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See Terms & Conditions for p&p rates. | |  | Tchaikovsky Iolanta & Stravinsky Persephone2012 Teatro Real, Madrid
Amrita, Pequeños Cantores & Chorus and Orchestra of the Teatro Real, Teodor Currentzis (Musical Director) & Peter Sellars (Stage Director) Set Designer George Tsypin Costume Designers Martin Pakledinaz & Helen Siebrits Lighting Designer James F. Ingalls Iolanta is a one act lyric opera, sung in Russian, by Tchaikovsky. Performed in the style of a nineteenth-century Italian melodrama, the scenes have a recitative introduction followed by a single arioso, aria, duet or chorus. Persephone is a three act melodrama, sung in French, by Stravinsky. It is a story of regeneration, symbolised in Sellars use of dancers from the Cambodian dance company, Amrita Performing Arts. Peter Sellars, one of the most innovative creators on today's stage, has linked these two productions by using the same stage setting, instantly archaic yet modern, and lit by rich colours to define the journey from darkness to light. “It would be hard to find a more committed, vocally assured pair than Ekaterina Scherbachenko and Pavel Cernoch” BBC Music Magazine, March 2013 **** “Iolanta is concerned with the transition from darkness to light...one's attention is caught by Sellars's telling direction: faces suffused in light, faces caught in profile...Persephone, also about light and dark, is staged with the same set...Currentzis conducts both pieces impeccably: don't miss.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2013 “The singing in the present performance is admirable throughout, with idiomatic Russian singing but without the apparent wobble which can put off some non-Russian listeners. Match this with full-blooded playing from the Teatro Real orchestra. The production by Peter Sellars is generally clear although sometimes confused by a bizarre choice of camera angle or subject” MusicWeb International, February 2013 “There are fine performances from Dominique Blanc in the title role and Paul Groves as Eumolpe. The real touch of genius, though, is Sellars' decision to reimagine the piece in terms of eastern dance rather than ballet, and the choreography, by Cambodia's Amrita Performing Arts, is exquisite.” The Guardian, 13th December 2012 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Libretto by Bertolt BrechtSung in English
Jane Henschel (Leocadia Begbick), Donald Kaasch (Fatty the Bookkeeper), Willard White (Trinity Moses), Measha Brueggergosman (Jenny Smith), Michael König (Jim Maclntyre), John Easterlin (Jack O’Brien / Toby Higgins), Otto Katzameier (Bank-Account Bill) & Steven Humes (Alaska-Wolf Joe) Orquesta y Coro del Teatro Real, Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid & Coro Intermezzo, Pablo Heras-Casado Stage direction Alex Ollé, Carlus Padrissa – La Fura dels Baus Scenography Alfons Flores, Costumes Lluc Castells, Lighting Urs Schönebaum High Definition recording : Teatro Real - Madrid: 09/2010 Bel Air present the hard-hitting new production of Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Catalan collective, La Fura dels Baus, from the Teatro Real de Madrid. Composed in the 1930s by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, this is a mordant satire on capitalism in a society in which the ultimate crime is not having money. In 20 scenes the authors tell the story of a city lost in the middle of a desert and run by three thugs; in Mahagonny food, sex, gambling and violence rule supreme. The production, by Alex Ollé and Carlus Padrissa of La Fura dels Baus, combines enormous inventiveness, joy and energy with awe-inspiring ferocity. Perfect casting brings together a group of singers – Measha Brueggergosman, Michael König, Jane Henschel and Willard White – who are also marvellous actors. The Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus are directed by young Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, who received the “El Ojo Crítico” prize