A 1970 Documentary Film directed by Pietro Merlini. Narration in English. Originally released as a motion picture in 1970. This is VHS released in 1990. Description of, and history behind Milan's grand opera house, La Scala. Includes original film footage and reinactments of events of the times as well as excerpts of performances from operas by Verdi, Bizet, Rossini and others. Featuring Mario del Monaco, Tito Gobbi, Ferruccio Tagliavini, Tito Schipa, Arturo Toscanini, La Scala Ballet and others. Performance Tracklist: Otello - Tempesta / Verdi (La Scala Chorus) Carmen - Toreador song / Bizet (Gino Bechi) Europa riconosciuta - La Scala's inauguration / Salieri (Margherita Carosio) Barbiere de Siviglia - Lindoro's serenade / Rossini (Tito Schipa) Norma - Casta diva / Bellini (Maria Caniglia) Don Sebastiano ballet - La Scala ballet / Donizetti (Nives Poli) Nabucco - Va, pensiero (La Scala Chorus) Rigoletto - La donna è mobile (Mario del Monaco) Trovatore - Il balen del suo sorriso (Tito Gobbi) La Traviata - Libiamo nei lieti calici (Mario del Monaco) Aida - Triumphal march Otello - Esultate! (Mario del Monaco) Falstaff - Quand'ero paggio (Vito de Taranto) L'arlesiana - Lamento di Federico / Cilea (Ferruccio Tagliavini) Andrea Chénier - Improvviso / Giordano (Mario del Monaco) Cavalleria Rusticana - Viva il vino spumeggiante / Mascagni (Mario del Monaco) Pagliacci - Prologo / Leoncavallo (Tito Gobbi) Nerone - Triclinium scene / Mascagni (Galliano Masini, Margherita Carosio, Arturo Toscanini) Invito al Valzer - La Scala ballet / Weber (Nives Poli)

I Am La Scala (Original title: La Scala - La storia segreta) is a 2016 Documentary Film directed by Angelo Bozzolini. Audio in English narrated by Rebbeca Front. The 200-year-old story of Milan's illustrious opera house, La Scala, home to the great tenor Placido Domingo, conductor Arturo Toscanini and acclaimed soprano Maria Callas. Participating: Mario Botta, Riccardo Chailly, Marco Contini, Plácido Domingo, Patti Smith and others.

DVD Bonus material

A 2020 Arte Documentary directed Patrick Cabouat. Audio in French with English subtitles. The elaborately beautiful Paris Opera, created by the architect Charles Garnier and named after him, is a marvel of architecture. This documentary focuses on how Garnier’s vision of a building that would bring together all the arts was realised amid the turbulent politics of 19th century France.

Tito Gobbi coaching Mani Mekler (soprano) and Wolfgang Lenz (bass), at his home in Rome, 1980, with Boldo Podic, piano. Excerpts from Don Carlo, Tosca and Simon Boccanegra. Audio in Italian with English subtitles (Click on CC).

A 2010 Arts Documentary written by Bruno Lussato narrated by John G. Deacon. This is an introduction to the world of symbols of Richard Wagner's "The Ring of the Nibelung". Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), often referred to as the Ring Cycle, Wagner's Ring, or simply The Ring, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied. The documentary breaks down and reveals all the Leitmotiv’s: examples of the more than 50 leitmotivs that are part of the story; metaphors, mythology, scenes, plots, characters, and names in Richard Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen”. Discover the fascinating world of symbols of "The Ring of the Nibelung" - a coherent phantasmagoria of powerful word, fabulous image and astounding music. All 18 chapters in a chronological and logical order of events. The Monumental Ring Cycle’s four parts : Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold) Die Walküre (The Valkyrie) Siegfried Götterdämmerung (Twilight of the Gods) The illustrations come from two famous artists, the English book illustrator the German painter Franz Stassen and Arthur Rackham; additional drawings by Polina Zinoviev. The music performed by “Orchestre Nationale de France,” conductor Jeffrey Tate.

