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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Live Recording from The Teatro Degli Arcimboldi, Milan, 2003
Arthaus presents an impressive staging of one of Rossini’s opera masterpieces. This production, staged by La Scala Milan is conducted by Riccardo Muti. Moïse et Pharaon - Rossini’s re-adaptation of the story of Moses in Egypt - emphasizes the dramatic moments of the biblical account beautifully and also demonstrates the composer‘s mastery of the French tradition: solos and choral work are superb compositions, the duets are expressive and touching. Including an extensive ballet scene at the beginning of Act III and featuring a preeminent international cast of singer-actors – Erwin Schrott, Barbara Frittoli, Sonia Ganassi - this recording brings a Rossini experience of the highest rank onto the screen. Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1 Picture Format: 16:9 DVD Format: 2 x DVD 9, NTSC Subtitle Languages: FR, DE, GB, ES, IT Running Time: 181 mins FSK: 0 “Muti leads his forces with conviction in this 2003 La Scala production that has enough of the requisite grandeur and a cast that manages the score’s difficulties well enough to show the work’s strength and validity...The costumes mix periods, but the whole production still gives a welcome sense of the grand style.” Ballet Review, December 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Recorded live at Bayreuth Festspiele 2008
Franz Hawlata (Hans Sachs), Michael Volle (Sixtus Beckmesser), Michaela Kaune (Eva), Klaus Florian Vogt (Walther Von Stolzing), Norbert Ernst (David), Carola Guber (Magdalene), Artur Korn (Veit Pogner), Markus Eiche (Fritz Kothner), Friedemann Röhlig (Ein Nachtwächter), Charles Reid (Kunz Vogelgesang), Rainer Zaun (Konrad Nachtigall), Edward Randall (Balthasar Zorn), Hans-Jürgen Lazar (Ulrich Eisslinger), Stefan Heibach (Augustin Moser), Martin Snell (Hermann Ortel), Andreas Macco (Hans Schwarz), Iógenes Randes (Hans Foltzd) Bayreuther Festspiele Chorus & Bayreuther Festspiele Orchestra, Sebastian Weigle (conductor) & Katharina Wagner (stage director) Ostensibly Richard Wagner's opera Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg tells a humorous tale about artistically inclined craftsmen. Goldsmith Veit Pogner promises his daughter Eva's hand in marriage to the winner of a song contest, to which three men are potentially eligible. But upon closer inspection, what is at first glance a harmless farce in a middle-class setting emerges as a profound social analysis. Wagner uses his protagonists to show how a community deals with tradition and those who break with it and just how much innovation and deviation from the norm it can tolerate – as well as to examine what value society places, and should place, on art. Extra features: Cast Gallery The Making of ‘‘Die Meistersinger’’ ‘A 'Meistersinger' that's on an entirely new Wagnerian scale... It is full of smart ideas and moments of effective theater. ‘ The Washington Post Running time 4 hours 45 mins Region Code All regions Picture format 16:9 Anamorphic Sound format 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS Menu languages EN Subtitles EN/FR/DE/ES “this production revolves around Beckmesser, and Michael Volle puts in an exceptional performance...I would urge even the sceptics to take this production seriously...A complex and troubling but also consummate and satisfying experience: even on DVD it leaves a lasting impression.” Classical Review, 9th November 2010 “Katharina Wagner at first presents Walther von Stolzing as a paint-spraying performance artist and Beckmesser as a retentive, Reclam-photocopying pedant...This nicely observed updating would be enough to sustain some productions for a whole evening. But, for Katharina Wagner, this is just the tip of the iceberg...as all stage productions should be, this is 200 per cent a Meistersinger to see.” Gramophone Magazine, March 2011 “[Volle's Beckmesser] is so consistently alert, so wary of traditional caricature, so mellifluous in sound, and so well acted that it is, in fact, almost plausible to see him as the opera's hero...Franz Hawlata is a refreshingly youthful Sachs (which makes the Sachs-Eva-Walther triangle more affecting)” International Record Review, March 2011 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Recorded live at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden 29 Jan, 1 & 4 Feb 2010