in 2010, awarded annually to Spain’s most outstanding artists. La Fura was founded in 1979 as a Catalan street theatre group. Key features of the ‘Furan’ language were already apparent: interaction with the audience, the use of unusual spaces and the adaptation of the show to the characteristics of each space. Their work for the opening ceremonies of the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Mediterráneo, mar olímpico brought La Fura dels Baus to an audience of billions throughout the world. Their first foray into opera was with La Atlántida, with frequent collaborator Jaume Plensa, and has developed as far as Wagner’s Ring Cycle and Boris Godunov, a daring reflection on the problem of terrorism, its limits and the manipulation it generates. Stunning images and more information on www.lafura.com 16/9, NTSC, PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Total timing : 138 minutes Subtitles : Fr, Eng, Ger, Spa “Brueggergosman's Jenny is stunning to behold...[Henschel] has precisely the right dramatic-mezzo instrument for this role, and she can sing sensuously when required...[Easterlin] offers tone and diction as clear as a bell, along with a delightfully boyish characterization...[Heras-Casado] has the measure of the piece, as does the Madrid orchestra, which has reached the point where it makes playing a work such as this seem like falling off a log.” International Record Review, January 2012 “Superbly filmed by Andy Sommer, it makes for uncomfortable viewing, particularly during the current economic crisis. You might, however, find it musically less convincing. There's exceptional conducting from Pablo Heras-Casado, but the singing is variable.” The Guardian, 8th December 2011 **** | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Five Operas From GlyndebourneFive Magical Operas from Glyndebourne with Designs by American Artist and Author Maurice Senda
Internationally-acclaimed, American illustrator and author of children’s books, Maurice Sendak, wrote the libretti and designed vivid and magical images for the fantasy operas Where The Wild Things Are and Higglety Pigglety Pop! to music by Oliver Knussen. He also created brilliant designs for Prokofiev’s quirky Love of Three Oranges, and for Ravel’s delightful double bill: L’Enfant et les Sortilèges and L’Heure Espagnole. Where The Wild Things Are and Higglety Pigglety Pop! The antics of young Max (Karen Beardsley) and his journey to the Land of the Wild Things, and Jennie (Cynthia Buchan), the Sealyham terrier’s search for something more than everything, are set against beautifully intricate designs which adhere faithfully to Sendak’s illustrations in his own famous children’s books. Oliver Knussen conducts The London Sinfonietta. L’Enfant et les Sortilèges Ravel’s fantasy opera, ‘the bewitched child’, tells the tale of a boy (Cynthia Buchan) who is angry because he does not want to learn his lessons. He destroys his books and vandalises the room he is in. But the room comes to life – chairs, grandfather clock, teapot and teacup – and seeks revenge… Simon Rattle draws Ravishing sounds from The London Philharmonic. L’Heure Espagnole Ravel’s comic opera, his Spanish adventure, is set in a Toledo square, over which towers the baroque façade of the hall, where clockmaker Torquemada (Rémy Corazza) winds and minds the town clocks, at the same time every Thursday, thus leaving his wife Concepcion (Anna Steiger) alone in the house for an hour… Sian Edwards conducts The London Philharmonic. The Love of Three Oranges This sizzling visual extravaganza mixes fantasy, nightmare, romance and satire. The whole production is alive with acrobats, jugglers, body-builders, monsters, outrageous inflatable figures, colossal puppets and special animated sequences – creating a farcical, carnival atmosphere. Willard White powerfully portrays the King whose son (Ryland Davies), a doleful hypochondriac, can only be cured through laughter, and it is only when the wicked witch Fata Morgana (Nelly Morpurgo) accidently loses her skirt that the Prince breaks into hysterics. In revenge Morgana condemns the Prince to fall in love with three oranges which he pursues for three thousand miles. The exciting rhythms and brilliant orchestration of Prokofiev’s score are played by The London Philharmonic, conducted by Bernard Haitink. Approx Duration: 98’ / 100’ / 115’ Picture format: NTSC 4:3 Region Code: 2,3,4,5 Audio: L-PCM Stereo Subtitles: English | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Subtitles: English , French, German, Italian “In an ideal world, operatic recordings would always evolve in this way...We've a real sense here of Gershwin's community, a feeling of oneness with the piece from singers who've not only lived with, but through, their characters. I doubt we'll ever hear the score in a better light. And what a score it is.” Gramophone Magazine, June 1989 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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Recording Date: 2000 Place of recording: Théatre Musical de Paris - Chatelet Running Time: 147 (Opera 119 min; Documentary 28 min) min Picture Format: 16:9 Sound Format: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1 Menu Languages PAL: D, F, GB, SP Subtitle Languages PAL: D, F, GB, SP Menu Languages NTSC: F, GB, JP, SP Subtitle Languages NTSC: F, GB, JP, SP “'An opera by John Adams' says the packaging. Not quite. This is the composer's multi-cultural, post-feminist, quasi-minimalist take on Handel's Messiah, drawing on sources ranging from the pre-Christian prophets to 20th-century Hispanic women writers. While designed to allow fully staged productions, the concept and its musical realisation bring us closer to oratorio. Adams's musical language is predictably inclusive. There's a prominent role for three Brittenish countertenors, Broadway and popular idioms are more or less willingly embraced, and the use of repetition is sometimes reminiscent of Philip Glass in his heyday. El Niño's sound world is delicate and lustrous, and, although Part 1 can seem a mite static with a surfeit of vocal recitative, there are fewer longueurs in Part 2. If not perhaps the unqualified masterpiece acclaimed by some critics, this is an effective and often truly affecting score: derivative, to be sure, yet obstinately fresh.
The performance as such is pretty much beyond criticism. The main characters are on top form, combining absolute vocal assurance with dramatic flair – and none more so than Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. The crisp DVD images certainly help explain the sensational impact of the European première, a multimedia extravaganza from Peter Sellars' top drawer in which dance and film interact quirkily with the exertions of chorus and soloists. If you haven't yet acquired a player, the remarkable success of El Niño is as good a reason as any to take the plunge. Strongly recommended.
The Death of Klinghoffer The Death of Klinghoffer Sanford Sylvan bar Leon Klinghoffer Stephanie Friedman mez Omar James Maddalena bar First Officer Thomas Hammons bar First Officer Thomas Young sngr Molqui Eugene Perry bar Mamoud Sheila Nadler mez Marilyn Klinghoffer London Opera Orchestra Chorus; Lyon Opera Orchestra / Kent Nagano Nonesuch b 7559-79281-2 (135' · DDD · N/T) F How many living composers do you suppose would happily watch their scores lead a short life, relevant but finite? Not many; but John Adams might be one. First Nixon in China, then The Death of Klinghoffer: rarely before has a composer snatched subjects from yesterday's news and made operas out of them. Admittedly, themes of lasting significance lurk beneath this work's immediate surface: conflict between cultures and ideologies, rival claims to ancestral lands, human rights in general. Specifically, however, it takes us back no further than October 1985, when Palestinian terrorists hijacked the Italian cruise liner Achille Lauro and murdered wheelchair-bound passenger Leon Klinghoffer.
