DVD Videos

Riccardo Muti's conducting of one of Mozart's best-loved operas was hailed in the press for its "freshness, rapidity and wit" and for "its wonderfully balanced feeling of being up one moment and down the next".

Così fan tutte, the most ‘symphonic’ of the four operas with libretti written by Lorenzo da Ponte, was composed over the autumn and winter months 1789 and premiered on January 26th, 1790, on the eve of the Mozart's 34th birthday.

Witness the outstanding performances by an ideal cast & also the classical staging and thoroughly Mozartian approach taken by director Roberto de Simone.

Ricardo Muti is regarded as a Mozart expert.With the Vienna Phil, he celebrated the 250th birthday of Mozart on January 27th, 2006, with a worldwide telecast of a concert from

Salzburg, and subsequent tour - a triumphant set of performances.

Directed for TV by highly regarded director Brian Large.

Castor et Pollux is arguably Rameau’s finest creation in the tragédie lyrique style. Its libretto, based in mythology, focuses on an unusual theme: the self-sacrificing love between Castor, who is mortal, and his immortal brother, Pollux. When Castor is killed while defending his beloved Télaire from an attempted abduction, Pollux resolves to give up his immortality and take Castor’s place in the Underworld. After passionate debate over who will live and who will die, the brothers are eternally united, transformed into the constellation Gemini. The strikingly luminous sets, depicting a stylized version of the constellation, give this fabulous production, staged by Pierre Audi and conducted by Christophe Rousset, a glorious 21st-century baroque look.

‘To turn almost three hours of obscure French baroque opera into a popular hit is the kind of stunt at which the Netherlands Opera excels. … All the singers are beautiful and polished…Veronique Gens as Phebe manages to rise beyond form and truly breathe life into her character's phrases. Gens's performance is radiant and burnished, full of subtlety and character.' Bloomberg.com

This world premiere of a gripping new work by composer Harrison Birtwistle and librettist David Harsent, commissioned by The Royal Opera, brings the monstrous, Greek mythological character to the stage. The Minotaur, part man, part beast, trapped in his labyrinth and constrained by his bloodthirsty role there, longs to discover his true identity and his own voice. Athens must pay a blood sacrifice to Crete and among the innocents is Theseus, who has come to challenge the violent Minotaur, but who also attracts the attention of Ariadne, half-sister and keeper of the monster; it is with her help he succeeds.

‘Thanks to a superb cast and impeccable playing under Antonio Pappano, the evening is a glittering success. …what Birtwistle has done is give us one opera inside another. The outer one is strident and earthbound; the inner one – ending with the Minotaur's Caliban-like

dying aria – burns with visionary fire.’ The Independent

Manon Lescaut, Puccini‘s first major success, is a work of impassioned emotions based on the 18th-century novel by Abbé Prévost, depicting the doomed infatuation of Chevalier des Grieux for beautiful, fun-loving Manon. Puccini clothes the story in warmly passionate music that makes a direct appeal to the listener‘s emotions. “Manon”, wrote Puccini to his publisher Giulio Ricordi in 1889, “is a heroine I believe in and therefore she cannot fail to win the heart of the public.” This turned out to be a truly prophetic statement since none of Puccini’s other world successes were received on their first nights as rapturously as Manon Lescaut. The popularity of Puccini’s great masterpiece has never waned and the production at the Chemnitz Opera House was hailed as “a magnificent event” and “ moments we go to the opera for.”

Conception by Dietrich Hilsdorf

“A magnificent event!” Opernglas

“A really powerful scene […] just before the end. These are the moments we go to the opera for.” Deutschlandradio Kultur

“Astrid Weber as Manon is first class!” Opernwelt

On 25th June 1850, Robert Schumann’s only opera, Genoveva, received its first performance at Leipzig State Theatre. It was a much-awaited event, as Schumann, widely regarded as the leading German instrumental composer, had set his mind to the urgent task of creating a national opera. However, despite the efforts of the composer’s supporters to maintain interest in the work, the opera was soon forgotten. When conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt fi rst came across Genoveva some 15 years ago (he subsequently recorded a CD of it in 1996), he voiced the opinion that “Genoveva is a work of art for which one should be prepared to go to the barricades”. Harnoncourt sees the main reason why Genoveva has not been recognised as a brilliant composition and perhaps the most significant opera written during the second half of the 19th century, as having much to do with the false expectations attached to the work. “You mustn’t look for dramatic events in this opera. What it offers us is a glimpse into the soul. Schumann was not interested in creating something naturalistic – he wanted to write a type of opera in which the music had a greater say.”

