Prices shown exclude VAT. (UK tax is not payable for deliveries to United States.)
See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London in January 2006.
Choreographer: Marius Petipa Perhaps the most celebrated ballet of the Romantic era, Adolphe Adam’s intoxicating ballet Giselle is the dramatic story of a peasant girl whose betrayal by her aristocratic lover causes her to go mad before dying and returning as a ghost. Featuring the fabulous Alina Cojocaru in the title role and Johan Kobborg as a torn Count Albrecht, Peter Wright’s sparkling production and John Macfarlane’s pastoral designs create an opulent feast for the eyes. Bonus material: Illustrated synopsis & cast gallery. ‘Cojocaru's interpretation, everyone seems to agree, is one of the greatest of all time, and she continues to refine it with every performance… One of the things which makes Cojocaru so poignant in this role is a quality that one senses in the dancer herself. Something in the emotional charge of her performances, some fragility beneath the ballerina steel, emphasises the ephemeral nature of the art form. It reminds us that we must seize the day.’ The Observer Note: This Blu-ray Disc (BD) is not compatible with standard DVD players. PICTURE FORMAT: 1080i LENGTH: 113 Mins SOUND: 2.0 & 5.0 PCM SUBTITLES: FR/DE/ES/IT “The Royal Ballet's recent triumphs continue with this exquisite Giselle. Beguiling actress-dancer Alina Cojocaru embraces both Act I's sweet rural girl and the tragic ghost of Act II.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2008 **** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |  |
Giselle, with choreography by Marius Petipa, (after Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot) is the most celebrated ballet of the romantic era, and a perennial favourite that continues to move audiences all around the world, with its combination of dramatic acting, virtuous technique and ethereal beauty. This new production is by Rachel Beaujean, Head of Artistic Staff of the Dutch National Ballet and former ballerina, and Ricardo Bustamante, Assistant Artistic Director of San Francisco Ballet and formerly principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre. Both have danced principal roles in Giselle, Beaujean as Myrtha and Bustamante as Albrecht, and they have brought their passion for this ballet to this new production. They have based their Giselle on the original version by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, but have added new choreography and a fresh view of the story. The atmospheric sets and costumes for this new production are by Toer van Schayk, who sets the ballet at the end of the eighteenth century, predating the time of the original premiere. Van Schayk has designed many of the Dutch National Ballet’s most successful productions including Nutcracker & Mouse King and Romeo and Juliet. The cast includes Russian ballerina Anna Tsygankova as Giselle (a rising star formerly of the Bolshoi Ballet, Hungarian National Ballet and Vienna State Opera), and Jozef Varga as Albrecht (formerly of the Czech Ballet and Zurich Ballet). Adolphe Adam’s score is performed live by Holland Symfonia conducted by Boris Gruzin. Dutch National Ballet’s new production of Giselle was recorded in February 2009 at Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam in High Definition and Surround Sound. BONUS MATERIAL: Bonus material includes interviews with: Anna Tsygankova – Giselle Jozef Varga – Albrecht Igone de Jongh – Myrtha Jan Zerer – Hilarion Rachel Beaujean & Ricardo Bustamante – production and additional choreography Dutch National Ballet is a truly international company. Many of its dancers appear regularly with the major dance companies of the world, including The Royal Ballet, Kirov Ballet, San Francisco Ballet etc. The company is renowned for its artistic flair, the exceptional technical ability of its dancers, and its ability to switch between modern and classical works with ease. | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
|
|
| |  | Live Recording from The Opéra National de Paris, 2006
