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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Tchaikovsky’s Women & Fate
These two pioneering films will both be shown in the second Christopher Nupen season to be broadcast by the BBC on Friday evenings, starting on 15 January. The series will also include the two Sibelius films and his Schubert film, all available on DVD and distributed by Select. The Tchaikovsky films are unusual in that they do not use actors to represent the composer but are made entirely of Tchaikovsky’s own words and music plus the words of a few of his closest companions. The result gives an exceptionally intimate picture of the inner landscape of Tchaikovsky’s work and artistic preoccupations. They are essential viewing for Tchaikovsky fans. The first film, Tchaikovsky’s Women (70'15"), looks at the women both in his private life and in his early music. Almost all of his best early work was inspired by deep identification with the plight of his suffering young heroines, an identification so complete that it spilled over repeatedly into his personal life with dramatic consequences: on one occasion leading to attempted suicide. This predeliction began, when Tchaikovsky was 24 years old, with Katerina Kabanova in The Storm. It continued in full flood with Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Francesca da Rimini, Odette in Swan Lake and, above all, Tatyana in Evgeny Onegin. All of these young women make appearances in the film. The second film, Fate (85'35"), looks at Tchaikovsky’s strange relationship with Nadezhda von Meck, the most important attachment of in his life, after his mother, while also following his increasing concern with the idea of fate as a controlling influence in his own life and as a motivating force in his later symphonies. What he did not know, despite all his concern and forebodings, was that fate would overtake him, at the age of 53, more tragically than even Tchaikovsky could have foreseen. “Christopher Nupen: King of the music documentary” Gramophone Magazine and winner of the Documentary DVD of the Year at Midem in Cannes 2005, 2006 and 2008. “The master of the music doc.” Norman Lebrecht, The Evening Standard “Tchaikovsky ...constant delight and variety.” Peter Waymark, The Times. Picture format: 4:3 Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo Subtitles: DE/ES/FR/ IT/ Running time: 2 hours 36 mins | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Gala Concert: 300 Years of St. Petersburg
This festive gala concert was held to mark the city's 300th anniversary, bringing together some of the greatest Russian artists: young soprano Anna Netrebko, baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky, such great instrumentalists as cellist Mischa Maisky and violinist Viktor Tretyakov. World-famous St Petersburg Philharmonic under Yuri Temirkanov in repertoire of fascinating variety. Available for the first time on Blu-ray Disc. NTSC · 16:9, PCM 2.0 · PCM 5.1 Region Code:All Booklet Notes: English, German, French Languages: Spanish, Italian, Russian Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian Running Time: 112 mins Audiences: all | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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"Rostropovich's 1984 Paris concert performance [is] centred round Galina Vishnevskaya… singing warmly and strongly, with a fine Vaudemont from Nicolai Gedda." Gramophone | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Pierre FournierSalzburg Festival 1958
In 1958 Pierre Fournier made his belated Festival début, at the Mozarteum, in a recital accompanied by the pianist Franz Holetschek. In the process he confirmed his reputation as the 'aristocrat of the cello', magisterially rising to the challenges of his chosen programme. It is no wonder, then, that in the wake of his brilliant début, Fournier was from then on a welcome visitor to the Salzburg Festival. | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | A Russian Night
This is the first-ever concert DVD of Hélène Grimaud capturing her appearance with Claudio Abbado in a fascinating all-Russian concert programme recorded at Lucerne Festival in 2008. Claudio Abbado has invited Hélène for a variety of programmes since they first performed together in the early 90s and this is the first document of their collaboration, about which the Neue Züricher Zeitung wrote: “Grimaud played with naturalness and chamber-musical spirit….a phenomenal orchestra inspired by its charismatic conductor.” The repertoire of the DVD throws light on various facets of Russian life and music. Two works – Tchaikovsky’s symphonic fantasia inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest and Stravinsky’s concert suite from the fairytale ballet The Firebird – depict the dramatic struggle between the forces of good and evil and the ultimate triumph of the former. And Hélène Grimaud is the soloist in a performance of one of the beloved classics of the late Romantic repertoire, Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto. For Hélène Grimaud, to perform the concerto with Claudio Abbado was “a dream”. This DVD features behind-the-scenes material shows Hélène Grimaud in conversation and in rehearsal. | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | A Classical ChristmasFestive Classical Favourites
“A bewildering hotch-potch of Yuletide sweetmeats including a welcome rarity in Quilter's A Children's Overture. Decent playing and singing.” BBC Music Magazine, Christmas 2009 *** | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | Tchaikovsky: Romances
Tchaikovsky: | None but the lonely heart, Op. 6 No. 6 Noch' (Night), Op. 60 No. 9 Moy geni, moy angel, moy drug (My genius, my angel, my friend) Ni slova, o drug moy (Not a word, O my friend), Op. 6 No. 2 Otchevo? (Why?), Op. 6 No. 5 Zabït tak skoro (So soon forgotten) Rastvoril ya okno (I opened the window), Op. 63 No. 2 Na son gryadushchiy (Before sleep), Op. 27 No. 1 Podvig (The Heroic Deed), Op. 60 No. 11 Smert' (Death), Op. 57 No. 5 Khotel bi v edinoye slovo (I should like in a single word) O, yesli b ty mogla (O, if only you could), Op. 38 No. 4 Lyubov' mertvetsa (The love of a dead man), Op. 38 No. 5 Na nivi zhyoltiye (On the golden cornfields), Op. 57 No.2 Skazhi, o chom v teni vetvey (Tell me, what in the shade of the branches), Op. 57 No. 1 Strashnaya minuta (The Fearful Moment), Op. 28 No. 6 Primiren'ye (Reconciliation), Op. 25 No. 1 Den' li tsarit? (Does the day reign?), Op. 47 No. 6 Nochy bezumnïye, Op. 60 No. 6 O ditya, pod okoshkom tvoim (Serenade), Op. 63 No. 6 To bilo ranneyu vesnoy (It happened in the early spring), Op. 38 No. 2 Na zemlyu sumrak upal (Dusk fell on the earth), Op. 47 No. 3 Blagoslavlyayu vas, lesa (I Bless you, Forests), Op. 47 No. 5 Serenada Don-Zhuana (Don Juan's Serenade), Op. 38 No. 1 |
Operatic superstar Dmitri Hvorostovsky has become the supreme interpreter of the Russian Romance, with its rich resource of music and poetry. In this generous program the great baritone soars vocally and plumbs emotional depths as he delivers definitive performances of a wide range of Tchaikovsky’s masterpieces. “Nearly 20 years have passed since Hvorostovsky first recorded Tchaikovsky songs...Alongside the same ineffable legato, there's still more pointing of the words and more inwardness in softer dynamics...Inevitably there's a preponderance of dark numbers; so all the more credit to this now truly great baritone for pushing the emotion with apparent sincerity and no self pity; 'To Forget so Soon' reaches remarkable dramatic heights.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2010 “...in terms of vocal quality there are some marvels to behold…” Gramophone Magazine, June 2010 | | | (also available to download from $21.75) | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. (Available now to download.) |
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