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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Live Recording from The Zurich Opera House, 2004
Set Design by Rolf Glittenberg A staging of Claude Debussy’s only completed opera, Pelléas et Mélisande, recorded live at the Zurich Opera House. The opera’s premiere in Paris in 1902 brought the new century to the stage. It came quietly, introducing a new female figure that provided the visual artists of l’art nouveau with a fascinating alternative to such femmes fatales as Oscar Wilde’s Lulu and Frank Wedekind’s Salome. Debussy (1862-1918) adapted a dreamlike libretto by the Belgian playwright and poet, Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949) and in the music retained the symbolic quality of the mysterious, almost static fairytale. Conductor Franz Welser-Möst and director Sven-Eric Bechtolf have become one of the leading partnerships in contemporary music theatre. The characters are impressively enacted by Rodney Gilfrey and Isabel Rey in the title roles. Occasionally placed in wheelchairs that hint at emotional as well as physical inadequacies and frequently doubled by puppets, Debussy’s protagonists are kept at a distance in their subconscious dream world. Franz Welser-Möst conducts a performance that is clear, well structured, unsentimental and attuned to the alertness and pioneering spirit of a score that even today has lost none of its radiance. The designer Rolf Glittenberg set the work in a remote operatic universe that is both greyish white and ice cold. Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.0, DTS 5.0, dts-HD Master Audio 7.1 Picture Format: 16:9 Format: DVD 5 + DVD 9, NTSC Subtitle Languages: FR (Original Language), GB, DE, IT, ES Running Time: 161 mins FSK: 0 Region Code: 0 Worldwide available, excluding Japan | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Stage Director: Sven-Eric Bechtolf
A mysterious childlike woman, a murder by jealousy, an orphan: Debussy’s Pelléas et Méllisande, his only completed opera, is full of magical, cryptical and deeply symbolic moments. With this work Debussy added quite literally a new dimension to the 1893 stage play of the same name by Belgian playwriter and poet, Maurice Maeterlinck, who was to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1911. Rodney Gilfry, a leading American opera baritone whos vocal excellence has been repeatedly extolled by many leading music critics, is Pelléas. Praised by the San Francisco Chronicle for his “rich, rolling baritone with a superb upper range,” as well as his “vivid stage presence,” Rodney Gilfry has established himself as a most compelling musician on the world’s operatic stages. By his side Isabel Rey, internationally recognised for her exquisite vocal technique and her sensitive acting skills, is Mélisande. Due to her crystal-clear soprano and the winterly stage setting the cold dream-world of the subconscious emerges to the audience. Because of the fabulous soloist and a distinguished cast this opera promises outstanding listening pleasure. Under Franz Welser-Möst’s fabulous conducting this production of the Zurich Opera House is setting musical standards. Welser-Möst is ecxeptionally talented and internationally known as one of the outstanding personalities in the field of classical music. In conjunction with the director Sven-Eric Bechtolf, he has developed into one of the leading teams in contemporary music theater. “When he sings he opens a formidable treasure chest of intelligent artistry. The voice is resonant, flexible and smooth, wide in range, and he applies it with deep, searching thoughtfulness to whatever he happens to be tackling. The baritone Rodney Gilfry is an artist of the first order.” Stephen Pettitt, Financial Times | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Bryn Terfel (Figaro), Alison Hagley (Susanna), Rodney Gilfry (Count), Hillevi Martinpelto (Countess), Pamela Helen Stephen (Cherubino), Susan McCulloch (Marcellina), Carlos Feller (Bartolo), Francis Egerton (Basilio/Curzio), Julian Clarkson (Antonio), Constanze Backes (Barbarina) Monteverdi Choir, English Baroque Soloists, John Eliot Gardiner Subtitles in German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese “the set is well worth acquiring...for a cast with no weak links and an inspiring conductor” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2011 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Subtitles in German, English, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese “When this staging was presented in 1992, in various theatres, Gardiner decided to be his own director because he didn't trust any available alternative to be faithful to Da Ponte's and Mozart's original. In the circumstances his was a sensible decision because his deeply discerning stage interpretation perfectly seconds his own musically perceptive reading. His keen understanding of what this endlessly fascinating work is about is made plain in his absorbing essay in the booklet.
