DVD Videos

Based on the amphitheatre in the ancient Greek city of Epidaurus, and nestled in a natural valley, the Waldbühne theatre seats 22,000 in leafy comfort and remains one of Berlin‘s favourite open air concert venues, with magnificent views of the stage. World class conductors lead the Berlin Philharmonic in evening concerts of popular favourites.

At the Waldbühnen concert in 1994, the Berlin Philharmonic put a programme together under the heading ‚A Night of Dances and Rhapsodies‘, which presented the works of central European composers. The dance and folk pieces of music from the 19th century, which the orchestra performed under the baton of Mariss Jansons, emphasised the different styles and trends from this musically significant era.

Sound Format: PCM STEREO, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 9, PAL

Running Time: 101 mins

FSK: 0

Region Code: 0

Worldwide available excluding USA/CA, Japan

The most important work of the baroque keyboard repertoire, played by four world-class pianists.

Each artist performs twelve Preludes and Fugues from the work at one of four exceptionally charming venues: the Palazzo Labia in Venice, the Guell Palace in Barcelona, the Wartburg in Eisenach and the New Art Gallery in Walsall.

The performances were so recorded and impressively staged that the highly skilled visual direction literally opens up entirely new perspectives on Bach’s music.

The complete Well-Tempered Clavier, which requires normally 4 audio discs, on only 2DVDs.

“Here you are made more than conscious of a pianist in rapt communion with Bach’s spirit” Gramophone on Andrei Gavrilov

“McGregor’s verve, energy and astounding technique are always at the service of the music and never vice versa. Her ability to inhabit so many sound worlds with the same intensity andcommitment is profoundly impressive” BBC

“… extraordinary intimacy with the piano, which withholds no secrets of keyboard brilliance or expressive colouring from him, maximises the potential in the scoring …” The Times on Nikolai Demidenko

“The pianist who will define Bach performance on piano for years to come” Stereophile on Angela Hewitt

Picture format DVD: NTSC 16:9

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

Region code: 0

Booklet notes: English, German, French

Running time: 121 mins (DVD 1) 139 mins (DVD 2)

Audience: all

Berg’s masterful and thought-provoking opera tells the gripping story of the rise and fall of an alluring, destructive but vulnerable woman, culminating in her death at the hands of Jack the Ripper. Christof Loy’s austere, minimalist production allows the complexities of the drama to unfold through the sumptuous, taut beauty of the score. Agneta Eichenholz and Michael Volle lead an all-star cast under Antonio Pappano. Philip Langridge took the role of the Prince, in his last stage appearance before his sudden death earlier this year. Recorded in High Definition and true surround sound.

(Contains Scenes of Violence)

“It is immaculately rehearsed and executed – one doesn't often see opera acted with such freedom and honesty and absence of flummery. And its unsparing analytic clarity forces one to confront the bitter truth about Lulu's inner life and the corruption and idiocy of the men who are infatuated by her. … Antonio Pappano's electrifying conducting is razor-sharp in the manner of Pierre Boulez, and the orchestral playing is magnificent. … Singing with an extraordinary grace and insouciance, Eichenholz manages to make this monster chillingly real and hauntingly beautiful.” The Telegraph

Extra features:

Cast gallery

Interview with Antonio Pappano

Interview with Agneta Eichenholz

Running time 205 mins

Region code All regions

Picture format 16:9 Anamorphic

Sound format 2.0 LPCM & 5.1 DTS Digital

Menu language EN

Subtitles EN/FR/DE/ES

Valery Gergiev chose to perform this work at his final concerts as principal conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. This memorable event – the finale of an era in the life of the conductor as well as in the history of the orchestra – was captured on film, and is now being released on DVD. For the performances, and recording, of this work, in which the choir plays a central role, the orchestra invited the renowned Swedish Radio Choir, as well as the soloists Solveig Kringelborn and Mariusz Kwiecien.

Performance recorded on 4 November 2002, Paris

Grigory Sokolov, a giant of the piano. Maybe today’s greatest pianist... Sold out concerts a few days only after the putting up for sale of the tickets... A real phenomenon not to be missed...

The only existing DVD with this exceptional artist is once again available.

A dim light picks out the outlines of the hall. Suddenly a massive shadow appears and moves swiftly over to the keyboard. There follows the vaguest of unsmiling acknowledgements in the general direction of the audience, and then the music begins. Throughout the next two hours, this music will keep its listener enthralled with its extraordinary intensity as the audience senses the formidable physical, pianistic, musical and emotional presence of this most secretive of present-day pianists, Grigory Sokolov.

“Cosmic Piano. Since, as for Glenn Gould, but in opposite aesthetics, one might say: ‘There is Sokolov, and there are the pianists’.” Le Figaro, November 2007

Picture format DVD: NTSC 16:9

Sounds formats DVD: PCM Stereo

Region code: 0

Booklet notes: English, French

Running time: 123 mins

FSK: 0

On this DVD Cyprien Katsaris performs works by Liszt, Wagner, Guang, Halévy, Schubert, Bach, Chopin, Gottschalk and Carrasco.

The legendary bass Evgeny Nesterenko sings the title role in this thrilling 1981 Bolshoi Opera production. Though performances outside of Russia are rare, the arias for Vladimir and Igor are beloved staples of the tenor and bass repertoire, and the sequence of the Polovtsian Dances contains some of the most famous and beloved music in the entire classical music repertory. With the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Mark Ermler. 169 minutes, Color, 4:3, mono, subtitles in English, French, Italian, Spanish, and Russian (cyrillic), All regions.

Produced by Music Department of Soviet TV

Stage Director: Oleg Moralev

Production Design: Fedor Fedorovsky

Video Director: Alexander Barannikov

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

‘Inheriting the Future of Music’ documentary.

Pierre Boulez celebrates his 85th birthday on 26th March 2010. This documentary adopts the perspective of the Lucerne participants to explain why the summer academy is so special. It is stamped with the personality of its founder, Pierre Boulez, who has uniquely influenced the development of new music since the War.

Lucerne Festival Academy offers an opportunity to observe Boulez’ methods and examine his thoughts on music.

Bonus: a complete Concert of Debussy’s Jeux and Boulez’ own Notations & Répons recorded live at the KKL Lucerne, September 2009.

"The achievement of Boulez, both as a composer and conductor, is very great indeed. Although personally antipathetic to his modernist pioneering spirit, I have been seduced time and again by the sounds that he produces. I remember particularly the unfolding of Pli Selon Pli at its first performance, stemming as it does from the French tradition, as indeed does all his music.” John Tavener, The Guardian

NTSC 16:9, PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Region code: 0

Languages: English, German, French

Running time: 58 mins (Documentary) + 71 mins (Performance)

FSK: 0