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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | 2012 Oslo Opera House
Diego Torre (Rodolfo), Vasilij Ladjuk (Marcello), Marita Sølberg (Mimì), Jennifer Rowley (Musetta), Giovanni Battista Parodi (Colline), Shane Lowrencev (Schaunard) & Svein Erik Sagbråten (Benoit/Parpignol/Alcindoro/Toll Gate Keeper/Death) Norwegian National Opera Chorus, Norwegian National Opera Children’s Chorus & Norwegian National Opera Orchestra, Eivind Gullberg Jensen (conductor) & Stefan Herheim (director) 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. “Herheim creates productions that are larger than life: intellectually charged but joyously theatrical. Little of his work has been captured on DVD, which makes this “Bohème,” which he made for the Norwegian National Opera, a must-have. ..The production is a surreal, moving experience: sometimes mystifying but ultimately haunting.” New York Times, 23rd November 2012 “High-concept productions often demand musical distensions but...this La boheme is a vital, middle-of-the-road reading, full of discipline and integrity, thanks, no doubt, to conductor Eivind Gullberg Jensen. The cast's singing is clearly invigorated by these fresh staging ideas...Don't schedule any social engagements after watching this. You might not be in any shape to keep them.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2013 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Pergolesi: Il Prigionier Superbo & La Serva Padrona
Pergolesi: | Il prigionier superbo Antonio Lozano (Sostrate), Maria Rodrìguez Cusì (Rosmene), Marina de Liso (Metalce), Ruth Rosique (Ericlea), Marina Comparato (Viridate), Giacinta Nicotra (Micisda) La Serva Padrona Alessandra Marianelli (Serpina), Carlo Lepore (Uberto), Jean Meningue (Vespone) |
Accademia Barocca de I Virtuosi Italiani, Corrado Rovaris (conductor) & Henning Brockhaus (stage director) The Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini, which has been devoting itself to the research and performance of Pergolesi‘s music for years now, had his operas recorded live at the annual Music Festival in Jesi. Released on these DVDs are two productions from Jesi of one almost forgotten opera, Il prigionier superbo, and one of Pergolesi’s most popular works, La serva padrona, combined like they were at the original premiere. Il prigionier superbo tells the story of two rival kings and a princess in distress. In order to strengthen his power, Metalce imprisons his rival Sostrate. Further, he tries to obtain Rosmene’s love. Proud like her father Sostrate, she persistently thwarts the tyrant, while on the other hand she forces herself to hate her beloved Viridate. La serva padrona is the short comedy of Serpina and Uberto: the wily maidservant, hell-bent on her willing to become the mistress of the house, thinks up a plan in order to convince her master to marry her. Both operas were directed by Henning Brockhaus, who placed Il prigionier superbo within a contemporary setting inside a cave and La serva padrona in a circus. The casts both brilliantly show their versatile voices in numerous virtuosic arias accompanied by the Baroque specialists of the Accademia Barocca de I Virtuosi Italiani, conducted by Corrado Rovaris. Subtitles in English, German, French, Spanish and Korean Picture Format: 16:9 Sound Formats: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1 Running Time: 177 minutes Region Code: 0 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Staged by Pier´Alli Oberto was the first of Verdi’s operas to be staged and was heard for the first time at La Scala, Milan, in November 1839. As a young and unknown composer, Verdi was subject to the rules then governing the opera industry in Italy. Even so, there are already many scenes in this early work that reveal unmistakable signs of the composer’s individual style. Bonus: Introduction to the opera Picture Format: 16:9, HD Sound Format: DVD: DTS 5.1, PCM 2.0 Running Time: 134 minutes (Opera 124 minutes, Bonus 10 minutes) Booklet: English, German, French Subtitles: Italian (original language), English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Guido Loconsolo (Il Cavaliere di Belfiore), Andrea Porta (Il Barone di Kelbar), Anna Caterina Antonacci (La Marchesa del Poggio), Alessandra Marianelli (Giulietta di Kelbar), Ivan Magrì (Edoardo di Sanval), Paolo Bordogna (Il Signor la Rocca), Ricardo Mirabelli (Il Conte Ivrea), Seung-Hwa Paek (Delmonte) Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Regio di Parma, Donato Renzetti Staged by Pier Luigi Pizzi Un giorno di regno is the rare case of a musical comedy by Verdi. But his second stage work proved a complete fiasco when unveiled at La Scala, Milan, in 1840 and more than half a century was to pass before he attempted a second comedy with his final opera, Falstaff. Today, conversely, Verdi’s early melodrama giocoso enjoys increasing popularity thanks to its wellspring of musical ideas and effervescent melodies. Released for the first time on DVD! Bonus: Introduction to the opera Picture Format: 16:9, HD Sound Format: DVD: DTS 5.1, PCM 2.0 Running Time: 129 minutes (Opera 119 minutes, Bonus 10 minutes) Booklet: English, German, French Subtitles: Italian (original language), English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Staged by Daniele Abbado Nabucco was Verdi’s third work for the stage and proved his first great success when performed in 1842. It deals with the Hebrew’s attempts to break free from the yoke of their Babylonian oppressors and is nowadays numbered among Verdi’s most popular works, not least on account of its famous Chorus of Hebrew Slaves, which has one of the best-loved melodies in the whole history of opera. Bonus: Introduction to the opera Picture Format: 16:9, HD Sound Format: DVD: DTS 5.1, PCM 2.0 Running Time: 147 minutes (Opera 137 minutes, Bonus 10 minutes) Booklet: English, German, French Subtitles: Italian (original language), English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese “the two main roles - Nabucco and Abigaille - are taken by two outstanding artists who are convincing both musically and dramatically. Leo Nucci in particular makes the most of the title role, displaying the real authority that it needs...[the role of Abigaille] calls for a singer who gives the impression of being a force of nature and too many sopranos see this as an excuse for singing that is wild and approximate. That is not the case here.” MusicWeb International, March 2013 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Emma Matthews (Violetta Valéry), Gianluca Terranova (Gianluca Terranova), Jonathan Summers (Giorgio Germont), Margaret Plummer (Flora Bervoix), Martin Buckingham (Gastone), James Clayton (Baron Douphol) & Christopher Hillier (Marquis d’Obigny) Opera Australia Chorus & Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, Brian Castles-Onion (conductor) & Francesca Zambello (director) Stage Designer Brian Thomson Costume Designer Tess Schofield Lighting Designer John Rayment La Traviata, one of the world’s best loved romantic operas, and is performed under the stars on a floating, mirrored stage in Sydney Harbour, with the city, Opera House and Harbour Bridge acting as a stunning backdrop. Giuseppe Verdi's captivating music is performed with the orchestra concealed in a studio beneath the stage to ensure the finest amplified sound combines with the superlative singing of the cast. With the singers discreetly miked, the recorded sound is presented here in superb quality. Emma Matthews is continually being garnered with praise - ‘Emma Matthews could inspire the dead, turning in one of the finest readings of this role I’ve ever heard’ (International Record Review on Rigoletto), ‘As Gilda, Emma Matthews is outstanding’ (Opera Now on Rigoletto) – and doesn’t disappoint. Includes a glittering Swarovski chandelier illuminating the stage and fireworks decorating Sydney Harbour’s sky-line, which render this production as something truly spectacular. “At times it’s very impressive to look at, at times it’s hackneyed to the point of cliché, but you just might enjoy it, especially if you know Sydney...Matthews is a very effective Violetta. She uses her lyrical voice to great effect, singing with ringing intensity and a good deal of beauty, pinging out the high notes and never showing any discomfort. She also manages to change the colour of her voice most effectively for the final act.” MusicWeb International, December 2012 “Emma Matthews's Violetta is exuberant and breathtakingly accurate...she has nothing to fear from close scrutiny and amid what must have been considerable challenges she feels free enough to wow the audience.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2013 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | My Favourite Opera: Ruggero Raimondi
My Favourite Opera – a new series of EuroArts: Here we study the results of involvement with a specific role. We witness musical and stage rehearsals in 1992, listen to what the artists have to say about the work in progress and share in private moments. World famous bass-baritone Ruggero Raimondi returns to his birthplace of Bologna to perform the title role in Mozart's masterwork "Don Giovanni" at the historic Teatro Comunale - a role he has performed over 400 times world-wide. He worked alongside conductor Riccardo Chailly and stage director Luca Ronconi as well as a distinguished cast of fellow singers. As the production develops he takes time out to reflect on his career with his family in the beautiful Italian countryside, coaches students at the Bologna Conservatory who are themselves studying Don Giovanni, and reflects on the character of another great operatic Don, Massenet’s Don Quichotte, inspired by Cervantes’ immortal Don Quixote. This intimate portrait of a great opera singer also reveals how an opera production is created at the highest level. Picture format DVD: NTSC 4:3 Sound formats DVD: PCM Stereo Region code: 0 Languages: English, Italian Subtitles: German, French Booklet notes: English, German, French Running time: 58 mins “Whilst the process of getting an opera onto the stage is interesting, even more so are the insights the film gives into Raimondi himself...As such I think it should interest all opera-lovers as well as Ruggero Raimondi admirers, and at a reasonable price.” MusicWeb International, April 2013 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | An Evening With The Royal Opera