The first advantage of this film of the opera is Carlo Tommasi's ravishing décor that accords with what the libretto predicates, conjuring before our eyes 18th-century Naples overlooked by Vesuvius. Then Gardiner's direction makes all-too-clear the emotional turmoil engineered by Don Alfonso's cynical plans to test the ladies' constancy. At all times it's responsive to the music, except when members of the cast march through the stalls and when certain scenes are more sexually explicit than would have been contemplated in Mozart's age.
Amanda Roocroft's Fiordiligi is intrepidly sung, her tone always firm and gleaming, and she acts expressively. She's partnered, as originally intended, by a soprano Dorabella. Rosa Mannion proves an apt foil for her sister, and is deliciously flighty when falling for her 'Albanian' lover.
Rainer Trost is the young, fluent, eager Ferrando who makes the most of his taxing music, although his second aria, 'Ah! lo veggio', is here excluded.
His vulnerable portrayal is a nice contrast to Rodney Gilfry's macho Guglielmo. The four voices blend well in the many ensembles.
In the pit, Gardiner's direct, big-scale yet sensitive conducting is the engine-room of the performance, superbly sustained by his periodinstrument band. Peter Mumford's video direction is faultless; so is the sound picture. All in all, it would be amazing if any successor surpasses this DVD's achievements on all sides.
Recommended without reservation.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 “The traditional approach to staging nicely matches the freshness and imagination of the period performance, with uniforms from the Napoleonic period and Ferrando and Guglielmo in disguise dressed identifiably as Albanians...Visually, the whole production consistently heightens the impact of the opera” Penguin Guide, 2010 *** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Live Recording from The Zurich Opera House, 2004
Set Design by Rolf Glittenberg A staging of Claude Debussy’s only completed opera, Pelléas et Mélisande, recorded live at the Zurich Opera House. The opera’s premiere in Paris in 1902 brought the new century to the stage. It came quietly, introducing a new female figure that provided the visual artists of l’art nouveau with a fascinating alternative to such femmes fatales as Oscar Wilde’s Lulu and Frank Wedekind’s Salome. Debussy (1862-1918) adapted a dreamlike libretto by the Belgian playwright and poet, Maurice Maeterlinck (1862-1949) and in the music retained the symbolic quality of the mysterious, almost static fairytale. Conductor Franz Welser-Möst and director Sven-Eric Bechtolf have become one of the leading partnerships in contemporary music theatre. The characters are impressively enacted by Rodney Gilfrey and Isabel Rey in the title roles. Occasionally placed in wheelchairs that hint at emotional as well as physical inadequacies and frequently doubled by puppets, Debussy’s protagonists are kept at a distance in their subconscious dream world. Franz Welser-Möst conducts a performance that is clear, well structured, unsentimental and attuned to the alertness and pioneering spirit of a score that even today has lost none of its radiance. The designer Rolf Glittenberg set the work in a remote operatic universe that is both greyish white and ice cold. Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.0, DTS 5.0, dts-HD Master Audio 7.1 Picture Format: 16:9, 1080i FULL HD Subtitle Languages: FR (Original Language), GB, DE, IT, ES Running Time: 161 mins FSK: 0 Region Code: Worldwide Worldwide available, excluding Japan | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Mozart: Opera Arias
| | | (Sorry, download not available in your country) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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1. The Saddest Moment 2. Historians 3. Oval Office I 4. I Wish to Be a Part of that Fight 5. The Secret Heart of America 6. Oval Office II 7. Elegy 8. Letter from Mississippi 9. Oval Office III 10. August Fourth 11. Had We Known 12. What is Precious is Never to Forget
This is the world premiere recording of Steven Stucky’s August 4, 1964, a “concert drama” commissioned by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra to honor the 100th anniversary of Lyndon Baines Johnson’s birth. It received its world premiere Sept. 18, 2008 with Jaap van Zweden conducting the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Chorus and soloists in the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, Texas. The work centers on a single day in the Johnson Presidency when President Johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara decided to escalate the Vietnam conflict, and when the bodies of three slain civil rights workers were discovered in Mississippi. The libretto by Gene Scheer (Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick; Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy) juxtaposes White House telephone tapes, letters from the slain civil rights workers and their mothers, speeches by President Johnson, and other contemporary sources. Stucky’s music heightens the gripping narrative, which pulses with contemporary relevance. This CD was recorded during live performances in May, 2011 at the Meyerson Symphony Center. | | | (also