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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Leonard Bernstein conducts JS Bach & StravinskyRecorded live Saint Augustine's Church, Kilburn, London, 16 April 1977
Lovingly restored, using the finest state-of-the-art technology, classic archive features great performances from legendary artists, offering a unique historical glimpse into our classical heritage. Part of the new 3 DVD batch of Classic Archive releases, sourced from the BBC Archive. This DVD presents a unique chance to see Leonard Bernstein conducting Bach's Magnificat and Stravinsky's Mass. Recorded in 1977 in Saint Augustine's Church, London, it is an intimate and moving recording, presenting two of the most important pieces in the choral repertoire. Bernstein is joined by the distinguished soloists Anny Mory, Patricia Parker, Rodney Hardesty, John Mitchinson and Paul Hudson, accompanied by the English Bach Festival Choir & Orchestra. Beautifully filmed by Humphrey Burton. Picture format DVD: NTSC 4:3 Sounds formats DVD: PCM Stereo Region code: 0 Original Languages: Latin, English Subtitles: Latin, English, German, French Booklet notes: English, German, French Running time: 54 mins German FSK: 0 “The austere piety of Stravinsky's Mass is given a searching performance by Bernstein in this 1978 BBC broadcast, juxtaposed with Bach's Magnificat.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2011 **** “For many people, used to seeing Leonard Bernstein conducting the world’s leading orchestras in big symphonic works these performances will probably come as a revelation...This DVD offers an unfamiliar view of Leonard Bernstein conducting small-scale works with great care and affection and, as such, it’s an important document.” MusicWeb International, February 2012 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Arthur Rubinstein plays ChopinRecorded live at the Royal Festival Hall, London, 9 June 1968
Lovingly restored, using the finest state-of-the-art technology, classic archive features great performances from legendary artists, offering a unique historical glimpse into our classical heritage. Widely acknowledged as one of the world’s most revered pianists, Arthur Rubinstein gives us a breathtaking performance of Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 2, accompanied by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Zubin Mehta. This is followed by Chopin’s sparkling ‘Heroïque’ Polonaise No. 6. The second part of this DVD is a presentation of Rubinstein in conversation with Bernard Levin, from the BBC’s flagship ‘Omnibus’ programme in 1968; this is a rare document from the BBC Archives that offers fascinating insights into Rubinstein’s musical genius. Picture format DVD: NTSC 4:3 Sounds formats DVD: PCM Stereo Region code: 0 Original Languages: English Subtitles: English, German, French Booklet notes: English, German, French Running time: 91 mins (40 mins performance, 51 mins interview) German FSK: 0 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Leonard Bernstein conducts ShostakovichRecorded live Concert: live recording from the Royal Festival Hall, London, 9 June 1968
Lovingly restored, using the finest state-of-the-art technology, classic archive features great performances from legendary artists, offering a unique historical glimpse into our classical heritage. Sourced from the BBC Archive. Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony is given an electrifying reading by the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of the great Leonard Bernstein. His innate musicality and commanding presence is complemented by his unbounded energy, embracing the majestic properties of this great work. As a bonus, this DVD offers an enthralling glimpse of Bernstein in rehearsal with the orchestra. Picture format DVD: NTSC 4:3 Sounds formats DVD: PCM Stereo Region code: 0 Original Languages: English Subtitles: English, German, French Booklet notes: English, German, French Running time: 91 mins (40 mins performance, 51 mins interview) German FSK: 0 “Shostakovich's Symphony No. 5 in a searing rendering from the LSO and Bernstein, but marred by variable sound in this 1966 broadcast.” BBC Music Magazine, December 2011 ***** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Claudio Arrau plays Beethoven Piano SonatasRecorded live at the 1970/1977 Beethovenfest Bonn, Germany
The Chilean pianist Claudio Arrau (1903 - 1991) was at the height of his career, when he recorded this recital in 1070/1977. He was known for his interpretations of a vast repertoire spanning from the baroque to 20th-century composers, especially Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Schumann, Liszt, Brahms and Debussy. He is considered one of the greatest pianists of the twentieth century. It has been said that the best way to enjoy Arrau’s records is to imagine yourself there in the concert hall while he is playing. Now, thanks to the Beethovenfest performances presented here, which were filmed in Bonn in 1970 and 1977, it becomes virtually possible for us to do just that. In these fine performances, Arrau appears to make the piano breathe and sing. Picture format DVD: NTSC 4:3 Sounds formats DVD: PCM Stereo Region code: 0 Booklet notes: English, German, French Running time: 190 mins (DVD1: 85 mins; DVD 2: 105 mins) FSK: 0 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Friedrich Gulda plays Beethoven & BachRecorded live at the 1970 Beethovenfest Bonn, Germany
