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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | A Christmas Celebration (Box Set)
Settle down and enjoy Christmas fun and fantasy for all the family with these two magical classics from the Royal Opera House. All-time ballet favourite The Nutcracker comes to life in this stunning and captivating production – a real delight for adults and children alike. This is coupled with a spectacular and unforgettable performance of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. Imaginatively staged and with a new and original interpretation, this classic fairy tale provides the ideal seasonal treat. Running time: 265 minutes Subtitles: EN/FR/DE/ES (The Nutcracker) EN/FR/DE/ES/IT (Hansel and Gretel) Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS “The dancing of the two young principals, Iohna Loots and Ricardo Cervera as Clara and her enchanted Nutcracker, is characterful and enchanting...this is a generally conventional production [of Nutcracker] which sets off the dancers well...Kirchschlager is a very believable shock-haired boy, and brings Hansel’s boredom and mischief to life with great panache...The delicious profile of the music as delivered is picked up by the orchestra under a most responsive conductor.” MusicWeb International, November 2012 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Tchaikovsky: Mstislav Rostropovich & Benjamin Britten
Britten: | Gloriana (extracts) Bonus. Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Aldeburgh, 5 June 1970 Peter Pears (tenor) The Aldeburgh Fesitval Singers | Tchaikovsky: | Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33 Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Aldeburgh, 16 June 1968 Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) Pezzo capriccioso, Op. 62 for cello & orchestra (or cello & piano) Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Aldeburgh, 16 June 1968 Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) Romeo & Juliet - Fantasy Overture Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Aldeburgh, 16 June 1968 |
“These recordings represent an overview of twenty of the most heady years of Mstislav Rostropovich’s career, during which he made his name in the West, was exiled from his homeland for his support of dissident artists, poets and musicians, and established himself as a major international force for (not just the musical) good.” (Chris de Souza) Introduced to Britten through Shostakovich, his teacher, Rostropovich formed a close partnership with the British composer – as evident here in their collaborative performances from the opening concert of the new Snape Maltings Concert Hall, which includes rare audiovisual footage of the Maltings before it was destroyed by fire in 1969 and rebuilt. Rostropovich’s Aldeburgh performance of Variations on a Rococo Theme displays him at the peak of his powers and is a wonderful example of his partnership with Britten, of whom this is rare conducting footage. The excerpts from Britten’s opera Gloriana (the contemporary poetic name for Elizabeth I), included as the bonus of this DVD, are a highly significant addition to the composer’s discography. While Britten conducted recordings of most of his operas on disc, Gloriana was not one of them, so this is the only hint we have of his approach to any of the score. The well-chosen sections, forming an unusual concert suite, include The Lute Song performed by Peter Pears. This is the first release of this material on DVD, and is available in time for the Britten centenary in 2013. Sound format: Enhanced Mono DVD format: NTSC Picture format: 4:3 Running time: 68’ Subtitles: n/a Menu languages: English Booklet languages: E/F/G Region code: 0 Territory Restrictions: None “it is a joy to see the two musicians in partnership. Britten sympathetically accompanying with the ECO...The 'bonus' is a real treat: Britten conducting excerpts from Gloriana...both chorus and orchestra are fully alert to Britten's every gesture - a truly electrifying performance” BBC Music Magazine, January 2013 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Alina Somova (Masha the Princess), Vladimir Shklyarov (The Nutcracker Prince), Alexandra Korshunova (Masha) & Fyodor Lopukhov (Drosselmeyer) Mariinsky Ballet & Orchestra, Valery Gergiev Libretto by MARIUS PETIPA after the story by ETA Hoffmann Choreography by VASILY VAINONEN Production design by SIMON VIRSALADZE Mariinsky Theatre Musical Director, Valery Gergiev, conducts Tchaikovsky’s glorious score in this enchanting, traditional, Russian production of The Nutcracker. Vainonen’s stunning choreography is complemented by Simon Virsaladze’s wonderfully colourful designs, and the roles of Masha and her Nutcracker Prince are danced by two of the Mariinsky’s award-winning, international soloists, all of which make this as magical and memorable a Christmas treat as ever. NEWLY RECORDED IN HIGH DEFINITION NTSC 16:9 L-PCM STEREO + DTS + 5.1 SURROUND SOUND 103 MINS ALL REGIONS “Alina Somova and Vladimir Shklyarov make a good-looking, well-matched couple and are technically utterly self-assured.” MusicWeb International, 23rd April 2013 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Nobuyuki Tsujii at White Nights