Set Design / Costumes by Rolf Glittenberg

Costumes by Heidi Hackl

Lighting by Jürgen Hoffmann

World Premiere Recording on DVD

“Never before so vivid! Robert Schumann was only too familiar with passionate yearning, cold possessiveness and madness. In Zurich his underestimated opera Genoveva has undergone a brilliant revival.” Die Zeit

“Juliane Banse as Genoveva produces a wonderfully soft, velvety sound, into which individual high notes are inserted with precision and passion. Martin Gantner […] is an authoritative and grand-scale Siegfried.” Frankfurter Rundschau

Set and costume designer: Desmond Heeley, Lighting designer: Gil Wechsler & Stage director: Gina Lapinski

Karita Mattila gives a career high performance in Puccini’s passionate opera, Manon Lescaut conducted by James Levine – filmed live at the Metropolitan Opera in Hi-Definition.

Continuing its collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera and its Metropolitan Opera : Live in High-Definition series, EMI Classics is proud to release the METs classic 28 year old production of Puccini’s Manon Lescaut on EMI Classics DVD.

This release marks a special moment in the Metropolitan Opera’s history. It is the first time in 18 years since Puccini’s Manon Lescaut was last performed on its great stage.

Manon Lescaut, a French tale telling of a beautiful young woman destroyed by her conflicting needs for love and luxury, was Puccini’s first successful opera and the work that thrust him onto the international stage as Italy’s foremost opera composer.

Finnish soprano Karita Mattila, as Manon Lescaut, is the star of the performance. Her interpretation of the first of Puccini’s many archetypal heroines is ‘riveting’ – New York Times.

Interestingly Mattila waited until her voice had gained maturity and richness before, when she was nearly 40, she first portrayed her Manon Lescaut in 1999. She now returns – enticing James Levine to conduct the work for the first time since 1981.

After 35 highly successful years as Music director of the Metropolitan Opera, a relationship unparalleled and unique in the musical world today, James Levine leads a fresh and intelligent performance.

Commissioned by the MET in the mid-1990s, this spectacular new production was one of the most highly anticipated cultural events of the 2006-07 Metropolitan Opera season.

The Opera tells of Emperor Qin’s quest for a national anthem for his new country and his ill-fated decision to force a rebellious but talented young composer to write it. Tragedy results following the composer’s love affair with the emperor’s crippled daughter, including the deaths of three principal characters. Plácido Domingo, as Emperor Qin, leads an all-star ensemble in this classic story, ideally suited to the opera stage.

The First Emperor combines the expressive power of traditional ancient Chinese singing with the long musical lines of Italian Opera. This juxtaposition of musical cultures illustrates Tan Dun’s musical style and influences perfectly. In his music not only East and West but ancient and modern coexist.

One of just six composers to conduct their own works at the Met, Tan Dun lead all the performances of the first run of the opera.

Revered Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou (Hero, Raise the Red Lantern) directs and was instrumental in the opera’s creation, having worked closely with Tan Dun while he composed the music.

The costumes are designed by Emi Wada, who won an Oscar for her work in the 1986 movie Ran. Over the course of a year and a half, Wada designed over 600 costumes. The quality of Wada’s exceptional work is apparent throughout.

Production: Zhang Yimou, Set designer: Fan Yue, Costume designer: Emi Wada, Lighting designer: Duane Schuler, Co-director: Wang Chaoge & Choreographer: Dou Dou Huang

Anthony Dean Griffey and Patricia Racette excel in John Doyle’s new production of Britten’s most celebrated opera, Peter Grimes – filmed live at the Metropolitan Opera in Hi-Definition.

This new MET production by award-winning director John Doyle (2006 Tony Award® Best Direction of a Musical – Sweeney Todd) of Britten’s haunting seaside tale continues EMI Classics’ recent collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera : Live in High-Definition series.