An interview with French television presenter Bernard Gavoty, for the programme "Les grandes Interprètew, A Programme By Bernard Gavoty", coupled with superb performances of arias by Massenet, Bellini and Puccini. Audio in French & Italian with English subtitles. Conductor – Georges Prêtre Film Director – Gérard Herzog Interviewer, Presenter – Bernard Gavoty Orchestra – Orchestre National De L'ORTF Filmed at the ORTF, Paris, May 1965 Tracklist of Arias: - From Manon: Je Ne Suis Que Faiblesse - Adieu, Notre Petite Table Composed By – Jules Massenet Libretto By – Henri Meilhac, Philippe Gille - From La Sonnambula: Oh! Se Una Volta Sola - Ah, Non Credea Mirarti Composed By – Vincenzo Bellini Libretto By – Felice Romani - From Gianni Schicchi: O Mio Babbino Caro Composed By – Giacomo Puccini Libretto By – Giovacchino Forzano

Maria Callas is without question the greatest opera legend of the 20th century. These unique films are a rare opportunity to view the celebrated and candid 1968 BBC interviews she gave with Lord Harewood, intimately filmed in her Paris apartment. Filmed in Paris, April 1968. Film Director – Barrie Gavin Film Producer – John Calshaw Interviewer, Presenter – Lord Harewood Part II: https://rumble.com/v4jj6zl-the-callas-conversations-maria-callas-talking-to-lord-harewood-part-ii.html

A 2010 Arts Documentary hosted by Antonio Pappano. Audio in English with English subtitles (Click on CC). Three-part series tracing the history of Italian opera presented by Antonio Pappano, world-renowned conductor and music director at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The series features sumptuous music, stunning Italian locations and some of the biggest names in opera as contributors. In the first programme, Pappano takes a whistle-stop tour of the beginnings of opera, from Monteverdi to Rossini. He also looks at the works of two non-Italian composers, Handel and Mozart, both of whom were pivotal in the development of the art form. Along the way he enlists the help of some of the world's greatest singers - Juan Diego Florez, Joyce DiDonato, Danielle de Niese, Sarah Connolly and Pietro Spagnoli. Episode 2: https://rumble.com/v4m6i88-opera-italia-viva-verdi-episode-2.html

The second episode focuses on Verdi, whose operas are central to Pappano's conducting repertoire and the backbone of the international opera scene. It shows how Verdi's music was influenced by composers such as Bellini and particularly Donizetti, whose gothic masterpiece Lucia di Lammermoor is explored with the help of soprano Diana Damrau. Pappano looks at six of Verdi's most famous works - Nabucco, Rigoletto, Don Carlo, Otello, Falstaff and La Traviata, the last of which Pappano rehearses and conducts at the Royal Opera House with the starry cast of Renee Fleming, Joseph Calleja and Thomas Hampson. Pappano travels to Le Roncole in northern Italy where Verdi was born amidst a turbulent political environment, and politics became a major influence on Verdi's operas in later life. He conducts Va Pensiero from Nabucco at a vast open-air concert in Naples, a chorus which was to become a powerful symbol of political unity for the Italian people. Episode 3: https://rumble.com/v4m6uo5-opera-italia-the-triumph-of-puccini-episode-3.html

The final episode is devoted to Puccini, the worthy successor to Verdi. Puccini's operas are cinematic in their scale with ravishing, passionate and clever music, as he took Italian opera into the 20th century. Pappano looks at five of Puccini's most popular operas - La Boheme, Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Gianni Schicchi and Turandot. He travels to Rome to meet stage director Franco Zeffirelli and talk about Puccini and Zeffirelli's famous production of Turandot. Pappano also talks to one of the great Puccini interpreters, the soprano Renata Scotto, about the composer, Madame Butterfly and the role of Mimi in La Boheme. Also featured are soprano Angela Gheorghiu, tenors Jonas Kaufmann and Roberto Alagna and baritone Sir Thomas Allen.

