DVD Videos

This DVD presents a wonderful recording of the opening concert of the Salzburger Festspiele from 2012 – an annual highlight on the Classical Music calendar traditionally performed by the vibrant heart of the festival: the Wiener Philharmoniker.

The program from 2012 was Russian themed with a focus on the most profound questions of human life with excellent interpretations of Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms, Modest Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death and Sergei Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony.

The concert is conducted by Valery Gergiev, general and artistic director of the Mariinsky Theatre, winner of the Herbert-von-Karajan Award and the Polar Music Prize. Russian tenor Sergei Semishkur, soloist at the Mariinsky theatre, excels in his intense interpretation of Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death.

Picture format DVD: NTSC 16:9

Sound formats DVD: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.0, DTS 5.0

Region code: All (worldwide)

Subtitles: English, German, French

Booklet notes: English, German, French

Running time: 90 mins

World famous tenor Christoph Prégardien continues his series of recordings for Challenge Classics of Schubert song-cycles, with what many consider to be the composer’s greatest work in the genre “Winterreise”. As with previous critically acclaimed releases in the series the pianist is Michael Gees. This DVD release features video of a performance of the work as well as the documentary “Winterreise, Der dritte Weg” (Winterreise, the third way), which presents interviews with Prégardien and Gees and behind-the-scenes footage of the studio recording process.

DVD specifications:

Region code: 0 (region free)

Rating: E (exempt)

Picture format: 16:9, NTSC (region free)

Sound format: Stereo Dolby Digital 2.0, Surround Dolby Digital 5.1

The Dresden Staatskapelle has a living Bruckner tradition, stretching back a century and more, which is lovingly curated by its new music director, Christian Thielemann, who is himself a powerful advocate for the composer’s symphonies as the pinnacle of the Austro-German tradition; and in particular for the Wagnerian resonances of the Seventh, whose Adagio was shaped by news of Wagner’s death in Venice. Hugo Wolf was also deeply affected by that news; his songs, like Bruckner’s symphonies, can be seen as oblique reflections on the influence of Wagner, especially when sung, as they are here by Renée Fleming, with the utmost delicacy and intimacy.

Christian Thielemann’s first concert as Principal Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden.

Both Thielemann and Fleming are renowned interpreters of Romantic repertoire.

Bruckner’s 7th Symphony premiered in 1884 to universal acclaim & established him as a serious composer of symphonic music, Wolf’s Songs were composed four years later.

Wolf was a great admirer of Bruckner and both idolized Wagner, whose influence is felt in the 7th Symphony.

Running time: 106 minutes

Subtitles N/A

Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS

This DVD, centered on the dazzling German soprano Diana Damrau, complements a ravishing recital with a fascinating documentary.

In March 2013, Damrau achieved “a daring victory” (in the words of the New York Times) when the Metropolitan Opera witnessed her first-ever performances of Verdi’s La traviata. In recent years she has made the transition from glittering, stratospheric roles such as Mozart’s Queen of the Night and Strauss’ Zerbinetta to lyrical heroines of greater emotional complexity, such as Gilda in Rigoletto, Adina in L’elisir d’amore and Lucia di Lammermoor. A series of triumphs at the Met have made her a favourite singer in New York – as she is in other leading opera houses around the world.

In the documentary, Diana Damrau – Diva Divina, the soprano explains that, when she was just 12 years old, it was La traviata (in Franco Zeffirelli’s lavish 1982 cinematic version) that inspired her to make a career in opera. The documentary, directed by Beatrix Conrad, follows Damrau over the course of nine months, covering operatic performances and rehearsals in Geneva, New York, Paris and Munich, recitals, recordings and the arrival of her first child, Alexander.

The recital, filmed at the impressive Festspielhaus in Baden-Baden, pairs Damrau with the French harpist Xavier de Maistre in an exquisite selection of songs by Schumann, Fauré, Debussy and Strauss. Among the best-loved items in the programme are: Schumann’s ‘Widmung’; both Fauré’s and Debussy’s settings of Verlaine’s poem ‘Clair de lune’; Fauré’s ‘Après un rêve’; a harp arrangement of Debussy’s piano Arabesque No 1; Strauss’ ‘Morgen‘ and ‘Ständchen’ and, among the encores, the famed Bach-Gounod ‘Ave Maria’.

In the course of 2013, Damrau and de Maistre will also perform together in concert seasons in Washington D.C., Paris, Geneva, Lyon, Reykjavik, Hamburg, Munich and London and at festivals in Menton, Gstaad, Schwarzenberg and Grafenegg.