The “Internationales Beethovenfest Bonn 1970” brought numerous world-famous performers to Bonn on the occasion of the the two-hundredth anniversary of the birth of Bonn's greatest musical son, Ludwig van Beethoven.. A principal visitor to that year's festival was the influential Viennese pianist Friedrich Gulda. He performed in both the classical and jazz fields. His greatest classical inspiration was Beethoven, so it is fitting that he chose the 'Hammerklavier' Sonata to celebrate Beethoven's birthday. He is also well known for his famous Bach and Mozart performances. Picture format DVD: NTSC 4:3 Sounds formats DVD: PCM Stereo Region code: 0 Booklet notes: English, German, French Running time: 79 mins FSK: 0 “The picture quality is good, not of the sharpest clarity, but very decent. Camera angles are alert, cleverly devised and accurate...His [Bach] playing is rhythmically buoyant, incisive and imaginative.” MusicWeb International, May 2012 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | If I Were a Rich Man: The Life of Jan PeerceA film by Peter Rosen – Hosted by Isaac Stern
Jan Peerce was a great singer, universally acclaimed as one of the outstanding artists of his time, a role model of the American Dream. Commencing with Peerce`s roots on the Lower East Side of New York, and traveling “uptown” and around the world with him, we will view his life through music performance, and interviews with famed concert violinist, and host, Isaac Stern. In addition, video and film footage of Jan Peerce, some of which has never been publicly shown, will bring to life his dynamic, entertaining, and witty personality. One hour biography of the life of the famous Metropolitan Opera tenor. Supported by grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Picture format DVD: NTSC 16:9 Sounds formats DVD: PCM Stereo Region code: 0 Booklet notes: English, German, French Languages: English Running time: 59 mins FSK: 0 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Yehudi MenuhinRecorded at Charlie Chaplin Studios, 1947
Concert Magic, which premiered in San Francisco in 1947, was the first motion picture concert in film history (Concert Magic Item No. 2054158). In addition, many short films were made to fill the space between the traditional double features. They were also often used as encores when enthusiastic audiences demanded them. Among these encores is an especially valuable rarity, the violin concerto of Felix Mendelssohn. The length (ca. 25 minutes) prevented it from inclusion in the film. This footage shows Menuhin’s very first recorded performance of Mendelssohn`s violin concerto and other encores. Even music specialists are unaware of the existence of this previously unreleased material! Bonus: A Violinist in Hollywood + On the Encores – Yehudi Menuhin in conversation with Humphrey Burton. Exactly 50 years after the creation of the film in 1997, Yehudi Menuhin and Humphrey Burton, director of a number of Bernstein concerts and an expert on and biographer of Menuhin, view the film in front of cameras. Menuhin comments on his playing technique, speaks about the origin of the film and reminisces about events which transpired at the time of the film. His reactions and comments about the pieces are very personal. NTSC 4:3, PCM Stereo Region code: 0 Booklet notes: English, German, French Languages (Bonus): English, German, French Running time: 44 mins (Performance) +57 mins (Bonus) FSK: 0 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Music Transfigured - Remembering Ferenc Fricsay
Lovingly restored, using the finest state-of-the art technology, Classic Archive features great performances from legendary artists, offering a unique historical glimpse into our classical heritage, in this case, a beautifully crafted biography of the legendary Hungarian-born conductor, Ferenc Fricsay, whose tragically early death in 1963 prevented him from earning the celebrity of the likes of Karajan or Bernstein. This film portrays the maestro conducting rehearsals and concert performances of works by Kodaly, Smetana, Dukas and Mozart. Tamas Vasary, Kurt Masur,Yehudi Menuhin and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, all of whom worked closely with him, talk about the man and his remarkable artistry. From archive footage, we discover the marvellous technique of this passionate and elegant conductor, who was compared to Toscanini, and the imaginative language he used to bring music to life during his rehearsals with various orchestras from Budapest to Berlin via Munich. “His…story is illustrated by stock footage of varying relevance, but the talking heads are renowned and thoughtful. Antonio Pappano emphasises the importance of private study, how Fricsay arrived at a rehearsal with all points fixed, how persuasive he was in music with a story, and how his stickless technique engenders the Fricsay sound - hair-trigger yet supremely well balanced. Rehearsal excerpts from Vltava and Háry János are garrulous and compelling but clearly staged.” Gramophone Magazine, August 2009 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Royal Festival Hall, London, Source: BBC archives, 1988
