"Actor: BBC Philharmonic Orchestra"

• A Simple Man | DVD | (18/02/2005) from £2.49   |  Saving you £17.50 (702.81%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Commissioned to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the painter L.S. Lowry in 1987 this BAFTA award-winning dramatic ballet celebrates the life and work of a unique artist. Created by Gillian Lynne in collaboration with the composer Carl Davis this memorable production filmed in 1987 is performed by the Northern Ballet Theatre led by ex-Royal Ballet stars Christopher Gable and Moira Shearer. Re-mastered for DVD with the addition of recent interviews with Lynne and Davis it gives a fascinating insight into the creation of an inspirational work in the history of dance which remains as fresh as ever.

• Great Composers - Vol. 3 - Mahler / Tchaikovsky / Puccini | DVD | (18/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  This three-hour compilation surveying the life and works of Tchaikovsky, Puccini and Mahler completes the BBC Great Composers series (the two previous releases contain the pairings of Bach/Mozart and Beethoven/Wagner). It's a splendid series, full of judiciously collected biographical information, lively and telling visuals, colourful anecdotes and excellent excerpted performances of the composers' best works. The directors' styles are very different, from Kriss Rusmanis' impressionistic approach (with an early chamber piece of Mahler's accompanied by shots of rippling brooks and dappled sunlight) to Chris Hunt's more forthright take on Puccini, but each is well tailored to the subject matter. There is a certain amount of psychological speculation in each case (Mahler may have inherited his sense of irony from watching nine of his siblings die while the jolly life of his father's tavern continued unabated, for example) but there's nothing outrageous. If you haven't hooked up your TV to some decent speakers the performances may sound a little pinched, but they are so good the quality shines through nonetheless; particularly noteworthy is Thomas Hampson's glorious reading of excerpts from Kindertotenlieder, and Georg Solti is on top form. On the DVD: Great Composers on disc comes with subtitles in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian, but no other special features. --Warwick Thompson