DVD Videos

This series of DVDs will make the publicly broadcast BSO concerts from this era available for the first time since they were broadcast. This rare material represents some of the earliest concert footage that exists with Klaus Tennstedt from this key chapter in his career and has been restored using the greatest care and state-of-the-art techniques. It is of exceptional musical interest and historic value.

This DVD is only the third filmed performance featuring Tennstedt with the BSO to be made available to the public and represents some of the earliest concert footage with this great conductor. Tennstedt has been compared with Barbirolli, Furtwängler, Karajan and Klemperer by the Gramophone Classical Music Guide, whilst BBC Music Magazine described ICA Classics’ recent DVD release featuring Tennstedt directing the LPO in Mahler 5 as ‘epitomising the combination of immensely detailed precision and overwhelming expressive intensity that Tennstedt’s many admirers found so special’.

Tennstedt and the BSO formed a close association, together covering much of the Austro-German symphonic tradition, such as the works included on this DVD, which are described by Michael McManus as a ‘classic Tennstedt programme’.

The only available (audio) recording with Tennstedt performing Mozart’s ‘Haffner’ Symphony is a concert performance with the LPO from 1984.

The Penguin Guide describes the second of only two recordings with Tennstedt performing Mahler 4 (with the LPO, 5 years after the recording on this DVD) as ‘a strong, spacious reading which yet conveys an innocence entirely in keeping with this most endearing of the Mahler symphonies’.

Tennstedt was well known for the depth and animation of his concert performances, to which his studio recordings seldom compare – this DVD provides a rare opportunity to witness the great man in action.

Two of ICA’s BSO DVDs featuring Charles Munch as conductor have been awarded the Diapason d’Or in France’s Diapason magazine.

Sound format: Enhanced Mono

DVD format: NTSC

Picture format: 4:3

Running time: 78’

Subtitles: n/a

Menu languages: English

Booklet languages: E/F/G

Region code: 0

Territory Restrictions: None

This live recording from the Munich Philharmonie, shows off the talents of both piano virtuoso Friedrich Gulda and the world-renowned jazz organist Barbara Dennerlein. Her appearance on stage is preceded by Gulda‘s accomplished performances of two Mozart pieces and he heralds her entrance by playing his arrangement of a passage from Le nozze di Figaro.

Together they perform a number of their own compositions and some jazz standards, delighting the audience with the romantically-charged atmosphere they create.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Running Time: 92 mins

FSK: 0

The Places

Northern Italy has been variously ruled, over the centuries. South Tyrol, seen here, retains much of its Austrian past, with some regions predominantly German-speaking and others Italian. Scenes are shown of Brixen (Bressanone), with its Cathedral and Bishop’s Palace, and various historic castles, including Castel Tirolo.

The Music

Music for the tour is by Mozart, with two Piano Concertos, one written in Salzburg in 1777 for a visiting French pianist and the other composed during the last year of Mozart’s life, at the end of a decade spent in independence in Vienna.

Video Format • NTSC / Colour / 4:3

Audio Format • DTS 5.1 / Dolby Digital 5.1 / PCM Stereo 2.0

Region Coding • No Region Coding

Renowned dancers from the world of international ballet introduce and perform choreographies that are especially close to their hearts.

The solo- or pas-de-deux-choreographies, the personal favorites of the great dancers, are recorded in a series of three productions (25', 26', 27'). The dancers introduce the choreographies to the audience in a few words.

The dancers are the internationally well known star dancer Vladimir Malakhov, the pricewinner of the Nijinsky Award 2002 Lucia Lacarra and the Japanese prima ballerina Kiyoko Kimura.

Choreographies by Michail Fokine, Renato Zanella, Marius Petipa, Uwe Scholz, Kenneth MacMillan and Val Caniparoli featuring music by Bach, Bruckner, Chopin, Massenet, Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Weber.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9

Sound formats: PCM-STEREO, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Region code: 0

Subtitles: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish

Booklet notes: English, French, German

Running time: 78 mins

Founded in 1947, the Amadeus Quartet dominated the British chamber music scene for over 40 years. The quartet was renowned for its impeccable ensemble playing as well as sensitive interpretation, making over 200 recordings during their four decades together, which ended with Peter Schidlof’s death in 1987 – just four years after the Royal Opera House performance on this DVD.

The quartet’s Wigmore Hall debut in 1948 was sold out with hundreds turned away at the door. Particularly well known for performances of the Viennese Classics, the ensemble’s core repertoire included all three works on this DVD, performed here with great warmth and exuberance.

Norbert Brainin’s standard answer to how the Amadeus Quartet was able to reach such great mastery of interpretation was that they ‘simply listened into the music – again and again’. The Penguin Guide praises the quartet’s DG recording of the later Haydn quartets as ‘bright and truthful’ with a ‘warm acoustic and plenty of presence’ – ‘outstanding’.

All four members were awarded an OBE, the German Great Cross of Merit, and the Austrian Cross of Honour for Arts and Sciences.

This is the first DVD release of this material.

1DVD

Sound format: Enhanced Mono

Picture format: 4:3

Running time: 75’

Subtitles: n/a

Menu languages: English

Booklet languages: E/F/G

Region code: 0

Territory Restrictions: None

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 rare historic value.

Munch was particularly fond of the Sir Hamilton Harty arrangement of Handel’s Water Music Suite, having performed it 53 times with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and having recorded it with the BSO for RCA in 1950.

His interpretations of the two Mozart symphonies are characteristically lively and exhilarating with the usual committed performances from the BSO.

Never commercially recorded by Munch, both Mozart symphonies are completely new to his discography. The booklet note contains references to an interview the writer conducted with Doriot Anthony Dwyer, the BSO’s principal flautist, who was appointed by Munch and remained in the position for 38 years. It gives a fascinating insight into Munch as a conductor and his interaction and relationship with the orchestra.

Two of ICA’s BSO DVDs featuring Charles Munch as conductor have been awarded the Diapason d’Or in France’s Diapason magazine.

1DVD

Sound format: Enhanced Mono

Picture format: 4:3

Running time: 62’

Subtitles: n/a

Menu languages: English

Booklet languages: E/F/G

Region code: 0

Territory Restrictions: None

This series of DVDs will make the publicly broadcast BSO concerts from this era available for the first time since they were broadcast. This rare material represents some of the earliest televised concerts with the Boston Symphony and Erich Leinsdorf, and has been restored using the greatest care and state-of-the-art techniques. It is of exceptional musical interest and historic value.

The BSO’s Music Director for seven seasons, Leinsdorf had a long and distinguished career, having worked with Toscanini and Walter, conducting at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, Cleveland Orchestra and Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra in addition to his tenure at the BSO.

This 1969 performance of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony has been the object of some attention from internet bloggers, with one site featuring an almost complete audio recording of the performance. Readers were astonished at the intensity and drive behind Leinsdorf’s interpretation.

Because he didn’t perform the work regularly (on only 14 occasions with the BSO) the performance is fresh and insightful – the emotional commitment is great both from Leinsdorf and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, which Richard Dyer describes as ‘solid, flexible and brilliant’.

All three featured works are new to Leinsdorf’s discography.

Two of ICA’s BSO DVDs featuring Charles Munch as conductor have been awarded the Diapason d’Or in France’s Diapason magazine.

1DVD

Sound format: Enhanced Mono

Picture format: 4:3

Running time: 57’

Subtitles: n/a

Menu languages: English

Booklet languages: E/F/G

Region code: 0

Territory Restrictions: None

Staged by Christof Loy at Gran Teatre de Liceu, 2011

Barcelona’s prestigious Gran Teatre del Liceu presents Mozart’s beloved singspiel in an elegant, dramaturgically twisted production with a sparkling cast of top-rank international stars headed by coloratura soprano Diana Damrau as Konstanze and rising opera star Olga Peretyatko as Blonde.

German soprano Diana Damrau achieved a huge success and was hailed by critics as a thrilling Konstanze. Christoph Strehl, a tall and aristocratic tenor of important means and burnished technique, made Belmonte’s difficult music sound easy. Franz Josef Selig was celebrated by critics as one the best Osmins that had ever performed in that role.

Christoph Loy has conjured up a thought-provoking and strikingly original scenario in which both Konstanze and Blonde are feeling respect, admiration and even profound love for their captors. The result is a tantalising approach that overturns the traditional patterns of good and evil.

Running Time Total: 188 minutes

DVD: DTS 5.1, PCM 2.0

Subtitles English, German, French, Spanish, Catalan, Chinese, Korean

From the opening notes of the overture to the final curtain, Emilio Sagi’s classic, triumphant production fully brings to life all the elegant wit and theatricality of Mozart’s comic masterpiece.

Leading baritone Ludovic Tézier shines as the lustful Count Almaviva who attempts to obtain the favours of Figaro’s bride-to-be, Susanna (Isabel Rey), while Luca Pisaroni gives a feisty performance as Figaro. Conductor Jesús López Cobos masterfully captures the enchanting score. A witty yet profound tale of love, betrayal, and forgiveness.

Audio DVD/2.0 LPCM/5.1 DTS

Picture format NTSC

Audio BD LPCM stereo and 5.0 DTS-HD Master Audio

The moving text of the “Stabat Mater” has been an inspiration to many composers from the Renaissance onwards. Luigi Boccherini, a virtuoso cellist and master of chamber music, composed this religious work with profound respect for the text and it’s identity.

The quintet Ensemble Aurora that accompanies the solo soprano possesses all the qualities of balance and homogeneity common to the best chamber music works at the end of the Classical period – with an astonishing blend between voice and instruments.

Featuring internationally renowned soprano and baroque music specialist Gemma Bertagnolli.

This DVD is the first part of a series of sacred music from Italian Basilicas – with attractive pricing.