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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | A Christmas Celebration (Box Set)
Settle down and enjoy Christmas fun and fantasy for all the family with these two magical classics from the Royal Opera House. All-time ballet favourite The Nutcracker comes to life in this stunning and captivating production – a real delight for adults and children alike. This is coupled with a spectacular and unforgettable performance of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. Imaginatively staged and with a new and original interpretation, this classic fairy tale provides the ideal seasonal treat. Running time: 265 minutes Subtitles: EN/FR/DE/ES (The Nutcracker) EN/FR/DE/ES/IT (Hansel and Gretel) Sound format: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS “The dancing of the two young principals, Iohna Loots and Ricardo Cervera as Clara and her enchanted Nutcracker, is characterful and enchanting...this is a generally conventional production [of Nutcracker] which sets off the dancers well...Kirchschlager is a very believable shock-haired boy, and brings Hansel’s boredom and mischief to life with great panache...The delicious profile of the music as delivered is picked up by the orchestra under a most responsive conductor.” MusicWeb International, November 2012 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Plácido Domingo - My Greatest Roles Volume 1 (Puccini)This first boxed set of Plácido Domingo’s greatest roles features operas by Puccini
Puccini: | La fanciulla del West Puccini's penultimate opera is set at the height of the California gold rush. In this Royal Opera recording, filmed in 1983, Carol Neblett sings the role of Minnie, ‘The Girl of the Golden West’, and Placido Domingo is as ignitable as ever in the role of Dick Johnson, alias the bandit, Ramirez. The much-admired production, still in repertory at The Royal Opera, is by Piero Faggioni, and the conductor is Nello Santi. Carol Neblett & Placido Domingo Nello Santi Manon Lescaut This famous production from The Royal Opera, filmed in 1983, features Kiri Te Kanawa in the title role and Plácido Domingo, whose performance of Des Grieux is considered to be unsurpassed. The role of Des Grieux is one of the most taxing in the tenor repertoire, and Domingo’s passionate portrayal is one of his greatest achievements. Lescaut is sung by Thomas Allen, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House is conducted by Giuseppe Sinopoli. Kiri Te Kanawa, Plácido Domingo & Thomas Allen Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Giuseppe Sinopoli Tosca For the first time, the long-awaited ‘live’, real-time Tosca, filmed in Rome in 1992, is available on DVD. For this unique and highly innovative version of Puccini’s Tosca., the acts were staggered so that they were broadcast at the very same times of day as Puccini had written into his score, and were broadcast live by satellite around the world. Tosca was also performed in the exact settings –: in the 16th-century church of Sant’Andrea della Valle, the nearby
Palazzo Farnese and finally at Castel Sant’Angelo. Plácido Domingo, Catherine Malfitano & Ruggero Raimondi Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of Rome RAI, Zubin Mehta |
Picture format: NTSC 4:3 FF Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo TOSCA: Duration: 114 mins Subtitles: Eng / Fr / Ger / It MANON LESCAUT: Duration:130mins Subtitles: Eng / Fr / Ger / Sp / It / Jp LA FAN. DEL W.: Duration: 140 mins Subtitles: Eng / Ger / Sp “Domingo stars in three roles, all filmed when his talents were at their peak. The Covent Garden Fanciulla is exceptional, Manon Lescaut generally good and the real-time Roman Tosca more than a technical feat.” BBC Music Magazine, March 2010 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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“Thank goodness for no quirky ideas...The singers are all outstanding, led by James Morris's warmly genial Sachs...and by Ben Heppner, who is an equally convincing Walther...Mattila not only looks gorgeous but sings ravishingly as Eva, while Sir Thomas Allen's characterisation of Beckmesser is all his own...Levine's conducting holds the performance together richly” Penguin Guide, 2010 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Pamela Armstrong (Rosalinde), Thomas Allen (Eisenstein), Lyubov Petrova (Adele), Pär Linskog (Alfred), Malena Ernman (Orlofsky), Håkan Hagegård (Falke), Ragnar Ulfung (Blind), Artur Korn (Frank), Udo Samel (Frosch), Renée Schüttengruber (Ida) London Philharmonic Orchestra, Glyndebourne Chorus, Vladimir Jurowski Specials: • Cast interviews with Thomas Allen, Pamela Armstrong, Håkan Hagegård, director Stephen Lawless and conductor Vladimir Jurowski • Feature on the building and architecture of Glyndebourne’s new opera house • BBC feature on the history of Waltz • Interactive Cast and Costume Design Galleries • 28 page, full colour illustrated booklet in English, French and German PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9 LENGTH: 196 MINS SOUND: DTS SURROUND / LPCM STEREO SUBTITLES: EN/FR/DE/NL/ES “Malena Ernman is a stunning Orlofsky (at the end, Lawless reveals that the prince was really a princess after all), and Håkan Hagegård and Pamela Armstrong are very satisfying as Dr. Falke and Rosalinde, respectively. Lyubov Petrova is a charmer, both visually and musically...The set is spectacular, particularly in Act Two, where the use of a rotating stage creates a movie-like effect.” Classical Net, 2004 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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“an ideal cast of principals and passionate, idiomatic conducting...the glorious singing of Placido Domingo as Des Grieux comes over heroically, and Kiri te Kanawa as Manon is both girlish and provocative...Thomas Allen is equally characterful and strong as Lescaut...For a realistic presentation it would be hard to find any rival.” Penguin Guide, 2010 edition **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Live Recording from The Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1975
