Destined for the convent, the young Manon falls head over heels in love with a handsome stranger and decides to flee with him. Yet aspiring to a life of wealth and luxury, she ends up throwing herself into the arms of a rich nobleman. Can she forget her true love? Puccini’s adaptation of the novel by Abbé Prévost had a complicated gestation. An alarmingly long list of librettists succeed each other in trying to satisfy the composer’s demands in terms of dramatic structure and fine verbal detail. Was Puccini struggling perhaps to make his opera sufficiently different from Massenet’s on the same subject? Puccini probably never reached a ‘definitive’ form of this opera but it was his first international success and arguably the first in which the composer found his voice as a musical dramatist. Opera Poznań has entrusted their new production - streamed live on the opening night - to a former winner of the European Opera Directing Prize, Gerard Jones, and conductor Marco Guidarini.
Following a tragic accident that leaves him disfigured, crazed composer Erique Claudin transformed into a masked phantom who schemes to make beautiful young soprano Christine Dubois the star of the opera and wreak revenge on those who stole his music.
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Italy, 16th century. Petruchio, a choleric, lying and poor rural landowner from Verona, arrives in Padua in search of fortune and a wife, while Baptista, a wealthy merchant, announces that he will not allow Bianca, his youngest daughter, to marry until the temperamental and unruly Katherina, his eldest daughter, does.
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The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.
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A pregnant New York social worker begins to develop romantic feelings for her gay best friend, and decides she'd rather raise her child with him, much to the dismay of her overbearing boyfriend.
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Young, wild poet Arthur Rimbaud and his mentor Paul Verlaine engage in a fierce, forbidden romance while feeling the effects of a hellish artistic lifestyle.
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Jeffrey, a gay man living in New York City with an overwhelming fear of contracting AIDS, concludes that being celibate is the only option to protect himself. As fate would have it, shortly after his declaration of a sex-free existence, he meets the handsome Steve Howard, his dream man -- except for his HIV-positive status. Facing this dilemma, Jeffrey turns to his best friend and an outrageous priest for guidance.
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A young Oxford academic and his attorney girlfriend holiday in Morocco. They bump into a Russian millionaire who owns a peninsula and a diamond watch. He wants a game of tennis. What else he wants propels the lovers on a tortuous journey to the City of London and its unholy alliance with Britain's intelligence establishment, to Paris and the Alps.
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When lovely and virtuous governess Henriette Deluzy comes to educate the children of the debonair Duc de Praslin, a royal subject to King Louis-Philippe and the husband of the volatile and obsessive Duchesse de Praslin, she instantly incurs the wrath of her mistress, who is insanely jealous of anyone who comes near her estranged husband. Though she saves the duchess's little son from a near-death illness and warms herself to all the children, she is nevertheless dismissed by the vengeful duchess as the attraction between the duke and Henriette continues to grow.
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Wandered away from his asylum, an amnesiac World War I veteran falls in love with a music hall star but his amnesia makes it difficult to last.
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In the late 1990s, the arrival of elderly invalid Patrick into Marion and Tom’s home triggers the exploration of seismic events from 40 years previous: the passionate relationship between Tom and Patrick at a time when homosexuality was illegal.
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In the Polish highlands, a sensitive peasant girl has given her heart and body to a rich landowner. But now he plans to marry someone else. Moniuszko’s romantic tragedy of mésalliance and social tension is regarded as one of the finest operas in the Polish repertoire. Poznań Opera performs their production on the giant stage of the Grand Theatre in Warsaw as guests of Polish National Opera.
After returning from the war, two brothers resolve never to marry so that they can serve their country. But they find their match when they meet two strong-willed sisters living in a mysterious manor.
A great love that must defy prejudice. A secret kept hidden for years and a surprising denouement. The formidable force of memories unveiling the mysteries of the past. Stach comes from a wealthy family, Chicha is a Gypsy. Social conventions, intolerance and stubbornness stand in the way of their happiness. Will Stach and Chicha end up together? Will the family secrets come out? Is a happy ending always happy? Poznań Opera stage a rarely performed opera by Stanislaw Moniuszko, shown for the first time in a full musical arrangement prepared by its conductor Rafał Kłoczko. Ilaria Lanzino, an Italian director of the young generation, known for her unconventional and coherent productions, directs Jawnuta to designs by Dorota Karolczak.
A western, inspired by the likes of Tarantino and Leone, set in the 1920s in the borderland between Poland and the USSR: Twin brothers plan to rob a rival Mafia style family, an instance of female empowerment in that it is run by sisters.
To escape the horrors of the battlefield, Henryk has a dream in which he imagines that his childhood home has been turned into an inn. His father is the innkeeper and his fiancée, Mania, is a serving maid. As innkeeper, his father is given a hard time by all the drunkards and, to defend his dignity, he claims that he is untouchable, ‘like a king’. But will a ‘royal wedding’ between the prince Henryk and Mania manage to restore the family’s honour? The Marriage (Ślub) is an opera adaptation of the eponymous play by Witold Gombrowicz, one of Poland’s leading dramatists of the 20th century. Poznań Opera House has commissioned this operatic adaptation from Zygmunt Krauze, for his part, one of the leading composers active in Poland today.
Victorious in battle, admired by his men, loved by his wife - fate seems to smile on Otello. Happy moments, however, pass imperceptibly when the hero’s mind begins to be gripped by suspicion and jealousy seeps into the heart. And doubts lead to destruction. Live from Poznań on the opening night of a new production, OperaVision brings you this great opera presented here in the hands of another distinguished artistic pairing; director David Pountney and conductor Jacek Kaspszyk. High drama and passionate music taking us into the darker corners of the human mind.
Having led a series of victorious campaigns against rival territories, a warrior wins the hand of a Brahmin priestess. But when his true caste is brought to light, he risks losing more than just his bride. Based on a play by Casimir Delavigne, Stanisław Moniuszko's final opera is rarely performed. Poznań Opera presents it in this new production directed by Graham Vick to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the composer's birth.
