Film

Leonard Cohen's 'Songs From The Road' Showcases Most Outstanding Performances From Ongoing World Tour

In 2008, following the celebration of his 40th year as a Columbia recording artist and coinciding with his induction into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame, Leonard Cohen thrilled his fans by announcing his first tour dates in 15 years. Cohen went on to play the most prestigious and beautiful venues in virtually every corner of the globe, mesmerizing and charming audiences with performances that were hailed as some of the best of his career.

One dozen of Leonard Cohen's most famous songs from those recent world tour performances - at auditorium halls, festivals, arenas, and stadiums from Tel Aviv to London, from across Europe to the California desert and his native Canada - are now collected on SONGS FROM THE ROAD.

"When legend Cohen takes to the stage, it's no less than a cultural event of Biblical dimensions." - The Independent

Lisbeth Salander is a wanted woman. A researcher and a Millennium journalist about to expose the truth about the sex trade in Sweden are brutally murdered, and Salander's prints are on the weapon. Her history of unpredictable and vengeful behavior makes her an official danger to society – but no-one can find her anywhere.

Meanwhile, Mikael Blomkvist, editor-in-chief of Millennium, will not believe what he hears on the news. Knowing Salander to be fierce when fearful, he is desperate to get to her before she is cornered and alone. As he fits the pieces of the puzzle together, he comes up against some hardened criminals, including the chainsaw-wielding 'blond giant' – a fearsomely huge thug who can feel no pain.

Digging deeper, Blomkvist also unearths some heart-wrenching facts about Salander's past life. Committed to psychiatric care aged 12, declared legally incompetent at 18, this is a messed-up young woman who is the product of an unjust and corrupt system. Yet Lisbeth is more avenging angel than helpless victim – descending on those that have hurt her with a righteous anger terrifying in its intensity and truly wonderful in its outcome.

Tosca was called a "shabby little shocker" by one English critic, but that's an understatement: Tosca is a fiercely effective masterpiece of music-drama. Puccini had been interested in the Sardou's play La Tosca for some time, but by 1895 the rights belonged to another composer, Alberto Franchetti. However, the publisher Ricordi and librettist Luigi Illica had no trouble persuading Franchetti to surrender the rights, telling him the subject matter – rape, murder, warring political factions – were far too vulgar for the Roman public's taste. Soon after, Puccini was busy at work with the complete libretto in hand. Puccini approached the opera with his usual meticulousness – travelling to Rome to hear the tones of the bells in Castel Sant'Angelo, marking the exact pitch of the bell at St. Peter's. Puccini also made two important changes to the libretto. He rejected an aria sung by Cavaradossi under torture, instead replacing it with the quartet; he felt that the static nature of the aria would slow the drama. Likewise, Puccini rejected both a poetic aria and transcendental love duet for the couple before Cavaradossi's execution. Ricordi found the "acting lesson" scene too perfunctory, but Puccini insisted that Tosca would not waste her time on flowery language – and of course, the drama proves that he was right.

Performed at Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa, Italy

Daniela Dessì (Tosca)
Fabio Armiliato (Cavaradossi)
Claudio Sgura (Scarpia)
Enrico Iori (Angelotti)
Armando Gabba (Sagrestano)
Mario Bolognesi (Spoletta)
Angelo Nardinocchi (Sciarrone)
The chorus (A jailer)

Production by the Opera Theatre of Rome
Conductor: Marco Boemi
Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro Carlo Felice
Chorus master Ciro Visco
Chorus of Voci Bianche del Teatro Carlo Felice
Choir master of di Voci Bianche Gino Tanasini
Director: Renzo Giacchieri
Scenic design & costumes: Adolf Hohenstein

180 SOUTH - 'Conquerors of the Useless' follows Jeff Johnson as he retraces the epic 1968 journey of his heroes Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins to Patagonia. Along the way he gets shipwrecked off Easter Island, surfs the longest wave of his life - and prepares himself for a rare ascent of Cerro Corcovado. Jeff's life turns when he meets up in a rainy hut with Chouinard and Tompkins who, once driven purely by a love of climbing and surfing, now value above all the experience of raw nature - and have come to Patagonia to spend their fortunes to protect it.

Music historian Richard Taruskin calls The Queen of Spades "the first and possibly the greatest masterpiece of musical surrealism." The composer himself, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, was almost shocked by how well the opera came out. In a letter to his brother Modest Tchaikovsky (the librettist), he wrote: "Either I am horribly mistaken, Modya, or the opera is a masterpiece." Time has proven him correct. The lush, expressive music, combined with fantastic source material – Alexander Pushkin's 1833 novella – was a recipe for great opera. According to the San Juan Star, Misha Didyk's voice is "gigantic, powerful, and very well controlled lyric voice which has inside a dark, burnished tone reminiscent of a big Russian Orthodox Cathedral Bell." American soprano Emily Magee, whose "voice of ravishing luster" (The New York Times) graces the role of Lisa. The opera also features contralto Ewa Podlés as the Countess – the Queen of Spades herself. She has been praised as a "true contralto with a smoky, rich and throbbing sound" (The New York Times). Truly, this is a cast that would please the composer.