Choreography by JEAN CORALLI & JULES PERROT Choreographic restaging by MARIUS PETIPA Adapted by PATRICE BART & EUGÈNE POLYAKOV Arthaus presents Giselle, a classical ballet, which, with all its splendour and grace, is generally regarded as the apotheosis of the Romantic ballet. The work premiered in the Salle de la rue Le Peletier at the Paris Opéra in 1841 and is considered the first major plot-based ballet to have survived to the modern day with its original choreography almost intact. In the course of the past century and a half Giselle has undergone only a few changes, e.g. by Marius Petipa, who revised the work for his 1887 production at the Maryinsky Theatre in St Petersburg. The performance recorded on this DVD is based on the St Petersburg version and was choreographed by Patrice Bart and Eugène Polyakov, two out-and-out Petipa specialists. The scenery is the work of Alexandre Benois from 1924; originally designed for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, it heralded the re-emergence on Western programmes of the long absent Giselle and to this day it remains the benchmark for traditionalist stagings of this ballet. The production was marked by an all-stars cast: Laëtitia Pujol dances the title role, combining her flawless technical skill with a fully developed sense of grace. Nicolas Le Riche, one of international ballet’s most respected stars, created her male counterpart, Albrecht, whose faithlessness drives her insane. Le Riche is famous all over the world for his elegant strength, the beauty of his expression and the musicality of his movements. Sound Format: PCM Stereo, dts-HD Master Audio 7.1 Picture Format: 16:9 Resolution: 1080i FULL HD Running Time: 111 mins Blu-ray Disc: 25 GB (Single Layer) FSK: 0 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |  |
Svetlana Lunkina (Giselle), Dmitry Gudanov (Count Albrecht), Vitaly Biktimirov (Hans), Elena Bukanova (Berthe), Ekaterina Barykina (Bathilde), Alexey Loparevich (Duke), Vladislav Lantratov (Wilfreed), Yulia Grebenshchikova, Anna Okuneva, Anna Tikhomirova, Ana Turazashvili, Maria Vinogradova, Angelina Vlashinets (Giselle’s friends), Maria Allash (Myrtha, the Queen of Wilis), Olga Kishnyova, Victoria Osipova (Two Wilis) & Chinara Alizade, Andrey Bolotin (Peasant Pas de Deux) Bolshoi Ballet Company & Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra, Pavel Klinichev The Bolshoi Ballet troupe in Yuri Grigorovich’s version of the romantic masterpiece 'Giselle', at last available in HD. First performed in 1841, 'Giselle' was an immediate hit. With music by Adolphe Adam and a libretto by Théophile Gautier and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, the ballet touches on the great romantic themes: local colour, a pastoral love affair doomed to end in tragedy, a plunge into fantasy and redemption through the power of love. Learning that Albrecht, her beloved, is in fact a nobleman engaged to be married to a princess, the naive peasant girl Giselle dies. The Queen of the Wilis – the spirits of deceased young virgins– decides that Albrecht should follow Giselle to the grave, and condemns him to dance until he dies of exhaustion. But Giselle’s spirit dances with him and saves him. Composer Adolphe Adam owes his reputation to this archetypal, richly melodic Romantic ballet. As Giselle, Svetlana Lunkina is simply sensational. Her Albrecht is the iconically noble dancer Dmitri Gudanov. And the cast is perfectly rounded off by Maria Allash as the Queen of the Wilis. The Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra is conducted by Pavel Klinichev. Choreography: Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot, Marius Petipa Choreographic version Yuri Grigorovich Designer Simon Virsaladze | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
|
|
| |  | Recorded at the Cullen Theater, Wortham Theater Center, Houston, Texas, 17–18 March 2000
Stephanie Novacek (Jo), Joyce DiDonato (Meg), Chad Shelton (Laurie), Stacey Tappan (Beth), Margaret Lloyd (Amy), Daniel Belcher (John Brooke) & Chen-Ye Yuan (Friedrich Bhaer) Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, Patrick Summers Based on Louisa May Alcott’s enduringly popular novel about the adventures of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy in civil-war era New England, Mark Adamo’s opera Little Women has been performed in more than 70 national and international engagements since its 1998 première by Houston Grand Opera and has achieved the status of an American classic. This recording, with a superb cast expertly directed for television, vividly brings to life an opera that The New Yorker hailed as “A beautifully crafted work, brilliantly molding Alcott’s tale into operatic form,” and The New York Times dubbed a “masterpiece”. Stage Production Director: Peter Webster Directed for Television by Brian Large Set Designer: Christopher McCollum Sung in English • Subtitles in English Total Running Time: 114:53 NTSC: No Region Coding • Aspect Ratio: 16:9 • PCM Stereo 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 “It's expertly staged and acted, and interesting to see the young Joyce DiDonato in repertoire far removed from her familiar one.