A 1998 Documentary about the Italian Composer Giovanni Paisiello. Audio various, with English subtitles. Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Paisiello was born in Taranto in the Apulia region and educated by the Jesuits there. He became known for his beautiful singing voice and in 1754 was sent to the Conservatorio di S. Onofrio at Naples, where he studied under Francesco Durante, and eventually became assistant master. For the theatre of the Conservatorio, which he left in 1763, he wrote some intermezzi, one of which attracted so much notice that he was invited to write two operas, La Pupilla and Il Mondo al Rovescio, for Bologna, and a third, Il Marchese di Tidipano, for Rome. In 1772 Paisiello began to write church music and composed a requiem for Gennara di Borbone, of the reigning dynasty. In 1776 Paisiello was invited by the empress Catherine the Great of Russia to Saint Petersburg, where he remained for eight years, producing, among other charming works, his masterpiece, Il barbiere di Siviglia, which soon attained a European reputation. The fate of this opera marks an epoch in the history of Italian art; for with it the gentle suavity cultivated by the masters of the 18th century died out to make room for the dazzling brilliance of a later period. When, in 1816, Gioachino Rossini set a revised version of the libretto to music, under the title of Almaviva ossia la inutil precauzione the fans of Paisiello stormed the stage. Rossini's opera, now known as Il barbiere di Siviglia, is now acknowledged as Rossini's greatest work, while Paisiello's opera is only infrequently produced—a strange instance of poetical vengeance since Paisiello himself had many years previously endeavoured to eclipse the fame of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi by resetting the libretto of his famous intermezzo, La serva padrona. Paisiello left Russia in 1784, and, after producing Il Re Teodoro at Vienna, entered the service of Ferdinand IV of Naples, where he composed many of his best operas, including Nina and La Molinara. Paisiello is known to have composed 94 operas, which are known for their gracefully beautiful melodies. Perhaps the best-known tune he ever wrote is "Nel cor più non mi sento" from La Molinara, immortalized when Beethoven composed piano variations based on it. Paganini also wrote violin variations based on the same tune. Another favourite vocal piece is "Chi vuol la zingarella" from I zingari in fiera, which vividly portrays the scene of an attractive gypsy girl with its dramatic music. Paisiello also wrote a great deal of church music, including eight masses; as well as fifty-one instrumental compositions and many stand-alone songs. He also composed the Inno al Re, the national anthem of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Manuscript scores of many of his operas were presented to the library of the British Museum by Domenico Dragonetti. The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music notes that "Paisiello was one of the most successful and influential opera composers of his time. Most of his over 80 operas are comic and use a simple, direct and spirited style, latterly with sharper characterization, more colourful scoring and warmer melodies (features that influenced Mozart). His serious operas have less than the conventional amount of virtuoso vocal writing; those for Russia are the closest to Gluck's 'reform' approach.

Giuseppe Di Stefano: The Voice of Heart (Original title: Giuseppe Di Stefano - La voce del cuore) is a 1997 Documentary Film. Audio in Italian with English subtitles. This tribute to “the voice of heart” contains a 1996 interview with Di Stefano conducted by Giancarlo Landini, accompanied by archival video and audio excerpts interspersed with vintage photographs. Excerpts feature music of Verdi: La donna e mobile (Rigoletto), 'Un di felice' (La Traviata) from 1959; Finale from Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) from 1962; Selection from Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti); Puccini: 'Che gelida manina' (La Boheme); Lehar: 'Tu che m'hai preso il cuor' (Land of Smiles); Zeller: 'Sui vent'anni pien d'amore' (The Birdhandler); Cardillo: Core 'ngrato; Verdi: 'La donna e mobile' (Rigoletto) from 1951.

