Specialty channel Mezzo is unscrambled on most cable services, until the end of December. Videotron subscribers have access until January 18. Here are five interesting proposals in classical music, opera, dance and jazz for the holiday season.
1. Lakmé, Opera of Wallonia – Liège
Belgian soprano Jodie Devos and French tenor Philippe Talbot star in this French opera by Léo Delibes filmed on September 20, 2022 in Liège, Belgium. Lakmé recounts the unhappy love affairs of an Indian woman and an English officer at the end of the 19th century in an India under British domination.
2. Don Giovanni, Berlin State Opera
Composed by Mozart, Don Giovanni is considered one of the greatest operas of all time. This production, with the German baritone Michael Volle, in the role of the seducer, and the Slovak soprano Slávka Zámečníková, in that of Donna Anna, was filmed on April 17, 2022 at the Staatsoper Unter Den Linden in Berlin.
3. Handel’s Messiah, Coventry Cathedral
An immense work and monument of sacred music, Handel’s Messiah, filmed on November 24 at St. Michael’s Cathedral in Coventry, England, features the baroque formation The English Concert under the direction of John Nelson, a choir and the presence of four singers.
4. Nutcracker, San Francisco Ballet
The San Francisco Ballet performs this holiday classic by Tchaikovsky, choreographed by Helgi Tomasson. This performance, filmed January 1, 2007, at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, stars Elizabeth Powell as Clara.
5. Avishai Cohen, The New Morning, Paris
The excellent Israeli trumpeter Avishaï Cohen, accompanied by guitarist Yonatan Albalak, bassist Uzi Ramirez and drummers Ziv Ravitz and Aviv Cohen merge rock, psychedelic music, groove, jazz and electronic music, during this concert recorded on May 29, 2019 at the New Morning club in Paris.