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2010 **** “What was an outstanding cast in 2000 is still astounding today...[Novacek] patiently creates for Jo a spectrum of intimate depth and then explores it with a sure dramatic touch and a voice of power and beauty...a convincing demonstration that Little Women could be an audience-pleaser wherever it plays.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2011 “It will prove too sentimental for some tastes...But you can't fault the performance, filmed in 2002 during a revival of the original Houston production. Joyce DiDonato fans will be fascinated by her self-assured Meg. But it's Stephanie Novacek's self-willed Jo, and Stacey Tappan, heart-rending as fragile Beth, that make the strongest impression.” The Guardian, 9th December 2010 *** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |  | Recorded live at Het Musiektheater, Amsterdam on 7th, 25th
& 29th June 2007.
Gerald Finley (J. Robert Oppenheimer), Jessica Rivera (Kitty Oppenheimer), Eric Owens (General Leslie Groves), Richard Paul Fink (Edward Teller), James Maddalena (Jack Hubbard), Thomas Glenn (Robert R. Wilson), Jay Hunter Morris (Captain James Nolan), Ellen Rabiner (Pasqualita) Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera & Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, Lawrence Renes (musical director) & Peter Sellars (stage director) Note: This Blu-ray Disc (BD) is not compatible with standard DVD players The longing to overcome human boundaries led the physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to begin an experiment that formed a threat to the whole of humanity, and whose scientific results still do today. The question of the moral implications of the atomic bomb is raised in John Adams’ opera, just as much as that of the influence on the private lives of the main characters. Doctor Atomic is the fifth work to result from almost twenty years of collaboration between the American composer and his fellow American director and Erasmus Prize-winner Peter Sellars. 'The cast is flawless… Adams has created a beautiful provocative work that refreshes the repertoire.’ The Times PICTURE FORMAT: 1080i
LENGTH: 231 Mins
SOUND: DOLBY TrueHD 5.1 & 2.0
SUBTITLES: EN/FR/DE/ES/IT/NL
“Doctor Atomic centres on the hours before the first detonation of the atomic bomb… Peter Sellars's film of the opera is expressionistic, claustrophobic, sometimes deliberately out of focus. The sound quality is exceptionally good, as is the singing and playing under conductor Lawrence Renes.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2008 ***** “Gerald Finley carries the problems of the world on his shoulders as Oppenheimer and the Netherlands Philharmonic and Lawrence Renes play like it’s the best score since Fidelio.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2008 “The heart throbs...in scenes featuring Jessica Rivera as Oppenheimer’s wife, the opera’s symbol of warmth, sensuousness, and hope. But these are moments: the overall tone stays cool, intellectual. We watch as observers, not participants. Sellars directed this TV version himself. There are virtues here, and vices. Cinema aficionados dismayed by static shots may revel in the nervous visuals, the quick editing and close-ups (you grow very familiar with Rivera’s tongue). But by fidgeting so much, Sellars the film director often works against the interests of Sellars the stage director. Body movements are truncated; the patterns of Lucinda Childs’s choreography get lost. All too rarely do we grasp the big picture and enjoy the full impact of Adrianne Lobel’s stark sets, with desert hills silhouetted and the bomb, cradled with wires, looming overhead like a malevolent planet. Finley, Rivera, Eric Owens and the rest of the cast are always as eloquent as the opera allows, and Lawrence Renes’s conducting is on the ball. Extras are disappointing: too much of Sellars holding forth, not enough on the production” The Times, 1st August 2008 *** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |  |