Murray Perahia, nominated for artist of the year in the 2008 Gramophone Awards, has often been described as an aristocrat of the piano, with good reason. His commanding vision and his supremely polished virtuosity are complemented by a luminous intelligence and a poetic sensitivity, embracing equally the lyric and the epic. His career has recently been revitalised, after many years, with the new release on Sony/BMG of Beethoven Piano Sonatas and Bach Partitas. "Each note was characterised by a singing tone whose weight and emotional colour was individually judged yet forming part of a massively conceived and controlled structure." The Guardian “Murray Perahia… is undoubtedly on tremendous form. He displays limitless reserves of strength for the bravura passages and a huge strong tenderness in, for instance, the opening of the slow movement of the Third Concerto.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2009 *** “[Perahia's] playing is peerless and Marriner gives him vital and sensitive support” Penguin Guide, 2010 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Artur RubinsteinLive, Moscow, Great Hall Moscow Conservatory, 1st October, 1964
Chopin: | Polonaise No. 5 in F sharp minor, Op. 44 Impromptu No. 3 in G flat major, Op. 51 Nocturne No. 8 in D flat major, Op. 27 No. 2 Piano Sonata No. 2 in B flat minor, Op. 35 'Marche funèbre' Barcarolle in F sharp major, Op. 60 Étude Op. 25 No. 1 in A flat major 'Aeolian Harp' Étude Op. 25 No. 5 in E minor Étude Op. 10 No. 4 in C sharp minor Étude Op. 10 No. 5 in G flat major 'Black Key' Waltz No. 3 in A minor 'Grande Valse Brillante', Op. 34 No. 2 Polonaise No. 6 in A flat major, Op. 53 'Héroïque' | Debussy: | Préludes - Book 2: No. 8, Ondine | Schumann: | Fantasiestücke, Op. 12 No. 1 'Des Abends' | Villa-Lobos: | O Polichinelo (from Prole do Bebê, book 1) |
Artur Rubinstein's charismatic personality and unique ability to connect with an audience made each of his concert appearances an event. Surprisingly, the vast majority of his recorded output - whether on record or film - was made in the recording studio.This rare film, preserved in the vaults of the Russian State television archives for nearly 50 years, shows Rubinstein at his prime playing in the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.This historic concert both testifies to Rubinstein's freer and risk-taking approach when in front of an audience and allows us to share the electric atmosphere of his live appearances. BONUS: 1928 footage accompanying a silent film “From the archives of Russian state television, this astonishing film captures the great Rubinstein holding his Moscow audience spellbound.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2009 ***** “Considering his celebrity, longevity and huge studio recording legacy, there is very little film of Rubinstein in concert. Indeed, this is the only full solo recital I can recall and as such is immensely valuable… fine as are most of his studio recordings, Rubinstein played with a greater freedom and daring when in front of an audience. The playing, of course, is heart-warming... Everything seems so inevitable and right, whether in the caressing phrases of the Barcarolle or the bravura of the A flat Polonaise, the inevitable trademark conclusion to any Rubinstein recital.” Gramophone Magazine, May 2009 “Considering his celebrity, longevity and huge studio recording legacy, there is very little film of Rubinstein in concert. Indeed, this is the only full solo recital one can recall and as such is immensely valuable, not least because the printed programme is devoted entirely to the composer with whom he was most closely associated and because, fine as are most of his studio recordings, Rubinstein played with a greater freedom and daring when in front of an audience.
The film of the occasion, preserved in the vaults of the Russian State television archives for nearly 50 years, provides a vivid reminder of this great artist's idiosyncrasies – the dignified, immobile posture, the expressionless face and the little tug at his lapels before the start of each item.
The playing, of course, is heart-warming, the kind that can absorb the odd fluff, though the memory lapse in the Scherzo of the Sonata is disconcerting (he has to make an unwritten repeat before ad libbing his way into the Trio).
Everything seems so inevitable and right, whether in the caressing phrases of the Barcarolle or the bravura of the A flat Polonaise, the inevitable trademark conclusion to any Rubinstein recital. Aficionados will relish his only known performance of the Aeolian Harp Study, Op 25 No 1. (The bonuses are two short – 1'45” – silent films of excerpts from two études shot in slow motion in Canada in 1928.)” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Gramophone Magazine