DVD Videos

Set Designer: Eeva Ijäs

Costume Designer: Niina Pasanen

Lighting Designer: Juha Westman

Choreographer: Ari Numminen

This DVD features the three-act opera Aleksis Kivi (1996) by iconic Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara who also wrote the libretto.

The opera tells the story of Finland’s national author Aleksis Kivi (1834-1872) and draws on many of Kivi’s own poems and texts. Aleksis Kivi wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish language (“Seven Brothers”), but during his short lifetime he suffered from moral and artistic condemnation by literary rivals. He died, insane and impoverished, at age 38.

This Finnish National Opera production is conducted by Mikko Franck and staged by Pekka Milonoff and features Jorma Hynninen in the lead role. Hynninen, upon whose request the opera was written, already headed the casts at the opera’s world première performance in 1997, as well as for the acclaimed première CD recording in 2002 (released on Ondine).

DVD Video [90’ • 23’ Extras]

Subtitles: Finnish / English

NTSC colour • 16:9

5.1 Dolby Digital Surround / PCM Stereo

Region Code 0

English Menu

Student: Pedro Meiriles

Maxim Vengerov is recognised as one of the world's most exciting and brilliant violinists. His exceptional talent emerged when he was very young. He gave his first recital at the age of five and went on to win First Prize in the Junior Wieniawski Competition when he was ten years old, confirming his promise as a violinist of rare talent. Still in his mid-thirties he is now acknowledged throughout the world as one of the great musicians of our time. He is also an outstanding teacher and is Professor of Violin at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Perceptive, entertaining and always sensitive to the individual personality and ability of his pupils, he has an extraordinary ability to convey his insights into the music and inspire his students.

In this masterclass, he works on Ravels virtuoso showpiece, Tzigane

Access to the publicly broadcast BSO concerts from this era has been extremely difficult even for researchers. This series of DVDs will make these performances available for the first time since they were broadcast. Munch launched the BSO into television in 1955.

He was an immensely popular conductor and well suited to being filmed.

This material represents some of the earliest televised concerts with the Boston Symphony and Charles Munch, and has been restored using the greatest care and state-of-the-art techniques. It is of exceptional musical interest and historical value.

Munch is best known for his performances of French music, Debussy and Ravel in particular, and introduced the United States to a great deal of French repertoire, which was the cornerstone of his tenure with the BSO. According to Richard Dyer, he conducted La Mer 80 times, and made five commercial recordings of the work.

All three works on this DVD were composed during Munch’s lifetime (Munch was 14 when La Mer was premiered and 21 for the premieres of Iberia and Mother Goose). An exciting, rhythmic conductor, he clearly enjoys his position on the podium, and was renowned for bringing something new and exciting to each performance as well as great spontaneity.

A number of the recordings he made with the BSO have sold steadily for more than 50 years and remain a permanent standard of reference.

1DVD

Sound format: LCPM mono

Picture format: 4:3

Running time: 68’

Subtitles: n/a

Menu languages: English

Booklet languages: E/F/G

Region code: 0

Territory Restrictions: None

Picture format: PAL 16:9

Sound format: PCM Stereo

Region code: 0 (worldwide)

Menu languages: English, German, French, Spanish

Running time: 74 mins

No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 5)