The blind up-and-coming Japanese pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii - an astonishing virtuoso on his instrument – performs with the Russian conductor Valery Gergiev at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg. In 2009 he hit the Top Ten of the Japanese Charts with his first album “début”. He also won the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2009. At the White Nights Festival he played works by the Russian composers Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich. Here he plays Tchaikovsky’s famous Piano Concerto No. 1. As a bonus Nobuyuki Tsujii performs his own Elegy for the Victims of the Tsunami of March 2011, a stirring and moving piece dedicated to his home country Japan. This performance also includes Shostakovich Symphony No. 14. Live recording from the Concert Hall of the Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg, 8 July 2012. Picture format DVD: NTSC 16:9 Sound format DVD: DD 5.1, DTS 5.1, PCM Stereo Region code: 0 Booklet notes: English, German, French Running time: 102 mins “The camera lingers revealingly on close-ups of his neat hands, showing how flat the fingers are, and how relaxed their action, and underscoring the fact that through his finely-judged rubato he exercises total authority over tempo. The cadenza has lovely delicacy...But the principal memory one comes away with is his engagingly child-like presence.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2013 **** | 
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| |  | Paleau De Les Arts Valencia, 2011
Kristine Opolais (Tatyana), Lena Belkina (Olga), Artur Rucinski (Onegin), Dmitri Korchak (Lensky), Günther Groissböck (Gremin),Margarita Nekrasova (Filipyevna), Helene Schneiderman (Larina), Emilio Sanchez (Triquet), Toni Navarrate (Guillot), Aldo Heo (Captain), Simon Lim (Zaretsky) Orquestra De La Comunitat Valenciana & Cor De La Generalitat Valenciana, Omer Meir Wellber In his first year as Music Director of Valencia’s Palau de les Arts, the exciting young conductor Omer Meir Wellber has scored a triumph with Tchaikovsky’s beloved opera Eugene Onegin. Film maker Mariusz Trelinski’s timeless production consists of a series of surrealist tableaux of great suggestive beauty. Omer Meir Wellber leads a superb young cast headed by Artur Rukiński as Onegin and Kristīne Opolais as Tatyana. Picture: 16:9, HD Sound: DVD: DTS 5.1, PCM Stereo Running Time: 155 minutes Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese Available worldwide excl. USA and POLAND “The stand-out onstage, Dmitry Korchak...sing with impeccable style, looks handsome and can fill an empty stage with personality...Rucinski is velvet-voiced...but until Act 3 the singing is frustratingly uninflected...Opolais is exceptionally committed dramatically, not quite compensating for singing that, although pristine in tone, remains oddly anonymous.” International Record Review, May 2013 |
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Vanessa de Lignière, Gamal Gouda, Gunilla Hammar, George Elkin, Torunn Robstad, Monica Mengarelli, Talia Paz, Yamit Kalef, Eytan Sivak Cullberg Ballet, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, choreography by Mats Ek Recording Date: 1999
Running Time: 107 min
Picture Format: 16:9
Sound Format: PCM Stereo
Menu Languages PAL: D, GB, F, I, SP, NL, S
Subtitle Languages PAL: D, GB, F
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Ineke Vlogtman, Orla Boylan,Anna Burford, Katja Boos, Michael König Orchestra & Choir of the European Union Opera, Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, stage direction by Nikolaus Lehnhoff Recording Date: 1998
Place of recording: Festspielhaus Baden-Baden
Running Time: 152 min
Picture Format: 16:9
Sound Format: PCM Stereo
Menu Languages PAL: D, F, GB, SP
Subtitle Languages PAL: D, F, GB
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Recording Date: 1992
Place of recording: Glyndebourne Festival Opera
Running Time: 170 min
Picture Format: 4:3
Sound Format: PCM Stereo
Menu Languages PAL: D, GB, F, SP
Subtitle Languages PAL: D, GB, F, SP
“Graham Vick's 1992 staging is worthy of this extraordinary score. He reflects exactly the highly charged emotions and sense of brooding menace pervading the composer's re-enactment of Pushkin's story, thus creating a compelling psychodrama that compels both eye and ear. Davis catches most, if not all, of the score's romantic sweep and inner, dislocating turbulence, although the impassioned undercurrents are better achieved in the Kirov video, conducted by Gergiev (below). Yuri Marusin is the crazed Herman incarnate. Whether or not you can accept his often off-pitch singing is a personal matter. As his Lisa, Nancy Gustafson, offers a portrayal of an impressionable girl driven to distraction and suicide by the unhinged behaviour of her lover. She sings the part in warm, passionate tones.
Peter Maniura's video direction catches every facial expression of both characters and of Felicity Palmer's electrifying Countess. Sergei Leiferkus is elegant and commanding as the free-loving Tomsky. Dimitri Kharitonov is the soul of rectitude as Yeletsky and brings a bronzed tone to his lovely aria. Marie-Ange Todorovitch is an attractively palpitating Pauline.
Picture and sound are exemplary.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 “[Yuri Marusin] is the part from beginning to end...Felicity Palmer's Countess is particularly fine. Andrew Davis holds all the threads together magnificently and gets an impressive response from his singers and the LPO.” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition **/*** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Larissa Lezhnina, Farukh Ruzimatov, Yulia Makhalina, Vadim Guliayev The Kirov Ballet, Viktor Fedotov Recording Date: 1989
Place of recording: Recorded live at the Place des Arts, Montréal, Canada
Running Time: 129 min
Picture Format: 4:3
Sound Format: PCM Stereo
Menu Languages PAL: D, F, GB, SP
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| |  | Ballet in 2 Acts
Evelyn Hart, Peter Schaufuss, Martin James, Elizabeth Anderton Danish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Graham Bond. Choreographer: Natalia Makarova Recording Date: 1988
Running Time: 116 min
Picture Format: 4:3
Sound Format: PCM Stereo
Menu Languages PAL: D, F, GB, SP
Specials: Arthaus Musik Trailer 11 Min
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