C Major Entertainment

At the beginning of 1964, the music world experiences something completely unexpected. Maria Callas returns to the opera stage as the prima donna. Her "Tosca" at the Royal Opera House becomes a sensation. Maria Callas wants to show everyone once again that she deserves the title of "prima donna assoluta." On the condition that star director Franco Zeffirelli take over the direction, the exceptional singer agrees to sing the role of Tosca. The BBC recorded the 2nd act of the opera for television. It is one of the most dramatic acts in opera history: in order to free the painter Cavaradossi from the hands of torturers, Tosca ends up murdering the police chief Scarpia. The film footage is one of the rare opportunities to see Maria Callas in an opera performance and to experience her highly emotional performance art and vocal abilities.

Rarely has a production of Verdi’s Otello been staged in such a prestigious location: the courtyard of the Palazzo Ducale in Venice! This special outdoor “event production” of the Teatro La Fenice takes place amidst genuine late-Gothic and Renaissance architecture highlighted by spectacular projections: “A set of singular fascination” (Il Corriere Musicale). Critics were full of praise for the musical performance, designating conductor Myung-Whun Chung as the “absolutely dominating force” of the performance (GB Opera). The lead role is sung by Gregory Kunde, who successfully interpreted both Verdi’s and Rossini’s Otello in one year, perhaps the first tenor ever to do so. He “reproduces every accent, every colour demanded by Verdi with sensibility and intelligence” (OperaClick).

Part of Tutto Verdi series - Otello (2008) Salzburg. 'Otello' is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play 'Othello'. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on 5 February 1887.

Part of Tutto Verdi series - La Traviata (2007) Parma. 'La traviata' ('The Fallen Woman') is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on 'La dame aux Camélias' (1852), a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The opera was originally titled 'Violetta', after the main character. It was first performed on 6 March 1853 at the La Fenice opera house in Venice. Piave and Verdi wanted to follow Dumas in giving the opera a contemporary setting, but the authorities at La Fenice insisted that it be set in the past, "c. 1700". It was not until the 1880s that the composer and librettist's original wishes were carried out and "realistic" productions were staged.

Any visit from Jessie J is a major event, and her appearance at Baloise Session 2023 is no exception. Renowned for her live performances, this British singer is a born show-woman, a star with an incomparable charisma radiating warmth, pride, love and passion.

Neumeier's dance version of the Shakespeare play about the trials and tribulations of love has lost none of its freshness over three decades after its premiere. With his selection of music, which ranges from Mendelssohn Bartholdy to György Ligeti to traditional barrel organ music, John Neumeier shows his dramaturgical sensibility by integrating three different musical styles into his choreographic narrative.

Ellie Goulding grew up on a council estate in sleepy Herefordshire before getting her enormous talent recognised while at university in the 2000s. Her folk-tinged electropop continues to charm along with her electric stage presence, on show here at Baloise Session 2023.

As the release of the ‘Tutto Verdi’ series from the Teatro Regio progresses, one has begun to have fears that the later Verdi operas will fail to measure up to the standards that have been set on DVD by productions from international houses across the globe. The issues of the early and middle period Verdi works have been welcome, because these pieces are so rarely encountered in the opera house; but with Macbeth and Luisa Miller we are coming to operas that have been performed by major artists in major productions with superb orchestras and conductors.

Olga Neuwirth, for a long time one of the great composers of the present, succeeds with this opera in creating a captivating arc across many musical genres. It’s an exciting, socially critical production by Polly Graham who puts a fantastically singing and playing Kate Lindsey in the center of the action.

The director, Roland Schwab, has created his version of Hell. The set is like a high iron walled hanger and the stage is continually occupied with people who look like fugitives from Mad Max and who interact with Mefistofele. The orchestra and choir are wonderful. Rene Pape gives a nuanced interpretation with a certain amount of sardonic humour under the evil. His singing and acting are first rate, as is that of Kristine Opolais and Joseph Calleja.

This occasionally off-the-wall but finely sung and colourfully staged La Cenerentola was Rome Opera’s first foray into the media market, shown on television and in cinemas across Italy in 2016. It clearly had the funding. Emma Dante’s production will not have come cheap – Vanessa Sannino’s costumes are a particular feature – nor would the singers, given that this is as good a Cenerentola cast as any international house might currently muster.

Puccini's masterpiece La Bohème is by far the most represented opera in the world. At the famous Puccini Festival in Torre del Lago (2014), where Puccini composed his main operas, La Bohème is directed by one of Italy’s greatest film directors: Ettore Scola, the creator of a high number of award-winning seminal films. As he explains in the programme notes, as soon as he was approached to stage La Bohème he had to fight hard to resist the temptation to give life to his “revolutionary” ideas; in the end, he decided for a traditional looking, rich, grandiose and detailed Bohème. Together with the exceptional cast of Daniela Dessì, Fabio Armiliato, Alessandro Luongo, Marco Spotti and Alida Berti, this production makes for an incomparable great performance.

George Frederic Handel's oratorio Theodora, in its first-ever staged version at the Salzburg Festival, was among the highlights of Handel Year 2009. Acclaimed director Christof Loy presented Theodora as the profoundly moving tale of a woman who prefers death to denying her faith, an interpretation captivated with bravura by world-renowned video director Hannes Rossacher. A luminous Christine Schaefer and countertenor Bejun Mehta formed a perfect leading couple altogether suited to conductor Ivor Bolton's vigorus reading.

1957, at the tender age of 16, Paul Anka's debut hit single Diana immediately catapulted him into Hall of Fame status. For decades now, Anka has been one of the most successful composers around: Tom Jones' She's a Lady was written by him, as well as the lyrics for Frank Sinatra's legendary signature song My Way. He has released over 120 albums and sold over 100 million records. Anka has also been named the 21st most successful artist in Billboard's history (Billboard statistic). Today, Paul Anka is known as the last great crooner. When he translates his own as well as cover songs into elegant swing and gives his charm free reign on the stage, Anka glorifies the purest form of entertainment. Joined by his Big Band, he presents his programme 'Rock Swings' including famous rock classics in Swing versions at AVO SESSION Basel. This performance includes the big hits Diana, My Way, New York New York, Put Your Head On My Shoulder and more.

The Three Tenors began their collaboration with a performance at the ancient Baths of Caracalla in Rome, the eve of the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final. Following the big success of the 1990/1994 concerts, The Three Tenors opened a world tour of 31 concerts, the last one in 2003. Seven of these 31 concerts had been recorded for TV but disappeared somewhere in London. All attempts to bring back these invaluable recordings to the audience failed. Now, after all these years, C Major in cooperation with Three Tenors Ltd. managed to assemble the most beautiful moments of six lost concerts in Munich, Tokyo, London, Vienna, New York and Pretoria.

Part of Tutto Verdi series - Oberto (2007) Parma. Oberto was the first of Verdi’s operas to be staged and was heard for the first time at La Scala, Milan, in November 1839. As a young and unknown composer, Verdi was subject to the rules then governing the opera industry in Italy. Even so, there are already many scenes in this early work that reveal unmistakable signs of the composer’s individual style.