Don Kent

Le Mariage de Figaro

A staging of Beaumarchais's play "The Marriage of Figaro" by Christophe Rauck.

Roméo et Juliette

An adaptation of William Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet", staged by Éric Ruf.

Le Petit-Maître Corrigé

Le Petit-Maître corrigé is a three-act romantic comedy by French playwright Marivaux. It was first performed on November 6, 1734, by the Comédie-Française in Paris. In this production Clément Hervieu-Léger makes the eighteenth century resonate with our era, all the more so given that the language is “simpler than in other Marivaux plays, while still as refined, precise and full of humour”. The story is that of a young Parisian whose parents have found a good match for him, a count’s daughter. But when he goes to visit her in her country home, the handsome boy – whose Parisian manners are far removed from the rules of decorum that reign in the provinces – cannot open his heart to his lovely intended. Stung, the latter decides to punish his arrogance while a former lover arrives to prevent the marriage. Between the alliance of master and manservant, and the complicity of mistress and maid, a romantic intrigue ensues full of light-hearted conspiracies and feverish emotions.

Le Misanthrope

Alceste loves Célimène, a flirtatious woman from the Parisian high society. He loathes this world for its hypocritical etiquette but, shaken by a public trial he is called to by this social circle, he must visit Célimène to ask for her help…

Dmitri Shostakovich - Complete Symphonies & Concertos (Valery Gergiev, Mariinsky Orchestra)

Nobody is better suited to undertake such a challenge than Valery Gergiev and his Mariinsky Orchestra. Over a period of a year all 15 Symphonies and 6 Concertos have been recorded at Salle Pleyel in Paris. What an adventure for the artists and the big production team! Never before in the history of television has something like this been undertaken including the very first “Ring” for television at Bayreuth. • Dmitri Shostakovich is arguably one of the greatest composers of the 20th century. To understand his music one needs to see it in the context of his life, his social environment, the political situation, the unbelievable brutality with which the Communist Party enforced its ideological credo and the subtle ways with which Shostakovich succeeded in combining his innermost thoughts with the demands of Socialist Realism. He was a man of many faces. And beyond any doubt Dmitri Shostakovich was a musical genius.

Einstein on the Beach

This seminal work of avant-garde opera from composer Philip Glass and director Robert Wilson arrives full-circle, coming to France, the site of its 1976 Avignon Festival world premiere, at the tail end of this 2014 revival tour for a landmark Theâtre du Châtelet production and a first ever filming by award-winning arts filmmaker Don Kent. Eschewing conventional narrative, the opera revolves loosely around pacifist Einstein’s relationship to the creation of the atomic bomb.

Cour d'honneur de Jérôme Bel - Avignon 2013

Jérôme Bel's show features the memories of spectators at the Avignon Festival.

L'Avare

A staging of Molière's play "The Miser" by Catherine Hiegel.

Purgatorio

Dante's 'La Divina Commedia' is a poem in three parts about a journey to hell, purgatory and finally, paradise. Romeo Castellucci created his own free adaptation of Purgatorio on the scene of Chateaublanc in Avignon (France). A mother, a father and their son live in a bourgois appartment where a terrible drama is suggested. The use of hors-champ and sound is wo,nderful as usual with Italian director Castellucci. Written texts appear as subtitles of a movie even if this is pure theater...

Paradiso

The viewer is led through 2 adjoining rooms: a white anti-chamber that leads onto a very high, black room via a small door. In the Paradise of Cesena church, we are suspended in a region that is inaccessible to the human eye, where what can be seen is shown as a mark in the visible area.

Die Walküre

Simon Rattle conducts the Berliner Philharmoniker in Stepháne Braunschweig's production of Richard Wagner's Die Walküre. A Festival d'Aix-en-Provence 2007 production, in coproduction with Osterfestspiele Salzburg. Directed for HDTV and video by Don Kent.

Inferno

Dante's 'La Divina Commedia' is a poem in three parts about a journey to hell, purgatory and finally, paradise. Romeo Castellucci created his own free adaptation on the gigantic stage of the Cour d'Honneur in Avignon, in the palace where the first French pope, Clement V, resided. The pope allows Dante to descend into the inferno. We are confronted with man's confusion, the fragmentation of the community and the darkness of art.

Carmen

Martin Kušej's brilliant 2006 Carmen represents a landmark interpretation of a truly timeless opera. Led by Rolando Villazón as Don José and Marina Domashenko in the title role, the virtuoso cast joins forces with the celebrated Staatskapelle Berlin under the direction of the legendary maestro Daniel Barenboim.

Un Ballo in Maschera

Live performance from Oper Leipzig, 26 November 2005.

Lucie de Lammermoor

Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico (tragic opera) in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti.

Platée

The prologue sets the stage for the action: Thespis, Momus and Thalie announce the subject of the play. It is a comedy mocking the folly of man...and the story of a trap set by Jupiter to cure Juno of her jealousy. The trap? It consists in convincing the water nymph Platée that Jupiter is in love with her. Mercury officially declares Jupiter’s love to Platée. When the god appears before her – first as a donkey, then an owl - the nymph calls on the birds of the marshes, but they scare Jupiter away. Luckily he quickly returns and declares his love for Platée. He even wants to marry her. La Folie comes to sing for the fiancée during an absolutely chaotic scene. However, as the couple prepares for the wedding, Juno arrives. Furious, she puts an end to the farce and ascends to the heavens with Jupiter. Humiliated, Platée understands she has been duped. She swims off into the marshes, as the chorus sings an ironic song in her honour.

Médée

Repudiated by her husband Jason, Medea takes cruel revenge on her children.

Flight from Justice

An ex-fighter pilot encounters turbulence when he finds the company he works for is actually a front for art smuggling.

Les Deschiens - Les pieds dans l'eau

With their faces of sweet lunatics or lighted beaufs, citizens of the ordinary or pochards between two wines, they interpret, in twos or threes, conversations seized on the zincs of the bistros or in the corners of our kitchens. A few minutes of delirium or absurdity. The Deschiens are the actors of Jérôme Deschamps's troupe, who, as usual, with his accomplice Macha Makeieff, track down the little nonsense of everyday life, between humor and ferocity.

The Clash: Live in Paris 1980

Australian DVD pressing of this live performance from the UK Punk Rockers, previously only released in Japan. This rare live footage was filmed in 1980 for the French TV program Chorus and captures the band at their peak, touring in support of their vinyl masterpiece London Calling. Contains 12 tracks including 'Train In Vain', 'I Fought The Law, 'Janie Jones', 'Tommy Gun' and 'London Calling'. 1. Jimmy Jazz 2. London Calling 3. Protex Blue 4. Train In Vain 5. Koka Kola 6. I Fought The Law 7. Wrong 'en Boyo 8. Stay Free 9. Janie Jones 10. Comprete Control 11. Garageland 12. Tommy Gun --Tracks