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Shipwrecked twins are lost among love-sick aristocrats, unruly servants, mischievous pleasure seekers, clowns, and a puritan. With music as the bittersweet "food of love," all converge and conspire in this comic journey.

Antonio and his friend Bassanio borrow money from Shylock, a rich Jew, so that Bassanio may marry. When the payment is due, Bassanio can't pay and Shylock demands a pound of his flesh.

Prospero, Duke of Milan, usurped and exiled by his own brother, holds sway over an enchanted island. He is comforted by his daughter Miranda and served by his spirit Ariel and his deformed slave Caliban. When Prospero raises a storm to wreck this perfidious brother and his confederates on the island, his long contemplated revenge at last seems within reach.

On June 9, 1804, Ludwig van Beethoven and his pupil Ries assemble a group of musicians to give the first performance of his Third Symphony, 'Bonaparte', to his patron Prince Lobkowitz and his guests, including hypercritical Count Dietrichstein, in Vienna. The piece provokes political arguments among players and audience as to whether Bonaparte is a tyrant, or, as Beethoven believes, a liberator. The composer is also rejected by his former love, the recently widowed Josephine von Deym, though the visiting elder statesman of composers Haydn pays him a strange compliment. Leaving the gathering, Beethoven confesses to Ries that he is losing his hearing and later he reads that Bonaparte has declared himself the French emperor. As a result he will lose all respect for Napoleon and will change the symphony's title to 'Eroica'.

The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus, commonly referred to simply as Doctor Faustus, is a play by Christopher Marlowe, based on the German story Faust.

In eleventh century Scotland, three witches foretell that Macbeth will become King, while Banquo will beget Kings. Macbeth accordingly has King Duncan slain, and is duly crowned in his place. But that's where his problems really begin.

One of the most iconic operas of all time; "The Magic Flute" (Die Zauberflöte) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is about a Prince, Tamino, conquering all odds to be wise and to rescue the daughter, Pamina, of the Queen of the Night. This is one of the best known productions of this opera, in Covent Garden- London 2003. Conducted by Sir Colin Davis, performers include Simon Keenlyside as Papageno, Dorothea Röschmann as Pamina, Will Hartmann as Tamino and the legendary Diana Damrau as the Queen of the Night (Königin Der Nacht).

Imagining that Mistress Ford and Mistress Page have each fallen for him, the fat knight Sir John Falstaff decides to seduce them both, as much for their husbands' money as for their personal charms. Wise to the old rogue's tricks, the women turn the tables on him with a series of humiliating assignations and a very damp, extremely smelly laundry basket.

A docudrama biopic of the 19th-century author Charles Dickens

The swaggering Petruchio agrees to marry the spitting hellcat, Katherine.

Autumn 1918. A group of soldiers return from the trenches. The world-weary Benedick and his friend Claudio find themselves reacquainted with Beatrice and Hero. As memories of conflict give way to a life of parties and masked balls, Claudio and Hero fall madly, deeply in love, while Benedick and Beatrice reignite their own altogether more combative courtship. Set amidst the brittle high spirits of a post-war house party, where youthful passions run riot, lovers are deceived and happiness is threatened - before peace ultimately wins out.

Four young men swear off love in order to focus on their studies, only to have their plans go awry when four lovely ladies enter their lives.

Valentine and Proteus are best friends until they fall in love with the same girl; with friendship forgotten, the rivals' affections quickly get out of hand.

One-third documentary and two-thirds filmed theatre, this fascinating experiment revolves around a staging of Mozart's first popular success, Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail (The Abduction from the Harem).

Shakespeare's masterpiece of the turbulence of war and the arts of peace tells the romantic story of Henry's campaign to recapture the English possessions in France. But the ambitions of this charismatic king are challenged by a host of vivid characters caught up in the real horrors of war.

A narration of the life of the great 19th Century English author George Eliot, born Mary Ann Evans, using footage from films of her novels as well as original footage with a cast including Harriet Walter as Eliot.

The first act takes place about a month before the bomb is to be tested, and the second act is set in the early morning of July 16, 1945. During the second act, time frequently slows down for the characters and then snaps back into reality.

Take part in this beloved British celebration of Christmas, filmed amidst the beauty of historic King's College Chapel. Words fail to describe the brilliance of this choral performance. Luckily the music speaks for itself.

The historic tale of Lucretia has inspired works by artists throughout the ages. According to historians, Lucretia was raped by Tarquinius Sextus, son of the Etruscan King of Rome. Her consequent suicide spurred the revolution that toppled the monarchy and brought about the Roman Republic. In Ronald Duncan's libretto, the action is introduced and commented upon throughout by two contemporary observers, a Male and Female Chorus, lending the story an urgent, contemporary air.