The Passions of Vaughan Williams

Fifty years after his death, this musical and psychological portrait of Ralph Vaughan Williams explores the passions that drove a giant of 20th-century English music.

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During a royal hunt, the young prince is injured under strange circumstances, and his father, the king, falls from a high cliff and dies. The young princess Klára cleverly but persistently questions Prince Vilém about what actually happened during the hunt. When she refuses Wilhelm's offer to take the throne in place of the prince and princess for the time being, she and her injured brother are thrown into a dark tower. However, strange spirits appear here—the courageous Elizabeth, who heals the prince and helps him regain his memory, and the handsome Conrad, with whom the princess secretly falls in love...

Karajan - Bruckner - Symphonies Nos. 8 & 9

Karajan - Bruckner - Symphonies No. 8 & 9

Ghosts and Whispers

An unbroken sequence of fragments, last thoughts, elegies and absences by Schubert, Mozart, Wagner, Janáček, Stravinsky, Jacquet de la Guerre and Schumann, inter-leaved with movements from John Woolrich's Pianobooks. The programme is performed alongside images from the Quay Brothers.

The Nutcracker

The young Clara creeps downstairs on Christmas Eve to play with her favourite present – a Nutcracker. But the mysterious magician Drosselmeyer is waiting to sweep her off on a magical adventure. After defeating the Mouse King, the Nutcracker and Clara travel through the Land of Snow to the Kingdom of Sweets, where the Sugar Plum Fairy treats them to a wonderful display of dances. Back home, Clara thinks she must have been dreaming – but doesn’t she recognize Drosselmeyer’s nephew?

Princ Chocholouš

Nasredin

O houslích krále snů

A fairy tale about a king who does not solve his worries and problems, but runs away from them into dreams and visions. He trades everything he has for his dreams. The castle, the crown and the happiness of his only daughter. But in time, the poor shepherd Martin intervenes, who knows that dreaming is beautiful, but the ability to make dreams come true is much more valuable.

O kouzelnici Klotýnce

Klotýnka is a young, crazy, disobedient, inquisitive and curious magician's daughter who decides to help her love - the confused but kind inventor Leopold. So kind that his greedy aunt, the hatter, Hermína, almost deprives him of his father's inheritance. It is only thanks to Klotýnka that her plans fail...

O malíři Adamovi

Young painter Adam longs to paint a masterpiece, so he sets off into the world to gain experience. He hopes that Princess Almína, whose beauty he has heard about, could be the subject of his painting. However, after Almina's father dies, a devious prime minister seizes power over the kingdom and intends to consolidate his position by marrying the rightful heir to the throne. But Princess Almina is not interested in such a groom; she has fallen in love with the kind-hearted Adam. The self-proclaimed king is not happy about this at all...

Putování za měsíční nitkou

A fairy tale about three princes, enchanted into dog form... The shepherd Jirka is herding sheep when a mysterious hunter with three dogs named Drž, Dech and Vševím passes by. The hunter treats the dogs badly. And because Jirka has a good heart, he exchanges the dogs for three sheep that belong to the farmer. He says goodbye to his girlfriend Anička and goes into the world, arriving in a sad kingdom. There he meets Bětuška, who takes him to the king, whose three sons and daughter have been lost...

Coppelia

When everyone in town falls under the spell of charismatic cosmetic surgeon Doctor Coppelius, feisty Swan must act to save her sweetheart Franz, before his heart is used to spark life into Coppelia – the ‘perfect’ robot-woman the Doctor has created.

Aida - Arena di Verona

The grand scale and magnificent acoustics of the Roman arena in Verona are ideally suited to the pageantry of Verdi's Egyptian opera, presented here in a staging that is true to the original 1913 production, framed by obelisks and sphinxes and filled with chorus and dancers. Chinese soprano Hui He has won international acclaim for her portrayal of the eponymous slave girl whose forbidden love for the war hero Radamés (Marco Berti, the experienced Verdi tenor) brings death to them both.

Brahms: Complete Symphonies

After the great success of his Beethoven cycle, Christian Thielemann now turns with his new orchestra, the Staatskapelle Dresden, to the symphonic work of Johannes Brahms. Bonus features include: an extensive 52 minute interview with Christian Thielemann on Brahms' Symphonies and provides and in-depth look into his interpretation of Brahms.

The Nutcracker & the Mouse King

Going to see Nutcracker with the whole family has been a tradition in other countries for many years. Now it is a tradition in the Netherlands as well. It became apparent that the Netherlands had also adopted this tradition in 1996, when the Dutch National Ballet presented its own version of the famous fairytale ballet. It is a magical production that has won the hearts of more than 250,000 people to date. Choreographers Toer van Schayk and Wayne Eagling created a Nutcracker for the children and adults of today. It is more dynamic and exciting, and less sweet than usual. They also chose to give a Dutch twist to their interpretation of the story, with skaters on the canals and a living room that transforms into a snowy forest. Unlike the original story, the production by Eagling and Van Schayk (who also designed the delightful sets and costumes) does not take place on Christmas Eve in a German town, but during St. Nicholas celebrations in Amsterdam, around 1810.

Sleeping Beauty

Cursed to die by the evil fairy Maleficent when she was a baby, Princess Aurora is sent into hiding under protection from three good fairies. As she grows up far away, Maleficent becomes increasingly determined to seal the princess's fate.

The Little Mermaid II: Return to the Sea

Set several years after the first film, Ariel and Prince Eric are happily married with a daughter, Melody. In order to protect Melody from the Sea Witch, Morgana, they have not told her about her mermaid heritage. Melody is curious and ventures into the sea, where she meets new friends. But will she become a pawn in Morgana's quest to take control of the ocean from King Triton?

The Company of Wolves

An adaptation of Angela Carter's fairy tales. Young Rosaleen dreams of a village in the dark woods, where Granny tells her cautionary tales in which innocent maidens are tempted by wolves who are hairy on the inside. As Rosaleen grows into womanhood, will the wolves come for her too?

The Merry Widow

The Merry Widow, a beguiling, romantic ballet starring Patricia McBride and Peter Martins.

The Story of Little Mook

An old man living in an oriental city tells the story of his life to a group of kids: He too was once a young boy by the name of Little Muck - much like them, but with better manners and a heap of problems. Having lost his father at early age, little Muck is expelled from home by his greedy relatives. He wanders off into the desert hoping to find the merchant who sells good fortune. Amidst the dunes of sand he comes across a small house owned by a wicked woman and her many cats. She wants to make Little Muck her servant, but he manages to escape by stealing a pair of magic shoes which enable him to run faster than any man in the country. From there he heads right into the next set of challenges...