Conducted by Christian Thielemann, this performance was the sensation of the 2010 Baden-Baden Festival. A one-act masterpiece inspired by Greek mythology, it is a dense, jagged cry for justice and vengeance. With its powerfully expressive chords, spooky waltz rhythms and mad dance of triumph, it shakes the audience to the core. Herbert Wernicke’s legendary production for the Bayerische Staatsoper stands out for its clear lines, classical structural elements and striking colour contrasts. Linda Watson, one of the great Wagnerian sopranos of today, superbly masters her role debut as Elektra, one of opera’s most demanding roles. Extra features: Cast gallery Running time 1 hour 40 mins Region Code All regions Picture format 16:9 Anamorphic Sound format 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS Menu languages EN Subtitles EN/FR/DE/ES “Perhaps taking its cue from Electra's repeated cry of 'Allein!' ('Alone!') the production presents all its characters as both alone and alienated from one another...Possibly in reaction to the statuesque starkness of the staging, Thielemann seems to want to tone down the score's mythic violence and tease out its moments of human (essentially womanly) warmth.” BBC Music Magazine, April 2011 *** “Watson has physical stature, an expressive face...the necessary intelligence and a suitable instrument, which is saying a great deal in this most formidable of roles...[Henschel] makes a capital Klytämnestra, lavishing lovelier tone on the role than it usually receives...Never do Christian Thielemann and the Munich Philharmonic overwhelm the singers: they make chamber music, in effect, with no bombast whatever” International Record Review, March 2011 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Das Rheingold Juha Uusitalo (Wotan), Franz-Josef Kapellmann (Alberich), John Daszak (Loge), Gerhard Siegel (Mime), Matti Salminen (Fasolt), Stephen Milling (Fafner) Sabina von Walter (Freia), Anna Larsson (Fricka), Christa Mayer (Erda),Silvia Vázquez (Woglinde), Ann-Katrin Naidu (Wellgunde), Hannah Esther Minutillo (Flosshilde), German Villar (Froh), Ilya Bannik (Donner) Die Walküre Peter Seiffert (Siegmund), Petra Maria Schnitzer (Sieglinde), Matti Salminen (Hunding), Jennifer Wilson (Brünnhilde), Juha Uusitalo (Wotan), Anna Larsson (Fricka) Siegfried Lance Ryan (Siegfried), Jennifer Wilson (Brünnhilde), Gerhard Siegel (Mime), Juha Uusitalo (Der Wanderer), Franz-Josef Kapellmann (Alberich), Stephen Milling (Fafner), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Erda), Marina Zyatkova (Waldvogel) Götterdämmerung Lance Ryan (Siegfried), Jennifer Wilson (Brünnhilde), Matti Salminen (Hagen), Ralf Lukas (Gunther), Franz-Josef Kapellmann (Alberich), Elisabete Matos (Gutrune), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Waltraute) Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, Zubin Mehta Special budget-priced DVD and Blu-ray 100 minutes of the most stunning visual and musical highlights of this production by La Fura dels Baus. Incl. two new documentaries about Franc Aleu and Carlus Padrissa. The highlights incl. arias of the world-class Wagner singers such as Seiffert, Salminen, Kapellmann, Mayer, Schnitzer and promising young talents like Jennifer Wilson (Brünnhilde), John Daszak (Loge) and Juha Uusitalo (Wotan) “Quite a spectacle, brilliantly sung.” The Sunday Times “It looks like a landmark Ring cycle, it is outstanding.” BBC Music Magazine Picture Format: NTSC 16:9 Sound Format: PCM Stereo Dolby Digital 5.1 Region: 0 Duration: 100 minutes - opera 30 minutes - bonus Recorded: Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia Valencia Spain 2007-2009 Subtitles: English German French Spanish Booklet: English German French | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Live Recording From The Los Angeles Opera, 2009
Désirée Rancatore (Nightingale), Brandon Jovanovich (Good Hope), James Johnson (Loyal Friend) & Martin Gantner (Hoopoe) Los Angeles Opera Orchestra & Chorus, James Conlon (conductor) & Darko Tresnjak (stage director) World Premiere Recording on DVD Set Design by David P. Gordon A production of the LA Opera House ground-breaking Recovered Voices project, highlighting the works of composers affected by the Holocaust. Walter Braunfels, a strong advocate of neo-Romanticism, made significant contributions to the world of twentieth-century opera. Yet, he lost his rightful places in twentieth-century opera houses. His music inhabits a very different world, both geographically and aesthetically, nurtured far from Vienna’s charged, multi-cultural atmosphere. Deeply rooted in German Classicism and Romanticism, he conceals none of his admiration for the inherited past and sees himself as building on its fundamentals. By almost any standard, he was a conservative. The premiere of Die Vögel in Munich in 1920, under the direction of Bruno Walter (who still lauded the work as late as 1950), was a huge public and critical success. The number of productions and performances in the following years was staggering. However, in the post- World War II years of his “rehabilitation,” Braunfels never regained a foothold. Die Vögel was not produced again until 1971 in Karlsruhe and 1994 in Berlin. "A rare chance to hear Braunfels‘s lighthearted, tenderly spiritual and little-known fable…“ The New York Times "A marvelous performance…the orchestra sounded radiant.