Private music lessons: José van Dam; Singer & Teacher

This film speaks of a time when opera was looking for new foundations. Vilified as the embodiment of bourgeois art in the 1970s and 1980s, caught in a spiral of luxurious productions which neglected its theatrical dimension, the genre had need of powerful personalities in those years in order to negotiate a turning point in its history. Singers like José Van Dam and Ruggero Raimondi, directors like Patrice Chéreau, conductors like Giuseppe Sinopoli and Pierre Boulez were to give it the boost it needed. It a