Royal Ballet Founder Choreographer Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella celebrates its 75th anniversary this Season. The ballet’s opening night in 1948, featuring Moira Shearer and Michael Somes in the lead roles, was received rapturously. After over a decade away from the Royal Opera House stage,...
The life and work of the great Russian composer Dmitriy Shostakovich is presented in this documentary through rare images and audios from many archives, at one time censored by the Soviet government. A brief take on his life, from his transition as an early prodigy to a first rate artist, his...
Serge Prokofiev's enigmatic work, this is a tale of the supernatural, religious hysteria and demonic possession which is set in Germany at the time of The Inquisition.
Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet” has inspired generations of artists to adaptations like scarcely any other work. In his colorful, passionate music, the Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev brilliantly captured the clash of love and hatred, and the proximity of tenderness and violence....
The Capulets and Montagues are sworn enemies. Yet it is love at first sight for Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet when they meet each other at the Capulet ball, into which Romeo has snuck. The two fall in love and they profess their devotion to each other at Juliet’s balcony. They secretly get...
At the Lightroom in London, pianist Yuja Wang offers an extraordinary recital at the heart of the immersive exhibition devoted to David Hockney. In this concert, the British painter's brightly coloured canvases enter into communion with the musical works performed, ranging from Bach to Samuel...
Sergei Prokofiev's symphonic masterpiece, first performed in Russia in 1936, has been lauded not only for the spectacular musical score, but also for the story itself--of a young boy who outwits a wily wolf. George Daugherty brings this timeless tale to modern audiences by seamlessly weaving...
Given its premiere by The Royal Ballet in 1965 with Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn dancing the title roles, Kenneth MacMillan's first full-evening ballet has become a signature work for the Company, enjoying great popularity around the world. From the outset, the production teems with life and...
The support group for opera addicts is in session, and its participants perform Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery. Rarely performed outside Russia, and consigned to oblivion by Andrei Zhdanov's anti-formalist policies after the Second World War, the work is transformed by Dmitri Tcherniakov's...
The Indomitable Bow is a unique portrait of Mstislav Rostropovich, a formidable personality as well as a complex, deeply political musician constantly engaged in a whirlwind of activities. Including unreleased documents, archive films, interviews and concert performances from this key figure of the...
Commissioned by the Mariinsky in 2002, 'Cinderella' was the production that launched choreographer Alexei Ratmansky onto the world stage. Filmed in 2013 and now released on DVD and Blu-ray for the first time, the production stars one of the foremost prima ballerinas in the world today, Diana...
The love story of young Countess Natasha Rostova and Count Pierre Bezukhov, is intertwined with the "Great Patriotic War" of 1812 against the invading Napoleon's Armies. People of Russia from all classes of society stand up united against the enemy. Both sides suffer tremendous losses during the...
Lucerne Festival: Mahler: Symphony No. 1; Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No.3
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The charismatic and inspiring Claudio Abbado and the mesmerising young pianist Yuja Wang, with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, hold the audience spellbound in this opening concert of the 2009 Lucerne Festival. Prokofiev's popular and vibrant Third Piano Concerto demonstrates the composer's sharp...
An ancient family feud casts a long shadow over the town of Verona. In this hothouse of tension, brawls are quick to break out and both sides get caught in the crossfire.