Peter Butler Movies

The Opera Australia mounted this lavish production of Giuseppe Verdi's 1842 opera Nabucco, starring Elizabeth Connell, Bruce Martin and Jonathan Summers. The Australian Opera Chorus and The State Orchestra of Victoria, the latter under the direction of Carlo Felice Cillario, lend added musical accompaniment. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

The Australian Ballet Company mounted this loose adaptation of Pyotr Illych Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker in 1994. In lieu of the traditional narrative associated with that ballet, this version relays the historical tale of a Russian ballerina named Clara (played by three performers - Vicki Attard, Margaret Scott and Siobhan Elsmann) who journeys to Australia in the 1940s. Additional dancers in the company include Steven Heathcote and David McAllister. Graeme Murphy choreographs; the Orchestra Victoria (originally called The State Orchestra of Victoria) lends added musical accompaniment. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

French composer Christoph Willibald Gluck adapted his 1774 opera Orphée et Eurydice from the Greek myth that alternately inspired like works by Monteverdi, Offenbach, Haydn and Birtwistle, plus critically championed films by Marcel Camus and Jean Cocteau. It tells the story of Orpheus venturing into the underworld to rescue his betrothed, Eurydice, and tragically disobeying the gods' orders by glancing back at her over his shoulder as they ascend from Hades. In composing the work, Gluck eliminated Da Capo arias and basso continuo recitatives, and alternately employs the strophic and rondo forms. The home video issue Orphée et Eurydice features a filmed record of a September 20, 1993 stage production of the work, mounted and performed at the Sydney Opera House, Sydney, Australia, and directed by Stefanos Lazaridis, with choreography by Meryl Tankard and musical accompaniment by The Australian Opera Chorus and The Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra. David Hobson and Amanda Thane portray the leads. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

The opera Don Giovanni - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's dark tale of the consummate seducer who meets his own grisly end via a ghost's revenge - receives a startling interpretation in this 1991 production by the Opera Australia. As co-directed by Lindy Hume and Peter Butler, this version stars Lisa Gasteen, David Hobson, Fiona Janes, and Gillian Sullivan, with added musical support by the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra and the Australian Opera Chorus. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Based - as was the 1960 Stanley Kubrick epic of the same name - on Howard Fast's historical novel about the famous 1st century B.C. slave who led a massive revolt against tyrannical Roman oppressors, László Seregi's ballet Spartacus is mounted by The Australian Ballet at Melbourne's Arts Centre in this release. Lisa Pavane and Steven Heathcote star; The State Orchestra of Victoria provides musical accompaniment. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

Joan Sutherland first broke through to international success with her role in Lucia Di Lammermoor, Gaetano Donizetti's operatic interpretation of Sir Walter Scott's story of love, treachery and murder. In 1986, in the autumn of her career, the great Sutherland returned to the work which made her name in this Opera Australia production, directed by John Copley, and featuring Richard Bonynge at the orchestra. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

In this classical music performance film, Leonard Bernstein conducts orchestral renditions of several song cycles by composer Gustav Mahler. Selections include: Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen, Kindertotenlieder and Rückert-Lieder, with Thomas Hampson and the Wiener Philharmoniker - performed only a few months before Bernstein's death; and Des Knaben Wunderhorn, with Walton Groenroos and Lucia Popp and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, performed in 1984. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi