Prices shown exclude VAT. (UK tax is not payable for deliveries to United States.)
See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  |
Finally on DVD, the 1998 production of Wagner’s Parsifal from the Bayreuth Festival. in mystically poetic staging that exerts an unbroken fascination not least as a result of its expressive lighting effects. Conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli and directed by Wagner’s Grandson Wolfgang Wagner. The four main roles are taken by Poul Elming, Linda Watson, Falk Struckmann and Hans Sotin – one of the strongest line-ups in Bayreuth’s more recent history. First DVD release of this 1998 production. Running Time 268 minutes Picture 16:9, colour Sound PCM Stereo, DTS 5.1 Subtitles German (original language), English, French, Spanish Packaging NTSC: Amaray 2 DVD Booklet English, German, French “impressively atmospheric and gorgeously played” BBC Music Magazine, August 2011 **** “the fact that Wolfgang Wagner's production and design are characteristically traditional and unchallenging might actually be a plus-point for many...The long dialogue scene between Kundry and Parsifal is done with outstanding musical and dramatic conviction...Struckmann, Elming and the veteran Hans Sotin are all at their vocal best, while Sinopoli responds to the simplicity of the staging by letting the music speak with maximum expressiveness.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2011 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Ioan Holender Farewell ConcertGala from Vienna State Opera
Bellini: | Ah, non credea mirarti (from La Sonnambula) Diana Damrau (soprano) | Donizetti: | Ah! tardai troppo...O luce di quest'anima (from Linda di Chamounix) Stefania Bonfadelli (soprano) Pour ce contrat fatal...Salut à la France (from La fille du régiment) Natalie Dessay (soprano) | Giordano, U: | Amor ti vieta (from Fedora) Ramon Vargas (tenor) | Gounod: | L'amour, l'amour... Ah, lève-toi soleil (from Roméo et Juliette) Ramon Vargas (tenor) Quel trouble inconnu me pénètre… Salut! Demeure chaste et pure (from Faust) Piotr Beczala (tenor) | Hiller, W: | Holenderchen! Ich war dein Traumfresserchen (from Das Traumfresserchen) Herwig Pecoraro (tenor) | Korngold: | Glück, das mir verbleib 'Marietta's Lied' (from Die Tote Stadt) Angela Denoke (soprano), Stephen Gould (tenor) | Lehár: | So kommen Sie! ? Ich bin eine anstnd'ge Frau (from Die lustige Witwe) Angelika Kirchschlager (mezzo), Michael Schade (tenor) | Massenet: | Vision fugitive (from Hérodiade) Boaz Daniel (baritone) Werther! Werther!…Je vous écris de ma petite chambre (from Werther) Roxana Constantinescu (mezzo) Toute mon âme - Pourquoi me réveiller (from Werther) Piotr Beczala (tenor) Suis-je gentille ainsi? ... Je marche sur tous les chemins ... Obéissons quand leur voix appelle (from Manon) Anna Netrebko (soprano) | Mozart: | Un'aura amorosa del nostro tesoro (from Così fan tutte) Michael Schade (tenor) Prenderò quel brunettino (from Così fan tutte) Barbara Frittoli (soprano), Angelika Kirchschlager (mezzo) E Susanna non vien! … Dove sono i bei momenti (from Le nozze di Figaro) Barbara Frittoli (soprano) | Offenbach: | Hélas! mon cœur s'égare encore! (from Les Contes d'Hoffmann) | Puccini: | Firenze è come un albero fiorito (from Gianni Schicchi) Saimir Pirgu (tenor) Se come voi piccina io fossi (from Le Villi) Krassimira Stoyanova (soprano) | Strauss, R: | Wie schön ist doch die Musik (from Die schweigsame Frau) Thomas Quasthoff (bass-baritone) Nun will ich jubeln wie keiner gejubelt (from Die Frau ohne Schatten) Adrianne Pieczonka, Deborah Polaski (sopranos), Johan Botha (tenor), Falk Struckmann (baritone) Er ist der Richtige nicht für mich … Aber der Richtige, wenn's einen gibt für mich (from Arabella) Adrianne Pieczonka, Genia Khmeier (sopranos) | Verdi: | Stride la vampa (from Il Trovatore) Nadia Krasteva (mezzo) In braccio alle dovizie (from I Vespri Siciliani) Leo Nucci (baritone) Va, pensiero (from Nabucco) Elle ne m'aime pas! (from Don Carlos) Ferruccio Furlanetto (bass) Pace, pace mio Dio! (from La forza del destino) Violeta Urmana (soprano) Perfidi!…Pietà, rispetto, amore (from Macbeth) Simon Keenlyside (baritone) Tutto nel mondo è burla (from Falstaff) Elisabeth Kulman, Krassimira Stoyanova, Ileana Tonca (sopranos), Nadia Krasteva (mezzo), Gergely Nmeti, Herwig Pecoraro, Michael Roider (tenors), Leo Nucci, Alfred Ramek, Boaz Daniel (baritones) | Wagner: | Rienzi Overture Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond (from Die Walküre) Placido Domingo (tenor) Mild und leise 'Isolde's Liebestod' (from Tristan und Isolde) Waltraud Meier (soprano) O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe (from Tristan und Isolde) Maria Schnitzer (soprano), Peter Seiffert (tenor) In fernem Land (from Lohengrin) Johan Botha (tenor) Über Stock und Stein (from Das Rheingold) Elisabeth Kulman (soprano), Gergely Nmeti, Adrian Erd (tenors), Boaz Daniel (baritone) | Weber: | Und ob die Wolke sie verhülle (from Der Freischütz) Soile Isokoski (soprano) |
A star-studded benefit concert to celebrate Ioan Holender’s farewell after 19 years as the director of one of the world’s leading and most famous opera houses. The highly acclaimed cast was headed by brilliant singers such as Diana Damrau, Natalie Dessay, Angelika Kirchschlager, Waltraud Meier, Anna Netrebko, Pjotr Beczala, Plácido Domingo, Thomas Hampson, Leo Nucci, Thomas Quasthoff, Ramon Vargas and many others. No fewer than twelve conductors including Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Antonio Pappano and Franz Welser-Möst led the way through a program lasting over four hours at the fully-packed Wiener Staastoper. Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | From the Felsenreitschule, Salzburg Festival 2008
Staged by Bartlett Sher Video Director: Brian Large Rolando Villazón’s Roméo wins Juliette’s heart, with impassioned, refined singing of an emotionally and vocally demanding role. Directed by Bartlett Sher, who telegenically captures the fantastic natural scenery of the famous Felsenreitschule, this first ever production of Gounod ‘s Roméo at the Salzburg Festival benefits from Québecois conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s innate understanding. Only 25 and film star beautiful, soprano Nino Machaidze embodies Juliette with unforced girlish charm, gorgeous tone and emotional heat Bonus features: Villazón relates the Roméo story in his own words; a behind the scenes documentary; and a documentary on the traces of Romeo and Juliet in Italy | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Live Recording From The Teatro Alla Scala, Milano 2007
Set Design by Erich Wonder Costumes by Susanne Raschig Lighting by Alexander Koppelmann In the person of Nadja Michael, a singer was available for the title role who, with her effortlessly appealing depth and great volume, not only satisfi ed all requirements for the diabolic soprano part in terms of her voice, but also left nothing to be desired in terms of her acting and dancing. The magnifi cent stage presence of Nadja Michael is shown by every emotional turn that is put to music, even if it is announced by merely a breath of wind, captured with a nearly wraithlike precision and a mastery of singing. Neverending applause! The audience highly acclaimed Nadja Michael’s outstanding performance! Since its fi rst performance hundred years ago Salome is a well-established part of the operatic repertoire of the most important opera companies throughout the world. “Nadja Michael, a former professional swimmer, is not only an artist in possession of a great voice with a radiant timbre and fl awless intonation (…) but also an admirable actress and excellent dancer.” CORRIERE DELLA SERA, 8 March 2007 “Michael's biggest assets here are visual. She's young, attractive, athletic, a good actress, and a good dancer too. She does her own Dance of the Seven Veils, and does it well...Struckmann is a sonorous, intense Jochanaan...Harding's conducting is responsive, colorful, and detailed, although he misses the sweep that one ideally wants in this score. Even more than usual, this Salome is an orchestral tone poem with voices.” Classical Net, 2009 “As in London, the individuals give the performance clout, if no especial individuality: Michael herself in more comfortable voice, Falk Struckmann's Jochanaan displaying Wotanic tones and more than a touch of animal desire for Salome, Bronder's appreciable Herod refreshingly un-guyed in singing or action, and Vermillion's rather ambisexual Herodias…” Gramophone Magazine, April 2009 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Bayeruth Festival Staging
Tristan und Isolde in the acclaimed production by Heiner Müller from the Bayreuth festival from 1995, conducted by Daniel Barenboim with fire and sensitivity. Siegfried Jerusalem as Tristan and Waltraud Meier as Isolde have consistently drawn enthusiastic acclaim for their performance, not only in the year of the premiere, but in subsequent years as well Heiner Müller and stage designer Erich Wonder have compressed the monumental story into a clear and fascinating geometry of love. Wonder created highly evocative spaces through projections of colours and forms which shift according to the mood One widely noted example of Müller´s elegant, restrained interpretation, in which small gestures replace sweeping displays of passion, is the famous love duet, in which Tristan and Isolde, instead of embracing rapturously, stand back to back and side by side and touch, ever so lightly, only the tips of their fingers. Subtitles: Chinese, English, French, German, Spanish “Daniel Barenboim's earliest performances of Tristan at Bayreuth are documented in a DVD of the 1981 production by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (filmed in 1983) with René Kollo and Johanna Meier in the title-roles (available from DG). In 1993, when he was vastly more experienced and assured in his handling of this formidable score, Barenboim returned to the work in conjunction with playwright and theatre director Heiner Müller. This recording was made two years later, over seven days during the festival's rehearsal period. One imagines that the acts were filmed (without audiences) on separate days, to great advantage where the singers' stamina is concerned: but one particularly evident edit, at the point of Isolde's long-awaited entrance in Act 3, indicates that this is in some respects a hybrid product, halfway between a live performance and a studio version of a particular staging.
