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This webinar took place over eight Zoom sessions during two weeks in August of 2020. It went way beyond operas ON film and operatic soundtracks IN films to look at how the narrative techniques of some of Europe’s greatest storytellers became building blocks for the great modern storytellers of the world – how, in essence, the Opera House became the Movie Theater.
Each session was over an hour long and was comprised of approximately three 20-minute components:
- The first component was a multi-media presentation by author, lecturer, and Metropolitan Opera commentator William Berger.
- The next component was a chat with one or two (or three) major stars of opera and the film world and beyond, offering their perspective on the diverse elements of their fields.
- Finally, there was an interactive time with the featured guests, with questions and subjects prompted by the attendees.
Here are the guest who participated:
- Opera stars: Larry Brownlee, Joseph Calleja, Alice Coote, Stephen Costello, Justino Díaz, Susan Graham, Quinn Kelsey, and Isabel Leonard
- Diverse luminaries: Michael Cooper (NY Times critic), Holly Goldberg Sloan (author, screenwriter, and director), Phil Jiménez (comics artist and writer), Muffie Meyer (director), Nico Muhly (composer), Gary Rosen (screenwriter and film historian), Alex Ross (author and New Yorker columnist), and Du Yun (composer)
This is a social and artistic event, as well as an educational one, so fire up your largest monitor available, grab snacks, and settle in for a rousing discussion!
There will also be a Playlist provided for further reading, watching, and listening that will expand the conversation further. You must have a Spotify account to listen to musical playlist.
Meet Our Guests
Once the Video Package is purchased, you will be provided with a confirmation email, and then another email with a special discount code that will allow you to download the specified videos from the website for free.
THIS PACKAGE INCLUDES:
- All eight previously recorded sessions.
Playlists on Spotify, with descriptions and info on each piece for each session are free to the general public and are listed on the video product description page. An account on Spotify will be needed to listen.
See below for the description of each session. Click to meet our guests.
Please note: all videos are available for download only; they are not available to stream.
Videos are meant for home entertainment use only. No part of the video can be posted, sold, or used for other means without prior permission.
Videos are available to download individually (click 'Get a Specific Video(s)' at the top of this page), but buying this package will save you more than 35%!!
The videos you can view with your Opera and Film Video Package:
Session #1: Intro and Overview – The Idea of Opera in Movies
What does opera stand for in film? How have movies defined what we think of as opera and the opera world?
Special Guests: Joseph Calleja & Du Yun
Films discussed include: A Night at the Opera (Wood), Song of Freedom (Wills), Amadeus (Forman), Diva (Beineix), Pretty Woman (Marshall), Hannah and her Sisters (Allen)
Session #2: Movies ABOUT Operas – Sources and “True” Stories
Many movies share the same sources as some of the most iconic operas. In fact, many movies seem to be reclaiming the story from the opera that helped make it famous. Is a movie “truer” than an opera in some way? And how can we talk about “truth” in either of these narrative forms?
Special Guests: Lawrence Brownlee & Muffie Meyer
Films discussed include: Die Nibelungen (Lang); Camille (Cukor); Tosca (Renoir); Phantom of the Paradise (De Palma); Carmen (Gades); First Name: Carmen (Godard); Carmen, a HipHopera (Townsend)
Session #3: Opera Genres in Film (Part1) – Expressionism, Romanticism, Nationalism
The greatest directors have – wittingly or not – adapted techniques from opera in telling their stories… beyond the use of music (although that too, certainly) and into how characters and settings are presented. How do various genres play out in both opera and film?
Special Guests: Nico Muhly, Holly Goldberg Sloan, & Gary Rosen
Films discussed include: Top Hat (Sandrich); Alexander Nevsky (Eisenstein); Triumph of the Will (Riefenstahl); Psycho (Hitchcock); Star Wars (any and all, Lucas et al.)
Session #4: Opera Genres in Film (Part 2) – Verismo and the Supreme Masterpieces of Neoverismo
Of all genres of opera, none are so misunderstood or derided in our time as Verismo (Mascagni, Puccini, et al.) – yet of all genres of film, none has produced a higher ratio of great cinema than Neoverismo, derived from the operatic prototypes. How did Puccini become Visconti, what happened in the transformation, and what does this tell us about the techniques of Realism in film today?
Special Guests: Quinn Kelsey & Michael Cooper
Films discussed include Roma città aperta (Rossellini); Ladri di biciclette (De Sica); La terra trema (Visconti); Le notti di Cabiria (Fellini); Accattone (Pasolini); Mamma Roma (Pasolini); Roma (Cuarón)
Session #5: Opera Genres in Fim (Part 3) – Beyond Verismo into Fantasy and Surrealism
Realism is an ideal that, by definition, can never be fully achieved in art. That’s the point of it. So what happens when an artist takes the next step?
Special Guests: Alice Coote & Phil Jiménez
Films discussed include Miracolo a Milano (De Sica); Senso (Visconti), Rocco and His Brothers (Visconti); Romeo and Juliet (Zeffirelli); Medea (Pasolini); Cabaret (Fosse); Breaking the Waves (Von Trier)
Session #6: Operatic Music in Movies – Soundtracks
Operatic music has been a mainstay of film soundtracks since the beginning – even predating sound in film. What are we being told when we hear opera in movies? Why does it seem that German Opera = WAR and Italian Opera = civil and sexual disorder in movies? And so what does French Opera =?
Special Guests: Isabel Leonard & Alex Ross
Films discussed include Un chien andalou (Buñuel); Apocalypse Now (Coppola); The Hunger (Scott); The Godfather, Part III (Coppola); The Fifth Element (Besson); La vita è bella (Benigni)
Session #7: Opera / Movie Convergence
Opera can be movies and movies can be operas now. What happens when these worlds collide?
Special Guests: Stephen Costello & Justino Díaz
Film/Operas discussed include: Der Rosenkavalier (Wiene/Strauss); The Threepenny Opera (Pabst/Weill); Eugene Onegin (Tikhomirov/Tchaikovsky); The Magic Flute (Bergman/Mozart); Don Giovanni (Losey/Mozart); Carmen (Saura/Bizet); Otello (Zeffirelli/Verdi)
Session #8: Opera / Movie Convergence (Part 2)
We'll be continuing the discussion from the last session: Opera can be movies and movies can be operas now. What happens when these worlds collide?
Special Guest: Susan Graham
Films/Opera discussed include El Angel Exterminador/The Exterminating Angel (Buñuel/Adès); Dead Man Walking (Robbins/Heggie); The Fly (Cronenberg/Shore); Brief Encounter (Lean/Previn); Joyeux Noël/Silent Night (Carion/Puts); Breaking the Waves (von Trier/Mazzoli)
Videos are meant for home entertainment use only. No part of the video can be posted, sold, or used for other means without prior permission.