Piletilevi TV - Kultuur on kodus

During Marian Anderson's historic concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, a white man and a black woman fall in love. During the turbulent half-century that follows, they try to protect their three musically gifted children from prejudices they themselves have suffered.

Belgian avant-garde jazz pianist and composer Kris Defoort’s new opera is a fascinating symbiosis between jazz and classical music deeply rooted in the now. Inspired by Richard Powers' great American novel, The Time of Our Singing tells the story of a mixed-race family against the backdrop of racial segregation in the USA. In the world premiere at La Monnaie, Ted Hoffman's production lets official history and intimate stories collide to explore issues of identity, race and art.

In an unusual twist, Dutch National Opera presents the Missa in a fully staged version. Their modern interpretation reveals the flip side of the unshakeable faith that runs through every note of Haydn’s mass. What emerges is the portrait of people who suffer under the heavy burden of a new-minded ideology.

Taking Haydn’s ‘Mass in time of war’ as its centrepiece, this special performance under the baton of the DNO’s new chief conductor Lorenzo Viotti combines music theatre, dance, electronic composition and video. Choreographer Juanjo Arqués’ nine dancers give physical expression to the contrasts central to director Barbora Horáková’s vision, while electronic composer Janiv Oron counterbalances Haydn’s religious music with live sound effects.

The Spanish crown princess receives a very special present: a little person. To everyone’s amusement, he is unaware of his small stature. Before long feelings develop between the pair, but what chance do they have in a world where appearance is everything?
Based on a story by Oscar Wilde, Der Zwerg (The Dwarf) is perhaps Zemlinsky’s best-known and most powerful opera. The performance marks both the first production of rising star Lorenzo Viotti as principal conductor at Dutch National Opera and the operatic debut of film and theatre director Nanouk Leopold. The heldentenor Clay Hilley performs the title role, while Infanta Clara is interpreted by soprano Lenneke Ruiten.

For the third time, Ópera XXI is honouring the best artists, productions and projects of the Spanish opera world and OperaVision will stream it live for the second year in a row. To honour the cream of the Spanish opera crop, Ópera XXI - the association of 25 Spanish theatres, festivals and opera companies- will hold a gala on 11 September at Teatro de la Zarzuela, Madrid, to celebrate the winners.

Striving to enhance the visibility and the essential contribution of opera to Spanish society, the Ópera XXI Awards aim to assert the role of culture in our lives. On this occasion, it offers a touching tribute to all the artists, the public and the countless opera professionals who work tirelessly to make Spain a true cultural oasis and a point of reference in the world.

‘These have been an exhausting few months for all of us’, the president of Ópera XXI and Director of the Peralada Festival Oriol Aguilà recalls. ‘It is a source of pride to be part of a sector, of a cultural activity, that has been the admiration of the world for its ability to organise itself and move forward. We have never felt so useful and essential in our vocation of public function and service.’