DVD Videos

Written & Directed by François Dupeyron

"Conversations à Rechlin" is a superb blend of music and theatre.

The concept, scenario and staging are the work of the French director and scriptwriter François Dupeyron, famous for The Officer’s Ward and Monsieur Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran with Omar Sharif. The production is enhanced by an excellent cast: the well known mezzo-soprano Marie-Claude Chappuis, with Inna Petcheniouk, who brings with her a wealth of experience as an accompanist, and the actor Nicolas Brieger.

Set against a backdrop of Europe in 1944, the end of the Second World War and the collapse of Nazi Germany, the story shows three people brought together by a daily ritual that overcomes the differences between them. Marie-Claude Chappuis performs lieder by Schubert, Schumann and Wolf that form a contrast with the actors‘ situation in the labour camp at Rechlin. An intimate, spiritual interaction among a trio of human beings caught up in a moment of history.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: FR, GB, DE

Running Time: 91 mins

FSK: 0

Set & Costume design by Johannes Leiacker

Arthaus presents the world première of the unabridged version of Don Carlos at the Vienna State Opera, in a staging by the world renowned German director Peter Konwitschny. This staging in its unabridged version remains true to Giuseppe Verdi’s original vision of his grand opera, when it was premiered in Paris in 1867.

However, during the rehearsals it soon became clear that Don Carlos would not fit within the convention of duration, and Verdi was forced, against his will, to make cuts. Over the next 20 years, he would repeatedly turn out new versions of the opera, none of which ultimately left him satisfied. Therefore it was not until October 2004 that his original work – without cuts and sung in the original French - received its world première, now available for home viewing on DVD. Led by French conductor Bertrand de Billy the singers were hailed by audience and critics. The international cast were all renowned soloists on the world’s opera stages and also long-term stalwarts of the Vienna Opera.

Sound Format: LPCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: 2 x DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: GB, DE, FR, ES, IT

Running Time: 247 mins

FSK: 0

Live Recording from The Felsenreitschule Salzburg, 1982

Concept and Script: Christian Boesch

Based on a staging by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle

The Magic Flute had been the sensation of the season in 1978. It received enormous and unanimous approval, endless applause on the night and brought on an unusual state of accord in the international press, where enthusiastic reviews soon gave the staging legendary status. Christian Boesch became one of the progenitors of this movement when he created a new version of Mozart’s popular opera, in which Papageno becomes the storyteller. He worked with director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle to develop a concept that presents Mozart’s wondrous mystery play – based on the Salzburg Festival production 1978 – in such a way that it encourages young audiences to relate to the genre and exposes them to the magic inherent in this particular work. This DVD captures the incomparable atmosphere of the fi rst ever staging of The Magic Flute for Children.

Sound Format: LPCM Stereo

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: GB, DE, FR

Running Time: 106 mins

FSK: 0

Choreography by George Balanchine

Restaged by Patricia Neary, Sara Leland

Set & Costume Design by Luisa Spinatelli

The DVD shows a recording of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the famous Balanchine choreography, which made the ballet such a popular staple with companies all over the world.

Danced by three star-dancers in the main roles and a company that ranks among the best in the world, it guarantees first class entertainment.

George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream is the summery counterpart to his Christmassy Nutcracker: Its youthful charm and light esprit, the ease of transition between the realm of Oberon’s fairy kingdom, the aristocratic world of the Athenian court, the tit-for-tat of the bourgeois lovers and the artisans’ provincial theatre and the “free spirit” Puck, makes it a ballet for the whole family and a joy to watch.

The whole production with its fantastic costumes, the fairy-tale scenery and the wonderful dancing is like an unearthly dream in itself.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Running Time: 104 mins

FSK: 0

Choreography, Stage Direction & Lighting Design by John Neumeier

Set & Costume Design by Yannis Kokkos

The longstanding and enormously successful director of the Hamburg Ballet, John Neumeier, created his famous adaptation of Sylvia at the invitation of the Paris Ballet. Arthaus presents a recording of this choreography from the Opéra de Paris with a line-up of soloist that includes some of the world’s best dancers, indeed stars on the international dance scene.

Sylvia has a long history connected to the Opéra de Paris and has transcended the metamorphoses of dance throughout the twentieth century to be revived again and again right up to John Neumeier’s refreshingly contemporary version. As a choreographer infused as much with the culture of the repertoire as with a spirit of creativity, he seemed preordained to offer a new version of this “classic”. Supported by the cautiously simple but very effective stage and costume design by the Greek painter Yannis Kokkos, emphasising the dancing rather than dominating it, John Neumeier has created a ballet that is as timeless as the mythological fable it portrays and at the same time very close to audiences today.

