DVD Videos

Conceived and Produced by ANDREA ANDERMANN

Director GIUSEPPE PATRONI GRIFFI

Cinematography VITTORIO STORARO

Directed for video by BRIAN LARGE

Recorded live in July 1992 - REMASTERED IN HIGH DEFINITION FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPE.

Contemporary Rome is the setting for this unique and highly innovative version of Puccini’s Tosca, performed in the Roman locations – and at the same times of day – as Puccini had written into his score. Thus the action opens in the beautiful 16th-century church of Sant’Andrea della Valle at noon, where Cavaradossi (Domingo) meets the fugitive Angelotti, moves to the Farnese Palace that evening where Tosca (Catherine Malfitano) dramatically makes a pact with the lustful Scarpia (Ruggero Raimondi), and finally to the battlements of the Castel Sant’Angelo at dawn the following day where the final drama is played out.

COLOUR

REGION CODE: ALL REGIONS

NTSC 4:3 • 114 MINS • L-PCM STEREO

SUBTITLES: ENGLISH / FRENCH / GERMAN / ITALIAN

With Rosario La Spina cast as Calaf, Susan Foster as the icy princess and Hyeseoung Kwon as the loyal slave girl Liù, the singing throughout is superlative.

The choreography and direction of Graeme Murphy is visionary, add the set and costume designs of Kristian Fredrikson, and the lighting of John Drummond Montgomery and this production is glorious in its beauty.

Major stars of the international opera stage come together with the Chor und Orchester of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, under the internationally acclaimed conductor Donald Runnicles, in this opera gala in aid of the German AIDS Foundation.

Highlights from operas by Rossini, Verdi, Meyerbeer, Wagner, Delibes, Sartori are performed by world-class musicians from around the globe.

Heading the star-studded line-up were established artists of the calibre of Adrianne Pieczonka, Vivica Genaux and Simone Kermes, while the younger generation is represented by tenors Francesco Demuro, Antonio Poli and Teodor Illincai, as well as the exciting soprano Kristin Lewis and mezzo-soprano Anna Smirnova. The result was truly an evening to remember.

Picture format DVD: NTSC 16:9

Sound format DVD: PCM Stereo

Region code: 0

Booklet notes: English, German, French

Runnning time: 75 mins

The incomparable Anna Netrebko follows Deutsche Grammophon’s acclaimed, best-selling 2008 audio release of La Bohème.

This DVD is a new production of the Puccini favourite, staged at Salzburg 2012.Tenor Piotr Beczala rocks as Rodolfo, Mimì’s lover. Massimo Cavalletti sings Rodolfo’s friend Marcello with uncommon finesse and beauty of tone. Nino Machaidze is a moving Musetta.

The robust orchestration of this popular opera verges on the ethereal as Mimì’s life slips away. Throughout his reading, conductor Daniele Gatti strikes the perfect balance between sentiment and sentimentality, vigour and fragility, the specter of untimely death and the quick and young it haunts.

The New York Times wrote, “You don’t often hear Mimì sung with such vivid character and sheer charisma.”

It is no exaggeration to say that the two performances of Tosca at the Royal Opera House in July 2011 - with Angela Gheorghiu, Jonas Kaufmann and Bryn Terfel as the leads - were opera history in the making and by far the hottest tickets in town.

For the majority of us who weren’t lucky enough to be there, it has been captured on this DVD, exclusively released by EMI.

Subtitles in Italian, English, German, Japanese, French & Spanish

Bringing together a collection of arias and choruses from some of the world’s favourite operas, this disc showcases the outstanding artists and productions from the stage of the Royal Opera House.

The perfect gift for anyone who loves opera.

A unique collection from one of the world’s finest opera houses, showcasing the international opera stars and famous Royal Opera House productions.

The comprehensive packaging will include a synopsis of each opera, suggestions for further exploration of the catalogue and full subtitles.

