Is this a film about Scrooge? About a composer’s life? An opera within an opera? The Passion of Scrooge blurs these lines between performance, documentary, and fiction, into a cinematic concert experience that’s seasoned with magical reality. Composer Jon Deak has adapted Charles Dickens’ timeless tale into a contemporary opera that melts the heart, but doesn’t avoid the darkness in Scrooge that’s still resonant with the material concerns of our time. Using neither period costumes, nor set pieces to reconstruct old England, the film invites you to experience "A Christmas Carol" with the imaginative possibilities of a radio play. And then, to meet those visions in your head, filmmaker H. Paul Moon‘s floating camera intimately captures musicians performing the score as characters themselves, led by baritone William Sharp, in this ageless haunted redemption story about “us, every one.”

The film's world premiere was at the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, D.C. on December 8, 2018. It was awarded Critic's Choice by Opera News in their December 2018 edition.

This beautifully packaged disc with full-color artwork includes an interactive chapter menu, and a Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound mix, with subtitles in English — and the added bonus of a brand new digital restoration of the classic 1935 public domain film "Scrooge."  When you buy the Blu-ray version, it adds a half-hour documentary about the origins of the opera, insights from the composer and conductor, and an immersive look into rehearsals.

Included with the DVD or the Blu-ray, you will also receive a free, unique redemption code to stream the film in its original, full 4K resolution online.

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REVIEWS

“This thoroughly enjoyable film version, insightfully conceived and directed by H. Paul Moon, adds intriguing new dimensions to Deak’s winning and bravura musicalization. It’s first-rate and remarkably illustrative storytelling.” JOSHUA ROSENBLUM, OPERA NEWS: CRITIC’S CHOICE

“This is a beguiling formal experiment to bring Dickens’ classic into contemporary and personal relevance. Musically absorbing and visually engaging, occasionally mystifying, and finely performed, The Passion of Scrooge is a distinctive addition to the long history of Carol adaptations.”  MALCOLM ANDREWS, THE DICKENSIAN

“The opera follows the outline of Dickens’ story but rather like sun-flares spins off into a world of its own. It delights and shakes you with Sharp’s performance as singer, actor and skald; he is nothing short of glorious. It makes you aware of the Victorian novella as a work extolling self-improvement. It draws parallels between the fallibilities of the world and Scrooge’s misanthropy, which is remediable as it turns out. If any of this seems a bit grim then do not worry: the experience glows but goes through stages that have a frisson not that far removed from Peter Ackroyd’s London documentaries.”  ROB BARNETT, MUSICWEB INTERNATIONAL