BONUS: Interviews with the artists

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.0, DTS 5.0

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: GB, DE, F, ES, IT (Bonus)

Running Time: 136 mins

FSK: 0

Set Design by Susanna Rossi Jost

Costume Design by Roberta Guidi di Bagno

This DVD presents a sophisticated staging of Donizetti’s wittiest opera, Don Pasquale. This production was performed at the world famous Scala in Milan. It was directed by Stefano Vizioli, who was praised for stripping the piece of any clichés acquired over a century-and-a-half of performing tradition, and making the characters truly live and breathe. The approach emphasised the unaffected brightness and gaiety of the opera, especially as the director was brilliantly supported by a pre-eminent international cast of singer-actors.

From the uproarious orchestral guffaw that opens the piece onwards, Riccardo Muti’s reading reveals a flexibility and poise that matches the overall intention to take the opera’s humour seriously. In a recent interview, Muti emphasised the vein of melancholy that runs through Don Pasquale, and stressed how much the libretto contributes to the perfection of the opera as a whole, how the composer manages to bend the music to the text, and bring out the deep meaning of every word. This Scala production embodied his conviction, in a performance marked by ‘absolute clarity of diction, the right emphasis for every word’ as the press hailed.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: IT, GB, DE, FR, ES

Running Time: 130 mins

FSK: 0

Arthaus presents an impressive staging of one of Rossini’s opera masterpieces. This production, staged by La Scala Milan is conducted by Riccardo Muti. Moïse et Pharaon - Rossini’s re-adaptation of the story of Moses in Egypt - emphasizes the dramatic moments of the biblical account beautifully and also demonstrates the composer‘s mastery of the French tradition: solos and choral work are superb compositions, the duets are expressive and touching. Including an extensive ballet scene at the beginning of Act III and featuring a preeminent international cast of singer-actors – Erwin Schrott, Barbara Frittoli, Sonia Ganassi - this recording brings a Rossini experience of the highest rank onto the screen.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: 2 x DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: FR, DE, GB, ES, IT

Running Time: 181 mins

FSK: 0

World Premiere Recording on DVD

Set Design by David P. Gordon

A production of the LA Opera House ground-breaking Recovered Voices project, highlighting the works of composers affected by the Holocaust. Walter Braunfels, a strong advocate of neo-Romanticism, made significant contributions to the world of twentieth-century opera. Yet, he lost his rightful places in twentieth-century opera houses.

His music inhabits a very different world, both geographically and aesthetically, nurtured far from Vienna’s charged, multi-cultural atmosphere. Deeply rooted in German Classicism and Romanticism, he conceals none of his admiration for the inherited past and sees himself as building on its fundamentals. By almost any standard, he was a conservative. The premiere of Die Vögel in Munich in 1920, under the direction of Bruno Walter (who still lauded the work as late as 1950), was a huge public and critical success. The number of productions and performances in the following years was staggering. However, in the post- World War II years of his “rehabilitation,” Braunfels never regained a foothold. Die Vögel was not produced again until 1971 in Karlsruhe and 1994 in Berlin.

"A rare chance to hear Braunfels‘s lighthearted, tenderly spiritual and little-known fable…“ The New York Times

"A marvelous performance…the orchestra sounded radiant.“ Los Angeles Times

"Conlon conducted with lustrous élan…We should hear more of Braunfels‘ work.” Financial Times, London

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: DE, GB, FR, ES, IT, JP

Running Time: 132 mins

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Arthaus presents the performance of Haydn’s Missa Sanctae Ceaciliae conducted by Rafael Kubelík live from the Basilika Ottobeuren. The work was without doubt one of the highlights of the wonderful Kubelík era. Under his guidance the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks also became one of the world’s foremost Haydn orchestras.

When the orchestra discovered the baroque Basilica of Ottobeuren as the perfect venue for sacred music of the classic-romantic repertoire, their concerts enjoyed huge popularity, leaving a lasting impression on those who experienced them at first hand.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Running Time: 73 mins

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The idiom of his Bohemian musical origins was something he was neither able nor wanted to disown. A trained violinist and viola player and a member of the Czech Philharmonic, Václav Neumann (1920–1995) always built the orchestra he conducted around its string tone – around authentic tonal sensuality. He was regarded internationally as a specialist in the classic works of his homeland, of Smetana, Dvorák, Janácek, but also of avant-gardists such as Josef Suk and Bohuslav Martinů. At the same time he was an artist with a broad musical background and a comprehensive repertoire, which he sought to expand wherever he worked. Dvořák’s position as his country’s leading composer was taken over upon his death by Leoš Janáček. His highly fresh and original late works even reveal links with the avant-garde currents of the subsequent generation. The magnifi cent Glagolitic Mass which uses the appropriate sections of the Ordinary in Old Church Slavonic is foremost a national declaration, a commitment to the ancient Slavonic language.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Audio Language: Ancient Slavonic (Janáček)

Running Time: 99 mins

FSK: 0