This is a fine and intensely moving account of a supreme masterpiece of musical theatre. It is not perfect, with the setting for Act 2 particularly unappealing, but it is serious in its dramatic, theatrical intent, and (that Act 2 setting apart) accomplished in its realisation. Müller's conception of the work is austere, not expecting setting or acting to get in the way of things which are best left to the music, and on the whole he has managed a difficult assignment with flair and conviction. Nowhere is this clearer than at the end, where Waltraud Meier sings the Liebestod from the front of the stage, with no semaphoring gestures and only facial expression and beautifully graded vocal projection to convey the essence of the drama.
Singers with more opulent voices have undertaken the role, yet Meier's contained, richly nuanced approach to both acting and singing is ideally suited to this production. Her Tristan, Siegfried Jerusalem, is no less impressive, with a poised demeanour avoiding the woodenness that afflicts so many Wagner tenors. Add a marvellously sonorous Marke in Matthias Hölle, no weaknesses in the other roles, and the virtues stack up to something special.
Does Barenboim's very explicit musical moulding actually fit with such a restrained stage production? Or is the whole point in the contrast between the visible and the audible? Such basic questions make one think yet again about the nature and significance of Wagner's most provocative and inexhaustible work for the stage.
Something special, indeed.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 “This is a fine an intensely moving account of a supreme masterpiece of musical theatre. Müller's conception of the work is austere… and on the whole he has managed a difficult assignment with flair and conviction. …Meier's contained, richly nuanced approach to both acting and singing is ideally suited to this production. Her Tristan Siegfried Jerusalem, is not less impressive, with a poised demeanour avoiding the woodenness that afflicts so many Wagner tenors. Add a marvellously sonorous Marke in Matthias Hölle, no weaknesses in the other roles, and in the virtues stack up to something special.” Gramophone Magazine, November 2008 “As for the long awaited debuts of Meier and Jerusalem, the audience was ecstatic, so much so that Jerusalem excitedly hugged and kissed his partner several times during the curtain calls” Herald Tribune “...a splendid partnership of Siegfried Jerusalem at his finest and the rich-voiced Waltraud Meier, also at her freshest...Barenboim is in his element” Penguin Guide, 2010 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | Recorded live at the Nationaltheater, Munich, 10 & 14 July 2009
Requiring 38 soloists, chorus and large orchestra, "Palestrina", Hans Pfitzner's (1869-1949) "most important work" (Süddeutsche Zeitung), is a challenging opera to stage. Written in a lush late-Romantic idiom, the masterpiece weaves a fictitious tale around Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, one of the most important Renaissance composers and renovators of sacred music, who fears losing his creative powers and his role in society. In Munich, the city in which it was given its world premiere in 1917, the Bavarian State Opera succeeded – director Christian Stückl, best known for his staging of the Oberammergau Passion Play and the Salzburg Festival's "Jedermann", transformed the monumental work into an optical pop art event. Conductor Simone Young maintains a silky, organic orchestral texture, and expertly holds the reins of the many vocal and instrumental parts. Heading the many outstanding soloists are the imposing Christopher Ventris as Palestrina, Bayreuth regular Falk Struckmann and baritone Michael Volle. Picture format Blu-ray: 1080i Full HD Sound format Blu-ray: PCM Stereo, DTS-HD Master Audio Region code: All (Worldwide) Booklet notes: English, German, French Running time: 197 mins Performance + 9 mins Bonus | 
| | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |  | Live Recording from The Teatro Alla Scala, 2007
Set Design by ERICH WONDER Nadja Michael conquers La Scala! In Nadja Michael, we have a singer in the title role who, with her effortlessly appealing depth and great volume, not only satisfied all vocal requirements for the diabolic soprano part, but also left nothing to be desired in terms of her acting and dancing. The magnificent stage presence of Nadja Michael is shown in every emotional turn put to music, even if it is merely a breath, wraithlike precision or mastery of singing. The audience highly acclaimed Nadja Michael’s outstanding performance! Since its first performance hundred years ago Salome is a well-established part of the operatic repertoire of the most important opera companies throughout the world. Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1 Picture Format: 16:9 DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC Subtitle Languages: DE (Original Language), GB, FR, ES, IT Running Time: 108 mins FSK: 12 |
| | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |  | directed for stage by Christian Stückl
Requiring 38 soloists, chorus and large orchestra, "Palestrina", Pfitzner's "most important" work (Süddeutsche Zeitung), is a challenging opera to stage. Christian Stückl's lively and colorful interpretation at the Bavarian State Opera is wonderfully served by conductor Simone Young, who cultivates a silky, organic orchestral texture. Heading the many outstanding soloists are the imposing Christopher Ventris as Palestrina, the mighty Bayreuth regular Falk Struckmann, the velvety-smooth baritone Michael Volle and the most promising young singer of 2009 (survey held by Opernwelt) Christiane Karg. Christian Stückl is well versed with the ecclesiastical subject because of his productions of the Passion Play in Oberammergau. His worldwide reputation is based on his annual restaging of the Jedermann in Salzburg since 2003. Together with André Heller, Stückl was responsible for the opening ceremony of the FIFA World Cup in Germany in 2006. Sounds formats DVD: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1 Region code: 0 Booklet notes: English, German, French Subtitles: German, English, French Running time: 197 mins + Bonus ca. 10 mins Audience: all “Christian Stuckl's fine staging is fully worthy of Pfitzner's conception...Simone Young directs a flowing and nicely paced account. Christopher Ventris is sensitive, achieving exhausted nobility as the composer, and Falk Struckmann provides a rounded portrayal of the subtle Borromeo.” Gramophone Magazine, September 2010 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |  |
The 2008 reprise of the evergreen Otto Schenk staging with an overwhelming cast, perfect for all Wagner traditionalists. Conductor Christian Thielemann deserves a great deal of the credit for fashioning a multi-faceted drama that is anything but black-and-white in its musical depiction of the characters. Since his Bayreuth Festival debut in 2000,Thielemann has established himself as one of the world's leading Wagner conductors. Among the vocal surprises of this live recording is Adrian Eröd as Beckmesser. Eröd is on a par with the great Wagner baritone Falk Struckmann as Hans Sachs, who injects earthy humour into his role while building a tender rapport with Ricarda Merbeth's Eva.As Walther von Stolzing, Johan Botha is pure tenor gold. NTSC · 16:9, PCM Stereo· DD 5.1· DTS 5.1 Region Code: 0 Booklet Notes: English, German, French Languages: German Subtitles: English, German, French Running Time: 273 mins FSK: all audiences “This is perhaps the finest recording, either on DVD or CD, of Wagner's complex masterpiece… Christian Thielemann… keeps the whole piece, very close to five hours, moving irresistibly, and he has the Vienna Philharmonic playing magnificently, untiringly, and a superb cast. This one has the noblest contemporary Sachs, Falk Struckmann, in top form, and Johan Botha, a man-mountain, as an exceptionally sensitive Walther, and an expressive actor despite his bulk. The Pogner of Ain Auger is phenomenally fine, and Adrian Eröd's Beckmesser is outstanding. Otto Schenk's production is as traditional without a trace of routine. Sticking mainly very closely to Wagner's stage directions - a revolutionary stroke - and well photographed, it illuminates point after point in the action.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2010 **** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| | |
Staged by Bartlett Sher Video Director: Brian Large Rolando Villazón’s Roméo wins Juliette’s heart, with impassioned, refined singing of an emotionally and vocally demanding role. Directed by Bartlett Sher, who telegenically captures the fantastic natural scenery of the famous Felsenreitschule, this first ever production of Gounod ‘s Roméo at the Salzburg Festival benefits from Québecois conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s innate understanding. Only 25 and film star beautiful, soprano Nino Machaidze embodies Juliette with unforced girlish charm, gorgeous tone and emotional heat Bonus features: Villazón relates the Roméo story in his own words; a behind the scenes documentary; and a documentary on the traces of Romeo and Juliet in Italy | | | DG - 0734521 (Blu-ray) Normally: $28.25 Special: $21.18 |
| | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |
|