The opera guides us through those events, albeit in an oblique fashion. Whatever the long-term fate of the opera, Alice Goodman's libretto certainly deserves to be spared from oblivion. It's eloquent and beautiful, compassionate and humanitarian, rich in imagery and spacious in its sentence-structure. If TheDeath of Klinghoffer finally disappoints, it's because the marriage of words and music is so fragile. The opera's musical language is firmly rooted in tradition, but it's doubtful if anyone will come away from it with a memorable lyric moment lodged in the mind. The recording uses the cast of the original production, and contains no weak links. As you expect from Adams, the score has been superbly orchestrated, and it's done full justice by the Lyon Opera Orchestra.” Gramophone Classical Music Guide, 2010 | | | In stock - usually despatched within 1 working day. |
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| |  | Live Recording from The Glyndebourne Festival Opera, 1978
Felicity Lott (Pamina), Leo Goeke (Tamino), Benjamin Luxon (Papageno), Thomas Thomaschke (Sarastro), May Sandoz (Queen of the Night), Teresa Cahill (Erste Dame), Patricia Parker (Zweite Dame), Fiona Kimm (Dritte Dame), Willard White (Sprecher), John Fryatt (Monostatos), Elisabeth Conquet (Papagena), Neil McKinnon (Erste Geharnischter), John Rath (Zweite Geharnischter), Kate Flowers (Erste Knabe), Lindsay John (Zweiter Knabe), Elisabeth Stokes (Dritter Knabe) The London Philharmonic Orchestra, Bernard Haitink (conductor) & John Cox (stage director) Stage Designer DAVID HOCKNEY Glyndebourne’s 1978 production of Mozart’s Zauberflöte received as much critical acclaim for the imaginative David Hockney sets as for the operatic performance. Hockney, known internationally for his pop art, emphasised the magical and mystical qualities of one of Mozart’s best known operas – and the spirit was wonderfully refl ected in John Cox’s production. The London Philharmonic Orchestra is conducted by Bernard Haitink. Mozart’s tale of Papageno and Pince Tamino’s quest to rescue Pamina and overthrow the Queen of the Night is one of his best loved operas and here receives an impressive treatment with Leo Goeke, Felicity Lott and Benjamin Luxon in the leading roles. Essential for such an opera, there is a great happy end: Tamino and Pamina overcome their trials and become a loving couple, the malicious Queen of the Night is humbled and even Papageno finds his Papagena. Sound Format: PCM Stereo Picture Format: 4:3 DVD Format: DVD 9 / NTSC Subtitle Languages: DE (Original Language), FR, GB, ES Running Time: 163 mins FSK: 0 | 
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| |  | Waldbühne: American NightLive Recording from The Waldbühne Berlin, 1995
At the Berlin Waldbühne in 1995 Sir Simon Rattle conducted an ‚American Night‘ at the Berliner Philharmoniker‘s annual summer concert with works by Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin. What is the essence of American music? Bernstein gave his opinion at one of his ‚Concerts for young people‘:‚I don‘t think there is anyone in the whole world who wouldn‘t know immediately that Gershwin‘s music is American. It sounds American, smells of America, and when you listen to it you feel American.‘ With his ‚Rhapsody in Blue‘ Gershwin succeeded in devising a blend between swinging themes, blues and symphonic elements - ‚symphonic jazz‘. The first performance was given at New York‘s Carnegie Hall on 12 February 1924. Gershwin was at the piano. It was a sensational success and induced many composers to follow similar stylistic paths, ultimately without any notable results. One exception is perhaps Leonard Bernstein, whose music often reveals jazz elements in his fondness for syncopations. George Gershwin‘s genius was at its most creative in the opera ‚Porgy and Bess‘. Spirituals, gospel, jazz, songs but also love duets in conventional operatic style alternate with one another. Although European orchestras performing outside the US at first found it difficult to adjust to jazz, this American folk opera rapidly became a success world-wide and to this day has not lost its fascination. Sir Simon Rattle was the ideal interpreter of this music for the musicians of the Berliner Philharmoniker. Together with them and an ensemble of first class soloists he earned enthusiastic applause at the Berlin Waldbühne. Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.1 Picture Format: 4:3 DVD Format: DVD 9, PAL Running Time: 85 mins FSK: 0 | | | Usually despatched in 2 - 3 working days. |
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| |  | Wagner - Die Walküre (DVD)
