Renato Bruson Movies

Pier Luigi Pizzi mounted Giuseppe Verdi's seminal 1853 opera La Traviata at the Teatro Real in 2006, with a cast that includes Norah Amsellem as Violetta Valèry, Itxaro Mentxaka as Flora Bervoix, María Espada as Annina, José Bros as Alfredo Germont and Renato Bruson as Giorgio Germont. Pizzi directs and designed the costumes and sets; The Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real provide musical accompaniment. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Cecelia Gasdia, Mstislav Rastropovic, Renato Bruson and Pietro Ballo lead a rousing Christmas celebration at the Basilica di St. Maria in Rome in the Christmas From Rome musical program. With the help of the Cappella Giulia St. Peter Choir, this performance features such classic works by Giuseppe Verdi, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Franz Schubert. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Enrico Castiglione directs this 2001 production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's seminal two-act 1787 dramma giocoso Don Giovanni, an opera mounted at Teatro Argentina in Rome, with musical accompaniment by the Rome Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Michael Halaz. The production includes arias by Renato Bruson, Luca Canonici, Amarilli Nizza, Rossana Potenza, Stefano de Peppo and Alessandro Battiato, Anna Laura Longo; Stefano Cucci serves as choir master. Mozart culled the by-now-familiar story from the legend of Don Juan, the world's most gifted lover. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

The Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti (1796-1848) adapted his opera Lucia de Lammermoor from the novel by Sir Walter Scott, with its tale of a doomed romance between Miss Lucia, daughter of the Ashtons, and Lord Edgardo, the head of the Ravenswood clan driven to a lonely exile on Wolf's Crag. The 1992 stage production with The Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala as conducted by Stefano Ranzani comes to home video in the release Lucia de Lammermoor. Renato Bruson portrays Lord Enrico Ashton and Mariella Devia is Miss Lucia. The cast also features Vincenzo la Scola, Marco Berti, Carlo Colombara and Ernesto Gavazzi. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Giuseppe Verdi's opera version of Shakespeare's tragedy Macbeth is performed by the Orchestra and Chorus of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, under the direction of Giuseppe Sinopoli. Renato Bruson plays Macbeth, a man who grows mad with ambition. His crazed wife, Lady Macbeth (Mara Zampieri) convinces him to kill King Duncan (Goetz Rose) and claim the throne of Scotland for himself. Also starring James Morris as Banquo, Dennis O'Neill as Macduff, and David Griffith as Malcolm. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi

This release captures a performance of the Verdi opera Don Carlo recorded at the Theatre Antique d'Orange in Orange, France on July 13, 1984. The cast of the performance includes Montserrat Caballé, Giacamo Aragall, Simon Estes, Grace Bumbry, and Renato Bruson. ~ Cammila Albertson, Rovi

A filmed version of the Verdi opera, Ernani is set in 1519 and concerns Ernani, an outlawed nobleman who is heading a resistance effort against the villainous kin, Don Carlo, who killed Ernani's father. The rebel also is planning to elope with his beloved, Elvira, who is about to be forced to marry her uncle Silva. Unfortunately, Don Carlo also has designs on Elvira and takes her away himself. A confrontation between the three suitors ensues, with Ernani finding himself indebted to Silva when the latter refuses to hand him over to the king. Silva and Ernani form an uneasy alliance against Don Carlo, with Silva demanding that Ernani pledge to kill himself after they vanquish their foe. Ernani agrees to this, noting that when Silva blows a particular hunting horn, he will commit the deed. Silva and Ernani meet with their conspirators to determine who will assassinate the king, and Ernani is chosen. At Don Carlo's coronation, Elvira convinces Don Carlo to grant amnesty to the rebels, which he does, going so far as to return Ernani's title and property to him and to give him Elvira in marriage. The happily reunited lovers return to Ernani's palace and wedding preparations proceed apace. Unfortunately, a strange figure in black appears, and in the midst of their joy, Ernani hears the hunting horn being blown. Though he and Elvira try to convince Silva to excuse him from his obligation, the old man refuses, and Ernani plunges a dagger into his heart and dies. ~ Craig Butler, Rovi