DVD Videos

Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Philharmonia Orchestra in a unique performance of Holst's 'The Planets Suite', captured in High Definition by 37 cameras. This immersive experience takes the viewer to the heart of the Philharmonia as they perform this well-loved piece, using cameras placed in a multitude of positions and angles to create an extraordinary glimpse of the orchestra at work from within. As well as 'The Planets', the filmed performances also includes a new commission by UK composer Joby Talbot, 'Worlds, Stars, Systems, Infinity'.

Additional features include a 'Making of' documentary feature, listening guide films for each planet, audio commentaries from conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and principal players of the Philharmonia.

The Philharmonia Orchestra is committed to bringing classical music to new audiences in creative and exciting ways, and to this end has become a technological trailblazer in its adoption and adaptation of new technology. In 2010 the Re-Rite project allowed members of the public to experience Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring' for the first time from within the orchestra through audio/visual projections. Their 'Universe of Sound' project from which this release stems debuted at the Science Museum in London last year, and is set to tour the country in new installations during 2013.

Bonus Features:

'Making of' documentary feature

Listening guide films for each planet

Run time: 112 mins

DVD: Region 0 (universal), DVD5

Dolby Digital 5.1, Stereo PCM

16:9, NTSC

Exempt from classification

Subtitles: none

Language: English

This is Priory’s ninth DVD/CD package – a series which has been described as “ the greatest in the history of recorded organ music”. A programme of music linked to the history of Chester and a full tour of the organ and its history is documented with an accompanying CD of the recital – (programme below). Another fantastic release which will undoubtedly sell a few thousand copies, like all previous volumes. Currently only available in PAL.

Harry Christophers and The Sixteen join Simon Russell Beale for two special Christmas programmes that look beyond the familiar carols and festive songs to reveal two millennia of music and texts from across Europe.

Bonus Features include:

· Sacred Music Series One and An Easter Celebration DVD trailers

· 7 Bonus Audio Tracks taken from a selection of The Sixteen’s celebrated Christmas CDs

· Related Recordings by The Sixteen

· Artist Biographies and Images

A CHRISTMAS HISTORY

Simon Russell Beale takes a journey through Italy, Britain, Germany and Austria as he explores how the sound of Christmas has evolved in response to changing ideas about the Nativity. His story takes us through two millennia of music, from a fragment of papyrus preserving the earliest known piece of Christian music to the stories behind Hark! The herald angels sing, Silent Night and In the bleak midwinter, and the work of popular Christmas composer, John Rutter all performed by Harry Christophers and The Sixteen.

A CHORAL CHRISTMAS

Simon Russell Beale introduces a programme of choral music for Christmas from across the centuries, featuring performances of some of the works featured in the accompanying documentary. Harry Christophers and The Sixteen, perform music including J.S. Bach's harmonisation of the medieval carol In dulci jubilo, A spotless rose by Herbert Howells and the Christmas text O magnum mysterium, set as a motet by Tomás Luis de Victoria.

This new DVD from director Tony Palmer telling the story of Gustav Holst is the first ever film about this extraordinary composer.

The full-length film biography of Holst will be premiered on BBC 4 in April. It includes previously unseen material with his daughter Imogen, his pupils Michael Tippett, Herbert Howells, Edmund Rubbra and the 102 year-old Elliott Carter, as well as a dozen pupils from St Paul's Girls School in Hammersmith who remember him from the time he was Director of Music at the school.

Holst led an extraordinary life. He taught himself Sanskrit, lived in a street of brothels in Algiers, cycled into the Sahara Desert and allied himself during the First World War with a ‘red priest’ who pinned on the door of his church “prayers at noon for the victims of Imperial Aggression”. He hated the words used to his most famous tune “I Vow to Thee My Country” because it was the opposite of what he believed and he distributed a newspaper called The Socialist Worker. Holst was a very great composer whose music - especially The Planets - owed little or nothing to anyone, least of all the ‘English folk song tradition’. He tragically died of cancer, broken and disillusioned, before he was 60.

On 08 June 2010, the Wiener Philharmoniker treats its namesake city to a free open-air concert on the grounds of the magnificent Schönbrunn Palace

In keeping with the Summer Night Concert’s popular character, Franz Welser-Möst will conduct the Wiener Philharmoniker in a programme of universal, indeed, one might say, cosmic appeal. Its title: “Moon – Planets – Stars”. This theme will be reflected throughout the concert with Josef Strauss’s waltz Sphärenklänge (Music of the Spheres), “Mars” from Holst’s Planets, selections from John Williams’s score to the Hollywood sci-fi classic Star Wars, Otto Nicolai´s “Moon Chorus” from The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Joseph Lanner’s waltz Abendsterne (Evening Stars), a fantastic piece here receiving its first recording by the Wiener Philharmoniker. Liszt’s bravura, but also highly poetic, Second Piano Concerto represents the only “down-to-earth” piece in the concert, with Yefim Bronfman the soloist.

Schönbrunn and its manicured Baroque gardens comprise one of the most elegant and beautiful UNESCO world cultural heritage sites. No more fitting backdrop for glorious music is imaginable.

The acclaimed actor and writer Simon Callow returns for a second tour as host and narrator of Classical Destinations. This unique TV series combines travel to some of the most amazing cities in Europe with their history, great stories and classical music in a unique and spectacular format.

Together with their Artistic Director Richard Tognetti, the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) joins Simon as he discovers the great composers by exploring beautiful cities and regions of Europe that inspired them to write the music that has endured for years.

'I believe we’ve put together a remarkable selection of music that represents the best of the composers featured. The ACO performs in every episode of the series with over 100 minutes of new recordings.' Richard Tognetti

Running time: 5hrs 25mins

Special Features: 36mins

16:9 Widescreen

All regions

DVD9: Dual layer

This highly-acclaimed performance on CD by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under its chief conductor, Andrew Davis, is accompanied by a stunning visualisation of Gustav Holst’s suite on DVD. The audio recording and film were both made in 1994.

The accompanying film on DVD makes a powerful statement of Holst’s vision for The Planets. Three elements are combined – Holst’s music, stunning photography of the planets, and eloquent visual images of Holst’s own interpretation of the astrological significance of each planet, as revealed in his subtitles. The wealth of images used include a huge range of archive and historic newsreel footage, from sources such as the BBC, and NASA images from space:

This lavish visualisation of Gustav Holst's orchestral masterpiece The Planets and Colin Matthews' additional movement Pluto, the Renewer features spectacular images which enhance the symbolic meaning attributed to each planet by the composer.

All-time classical favourites from the first ever public concert held in the grounds of Buckingham Palace, hosted by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Broadcast live on BBC Television, June 1st 2002.

Opera fans are in for a particular treat with Dame Kiri te Kanawa (singing Bizet and Gershwin), Sir Thomas Allen (Rossini and Sir Edward German), and Roberto Alagna and Angela Gheorghiu (Puccini and Verdi) sharing the honours. Maestro Mstislav Rostropovich also makes a rare guest appearance with the cello section of the London Symphony Orchestra playing Villa-Lobos. Artists include: Roberto Alagna, Angela Gheorghiu, Dame Kiri te Kanawa, Sir Thomas Allen, The London Adventist Chorale, Julian Bliss, Ashley Wass, Roberto Bolle, Zenaida Yanowsky, Mstislav Rostropovich with cello section LSO, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Chorus, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, featuring music by Walton, Handel, Bizet, Gershwin, Holst, Tchaikovsky, Rossini, German, Arnold, Mendelsohn, Puccini, Verdi, Elgar and Arne.