Robert Gambill (Siegmund), Mikhail Petrenko (Hunding), Willard White (Wotan), Eva-Maria Westbroek (Sieglinde), Eva Johansson (Brünnhilde), Lilli Paasikivi (Fricka), Joanna Porackova (Gerhilde), Elaine McKrill (Ortlinde), Julianne Young (Waltraute), Andrea Baker (Schwertleite), Erika Sunnegårdh (Helmwige), Heike Grötzinger (Siegrune), Eva Vogel (Grimgerde) & Annette Bod (Rossweisse) Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Sir Simon Rattle (conductor) & Stéphane Braunschweig (director) In a career spanning more than 30 years, Sir Simon Rattle has distinguished himself through his long-term relationships with a number of orchestras, wide-ranging repertoire and innovative educational and audiencebuilding activities. He is currently Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Berliner Philharmoniker and Principal Artist with the OAE. Sir Simon first conducted the Berlin Philharmonic in 1987 and appeared regularly with the orchestra in subsequent years.The summer of 2006 saw the first instalment of their Wagner Ring Cycle at the Aix-en-Provence Festival. Sir Simon's most recent appearance at the Proms in Wagner brought forth ecstatic reviews, which bodes well for possible future installments of the Aix /Salzburg Ring on Bel Air Classiques. "In what is both Mr. Rattle's and Aix's first Ring Cycle, "Die Walküre," the Ring's second chapter, was magically transformed by the enclosed space and lively acoustics of the Grand Théâtre de Provence. But where the new theater makes another significant difference is in Mr. Braunschweig's staging of the opera. Far more than in last year's "Rheingold," even the gods, notably Wotan and his twin children, Siegmund and Sieglinde, can now be felt to experience deeply human emotions. The final curtain brought a standing ovation for both orchestra and singers, with Ms.Westbroek singled out for her "extraordinary power and lyricism," as Jean-Louis Validire, Le Figaro's music critic, put it… The Ring Cycle continues here with "Siegfried" in 2008 and "Götterdammerüng" in 2009 and, as with "Das Rheingold" and "Die Walküre," they will be presented afresh at the Salzburg Easter Festival the following year." The New York Times, July 5, 2007 “Sir Willard White's patriarchal Wotan seems subtler on screen, more smouldering than stiff, and sings richly… Eva Johansson's… makes a fiery, youthful Brünnhilde, more at one with her fellow Valkyries - a fine bunch - than usual. Rattle's conducting… is easy enough to enjoy - fluent, often sweeping - and, of course, beautifully played by the Berliners...” BBC Music Magazine, December 2008 **** “Wind and brass detail, the accuracy and blending of the chording and that rhythmic precision which is a Rattle speciality lift the final colloquy between Wotan and Brünnhilde to Olympian heights.” Gramophone Magazine, January 2009 | | | Usually despatched in 3 - 4 working days. |
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| |  | VerdiA Major Film of the Life and Work of Giuseppe Verdi
Documentary film on the life and work of composer Giuseppe Verdi. Presented by Mark Elder, former Music Director of English National Opera, the film combines on-location footage of the Italian milieux that Verdi frequented with quotations from the composer's memoirs and correspondence. The documentary also features highlights from some of Verdi's most popular operas, sung in Italian and specially staged by American director David Alden. | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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| |  | Tony Palmer’s Film about Puccini
The film tells the story of Doria Manfredi and of her relationship with Puccini, and the opera that resulted, Turandot. It was a disaster that was suppressed by either Puccini’s publishers (Ricordi) or his family or both for almost 80 years, fearing that the consequences of revealing the truth of what had happened would damage sales of his work and further sully his already tarnished reputation as a philanderer. Robert Stephens gives a devastating performance as Puccini, and Virginia McKenna, lured out of semiretirement, gives an emotionally draining performance as his wife Elvira. When the finished film was shown to Simonetta, Puccini’s granddaughter, she said she was astonished at how close the film had come to the heart of the matter and in particular to the heart of that extraordinary – and still underestimated – great composer, Giacomo Puccini. Written by Charles Wood, starring Robert Stephens and Virginia McKenna “An Extraordinary virtuoso film, with wave after wave of emotion.” The Listener | | | Usually despatched in 4 - 5 working days. |
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Penguin Guide
Gramophone Awards 2002