Emily Magee (Lisa)
Misha Didyk (Gherman)
Lado Ataneli (Tomsky/Zlatogor)
Ludovic Tézier (Prince Yeletsky)
Ewa Podlés (The Countess)
Elena Zaremba (Pauline)
Francisco Vas (Chekalinsky)
Alberto Feria (Tsurin)
Mihail Vekua (Chaplitsky)
Kurt Gysen (Narumov)
Stefania Toczyska (The Governess)
Claudia Schneider (Masha)
Jon Plazaola (The Master of Ceremonies)
Michelle Marie Cook (Prilepa)

Performed at the Gran Teatre del Liceu

Conducted by Michael Boder

Directed by Gilbert Deflo

Choreography by Nadejda Loujine

Sung in Russian with English subtitles

3 hrs 55 mins plus two intermissions

Scene 1: At the bottom of the River Rhein, the three Rheinmaidens (Woglinde, Wellgunde, and Flosshilde) are playing near the Rheingold; suddenly Alberich, a Nibelung dwarf, appears and tries to woo them. The Rheinmaidens mock the ugly Alberich and anger him. As the sun rises, the maidens praise the golden glow atop a nearby rock; Alberich asks what it is. They tell him of the Rheingold, which they guard. It can be made into a magic ring which will let its bearer rule the world, but only by someone who first renounces love. Alberich, embittered by their mockery, curses love, seizes the gold and returns to the depths as the Rheinmaidens flee in despair.

Scene 2: Wotan, ruler of the Gods, and his wife, Fricka, awaken on the mountaintop to find that their new castle is finished. The giants Fasolt and Fafner have built it in exchange for Fricka's sister Freia, but Wotan plans to renege on his bargain. Fasolt and Fafner enter with Freia, demanding their payment. Donner (god of thunder) and Froh (god of spring) arrived to defend their sister Freia, but Wotan stops them. Loge, the god of fire, enters and informs them that Alberich the dwarf has stolen the Rheingold, and has made a powerful magic ring out of it. The giants demand it as payment in lieu of Freia, who they take as a hostage. The gods need Freia, for without her golden apples of youth, they will age and decay. Wotan and Loge journey deep into the earth to find the ring.

Scene 3: In Nibelheim, Alberich has enslaved the rest of the Nibelung dwarves. He forces his brother Mime, the most skillful smith, to create a magic helmet. Alberich demonstrates its power by making himself invisible. When Wotan and Loge arrive, Mime tells them about the ring and the misery of the Nibelung under Alberich's rule. Alberich returns and boasts to Wotan and Loge about his plans to rule the world, but Loge tricks him into turning himself into a toad with the helmet. The gods quickly seize him and bring him up to the surface.

Scene 4: On the mountaintop, Wotan and Loge force Alberich to exchange his wealth for freedom. He surrenders his gold and the helmet, but when he refuses to give up the ring, Wotan seizes it. Alberich is devastated and lays a curse on the ring: until it returns to him, whoever does not possess it will desire it, and whoever possesses it will receive unhappiness and death. Fasolt and Fafner return with Freia, demanding enough gold to cover her. The gods pile up the gold, but they must relinquish the helmet to cover Freia completely. Fasolt spots a final crack in the pile, and demands the ring as well. Loge reminds everyone that the ring belongs to the Rheinmaidens, but Wotan refuses to give it up. Erda, the earth goddess, suddenly appears and warns Wotan to avoid the cursed ring. Troubled, Wotan surrenders the ring and sets Freia free. The giants, while dividing the treasure, fight over the ring and Fafner kills Fasolt. Wotan realizes the cursed ring has terrible power. At last, the gods prepare to enter their new home, which Wotan names Valhalla. Loge, who knows that the end of the gods is coming, does not follow the others into Valhalla; he is tempted to destroy them and what they have wrongly acquired. Far below, the Rheinmaidens mourn the loss of their gold. The curtain falls.

DetailsCastCrewSynopsisShowtimes

Conducted by Daniel Barenboim

Directed by Guy Cassiers

Starring René Pape

Sung in German with English subtitles

2 hrs 10 mins with no intermission

Part of Teatro alla Scala

René Pape (Wotan)
Stephan Rügamer (Loge)
Johannes Martin Kraenzle (Alberich)
Wolfgang Ablinger-Sperracke (Mime)
Hanno Müller-Brachmann (Fasolt)
Timo Riihonen (Fafner)
Katharina Kammerloher (Fricka)
Anna Samuil (Freia)
Anna Larsson (Erda)

Conductor: Daniel Barenboim
Staging and Sets: Guy Cassiers
Sets and Lights: Enrico Bagnoli
Costumes:Tim Van Steenbergen
Video: Arjen Clerckx and Kurt d'Haeseleer