René Kollo Movies

Composer Richard Wagner's romantic three-act opera is performed at the National Theater Staatsoper in this 1994 production captured over the course of a three-day closed-session and directed by David Alden and featuring René Kollo and Jan-Hendrik Rootering. Music is provided by the Chorus of Bayerische Staatsoper under Chorus Master Udo Mehrpohl. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

This music performance video is a production of "Arabella", with Sir George Solti conducting the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and featuring Gundula Janowitz, Bernd Weikel, Rene Kollo, and Sona Ghazarian. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi

An international collection of well-known directors contributed to this compilation film, each fashioning a short film inspired by an aria from a famous opera. The approaches vary broadly, from the playful abstraction of Jean-Luc Godard's segment, which illustrates Armide with exercising body-builders, to the more literal approach of Franc Roddam, who transports Tristan und Isolde's story to modern-day Las Vegas. A particular stand-out is Julian Temple's take on Rigoletto, which recasts Verdi as the accompaniment to a contemporary Southern California sex farce. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

The Wiener Philharmoniker mounted this stage production of Richard Strauss's opera Ariadne auf Naxos, starring Gundula Janowitz, René Kollo and Edita Gruberova. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Karl Böhm, provides symphonic accompaniment. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

This program features one in a series of lectures given by Leonard Bernstein at Harvard in 1973. His accomplishments both in serious music and for the Broadway stage and his flair for teaching young people combined to make Leonard Bernstein a well-known conductor, composer, and teacher. After retiring in 1969 from a long and illustrious career as conductor for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernstein turned much of his energy to teaching. This particular lecture examines how Igor Stravinsky kept tonality viable while freely experimenting with dissonance. The Russian-born composer Stravinsky, best known for his ballets, developed an interest in and made lasting contributions to serial, or 12-tone music. Invited to lecture at Harvard University in 1939, Stravinsky moved to the United States, making his home in Hollywood. There, through collaborations with the young American musician Robert Craft, Stravinsky became interested in serial music -- particularly that of Anton von Webern. Stravinsky's Canticum Sacrum for voices and orchestra and the ballet Agon contain 12-tone elements and were followed by the fully serial works Threni, Movements, Variations, and Requiem Canticles. The flamboyant Bernstein talks about Stravinsky's achievements and contributions. Included in the film is a complete performance of Stravinsky's Oedipus Rex. ~ Rose of Sharon Winter, Rovi