International stars featured in the collection include: Jonas Kaufmann, Renee Fleming, Simon Keenlyside, Gerald Finley and Miah Persson.

Running time: 80 minutes

Subtitles: EN/FR/DE/JP/ES

Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS

Set & Costume Designer Heike Scheele

Lighting Designer Anders Poll

Dramaturgy Alexander Meier-Dörzenbach

Stefan Herheim, one of the worlds’ most sought after operatic directors, superimposes the modern over the traditional in this dramatic and thought provoking new version of Puccini’s La bohème.

Freedom, love, and even death all demand a price that must be paid and the opera opens with Mimì (Marita Sølberg) dying of cancer in a modern intensive care unit; the overture begins just after the ECG machine displays its unmistakable flat green line.

With Norway’s internationally renowned Eivind Gullberg Jensen conducting, the production reaches superb heights of operatic drama.

Set Design by EZIO FRIGERIO

The story of the beautiful but cruel princess Turandot has a unique place among Puccini‘s works, displaying the composer‘s ability to reflect the musical trends of his time more convincingly than any of his other operas. Despite its wealth of inspired melodies (among them Calaf‘s aria „Nessun dorma“ in the third act), even today the opera‘s chief fascination remains its imaginative tonality and subtle instrumentation.

The title role is performed by Luana DeVol, who has been on the international opera scene for more than three decades and whose versatile, dramatic soprano perfectly suits the character of the despising, yet vulnerable Turandot. Lirico-spinto soprano Barbara Frittoli, one of the best-known Puccini/Verdi performers on the current scene, presents her lyrical vocal qualities in the role of the slave Liù.

The director, Núria Espert, retained the lavish settings and magnificent sets traditionally associated with the opera. None the less, Espert‘s approach to the work is founded on the doubts that Puccini himself expressed about the final scene of the work. In Espert‘s conception, Turandot remains incapable of turning into an ordinary, docile woman defeated by male strength, and so she stabs herself to death.

BONUS: Luana DeVol – Following the Dream / Directed by Stephen DeVol

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitles: IT (Original Language), DE, GB, FR, ES, Catalan

Running Time: 132 mins + 19 mins (Bonus)

FSK: 0

Set Design: Brian Thomson

Costume Design: Julie Lynch

Lighting: John Rayment

This sensational new productin of La boheme, the inspired concept of director Gale Edwards, is set in early 1930s Berlin, a city of liberal indulgence, glittering Spiegeltents and glitzy cabaret clubs, where no excess is considered too much.

Charismatic Ji-Min Park gives a stunning performance as Rodolfo, the poet who falls in love with Mimi, played by Takesha Meshe Kizart, who delivers a dazzling version of the impoverished working girl.

Renowned conductor Shao-Chia Lu draws from the orchestra and chorus a magnificent performance of Puccini's lush score.

Audio DVD/2.0 LPCM/5.1 DTS

Picture format: NTSC

Audio BD LPCM stereo and 5.0 DTS-HD Master Audio

As is now customary, the first part of the 2012 New Year‘s Concert from Teatro La Fenice is exclusively orchestral, with Symphony No.5 by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The second part, with soloists Jessica Pratt, Walter Fraccaro and Alex Esposito as well as the choir, is dedicated to melodrama, ending with the traditional chorus “Va pensiero” from Nabucco and the toast “Libiam ne lieti calici” from La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi.

The twenty-seven year old conductor and violinist Diego Matheuz is a graduate of the internationally known Venezuelan Sistema and is already widely known as one of the most promising developing talents from the Americas. In 2005 he began studying conducting and soon attracted the attention of Sir Simon Rattle and Claudio Abbado, with whom he worked in Caracas, Lucerne and Bologna.

In September 2011 he was appointed as Principal Conductor of the Teatro La Fenice.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9, 1080i High Definition

Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Running Time: 108 mins + 27 mins (bonus)

FSK: 0

Region Code: 0 (DVD)

Worldwide available