Editor
Antonio Pappano, music director of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, explores the greatest arias in the genre through a mix of workshops and archive footage. Nothing pulls harder at the heartstrings than an opera aria – that pivotal moment when the action stops and the character draws us right into the heart of the drama, revealing his or her innermost feelings and thoughts. These are chances for the singers to show off, to wow an audience with some of the most famous music in opera. In this film, charismatic conductor and music director of the Royal Opera House, Antonio Pappano, shares his selection of some of opera’s greatest arias. Pappano’s choices stretch across the full 400-year operatic canvas and feature some of the most ravishing and famous arias in the repertoire.
Editor
Tamara Rojo, dancer and artistic director of English National Ballet, explores Giselle - the first great Romantic ballet, and a defining role for any ballerina. Through two radically contrasting 2016 productions - a traditional 19th-century recreation, and a gritty reimagining of the work by celebrated Anglo-Bangladeshi choreographer Akram Khan - Rojo examines the cultural and social background to the ballet’s genesis in 1840s Paris, and the spiritual themes that have fuelled its success over the last 175 years. Giselle is the story of a young peasant girl who personifies all that is good in life, and ultimately forgives the aristocrat who has seduced and betrayed her. With Giselle, the look and emotional heart of ballet was transformed forever, from mime-based storytelling to a fusion of emotion, music and movement, formulating a tradition that has inspired audiences, dancers and choreographers ever since.
Editor
En los últimos cinco años de su vida, David Bowie puso fin a casi una década de silencio para participar en un extraordinario estallido de actividad, produciendo dos impresionantes álbumes y un musical. David Bowie: The Last Five Years explora este inesperado final de una notable carrera. Realizado con un acceso asombroso, este documental de Francis Whately es una secuela reveladora de su aclamado documental de 2013 David Bowie: cinco años, que narra el período dorado de Bowie de finales de los 70 y principios de los 80.
