DVD Videos

Production: Richard Jones, Set and Costume designer: John Macfarlane, Lighting designed by: Jennifer Tipton, Choreographer: Linda Dobell & Translation: David Pountney

Christine Schäfer, Alice Coote and Vladimir Jurowski triumph in Humperdinck’s first and most successful opera – filmed live at the Metropolitan Opera in Hi-Definition.

This irresistibly delicious new English-language production of Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel is the first Metropolitan Opera : Live in High-Definition series release following EMI Classic’s recent collaboration with the Met.

The Brothers Grimm fairy tale, a timeless children’s favourite, features a sophisticated score, and this intriguing new staging will appeal to audiences of all ages.

Alice Coote and Christine Schäfer are charming as Hansel and Gretel. The role of the Witch, written for a mezzo-soprano, is sometimes sung by a tenor – as is the case in this production - with Philip Langridge in the role.

Vladimir Jurowski, one of the world’s most sought-after conductors, leads Germany’s dearest opera, with a sensitive account of Humperdinck’s enchanting score.

Hansel and Gretel is considered by many as the salvation of German opera, bringing relief from the murky Wagnerian depths of Teutonic myth and initiating a return to the shimmering world of the fairy tale.

In 1923, Hansel and Gretel became the first complete opera to be broadcast on radio from Covent Garden ; Eight years later it was the first to be broadcast from the New York Met. It is significant therefore that this is one of the eight operas chosen to be in this season’s Met HD transmissions.

Beautifully staged by Richard Jones and moodily designed by John Macfarlane, this dark and eccentric production ‘is tough and dark, sparse and savage, an exploration of deprivation, cruelty and gluttony in a contemporary always-always-land’. (Financial Times)

Set & Costumes by JOHN MCFARLANE

With this production of Modest Mussorgsky’s opera Boris Godunov, Arthaus presents the most famous and widely performed of all Russian music dramas on DVD. The libretto is by Mussorgsky himself and takes the eponymous “romantic tragedy” by the celebrated Russian poet Alexander Pushkin as its starting point. Boris Godunov is Mussorgsky‘s masterpiece and his only complete opera. It‘s a vast sprawling tapestry of Russian life, which centres on the Russian people - represented in the opera by a large and powerful chorus - rather than on the title figure. The staging presented on this DVD was produced at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and is based on the original version of the score, which comprised seven scenes written in 1868–9. Modern audiences are more familiar with a revised version with a re-orchestration by Rimsky-Korsakov, but this staging returns to Mussorgsky’s original intentions, which he was forced to revise due to political circumstances. The demanding title role is performed here by the Finnish bass Matti Salminen, a compelling singer-actor with a longstanding reputation on the international opera scene. With its mass scenes and frequent choir appearances, this staging confirms the Liceu’s excellent reputation as one of the leading opera houses in Europe.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Subtitle Languages: GB, DE, FR, ES, IT, Catalan

Running Time: 152 mins

FSK: 0

Berg’s masterful and thought-provoking opera tells the gripping story of the rise and fall of an alluring, destructive but vulnerable woman, culminating in her death at the hands of Jack the Ripper. Christof Loy’s austere, minimalist production allows the complexities of the drama to unfold through the sumptuous, taut beauty of the score. Agneta Eichenholz and Michael Volle lead an all-star cast under Antonio Pappano. Philip Langridge took the role of the Prince, in his last stage appearance before his sudden death earlier this year. Recorded in High Definition and true surround sound.

(Contains Scenes of Violence)

“It is immaculately rehearsed and executed – one doesn't often see opera acted with such freedom and honesty and absence of flummery. And its unsparing analytic clarity forces one to confront the bitter truth about Lulu's inner life and the corruption and idiocy of the men who are infatuated by her. … Antonio Pappano's electrifying conducting is razor-sharp in the manner of Pierre Boulez, and the orchestral playing is magnificent. … Singing with an extraordinary grace and insouciance, Eichenholz manages to make this monster chillingly real and hauntingly beautiful.” The Telegraph

Extra features:

Cast gallery

Interview with Antonio Pappano

Interview with Agneta Eichenholz

Running time 205 mins

Region code All regions

Picture format 16:9 Anamorphic

Sound format 2.0 LPCM & 5.1 DTS Digital

Menu language EN

Subtitles EN/FR/DE/ES

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

David McVicar’s spellbinding production of Le nozze di Figaro is set in 1830s post-revolution France, where the inexorable unravelling of an old order has produced acute feelings of loss. In the relationship between Finley’s suave, dashingly self-absorbed Count and Röschmann’s passionately dignified Countess, which lies at the tragic heart of the opera, the sexy ease between a feisty Figaro (Erwin Schrott) and a sassy Susanna (Miah Persson) is starkly absent, the tenacious spark between Marcellina (Graciela Araya) and Bartolo (Jonathan Veira) suggesting what might be rekindled. The production is superbly complemented by the beauty of Paule Constable’s lighting and Tanya McCallin’s evocative sets. Antonio Pappano conducts (and accompanies the recitatives) with invigorating wit and emotional depth.

‘This sexy, raunchy, romp of an opera is a triumph. Director David McVicar has searched for the essence of the composer and found it; fun filled, sensitive, romantic and serious by turns, all reflected in this production.This is a 'Must See' opera! …You'll regret it if you don't!’ Musical Opinion

PLEASE NOTE: The discs are a mixture of PAL and NTSC. Your machine must be compatible with both formats in order to enjoy these DVDs.<br>

For further information please look at the information regarding the particular title: <br>

Peter Grimes: (100 383)<br>

The Rape Of Lucretia (102 021)<br>

Billy Budd (100 278)<br>

Gloriana (102 097)<br>

The Turn Of The Screw (100 199)<br>

Owen Wingrave (100 372)<br>

Death In Venice (100 172)<br>

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Recording Date: 2001 <br>

Place of recording: various <br>

Running Time: more than 1000 min <br>

Picture Format: 16:9, 4:3 <br>

Sound Format: PCM Stereo <br>