Peter Grimes, Britten’s second opera, is widely regarded as one of the masterpieces of postwar opera, and its premiere 63 years ago marked a turning point in the history of British Opera.

It is now considered a masterwork of 20th Century opera, and since its premiere, it became the first opera by an English composer to enter and remain in the international repertory.

The work is based on a poem by the turn-of-the-19th-century writer George Crabbe entitled The Borough, and is set in an isolated English fishing village in the 1830s.

Much of the emotional drive of the opera comes from the six ‘Sea Interludes’ – calm, storm, at dawn and by moonlight. These are among the most brilliantly evocative music that Britten ever wrote and which help to establish the constant, overpowering presence of the sea as the opera’s dominant force.

Anthony Dean Griffey, as Grimes, is ‘superb’ (San Francisco Chronicle). Patricia Racette, as Ellen Orford, the schoolmistress who tries and fails to rescue Grimes from his anger and self-pity is ‘near faultless’ (New York Sun).

Donald Runnicles, music director of the San Francisco Opera, “drew an inspired performance from the Met Orchestra, full of passion and commitment yet free of bombast. Without slackening the dramatic tension, he found ways of drawing out both the music's austere lyricism and its violent extremes.” – Boston Globe

Production: John Doyle, Set designer: Scott Pask, Costume designer: Ann Hould-Ward & Lighting designer: Peter Mumford

Production: Adrian Noble, Set & costume designer: Mark Thompson, Lighting designer: Jean Kalman & Choreographer: Sue Lefton

EMI Classics continues its collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera with a new production of Verdi’s richly haunting opera, Macbeth, as part of this season’s Metropolitan Opera : Live in High-Definition series.

For the first time in 20-years, the Metropolitan Opera presents the first of Verdi’s three operas based on Shakespeare, ‘in a stylistically eclectic, grimly effective and, at times, intriguingly playful production’ (New York Times) by English director Adrian Noble, making his Met debut.

At the time of composition, Macbeth was unique. Not only was it considered both musically and dramatically bold, but it was the first opera that can truly be described as Shakespearean. It was the first that altered operatic conventions to serve the play rather than converting the play into traditional operatic formulas.

After 35 highly successful years as Music director of the Metropolitan Opera, a relationship unparalleled and unique in the musical world today, James Levine conducts Verdi’s haunting score with tension and a type of brutality that this chilling work commands.

Angela Gheorghiu leads a magnificent cast in Franco Zeffirelli’s iconic production of Puccini’s La Bohème – filmed live at the Metropolitan Opera in Hi-Definition.

This grand, sumptuous production of Puccini’s timeless masterpiece is brought to you on DVD by EMI Classics, continuing its collaboration with the Metropolitan Opera and its hugely successful Metropolitan Opera : Live in High-Definition series.

La bohème, set in Paris around 1830, depicts a society fraught with conflict. Amid the turmoil, it is the love that blossoms between two young artists in a time that appears both bleak and turbulent that makes this story so very special.

Mimì and Rodolfo, sung by Angela Gheorghiu and Ramón Vargas respectively, charm as the young couple that fall in love while Marcello and Musetta are sung by Ludovic Tezier and Ainhoa Arteta. Gheorghiu, the leading Puccini soprano of our time, reprises the role of Mimì at the MET for the first time in twelve years. She sings the role with the beauty and perfection that is expected by an artist of her great stature and experience.

Following its debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1981, Franco Zeffirelli’s stunning production is as loved and as magnificent today as the day it was first staged over 27 years ago. This live broadcast is therefore the 347th time Zeffirelli’s Bohème has been performed making this, the most performed production in the MET’s history.

Conducting, Nicola Luisotti is described as “a man who knows what he is doing in this repertoire: the way he can control the orchestra to move with the singers' expressive tempo fluctuations is breathtaking, a quality which helps to show Puccini at his best.” - musicalcriticism.com

Only the hardest of hearts will remain untouched by this passionate and unforgettable story depicting the joys and sorrows of love and loss

Subtitles: Italian (sung), English, German, French, Spanish