Håkan Hagegård Movies

The German classical composer Richard Strauss (1864-1949) penned his final opera, the 1942 Capriccio, as a one-act "conversation piece," set to music - a reference to the work's heavy reliance on long monologues. The narrative, which unfolds in a salon on the outskirts of the City of Lights, follows The Countess as she weighs the value of words (represented by her suitor Oliver, the poet) against the value of melody (represented by her suitor Flamand, the composer). As Oliver and Flamand prepare for The Countess's birthday celebrations, their discussion concerns literature versus music on the surface, but on a deeper level represents their attempts to vie with one another for The Countess's heart. The home video release Capriccio constitutes a filmed performance of the work, as mounted and performed by The San Francisco Opera in 1993. The cast includes Kiri Te Kanawa, Hakan Hagegard, Tatiana Troyanos, and Victor Braun. Eleanor Fazan choreographs, Stephen Lawless directs, and The San Francisco Opera Orchestra provides musical accompaniment. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

A longtime pet project of Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera The Magic Flute was finally brought to the screen in 1973. While the opera itself is offered in a highly stylized and theatrical fashion, the fluidity of the camerawork turns the affair into a purely cinematic experience. Sung in Swedish, the libretto remains as ever a gentle parody of the initiation ceremonies of the Masons, offered as an other-worldly fantasy involving a kidnapped princess (Irma Urrila), a vengeful Queen of the Night (Birgit Nordin), and a carefree wanderer who periodically plays the titular flute. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi