DVD Videos

Production by Robert Lepage

The greatest names in opera take to the stage for these galas from three musical centres that have come to stand as symbols of rebirth – Vienna, Berlin and Dresden. Vienna celebrates the 50th anniversary of the State Opera House’s reopening with music of humanity and rejoicing from Rosenkavalier to Fidelio, international stars fill the Dresden night with the sounds of operatic favourites, and Claudio Abbado conducts a New Year’s Eve tribute to Verdi in Berlin, closing with the life-affirming fugue the brings that curtain down on the master’s last opera, Falstaff.

Picture format DVD: NTSC 16:9 and PAL 16:9

Sounds formats DVD: PCM Stereo, DD 5.0, DTS 5.0

Region code: 0

Booklet notes: English, German, French

Subtitles: DVD1: English, German, French, Spanish; DVD2: English, German, French, Italian, Spanish; DVD3: English, German, French

Running time: DVD1: 188 mins (disc1: 74 mins, disc2: 114 mins); DVD2: 94 mins; DVD3: 103 mins

Audience: all

FSK: 0

As one of the most beautiful open-air venues in Europe, the Berlin Waldbühne draws more than twenty thousand people per year to enjoy popular classical music performed by the world-renowned Berlin Philharmonic under the beguiling canopy of a summer night’s sky.

While some of the most famous conductors have already taken the podium at these concerts, repeated performances have most notably been given by the Italian maestro Claudio Abbado.

The programme of Abbado’s 1996 “Italian Night” at the Waldbühne focused on highlights from operas by the Italian composers Giuseppe Verdi, Gioacchino Rossini and the master of bel canto – Vincenzo Bellini.

Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic were once again accompanied by outstanding luminaries from the international opera scene: the Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu, whose exquisite good looks are surpassed only by the sublime beauty of her voice, the great Russian tenor Sergej Larin and the Welsh bass-baritone Bryn Terfel, one of the most soughtafter opera and oratorio singers in the world.

Sound Format: PCM STEREO, DD 5.1

Picture Format: 4:3

DVD Format: DVD 9, PAL

Running Time: 107 mins

FSK: 0

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.

Highlights on this disc include Dame Kiri Te Kanawa and Welsh legend Bryn Terfel singing Strauss, Christine Schäfer and Paul Groves singing Mozart and Waltraud Meier singing Wagner.