Cosi fan tutte was one of the lesser-played great Mozart operas well into the 20th Century. In the festivals of South-English Glyndebourne, however, this work – which was initially criticised because of its “amorality” – has a long tradition. It was played when the festival had its debut in 1934 and was the first opera staged after the Second World War. This engaging and witty production from 1975 is conducted by John Pritchard and has been singled out by many Mozart connoisseurs for its colourful set, fabulous costumes, and abundance of humour in its character portrayals. The problems, the protagonists have to deal with, seem to be so up-to-date, that it’s hard to believe, that Cosi fan tutte is not a contemporary work. The moral of Mozart’s dramma giocoso is clear: fidelity in women is like an Arabian phoenix; everybody says it exists, nobody knows where. Leaving this defamatory statement aside, Così fan tutte is Mozart’s most beautiful ensemble opera ever written and a magnificent example of his wit at work. With sterling performances from Helena Doese, Sylvia Lindenstrand, Anson Austin and Thomas Allen, and careful remastering, this production is a real highlight. Sound Format: PCM Stereo Picture Format: 4:3 DVD Format: DVD 9 NTSC Subtitle Languages: IT (Original Language), GB, DE, FR, ES Running Time: 158 mins FSK: 0 | 
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| |  | Love, Passion & Deceit
Mozart: | Così fan tutte, K588 Miah Persson (Fiordiligi), Anke Vondung (Dorabella), Ainhoa Garmendia (Despina), Topi Lehtipuu (Ferrando), Luca Pisaroni (Guglielmo), Nicolas Rivenq (Don Alfonso) Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment & The Glyndebourne Chorus, Ivan Fischer (conductor) & Nicholas Hytner (director) | Rossini: | La Cenerentola Ruxandra Donose (Cenerentola), Maxim Mironov (Don Ramiro), Simone Alberghini (Dandini), Luciano di Pasquale (Don Magnifico), Raquela Sheeran (Clorinda), Lucia Cirillo (Tisbe), Nathan Berg (Alidoro) London Philharmonic Orchestra & The Glyndebourne Chorus, Vladimir Jurowski (conductor) & Sir Peter Hall (director) | Strauss, J, II: | Die Fledermaus Pär Lindskog (Alfred), Lyubov Petrova (Adele), Pamela Armstrong (Rosalinde), Thomas Allen (Eisenstein), Ragnar Ulfung (Blind), Håkan Hagegård (Falke), Artur Korn (Frank), Malena Ernman (Orlofsky), Udo Samel (Frosch), Renée Schüttengruber (Ida)
Udo Samel & Renée Schüttengruber The Glyndebourne Chorus & The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Vladimir Jurowski (conductor) & Stephen Lawless (director) |
The Glyndebourne Festival is a quintessentially English summer event. The world’s most acclaimed artists, conductors and directors excel in producing top-flight performances every year and this latest collection offers the choice of three such classic opera productions. Running time 9 hours 53 mins approx Region Code All regions Picture format 16:9 Anamorphic Sound format 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTS Menu languages EN Subtitles: La Cenerentola EN/FR/DE/ES/IT Così fan tutte EN/FR/DE/ES/IT Die Fledermaus EN/FR/DE/NL/ES | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, on 12th and 16th December 2008.
Diana Damrau and Angelika Kirchschlager star in the acclaimed 2008 production of Humperdinck’s famous fairytale opera, in the company of two of Britain’s most revered musical figures: Thomas Allen, playing the role of the Father, and the legendary conductor Colin Davis. Directors Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser combine their characteristic wit and a dash of deliciously dark comedy with the opera’s fairytale charm. Humperdinck’s music mixes catchy folk-like songs with sumptuous instrumental colour, making the result as tunefully approachable, musically memorable and visually delightful as opera gets. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in full Surround Sound. ‘Angelika Kirchschlager’s tousled, boyish Hänsel and Diana Damrau’s Gretel are dramatically convincing and vocally superb, while their parents, excellently sung and played by Elizabeth Connell and Thomas Allen, earn our sympathy as well as our censure. Pumeza Matshikiza’s goblin-like Sandman is truly magical and Anita Watson’s feather-dusting Dew Fairy another amusing creation. Colin Davis, unafraid to relish the icing on the cake, draws a warm, effulgent sound from the orchestra.’ Evening Standard Bonus material: Illustrated synopsis & animated cast gallery. Interview with Colin Davis. Fairytales feature. Cinema trailer. PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9
LENGTH: 138 Mins
SOUND: 5.1 DTS SURROUND / PCM STEREO
SUBTITLES: EN/FR/DE/ES/IT
“Humperdinck's adorable opera here receives treatment so affectionate that the two children are more likely to be killed with kindness than by the Witch. The cast is strong, with Angelika Kirchschlager a much more credible boy than Diana Damrau is a girl... Thomas Allen is a superb Father, and Elizabeth Connell equally good as Mother.” BBC Music Magazine, August 2009 *** | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Opera Highlights Volume 2The Finest Singers of our Day Explaining and Performing their Favourite Arias
Recording Date: 1999
Running Time: 154 min
Picture Format: 4:3 / 16:9
Sound Format: PCM Stereo
Menu Languages NTSC: D, F, GB, SP
Subtitle Languages NTSC: D, F, GB, I, SP
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| |  | Direction: Ursel Herrmann, Karl-Ernst Herrmann
'A musical and vocal pleasure...A major festival event in the anniversary year' Donaukurier “The camera-work here is as artful as the production: during the Overture (conjured into being by a Mephisto-like MC of a Don Alfonso in Thomas Allen), a single white feather descends; badminton and fencing ensue. Under a vast azure horizon, a huge white egg watches as the women overhear the plotting of the men. This makes for a compelling new twist, as the human heart's infinite potential for self-delusion is unfolded. Manfred Honeck draws swift and minutely attuned playing from the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra.” BBC Music Magazine, May 2007 ***** | | | Usually despatched in 8 - 10 working days. |
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