DVD Videos

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

For years the Berliner Philharmoniker have been famous for their acclaimed concerts in Japan. In this live recording from the year 2000, they perform under the direction of Mariss Jansons. He returns to direct the Berliner Philharmoniker, rekindling their long-standing relationship that began in 1976.

Tokyo’s Suntory Hall is alive to a programme of particular musical energy − sometimes overt and joyous, sometimes suppressed and intense. Jansons’ fidelity to music composed during the Soviet era remains heartfelt: Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1, featuring soloist Hilary Hahn, is rendered with poise, elegance and demoniac vigour. This piece is framed by two sprightly works: Weber’s charming, zesty Overture to Oberon and Dvorák’s Eighth Symphony, executed with Bohemian-esque lyricism and verve.

A new stunning release in our series of legendary recordings of the Berliner Philharmoniker - a new chapter of the amazing Berliner Philharmoniker Story.

Hilary Hahn is a two-time Grammy Award-winning soloist. She is celebrated for her probing interpretations, technical assurance and compelling stage presence. Her extensive international performances and recording activities have made Hahn one of the most important artists of our years. (see www.hilaryhahn.com)

Picture format BD: NTSC - 16:9

Sounds formats BD: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Region code: 0

Booklet notes: English, German, French

Running time: 99 mins

FSK: 0

A star-studded benefit concert to celebrate Ioan Holender’s farewell after 19 years as the director of one of the world’s leading and most famous opera houses. The highly acclaimed cast was headed by brilliant singers such as Diana Damrau, Natalie Dessay, Angelika Kirchschlager, Waltraud Meier, Anna Netrebko, Pjotr Beczala, Plácido Domingo, Thomas Hampson, Leo Nucci, Thomas Quasthoff, Ramon Vargas and many others. No fewer than twelve conductors including Marco Armiliato, Bertrand de Billy, Fabio Luisi, Zubin Mehta, Antonio Pappano and Franz Welser-Möst led the way through a program lasting over four hours at the fully-packed Wiener Staastoper.

Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese

At the Salzburg Mozartwoche in 2000, the Hagen Quartett excelled in Beethoven's very last String Quartet, first performed only after the composer's death, a highly demanding and very complex work. For Mozart's famous Clarinet Quintet, written for his gifted friend Anton Stadler, they joined forces with the phenomenal clarinetist Sabine Meyer, who "enhances the dazzling splendour of the quartet with a warm and graciously noble voice", as an Austrian newspaper wrote. The Hagen Quartett is regarded internationally as one of the foremost string quartets, praised for their unique, finely nuanced timbre and the engaging immediacy of their ensemble playing.

The Places

The Road of Romance, in South Bavaria, leads through the countryside to the great castle of Weikersheim, former residence of the Counts and Princes Hohenlohe. Further exploration of Bavaria and the Bavarian Forest leads to Prunn Castle on its rocky eminence, and finally to Würzburg on the River Main and the Marienberg Fortress.

The Music

Max Bruch, a native of Cologne, enjoyed a career that took him, as a conductor, to Liverpool, Coblenz, Breslau and Bonn, before his final years in Berlin. His first Violin Concerto remains among his most popular works. Carl Maria von Weber led an even more varied life that took him to musical centres in Germany and Austria. He was a pioneer of German romantic opera, and three opera overtures are chosen here. Der Freischütz (The Marksman) evokes the spirit of the German forest, while Euryanthe explores more exotic territory, as does Oberon, Weber's final opera, written for London in 1826, the last year of his life.

Directed by Ruth Berghaus, Set Design by Hartmut Beyer & Costumes by Marie-Louise Strandt.

Arthaus Musik presents a DVD release of Weber’s masterpiece Der Freischütz in a production by the legendary director Ruth Berghaus. Chorus and orchestra of the Zurich opera are conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, universally celebrated for the structural transparency of his interpretations, his intellectual penetration and his emotional understanding of both music and opera plot. An all-star cast made this production a highly memorable event, which was hailed by international music critics as a reawakening of this romantic opera by Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826).

Berghaus created this Freischütz for Zurich Opera in 1993 and its revival in 1999 provided an opportunity to recapture a vivid example of her work. Her style often negated naturalism - she considered imagery, sign, gesture and visual contradiction more important than narrative. With sets by Hartmut Meyer and costumes by Marie-Louise Strandt, Berghaus’ staging eschews the local peasant colour conventionally associated with Weber's opera. Regimented, black-clad villagers people a stage defined by monolithic planes and blocks of coloured light emphasises geometric patterns, creating stage pictures that evoke the art of the Russian Constructivists.

Weber’s glorious Romantic work was first performed in Berlin 1821 and was an immediate success. The famous chorus of the huntsmen is still a favourite with male choirs and performances of the opera have continued to captivate audiences with the work’s outpouring of grand and memorable music, its atmosphere of mystery and its dramatic depiction of good and evil. It is a gripping theatrical experience and this DVD recording provides the viewer with just that.

Director’s Cut by Brian Large

Every New Year, the highlight in the classical music world is the annual concert given by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2003, the honour of conducting this special concert was handed to Nikolaus Harnoncourt, who admits that he was touched to receive this special invitation. Harnoncourt chose to focus the night‘s music on the Straußes - both Johann Sr. and Johann Jr., as well as Josef - and chose pieces that had not been heard at any of the previous New Year‘s concerts. Also included were Brahms‘ Hungarian Dances and Weber‘s Invitation to the Dance.

Special Features

Pictures of the Hellbrunn Palace with the Trick Fountains

Soloists of the Vienna Opera Ballet in the Vienna Volksgarten gardens in front of the Theseus-Temple

Chinese Chambers at Schonbrunn Palace

St Petersburg Kirov Ballet at Eggenberg Palace near Graz

Impressions from the beautiful blue Danube and Vienna

Picture Gallery