DVD Videos

Features two of opera’s biggest superstars, Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón, in the roles they have performed to live audiences all over the world.

Comprehensive and successful commercial run in cinemas, screening in all major towns and cities across the UK and Ireland, and opening in London’s Barbican Centre and Apollo West End to outstanding figures.

Exclusive DVD bonus features, including in-depth interviews with stars Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón and director Robert Dornhelm, behind-the-scenes of La Bohème, limited edition collector’s booklet and more.

“Succulently dramatic… a tribute to the stars’ power” The Times

“breathtakingly dramatic and emotional… full to the brim with some of the best vocal talents of today” Opera Now

“beautifully sung all round” Philip French, The Observer

“the world’s finest soprano-tenor team… Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón don’t only sing with beauty and power; they can also act” The Evening Standard

WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING of this comic opera from a play by Carlo Goldini which had been absent from Madrid’s stages since 1792, having originally premiered in 1786.

In 1789 Mozart composed two ‘substitute arias’ for this opera which, given their musical superiority, have been inserted into this edition of the opera, sung by Véronique Gens

Director Irina Brook, on her debut at the Teatro Real, sets the action in modern times, mixing several styles to create a very bright and effective production.

Title literally translates as the Ruffian with the good heart. A brilliant libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, music which is both graceful and captivating and a first rate cast make this opera a welcome rediscovery and cements Dynamic’s collaboration with Teatro Real.

A WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING commissioned by the Teatro La Fenice to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Venetian playwright and librettist Carlo Goldini.

Melega’s libretto is written in English, a language which offers greater opportunity for plays on words and whose rhythmic nature better suits Mosca’s music.

The opera incorporates Shakespearean tragedies and comedies set in the Veneto, namely Othello, Romeo & Juliet, The Merchant of Venice and Two Gentlemen of Verona. Shakespeare himself appears as a character in the opera, along with characters from Goldini’s plays and Mozart’s Despina.

One of the very few contemporary operas being staged in Italy, signaling something of a revival of the operatic world.

Stage Direction, Set Design and Costumes by Massimo Gasparon

Zandonai’s most popular creation “Francesca da Rimini” was commemorated in Macerata, the provincial capital of the northern Italian region of Marche, in 2004. Massimo Gasparon (former assistant to the celebrated scenographer Pier Luigi Pizzi) was responsible for the direction, set and costumes of this production for the Sferisterio Opera Festival. With its all-star cast including Daniela Dessì and Fabio Armiliato as the passionate lovers (the singers are regarded as two of the leading interpreters of Italian soprano and tenor roles respectively, both hail from Genoa and are in fact also real-life partners) and the baritone Alberto Mastromarino as the ideal “villain”, the production follows in a long line of significant post-war performances of Francesca da Rimini. The Sferisterio – a 4,500-seat arena originally used as a venue for the traditional ballgame gioco del bracciale (a game played with spiked arm protectors and a heavy wooden ball) – was built between 1819 and 1829; since 1921 it has been home to the annual opera festival held in late July/early August. As has come to be associated with staged events in Verona, the representative open-air nature of the performance turns this lavishly costumed production in a historic setting into something out of the ordinary.

Set Design and Costumes by Michael Levine

Three stories of passionate affairs, lost loves and the illusions of an artist! Hoffman, a musician and poet, recounts his love for the automaton Olympia, the singer Antonia and the courtesan Giulietta. In his only grand opera, Offenbach created a fantasy-filled, dreamlike atmosphere. The opera, which culminates with the immortal „Barcarolle“ Belle nuit, ô nuit d‘amour „, is considered to be one the most successful in the French repertoire. Arthaus Musik presents a DVD of Robert Carsen’s celebrated staging of Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Opéra Bastille. The award-winning Canadian is one of the foremost opera directors of today, well known for his exquisitely crafted productions and the classic beauty of his opera interpretations. He first produced Les contes d’Hoffmann for the Opéra de Paris in March 2000, and because of its great success, this production returned to the stage in October 2002, when this DVD was recorded. The fi lm captures this vibrant staging, oscillating between the famous chorus scenes at Luther’s inn and the intimate moments of Hoffmann’s tragic tales. The great American singer-actors Neil Shicoff and Susanne Mentzer as Hoffmann and his friend Nicklausse lead through the three stories with highly versatile acting, while famous Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel plays and sings the four evil characters with awe-inspiring conviction. The DVD also includes three interviews as bonus tracks.

