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The Life and Works of Richard Wagner

This biographical portrait of composer Richard Wagner (1813-1883), feature-length and lavishly produced, was released in conjunction with the centennial of his birth. It's an outstanding achievement in many respects. Naturally it looks primitive by modern standards, but contemporary viewers should bear in mind that it was made at a time when the motion picture industry was still in its infancy, and feature films were still a novelty. The very notion of a silent movie about a composer may seem odd, but Wagner is an ideal choice, simply because his life was so tempestuous and dramatic. Wagner's personality was operatic, while his tumultuous love life unfolded like a soap opera. He knew great success and abysmal failure, luxury one day and poverty the next. He participated in the wave of revolutions that swept Europe in the late 1840s, and had to flee Germany under threat of arrest.

The Life and Works of Richard Wagner

5.2 1913
The Soul of a Man

Wim Wenders looks at the dramatic tension in the blues between the sacred and the profane by exploring the music and lives of three of his favorite blues artists: Skip James, Blind Willie Johnson and J. B. Lenoir. Part history, part personal pilgrimage, the film tells the story of these lives in music through an extended fictional film sequence (recreations of '20s and '30s events - shot in silent-film, hand-crank style), rare archival footage, present-day documentary scenes and covers of their songs by contemporary musicians such as Shemekia Copeland, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Garland Jeffreys, Chris Thomas King, Cassandra Wilson, Nick Cave, Los Lobos, Eagle Eye Cherry, Vernon Reid, James "Blood" Ulmer, Lou Reed, Bonnie Raitt, Marc Ribot, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Lucinda Williams and T-Bone Burnett.

The Soul of a Man

6.6 2003
The Most Beautiful Girl in the World

17-year-old Cyril is funny, smart and an all-round good guy. Just his somewhat overlarge nose spoils the picture. On a school trip to Berlin with Roxy, a stunning new classmate, Cyril is not the only one taken with her. Benno, the class Casanova has his eye on the girl too and makes a nasty wager. Roxy is more interested in the introverted Rick, who is not only shy but also slow. Cyril hastens with his spoken word skills to Rick's aid, and falls head over heels in love with Roxy himself. So whose brave heart will win the fair lady?

The Most Beautiful Girl in the World

7.5 2018
Fromental Halévy: La Juive

Fromental Halévy’s five-act grand opera La Juive (‘The Jewess’) is one of the most popular operas of the 19th century, captivating audiences ever since its debut at the Opéra de Paris in 1835. Set in the 15th century and full of pageantry, the subject is the forbidden love between a Christian man and a Jewish woman, and the tragedy that ensues. Oper Frankfurt’s contemporary staging won great acclaim, with Ambur Braid being lauded for her ‘luminous soprano’ as the heroine Rachel, and ‘vocal phenomenon’ John Osborn heralded in the role of her father Éléazar as ‘immensely moving’.

Fromental Halévy: La Juive

NR 2024
Lindenberg! Mach dein Ding

Long before his big stage breakthrough in 1973 in Hamburg, and 4.4 million records sold, the rock musician Udo Lindenberg from the Westphalian province, the man with the long hair and the hat, had many adventures. Before it all started, he moved from the remoteness of Gronau to Hamburg, where he met Paula, who was not his great love, but was quite a hottie. When the team of three was complete with Steffi Stephan, the idea of founding a band developed. But the road to get there was a long one: he drummed as a jazz drummer in bands, had a highly dangerous performance in a US military base in the middle of the Libyan desert and always believed in making it to the very top.

Lindenberg! Mach dein Ding

6.4 2020
Frau Luna

Fritz Steppke and his friends Lämmermeier and Pannecke fly to the moon in a steerable balloon. Mrs. Pusebach has also joined the adventurous traveling party. She considers flying to the moon less dangerous than losing sight of her Pannecke. On the moon, the four travelers from Berlin are given a rather unfriendly welcome by Theophil, the almighty ruler of Frau Luna's realm. Only when he recognizes Frau Pusebach as the woman he tried to win over during his last escapade on Earth does he become more approachable and lead the guests into Frau Luna's state room. The beautiful ruler of the moon sees the visit as a welcome change, especially since she is thoroughly fed up with the advances of her lover, Prince Sternschnuppe. She immediately falls in love with Steppke, but his thoughts are with his bride Mariechen, whom he left behind in Berlin. So they all decide to take a trip to Earth ...

Frau Luna

NR 1964
Baby

The daughter of the Parisian countess Lafitte, named "Baby", is supposed to go to an English boarding school, but she's much more interested in variety shows. Nevertheless, she travels with her friend Susette to London, who also wants to make a career for herself as a showgirl. During the journey, Baby is mistakenly considered to be a showgirl and she does nothing to dissuade two young English lords from believing so. The girls continue to live under false pretenses even when they arrive in England, with Baby being a soloist with the group "Babies" and Suzette passing herself off as the Contessa Lafitte for school exams. At the end -- a double marriage.

Baby

7.0 1932
Georges Bizet: Carmen - Opéra Comique, Paris

The opera "Carmen" caused a scandal at its premiere at the Opéra Comique in Paris. Now the feisty Carmen returns to where it all began. Andreas Homoki sets his new production at the Opéra Comique in several eras. Mezzo-soprano Gaëlle Arquez shines in the leading role, with Louis Langrée as musical director. Georges Bizet's world-famous opera returns to the site of its world premiere in 1875. German director Andreas Homoki transposes the story of the beautiful Romani woman and the soldier Don José into three epochs corresponding to the opera: the year of its scandalous premiere; the time of the Resistance, which alludes to the secret love affair; and the present day with the #MeToo movement, which stands for the heroine's sexual emancipation. Recording from April 26, 2023 at the Opéra Comique, Paris

Georges Bizet: Carmen - Opéra Comique, Paris

NR 2023
Dido & Aeneas

Henry Purcell's opera Dido & Aeneas, completed in 1689, was the subject of a memorable and breathtaking performance at the Staatsoper Berlin in 2005. In Dido & Aeneas Sasha Waltz opens up new horizons in music theatre, creating a fusion of dance, singing and music the choreographic opera. The (extended, revised) libretto, the (reconstructed) music, vocal parts, dance, the stage set featuring a rousing underwater ballet combine to form a sublime total choreography and parallel action involving dancers, singers and musicians. In this choreographic opera, Sasha Waltz demonstrates not only her familiarity with Emile Jaques-Dalcroze and Pina Bausch, but also the confidence she has in her own style. Sensational!

Dido & Aeneas

NR 2005