Reviewing the performance in Baden-Baden – for which the audience joined Damrau and de Maistre on the stage, rather than being distanced from them in the expansive auditorium – the Badische Neueste Nachrichten wrote of Damrau as a recitalist “whose vocal material and abilities as a storyteller approach perfection”, while the Badisches Tagblatt said:” Damrau’s diction is a pleasure, her vocal flexibility amazing. She sings phrases with ample breath, while her nuanced shadings create subtle changes of mood from song to song.” Die Rheinpfalz described the “gentle, sometimes ethereal tones of the harp” as being in perfect harmony with the “exceptionally subtle and detailed vocal art of the soprano … particularly exceptional are the delicate tracery and colours of Diana Damrau’s singing. Her shaping and accenting of the text is meticulous, her phrasing is of great sensitivity and her dynamics are richly nuanced, yet her song performances are never mannered, rather always full of lyrical feeling.”

This DVD release celebrates the life of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, German lyric baritone and one of the most acclaimed Lieder performers of the late 20th century. Elisabeth Schwarzkopf called him ‘a born god who has it all’. He performed and recorded a great many operatic roles and dominated both the opera and concert platform for over thirty years, being regarded as one of the finest lyrical vocalists of his generation.

In these two concerts from the Opera Theatre of Nuremberg, recorded in 1991 and 1992, Fischer-Dieskau performs beautiful and dramatic Lieder by Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann.

157 MINS • ALL REGIONS • NTSC 4:3 • COLOUR • L-PCM STEREO

“The greatest mix of colours that ever existed” was Gustav Mahler’s description of the third movement of his Fourth Symphony. Riccardo Chailly, one of the most adept interpreters of Mahler of our time, and the Gewandhaus Orchestra transformed the entire Fourth Symphony into this kaleidoscope of sound.

The unmistakable timbre of the orchestra has become synonymous with late Romantic repertoire and Mahler-esque style – it was described by Der Tagesspiegel as “uncommonly present, even in the thread-fine pianissimo, compact, concentrated, satin”. Once more, the connection between Chailly, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and Mahler proved to be exceptional: The way Chailly “moulded the music, which is so familiar to him, with loving gestures, confidently alluding to a thousand subtle details, allowing the orchestra to rise and fall – that is perfect.”

BONUS TRACKS

1. The Welte-Mignon Piano Player Device

2. Mahler plays Mahler – Symphony No. 4, 4th movement

3. Riccardo Chailly on interpreting Mahler's 4th Symphony with the Gewandhaus Orchestra

Picture Format DVD: NTSC 16:9

Sound Formats DVD: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1,

Region Code: 0 (worldwide)

Running Time: 61:14 min

Running Time Bonus: approx. 16 min

Disc Format: DVD-9

Subtitles: German, English, French, Japanese

Subtitles Bonus: German, English

Hosted by Valerie Solti

The Solti Centenary Concert in Chicago celebrated Sir Georg Solti’s 100th birthday on October 21, 2012, featuring the World Orchestra for Peace. This unique ensemble owes its existence to the vision of its founder, Sir Georg Solti, who believed passionately in peace and the power of music and musicians to be ambassadors for peace.

Charmingly hosted by Solti’s widow, Lady Valerie Solti, and featuring soloists such as Angela Gheorghiu and René Pape as well as members of the Georg Solti Accademia, this memorable evening presents musical highlights, all of which played a significant role in Solti’s life and career.

Besides excerpts from Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Die Zauberflöte and Don Giovanni or Verdi’s La Traviata and Rigoletto, this concert finds lovely musical moments in the 'Adagietto' from Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, Strauss’ Don Juan and Bartók’s masterful Concerto for Orchestra. Sousa’s Stars and Stripes Forever as the encore closes the performance with a smash.

Conductor Valery Gergiev was a good friend of his advisor Georg Solti. Together with Lady Valerie Solti and the World Orchestra for Peace he carries on Solti’s vision and maintains his memory.

Special Bonus Feature: “Solti’s Vision”, a film about the World Orchestra for Peace

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1, dts-HD Master Audio 5.1

Format: DVD 9 / NTSC

Subtitle Languages: DE, FR / DE (Bonus)

Running Time: 112 mins + 21 mins (Bonus)

FSK: 0

Worldwide available

Thielemann’s annual Operetta Gala is THE New Year’s tradition in the making, presenting the sparkling treasures of the popular operetta repertoire – magnificent, familiar music and great artists, a colourful, festive atmosphere, and the most elegant of historic German venues.