James Maddalena (Richard Nixon), Janis Kelly (Pat), Kathleen Kim (Chiang Ch'ing), Robert Brubaker (Mao Tse-tung), Russell Braun (Chou En-lai) & Richard Paul Fink (Henry Kissinger) Metropolitan Opera ‘The opera and the production may have come to the Met at just the right time to comprehend the continuing resonances of this audacious and moving opera.’ New York Times ‘A modern masterpiece.’ Washington Post Nonesuch Records releases the Metropolitan Opera's performance of John Adams' Nixon in China, with the composer conducting, on Blu-ray and DVD together in one package on November 19. The Met's production, staged by Adams' long-time collaborator Peter Sellars, stars James Maddalena as Richard Nixon, a role he created at the opera's world premiere in 1987 and has since performed at international leading opera houses, including the English National Opera, Netherlands Opera, and Brooklyn Academy of Music. Nixon in China was recorded and broadcast live in movie theatres around the world as part of The Met: Live in HD on February 12, 2011 - 10 days after the opera received its Met premiere. The opera's libretto is by American poet Alice Goodman, who also collaborated with Adams and Sellars on The Death of Klinghoffer. The Met's production, which was originally created by the English National Opera, features the work of the 1987 world premiere's design team, including set designer Adrianne Lobel, costume designer Dunya Ramicova, lighting designer James F. Ingalls, and choreographer Mark Morris. Nixon in China also features Janis Kelly as Pat Nixon, Kathleen Kim as Chiang Ch'ing, Robert Brubaker as Mao Tse-tung, Russell Braun as Chou En-lai, and Richard Paul Fink as Henry Kissinger. Adams, who regularly conducts major orchestras around the world, made his Met debut as conductor with Nixon in China; his opera Doctor Atomic had its Met premiere in a well-reviewed 2008 production. "I met Peter Sellars in 1983, and he proposed the idea and even the title for Nixon in China. My first response was pretty skeptical-Nixon was little more than a butt for late night comedians by that time," Adams tells the Met's Elena Park in an interview published in the Blu-ray/DVD's booklet. "But I eventually realized it was a perfect idea, and that it was right to find our mythology in our own contemporary history." In the same interview, Sellars says of Nixon in China's arrival at the Met: "It's very sweet after 25 years. We created it as anti-grand opera originally, and now it's beautiful that at the Met it can be genuinely grand. The work was made by a group of very young, very idealistic people. We were trying to show what opera can contribute to history, which is to deepen it and move it into its more subtle, nuanced, and mysterious corners, which might just open into more surprising and satisfying possibilities for a future." Menus: English Picture Format: 1080i 29.97 HD 16:9 Colour Mode: Color Region Code: All Region Disc Format: BD25 Duration: 177 mins Sound: (1) Dolby TrueHD 24-bit Surround (2) Dolby TrueHD 24-bit Stereo Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese Bluray with DVD. “James Maddalena, the original Nixon, may have lost some vocal tautness, but his presentation of Nixon’s complex character has grown only richer. And most of his colleagues are magnificent: Janis Kelly, shining bright as Pat Nixon; Russell Braun, wonderfully pained and sombre as Zhou Enlai; Kathleen Kim as Chairman Mao’s wife, eyes and mouth dripping venom.” The Times, 30th November 2012 **** “As a record of [Sellars's, Adams's and Maddalena's] achievement, this is a valuable document...by 2011 Maddalena was in vocal decline. Future generations will see Nixon in China as the composer intended But it gives due prominence to Janis Kelly’s Pat Nixon and Kathleen Kim’s Madame Mao, and it is wonderful to be re-acquainted with Mark Morris’s choreography.” Financial Times, 29th December 2012 **** “Maddalena (though not in best voice) portrays a more noble Nixon pushed to his diplomatic limits. The heart of the opera is Pat Nixon, portrayed by Janis Kelly with less sense of submission and a lot more depth..Given Sellars's penchant for tight camera close-ups in his video direction, the opera often feels like the intimate chamber work that, in its conflicted heart, it actually wants to be.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2013 “Though vocally strained, James Maddalena brings baffled tenderness to the title role. Janis Kelly is a superb Pat Nixon, Russell Braun a noble Chou En-lai. Robert Brubaker's Mao is tetchy, while Kathleen Kim is an incendiary Madame Mao and Richard Paul Fink an oily Kissinger.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 **** | 
| | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
|
|
| |  | San Francisco Symphony at 100
‘San Francisco Symphony at 100’ celebrates the orchestra’s centenary in style. With Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas at the helm and featuring violinist Itzhak Perlman, the DVD also includes vignettes documenting the orchestra's origins and its first 100 years. San Francisco Symphony at 100 documents the glorious festivities of the orchestra’s centenary year, celebrated at the orchestra’s extravagant 2011-12 season opening night gala concert. With Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas at the helm, the evening symbolised the orchestra’s heritage, its importance in the life of the city as well as the American and international musical landscape, and highlighted supreme American musicians as well as the virtuosic members of the orchestra. The programme opens and closes with two American compositional giants - Aaron Copland and John Adams. The great violinist Itzhak Perlman unleashes his virtuosity on Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and the orchestra members shine in Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. Interspersed are documentary vignettes - hosted by Amy Tan (author of the famed Joy Luck Club) - tracing the history of the Symphony which like a phoenix rose out of the ashes of the city’s devastating earthquake in 1906, revitalised San Francisco’s cultural life and quickly set the orchestra on the world’s musical stage. Special Features Documentary vignettes tracing the San Francisco Symphony’s history. Narrated by Amy Tan. Produced by Janette Gitler. Blu ray specifications: Region: Region free Rating: E (Exempt) Picture Format: NTSC Run time: 2:26:30 | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
|
|
| |  | Brahms - Piano Concerto No. 2
Joaquín Achúcarro (piano) This recording commemorates the 50th anniversary of Joaquín Achúcarro’s debut with the London Symphony Orchestra after winning the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic International Competition in 1959. Recorded at Jerwood Hall, St Luke’s, London, with Britain’s eminent conductor Colin Davis at the helm, Achúcarro delivers a consummate performance that brilliantly expresses his delicate and passionate style. Extra features include a substantial documentary about Achúcarro’s career and performances of solo piano pieces by Brahms, Chopin, Scriabin and Albéniz filmed in the beautiful setting of the Prado museum, Madrid. “Achúcarro’s approach is unorthodox in today’s stick-to-theletter-of-the-score, mechanically perfect musical world. His rubati seem excessive to some; to others, like a throwback to a Golden Age. For all of his reverence for the great composers whose music he plays, he maintains a healthy sense of their humanity as well. “Our duty is first of all to understand what composer does and wants, and then to try to deliver it the best we can, but also to serve the music,” he says. “And maybe sometimes the composer is wrong.” He adds, “People say you must follow the text. But if you follow the text, perhaps the music is not totally served.” … And he views what he does as a performer as an act of creation in its own right.” The Washington Post Extra features: Joaquín Achúcarro: 50 years on Documentary including interviews with Plácido Domingo, Simon Rattle and Zubin Mehta. Running time 131 mins Region code All regions Video codec: AVC/MPEG-4 Disc size: BD50 Picture format 1080i High Definition / 16:9 Sound format 2.0 & 5.1 PCM Menu language EN Subtitles EN/FR/DE/ES/IT “all three sections of both versions benefit from the masterly hand of director Robin Lough who, unlike many of his peers, knows how to let the music speak for itself without the need for frantic cuts and cross-fades...The short recital filmed in the Prado captures Achúcarro at his intimate best” Gramophone Magazine, June 2010 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
|
|
| |  |
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. |
|
|
| |
|