“ Los Angeles Times "Conlon conducted with lustrous élan…We should hear more of Braunfels‘ work.” Financial Times, London Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, DTS 5.1 Picture Format: 16:9 DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC Subtitle Languages: DE, GB, FR, ES, IT, JP Running Time: 132 mins FSK: 0 “Walter Braunfel's Die Vögel is that very rare thing - a neglected work which really is worth reviving...The staging is colourful, with plenty of well-coordinated movement, and James Conlon conducts his Los Angeles forces persuasively, as well as writing helpfully about the opera in the booklet.” BBC Music Magazine, February 2011 **** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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Hard on the heels of a triumphant Lohengrin, Decca follows up with an equally astonishing debut performance from Jonas Kaufmann: Goethe’s love-lorn hero Werther, in Massenet’s romantic opera. His premiere appearance in the role, in Paris in January 2010, took the French operatic world by storm, his performance being hailed by Le Monde: “Werther is portrayed by the tenor of the moment, the German Jonas Kaufmann. He brings to the part a sublime timbre (warm, at times “baritonal” and musky), exceptional musicality, a very wide palette of tonal shadings and immaculate diction. Add to that his histrionic gifts and matinée-idol appeal and you’ve got a cocktail of qualities that rarely all come together at the opera.” He was supported by a superb French cast, including Sophie Koch as Charlotte and Ludovic Tézier as Albert, with the venerable Michel Plasson giving an expansive, lyrical interpretation from the pit. Film director Benoît Jacquot’s attractive, straight-forward production, first seen at the Royal Opera House in London, focuses successfully on the various personal dramas of the opera. Filmed in high definition widescreen by Idéale Audience, this new Werther is Jonas Kaufmann’s third Decca DVD, and follows the extraordinary success of his Royal Opera Carmen and the recently-released Lohengrin from Munich. Classification: Exempt Region: 0 “Kaufmann's singing...is rich and often extremely beautiful...[Koch] is a touching and dignified Charlotte...the playing is thoughtful and intense, and every care is taken over detail.” Gramophone Magazine, February 2011 “[on DVD] it comes beautifully to life, with Sophie Koch’s Charlotte much more involving in close-up than she was at a distance and Jonas Kaufmann an absolute dream of a Werther. Their scorching Act 3 duet will simply blow your head off.” The Telegraph, 2nd December 2011 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Luigi Manzotti's Excelsior: Music by Romualdo Marenco
Carla Fracci, Anna Razzi, Paolo Bortoluzzi, Bruno Telloli Orchestra e Corpo di ballo del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Enrico de Mori | | | Usually despatched in 8 - 10 working days. |
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Anna Caterina Antonacci is now acknowledged as a major artist, and her extraordinary vocal timbre and great acting skills have enabled her to perform a vast and varied repertoire in the world’s most important theatres. She made her Covent Garden debut in a new production of Carmen in 2008 with Antonio Pappano and recently performed a selection of Cantaloube’s Chants d’Auvergnes at the BBC Proms with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales conducted by François-Xavier Roth. John Eliot Gardiner is one of the most versatile conductors of our time. Acknowledged as a key figure in the early music revival, he is the founder and artistic director of the Monteverdi Choir, the English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique. The extent of his repertoire is illustrated in over 250 recordings which have received numerous international awards. Over the years Gardiner has won more Gramophone awards than any other artist. Probably the most francophile of English conductors, John Eliot Gardiner returned to the Opéra Comique, Paris for a much aclaimed production of Carmen last year. On June 25th it was broadcast live to 50 theatres in France and Switzerland and also recorded for TV. This followed an exciting collaboration that began in December 2007 with Chabrier’s opera bouffe L'Etoile, which had opened the new theatre at Opéra Comique in December 2007. Bonus includes the return of Carmen to the Opéra comique. Interviews with Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Jérôme Deschamps & Agnès Terrier Production: OPERA COMIQUE; Direction: Adrian Noble; Sets & Costumes: Mark Thompson; Lighting: Jean Kalman Coproduction: Grand Théâtre de la ville de Luxembourg et Atlanta Opéra Réalisation TV: François ROUSSILLON 170’ & bonus 21’ booklet 32 pages, 5 languages “[Antonacci] dominates the cast entirely - less carnivorous and more complex than on Covent Garden's DVD, singing with a lighter, more nuanced touch...Gardiner's is a crisply intense reading, occasionally rushing Bizet's bravura passages, but taking us back to the opera's dramatic core.” BBC Music Magazine, January 2011 **** “Nothing heavy or ponderous weighs on this performance, for Gardiner's style is far from that, and chorus and orchestra respond as one would expect...