A unique occasion, and a unique product offering - welcome 2013 in effervescent style with Christian Thielemann, the Staatskapelle Dresden, vibrant dancers, and a pair of dashing star soloists – Ingeborg Schöpf and Piotr Beczala.

Recorded in Dresden’s magnificent Semperoper, the concert will be broadcast LIVE on television on 30 December 2012, and seen by a 1.75-million-plus audience on ZDF, as well as being carried to a potential six-figure audience via key European and Asian satellite affiliates.

Features operetta hits and favourites from Countess Mariza, The Gypsy Princess, Kaiserin Josephine, The Duchess of Chicago and many more

Philippe Jaroussky, described by Germany’s Die Zeit as “the Apollo of countertenors’, stands out among his many talented contemporaries as much for the soprano-like beauty of his tone as for the elegance and insight of his interpretations and his adventurous and erudite approach to repertoire – whether unearthing neglected scores by little-known composers or venturing beyond the Baroque into the 19th and 20th centuries.

Established as one of Virgin Classics’ bestselling artists, Jaroussky, now aged 34, has been honoured three times in the Victoires de la Musique awards in his native France and has also received Germany’s most prominent music prize, the Echo Klassik. His diverse achievements are saluted in two new collections on Virgin Classics – the 2CD set “The Voice” and the DVD and Blu Ray “La Voix des rêves: Greatest moments in Concert”.

“LA VOIX DES RÊVES - Greatest Moments in Concert” (available on DVD & Blu Ray) features video footage from a number of occasions and venues – including items from a concert given among the crystal chandeliers of the splendid Galerie des Glaces in the palace of Versailles, and works by Handel and Vivaldi performed in another jewel of French Baroque architecture, the sumptuously decorated Chapelle de la Trinité in Lyon. Also included are exclusive interviews an array of fellow musicians: Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Emmanuelle Haïm, Christina Pluhar; Jérôme Ducros, Quatuor Ebène, Gautier Capuçon, Marie-Nicole Lemieux and Renaud Capuçon.

Jaroussky and his appeal were aptly summarised in a recent profile in the French magazine Balthazar: “Philippe Jaroussky alternates between opera and recitals, bringing his sensual, graceful voice and matinee idol looks, and this has made him a key star of classical music. But his recordings also reveal a skilled musicologist who has revived numerous forgotten artists like the castrato Carestini [and the composers] Johann Christian Bach and Caldara. Jaroussky simply glows. Anyone who has had the opportunity to meet him will find it hard to forget his enthusiastic conversation and his magnetic gaze.”

The singer made his passions clear in an interview with Crescendo magazine, revealing that “I don’t like being told I have the ‘voice of an angel’, because that would just mean that it sounds pretty and takes people out of themselves … I want to be able to evoke more human emotions too: sorrow, despair, jealousy.” Speaking to the leading French newspaper Le Monde, he went into more detail on his philosophy as a maturing singer: “Ten years into your career, you reach a certain level of purity in your approach. You are always set on improving – strengthening your high notes, your low notes, your projection or your expressivity – but you also accept what it means to be an artist.”

Franz Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise was written late in his life. It is regarded both as a highlight of the genre and as the touchstone by which lieder singers are judged. To succeed in interpreting Winterreise is the artistic equivalent of a patent of nobility for a singer. The song cycle certainly became one of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau’s calling cards and it is probably this work that made the baritone an international household name. In this recording made for the Sender Freies Berlin in January 1979, we see two of the leading musicians of their day in the prime of their lives and at the very peak of their art and experience appearing together in the service of Schubert’s Winterreise. Both the experienced Schubert lieder singer and the Austrian pianist Alfred Brendel, known throughout the world for his authoritative interpretations of Schubert’s piano music – had performed Winterreise together frequently between 1975 and 1989.

In 1991, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau finally agreed to perform Schubert’s Die Schöne Müllerin at the Feldkirch Schubertiade - he had not sung the song-cycle in public for twenty years. The great baritone belonged to the innermost circle of artists who give this unique, Austrian festival of chamber music its distinctive character. He had performed Schubert there on many occasions, but never Die Schöne Müllerin. The pianist András Schiff was another long-standing member of the inner circle, but this was the artists’ first collaboration in Feldkirch – and so Austrian Television (ORF) recorded the concert.

BONUS: The Rehearsal & Fischer-Dieskau in conversation

Sound Format: PCM Stereo

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 5 & DVD 9 / NTSC

Subtitle Languages: DE (Original Language), GB, FR, IT, ES

Running Time: 135 mins (performance) + 76 mins (bonus)

FSK: 0