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 “all musically exceptional” BBC Music Magazine, May 2013 **** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | 2012 Vienna State Opera
Set Designer Rolf Glittenberg Costume Designer Marianne Glittenberg Hofmannsthal’s untimely death meant he never finalised the libretto, leaving many ambiguities in the story that have to be resolved by the Director and singers of each production. ‘The American soprano is at home with the sweet-bitter universe of Richard Strauss and marvellously handled the delicate art of these “conversations in music”. Franz Welser-Möst reconfirms that Richard Strauss particularly inspires him’. Forum Opera “Simply as an abstract visual object, this is a stunning production...a sumptuous treat, stunning in its colour, clean in its art-deco inspired lines and brimming with subtly illuminating details...Magee may not have the luminous voice of Renee Fleming...but once she warms up she's generally got what the role demands. Even in the more intricate passages, she doesn't scant the details. Both of the main rivals for her affections are excellent.” International Record Review, December 2012 “superbly constructed, slickly produced and ardently performed by singers and orchestra alike. Don Kent's video direction is unobtrusively natural...More operas should be done this way.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2013 “Updated to 1930s Vienna, Sven-Eric Bechtolf's deft staging draws quality characterisations from everyone, with Tomasz Konieczny's likeable Mandryka outstanding. Gorgeous Viennese orchestral sounds.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2013 **** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Georg Nigl (Wozzeck), Mardi Byers (Marie), Maxim Paster (Captain), Pyotr Migunov (Doctor) & Roman Muravitsky (Drum-major) Orchestra & Chorus of the Bolshoi Theatre, Teodor Currentzis Stage direction and set design: Dmitri Tcherniakov In 2010, for the first time in its history, the Bolshoi Opera presented Alban Berg’s masterpiece 'Wozzeck'. Dmitri Tcherniakov’s truly historic production is now available in this DVD. The Russian director’s aim with this bold, sensitive transposition was “to highlight the hidden sorrows of a late 20th-century man dwelling in a megalopolis.” The redoubtably complex title role was entrusted to Austrian baritone Georg Nigl. Nigl studied with Kammersängerin Hilde Zadek. Over the last few years he has worked with, among others, Thomas Hengelbrock and his Baltasar Neumann Ensemble, Jordi Savall and his Hesperion XXI Ensemble, and Giovanni Antonini and Luca Pianca and their Il Giardino Armonico. American soprano Mardi Byers plays Marie. A native of Colorado, she made her international debut as 'Tosca' in Lübeck and Elisabetta in 'Don Carlos' in Wiesbaden and Basel. She has also sung Donna Anna and Suor Angelica at the New York City Opera, as well as Elisabeth in 'Tannhäuser' and Ariadne. The Proms audience saw her in Mahler 8 in 2010 with Jiri Belohlavek. Greek conductor Teodor Currentzis directs the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Chorus. Artistic director of the Perm Opera and founder and musical director of the Musica Aeterna ensemble, Currentzis is now to be seen in the world’s leading venues: the Opéra de Paris, Opernhaus Zurich, Bayerische Staatsoper Munich, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and the Teatro Real in Madrid. “Wozzeck on DVD is an extraordinary experience when one encounters well-directed singers who respond to the camera with the ease of film actors … Georg Nigl’s attractively light-timbred voice deals with this music so easily...[Byers] owns a youthfully lovely spinto instrument that can ‘float’ and let loose with equal ease … All in all a magnificent release” International Record Review, November 2012 “Everyone involved...knows exactly where they are going and gets there triumphantly...Nigl's carefully paced Wozzeck (far less 'expressionist' than we may be used to) and Byers's pitch-perfect everyday working woman of a Marie are ably supported...unless you cannot cope with the loss of an early-19th century period setting, this production will furnish the clearest possible expose of the Berg-Buchner drama.” Gramophone Magazine, December 2012 “there's little doubt that much credit for this significant revival must be given to Teodor Currentzis, whsoe committed conducting inspires the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra to deliver an urgent account of the score...Tcherniakov has chosen to recast Wozzeck in a contemporary context, as a purely psychological drama exploring the inertia of life in the metropolis.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2013 *** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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