[Antonacci] exudes sensual cunning rather than sexual profligacy...Vocally, she is in excellent shape. Not for her the use of chest-voice but a more alluring sound.” International Record Review, December 2010 “Gardiner conducts Richard Langham Smith's new critical edition with fiery precision, while the period sound of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique adds rawness to the prevailing sensuality...Antonacci and Andrew Richards generate such a terrific erotic charge as Carmen and José that you understand why its first audiences found it obscene.” The Guardian, 9th December 2010 **** | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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Luciano Pavarotti will always be associated with the role of the painter Cavaradossi in Puccini's Tosca. His interpretations of the arias 'Recondita armonia' and 'E lucevan le stelle' became two of his greatest hits, which he sang at all his stadium concerts Specially restored and released for the first time on any format, this remarkable performance presents Luciano Pavarotti the opera star, at the very peak of his stage career. Filmed live at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, on December 19th, 1978. The production is by legendary baritone Tito Gobbi - best remembered as Scarpia opposite the Tosca of Maria Callas. Pavarotti's co-stars are two internationally acclaimed American singers - soprano Shirley Verrett and baritone Cornell MacNeil. Remarkable DVD bonus features - available for the first time Unique footage of Luciano Pavarotti in a music rehearsal, with Shirley Verrett and Maestro James Conlon A discussion between the greatest of all Baron Scarpias, Italian baritone Tito Gobbi, and the Scarpia of this production, baritone Cornell MacNeil A discussion with conductor James Conlon and Metropolitan Opera Music Director, James Levine. Released to mark the 75th anniversary of Luciano Pavarotti's birth on October 12th, 1935 Classification: Exempt Region: 0 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Aleko and Kaschey the Immortal
Rachmaninov: | Aleko Recorded in 1986 Konstantin Pluzhnikov (Kaschei), Natalya Lapina (Kashcheyevna - actress), E. Rubin (Kashcheyevna - singer), Alla Oding (Princess), Sofia Yalysheva (Princess), Valery Lebedev (Prince Ivan Korolevich), Yuri Stoyanov (The Storm Knight - actor), Alexander Morozov (The Storm Knight - singer) Moscow State Symphony Orchestra, Gosteleradio Chorus, Dimitri Kitayenko | Rimsky Korsakov: | Kashchey the Immortal Recorded in 1987 Nelli Volshaninova (Zemfira - actress), Svetlana Volkova (Zemfira - singer), Vladimir Golovin (Old Gypsy - actor), Vladimir Matorin (Old Gypsy - singer), Maria Papazian (Old Gypsy Woman - actress), Raisa Kotova (Old Gypsy Woman - singer), Sandor Semenov (Young Gypsy - actress), Mikhail Muntyan (Young Gypsy - singer) Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony Orchestra of Leningrad, A Trifonov |
A “double bill” of two Russian operatic masterpieces. Legendary bass Evgeny Nesterenko stars in the title role of Aleko (1892), an early work of Sergei Rachmaninoff (1873-1943), written the composer was still a student at the Moscow Conservatory. Strongly influenced by the Italian verismo school (the plot is a close relation to that of Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci), the score is full of colorful evocations of Gypsy life and passionate emotional outpourings. The cast of this expansive 1986 film version, directed by Victor Okuntsov, includes members of Gypsy folk ensembles, adding to the production’s striking authenticity. The Moscow State Symphony Orchestra and Gosteleradio Chorus are under the direction of Dimitri Kitayenko. By contrast, Kashchey the Immortal (sometimes called Kashchey the Deathless) is very much a mature work of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908); it was the composer’s twelfth opera, and premiered in 1902. Moreover, its mythic setting and magical storyline (drawn from the same Russian folk tale that inspired Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird) are worlds away from Aleko’s gritty realism. This 1987 Russian film version stars the great singing actor Konstantin Pluzhnikov in the title role (Pluzhnikov is also the Kaschey in the acclaimed CD recording conducted by Valery Gergiev). Directed by Oleg Yeryshev, the film goes far beyond what could be achieved in a stage production, adding clarity, depth, and spectacle to this poignant fairy tale. 124 minutes, Color, 4:3, Mono, All regions Subtitles in English and Russian | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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