Max Lorenz was the leading Wagner tenor of his day. As Siegfried, he was the principal protagonist on the stage of the Bayreuth Festival throughout the years of Hitler's association with the Festival. But his marriage to a Jewish singer and his homosexuality were a thorn in the flesh to many Nazis, and it was only his exceptional qualities as a singer that ensured that whenever the going got tough he was protected by the powers that be: when he was indicted for homosexual actions, Hitler ordered the case to be dropped, while Hermann Göring came to the support of Lorenz and his wife when members of the SS turned up at their house with a warrant for their deportation. The story of Max Lorenz is closely bound up with that of Bayreuth's Villa Wahnfried from the time of the Weimar Republic to the early years of the Federal Republic. No attempt to retrace the singer's steps can avoid taking in the wider picture and seeing this fascinating artist against the background of his age.The present television documentary examines the heroic ideal and the way in which Wagner's characters were portrayed onstage during this period, while also seeking answers to questions about Max Lorenz's career under the Third Reich and exploring the complications to which he was exposed. Central to our portrait is Max Lorenz as a singer. Our film depicts him in archival recordings from four decades. Comments are provided by numerous colleagues and contemporaries, including Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who admired Lorenz from an early date before finally appearing onstage with his idol; René Kollo, who regards his predecessor as "arguably the most important Wagner tenor of all"; the soprano Hilde Zadek; and the tenor Waldemar Kmentt.All of them knew Lorenz as a colleague over a period of many years.Another eyewitness is the dancer Lieselott Tietjen, the widow of the most powerful theatrical figure under the National Socialists, Heinz Tietjen.These and other interviewees are present whenever Max Lorenz sings: in the film, they are seen listening to him singing, allowing the camera to register their individual reactions and comments. In this way the art of Max Lorenz - in itself testimony to a bygone age in operatic history - becomes a fascinating part of the present day.

This gripping, well - researched documentary boasts original footage of Max Lorenz, Haus Wahnfried and Hitler's visits to Bayreuth (e.g. the first coloured picture of Hitler)

“just about the greatest thing that thrives in the way of tenors…He has the figure, the presence, the stature of a Wagnerian hero. He has an abundance of Bayreuth training." The New York Times (1937)

“Sung dazzlingly, “Myself I shall adore” was one of many high points in Bartoli's stunning performance, her first operatic role in a language other than Italian…The wonderfully intimate Zurich Opera House allows every detail of her performance to be savoured.” International Herald Tribune

Cecilia Bartoli’s first operatic Decca DVD release for over 10 years sees her triumphing in the title role of Handel’s late drama, ‘Semele’. This will undoubtedly be the most prestigious start possible to ‘Handel Year’ (marking the 250th anniversary of his death). Not only is this Cecilia Bartoli’s first DVD opera for Decca in 12 years (since Rossini’s ‘La Cenerentola’), it is also her first opera singing in English.

‘Semele’ is presented in Robert Carsen’s stylish modern dress production, originally seen in London, and most recently staged at the Zurich Opera in 2007 (where it will be revived in January 2009). The drama tells of the ambition of the beautiful mortal, Semele, who, not satisfied with being Jupiter’s mistress, strives with fatal results to supplant Jupiter’s wife, Juno. Conceived as an oratorio but nowadays presented as a stage drama, it is a superb vehicle for all the principals, not least the substantial title role, which includes such popular arias as ‘Endless pleasure’ and ‘Myself I shall adore’. Robert Carsen’s acclaimed staging hints at parallels with the problematic relationship between the late Princess Diana and the British Royal Family.Outstanding orchestral accompaniment comes from the renowned combination of William Christie and La Scintilla

Filmed in High Definition Widescreen.

Stage Director: Robert Carsen

TV Director: Felix Breisach