DVD Videos

“Nothing ever seen before on television has given a better insight into Wagner’s genius.” (The New York Times)

“The central part of the Ring tetralogy is precisely this: a hero has been created who would actually have had all the attributes of freedom, but nobody remembered to tell him…so Siegfried remains unaware and incomplete… Mime has to be both funny and tragic – a clown like Chaplin and pathetic like a downtrodden people” (Patrice Chéreau)

“The videotaped Bayreuth Ring succeeds triumphantly” (Time).

“The production, designs and choreography are an absolute joy. The singers include Paul Agnew as Valère, whose lively 'Hâtez-vous de vous embarquer' bears a startling resemblance to 'Scacciata dal suo nido' from Handel's Rodelinda of 10 years earlier. Nathan Berg rages eloquently as the villainous Huascar in 'Les Incas'. Most magnificent is the dance of the pipe of peace: led by Patricia Petibon and Nicolas Rivenq, and joined after the curtain calls by the whole company, it is foot-tappingly memorable.” Gramophone Magazine, April 2006

“[Rameau's] inspiration is at white heat throughout, with William Christie and a large and stylish team of singers and players revelling in each number, often deliberately over-acting in the more melodramatic moments of this fantastic drama...The final curtain brings an exuberant encore after the credits, with Christie hilariously joining in the dance.” Penguin Guide, 2011 edition

“Deliberately gloomy, it would be oppressive but for the imagination of Hall in his detailed direction with the superb Leporello of Stafford Dean unusually positive, and the whole performance heightened by the Mozartian strength of Bernard Haitink's conducting.” Penguin Guide, 2010 ***

“On stage Le Comte Ory is indestructibly funny and jam-packed with musical treats. And the French director Jérôme Savary gives it the Glyndebourne 'works' with mechanical cows and sheep safely grazing cut-out hills behind the castle where Countess Adèle has walled herself up with her ladies until their menfolk return from the crusades. Marc Laho as the sex-obsessed Ory may not be as sweet toned as a Rossini tenor should be, and Jane Shaulis's Ragonde, companion to the Countess, is more agile with her wimple than vocally, but both know how to flirt for laughs... Diane Montague is in fine voice as Ory's love-lorn page Isolier, and Annick Massis's Adèle, the object of his affections, has a real feel for Rossini at his tenderest... The young Glyndebourne chorus mug for their lives and make the very best of the music... Glyndebourne always brought out the best in Andrew Davis who conducts like a natural born Rossinian. Brian Large directs the video with his customary self-effacing good taste.” BBC Music Magazine, October 2005

“Oedipus Rex was conceived as an opera without drama or movement, in which the narrator gives the game away before the events are depicted on stage. Undaunted, Julie Taymor flings everything at it: archetypes from Japanese cinema, aboriginal performance traditions, ballet, puppetry and mask theatre. This celebrated 1992 production ought to look cluttered yet it works... While it's possible to imagine more driven conducting, the ensemble is well drilled and the cast unbeatable.” Gramophone Magazine, Awards Issue 2005

“John Copley's direction… tells the compulsive farrago of unhistorical history with pace and clarity. It allows Baker's Queen of Scots to face off Rosalind Plowright's fearless Queen of England with a subtle mix of dignity, fear and bravado. …Alan Opie and John Tomlinson tease out every opportunity from the opposing Ministers; Sir Charles Mackerras gives the music unsentimentalised dramatic identity.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2005