available to download from $11.00) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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Plácido Domingo (Cyrano), Sondra Radvanovsky (Roxane), Arturo Chacón Cruz (Christian), Rod Gilfry (De Guiche), Corrado Carmelo Caruso (Ragueneau), Roberto Accurso (De Valvert), Javier Franco (Carbon), Itxaro Mentxaka (La Duègne / Sister Marthe) & Nahuel di Pierro (Le Bret) Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana & Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana, Patrick Fournillier Stage Director & Stage Designer: Michal Znaniecki While best known today for having composed the ending to Puccini’s unfinished Turandot, Franco Alfano wrote some dozen operas, including Cyrano de Bergerac (1936) with a libretto by Henri Cain based on Edmond Rostand’s drama of the same name. It is a moving tale of romantic misunderstanding, swashbuckling bravado and heartbreaking loyalty, in which the eloquent Cyrano feels unable to express his love for Roxane because of his famously protuberant nose – except on behalf of his handsome but inarticulate friend, Christian. HIGH DEFINITION 1080i PCM Stereo ● DTS-HD 5.1 Total Running Time: 141:04 “Domingo is unquestionably moving and makes a good case for having added the title role to his huge gallery of characters; his dark tone can still be thrilling and he is a more committed actor than many of his colleagues. …Sondra Radvanovsky matches him as a spirited Roxane, using her gleaming soprano to musical effect. Michal Znaniecki's traditionally costumed production... works effectively enough in tandem with Patrick Fournillier's light-textured conducting.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2010 **** “Domingo's…voice is also caught in marvellously fine condition. This may well be the heroic last act in his career as the world's greatest tenor, and in the final scene especially his performance is intensely moving.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2010 “the sets are simple but effective...Sondra Radvanovsky makes for an impressive Roxane...Domingo’s voice remains remarkably powerful and eloquent, even if the high notes are noticeably effortful once or twice. His death scene is genuinely touching...The performance is well filmed, visually, with some split screens from different camera angles and the occasional slow-motion reminiscence of earlier action” Opera Britannia, 30th June 2011 ***/**** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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“The Happy Deception is an early one-act romantic comedy...already bursting with vitality. This recording does [Rossini] justice.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2010 **** | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, on 21st December 2002.
Angelika Kirchschlager (Sophie), Dale Duesing (Narrator), Rod Gilfry (Nathan), Gordon Gietz (Stingo), Adrian Clarke (Librarian), Frances McCafferty (Yetta Zimmerman), Stafford Dean (Zbigniew Bieganski), Stephanie Friede (Wanda), Abigail Browne (Eva), Billy Clerkin (Jan), Gillian Knight (Old woman on train), Neil Gillespie (Young man on train), Jorma Silvasti (Rudolph Franz Höss), Alan Opie (Doctor), Darren Jeffery (Bartender), Quentin Hayes (Larry Landau) Royal Opera Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Simon Rattle (conductor) & Trevor Nunn (stage director) In 2002, Nicholas Maw’s opera Sophie’s Choice, based on the novel by William Styron, was given its premiere at the Royal Opera House. The subject had struck Maw when he had first watched the film several years previously, and he immediately felt it would be ‘the most extraordinary basis for an opera’. Commissioned by the Royal Opera House and BBC Radio 3, Maw embarked on an adaptation of Styron’s book, which took six years to complete. Conducted by Simon Rattle, a long-term enthusiast of Nicholas Maw’s music, and with a wonderful cast led by Angelika Kirchschlager, Rod Gilfry, Dale Duesing and Gordon Gietz, the work won international acclaim and was later restaged in Washington, Berlin and Vienna. The Royal Opera House celebrates the work of this British composer, who died in 2009, with the release on DVD of the BBC transmission, as broadcast live in December 2002. “…the central performances of Angelika Kirschlager and Rodney Gilfry as doomed lovers Sophie and Nathan were deemed to be among the most committed and convincing ever seen at the Royal Opera House.” The Independent Extra features: Illustrated synopsis. Cast gallery. Interview with Simon Rattle. Running time 223 mins Region code All regions Picture format 16:9 Anamorphic Sound format 2.0 & 5.0 PCM Menu language EN Subtitles EN/FR/DE/ES/IT/NL “Angelika Kirchschlager's mobile-featured Sophie wins our deepest sympathy and even puts Meryl Streep's screen performances out of mind...Rattle gets all the line and bite the work needs” BBC Music Magazine, May 2010 **** “It's a tribute to the competence and stamina of the cast...that they all survive the ordeal by camera so well...as Maw's last major work it merits the kind of serious attention which this admirable and timely release makes possible” Gramophone Magazine, May 2010 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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