Godfrey, who is not dead, would have returned. Ortrud exults at her success in driving Lohengrin away and that Godrey must remain in the form of the swan as a result of her witchcraft. Lohengrin kneels in prayer and when he takes the chain from the neck of the swan, it is transformed into Godfrey. Elsa falls lifeless as Lohengrin leaves, his boat now drawn by a white dove.

Composer: Richard Wagner Librettist: Richard Wagner Premiere: 28 August 1850, Weimar (Grand Ducal Court Theatre) Language: German Subtitles: English Director: Brian Large Act III: https://rumble.com/v44445k-wagner-lohengrin-domingo-studer-lloyd-abbado-wiener-staatsoper-1990-act-iii.html Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself inspired by the epic of Garin le Loherain. It is part of the Knight of the Swan tradition. Cast & Characters: Lohengrin: Plácido Domingo Elsa, Princess of Brabant: Cheryl Studer Henry the Birdcatcher, German king: Robert Lloyd Friedrich Telramund, Count of Brabant: Hartmut Welker Ortrud, his wife: Dunja Vejzovic Royal herald: Georg Tichy 4 Brabant knights: Bojidar Nikolov, Franz Kasemann, Claudio Otelli, Peter Koves 4 pages: Silvia Panzenbock, Ingrid Sieghart, Ulrike Erfurt, Johanna Graupe The chorus of the Vienna state opera The orchestra of the Vienna state opera Chorus master Helmuth Froschauer Conductor Claudio Abbado ACT II - Scene 2: The fortress of Antwerp Telramund blames Ortrud for his downfall, as she had told him that she saw Elsa drown her young brother, but she convinces him that he was defeated by magic rather than divine intervention. She claims that the stranger's magic would fail if he could be made to reveal his name - or even if the tip of a finger were to be cut off. As only Elsa can ask him to reveal his name, Ortrud plans to undermine her confidence. Elsa appears on the balcony and Otrud, calling to her from the darkness, succeeds in winning her pity, invoking the pagan gods in triumph as Elsa prepares to let her in. Ortrud begs Elsa to intercede for Telramund and suggests that as the stranger arrived by magic, so he may leave by magic, but Elsa's faith is unshaken. At dawn the herald proclaims the banishment of Telramund and announces that the king has invested the crown of Brabant in Elsa's husband, who will lead the Brabantians into battle. Four nobles mutter their resentment at this decision and Telramund offers to lead them in rebellion. As Elsa is about to enter the church for her wedding Ortrud claims that she must yield pride of place to her, since her husband has been falsely accused and is of noble birth, whereas no one knows anything about Elsa's husband. Claiming that he would be revealed a fraud if he had to divulge the source of his power, she challenges Elsa to ask the question. Telramund accuses the strange knight of witchcraft and asks his name and lineage, but he is answerable to Elsa alone. Telramund whispers to Elsa that if she were to let him cut off the tip of the stranger's finger his secret would be known and he would never leave her. She rejects the advice and goes into the church with her husband, who orders Telramund and Ortrud to leave.

A Christmas classic revisited in dance form at the Finnish National Opera: Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Recorded on 9 December 2023 at the Finnish National Opera and Ballet. It's the story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a grumpy, miserly old man who, on Christmas Eve, is visited by the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future. A magical tale popular with all ages, adapted into a ballet by an all-British artistic team including composer Sally Beamish and choreographer David Bintley. Director: Jussi Buckbee Choreography: David Bintley Director: Anna Fleischle Composer: Sally Beamish Costumes: Anna Fleischle Music director: Paul Murphy Finnish National Ballet Finnish National Opera Orchestra

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.