In the magnificent rooms of the Galleria Borghese in Rome, John Eliot Gardiner and his ensembles The Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloists bring together the music of Claudio Monteverdi and the paintings of Caravaggio. The encounter of two works whose creators revolutionised their disciplines. Audio in English with Italian subtitles for the speaking part. Music director: Sir John Eliot Gardiner Choir: Monteverdi Choir Orchestra: English Baroque Soloists Director: Sébastien Glas Chapters: 0:02 - Claudio Monteverdi - Ecco mormorar l'onde 6:07 - Claudio Monteverdi - Si ch'io vorrei morire 10:51 - Claudio Monteverdi - Darà la notte il sol 16:05 - Claudio Monteverdi - Pianto della Madonna 23:10 - Claudio Monteverdi - Ahi, sventurato amante 25:22 - Claudio Monteverdi - Ahi casa acerbo 27:26 - Claudio Monteverdi - Lamento della Ninfa 34:17 - Claudio Monteverdi - Balliamo, che l'onde - Tirsi e Clori 39:19 - Claudio Monteverdi - Sfogava con le stelle

Un programma Rai del 2024 con la regia di Elisabetta Foti, Roberto Giannarelli. A 100 anni esatti dalla morte di Giacomi Puccini (29.11.1924), lo speciale rende omaggio al grande compositore. Un viaggio alla scoperta della sua opera e della vicenda umana, un racconto nei luoghi in cui visse e compose i suoi capolavori, senza dimenticare il confronto con gli altri grandi personaggi dell'epoca.

Maria Callas on stage: The Years of La Scala (Italian: Maria Callas in scena: Gli anni alla Scala) is a short film directed by Francesca Molteni, narrated by Gabriele Parrillo. Audio in Italian with English subtitles. Photo contribution of Erio Piccagliani from the Photo Archive of Teatro alla Scala.

Inside La Scala Boxes: Milanese Stories (Italian: Nei palchi della Scala. Storie milanesi) is a short film by Francesca Molteni. Audio in Italian with English subtitles. "Is it raining, is it snowing outside la Scala? What does it matter? All the best company is come together in 180 theatre boxes." - Stendhal The box is the main architectural element of an italian-style theater like La Scala, where the most important Milanese families have always owned at least one to assert their social prestige. The exhibition about La Scala’ s boxes, by Pier Luigi Pizzi, wants to explore the evolution of the Theatre’s public, since its foundation until the post-war period, when “palchettisti” were replaced by subscribers. Here we pass through the story of the most important Milanese families, as Trivulzio, Litta, Belgiojoso, and Visconti, whose histories are interlaced to the patriots’ ones, as Luigi Porro Lambertenghi, Federico Confalonieri and Silvio Pellico, remembering also great artists as Stendhal, Foscolo, Parini and Manzoni. This important historic research has seen the collaboration between Teatro alla Scala, Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Milano and Biblioteca Nazionale Braidense.

"Va Pensiero: Il mito della Scala tra cronaca e critica" is a short film directed by Francesca Molteni and Claudia Adragna. Audio in Italian with English subtitles. The historical performances of the Teatro alla Scala through literature, criticism and the press. Pier Luigi Pizzi's exhibition aims to demonstrate how much the intellectual elite’s thought has influenced every melodrama, as well as the collective perception of an era. The great opera composers have always drawn their inspiration from the written word, whether it is literary, critical, or journalistic, because the result of their work is inseparable from the cultural, social and political context. In a similar way, from the post-war period onward, even directors, choreographers, set designers and costume designers have begun to question themselves more and more about the relevance of the work to be staged, opening a cultural debate that in many cases has changed it forever. In fact, it is precisely the discussion process that shapes the taste of an era: the history of La Scala is also the history of this debate. An assiduous, stimulating and fruitful confrontation, born in the salons frequented by the greatest intellectuals of our country, continued in the press through the work of musicologists and journalists, to finally reach the stage of the theater which for centuries has served as a catalyst for these issues.