"Actor: Berlin"

• Berlin Philharmonic -- New Year's Gala 1996 | DVD | (14/11/2001) from £14.75   |  Saving you £8.23 (69.98%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The New Year's Gala Concert given by the Berlin Philharmonic is one of the fixtures of the German music scene, as much as the Vienna Philharmonic concerts are of the Austrian one. This concert from 1996 is typical of the genre, including a selection of highbrow lollipops, a brilliant internationally renowned soloist (Maxim Vengerov) and a generous helping of waltzes with which to swing in the new year. Claudio Abbado brings his usual unflashy savoir-faire to the job of conducting, and the orchestra responds with some gorgeously silky, perfectly executed, if not always electrifying, playing. Vengerov makes Ravel's Tzigane flash and thunder with gypsy passion and gives an equally fiery performances of Brahms' Hungarian Dances Nos. 7, 17 and 21. If the Swedish Radio Choir aren't quite as thrilling in Brahms' Liebeslieder Waltzes and Gypsy Songs they still do a fine job with a remarkably tight sense of ensemble and excellent phrasing. All in all, this is an attractive (if not earth-shattering) performance from one of the world's finest orchestras. On the DVD: there are no pleasant surprises here. The visual content includes concert shots of the orchestra, choir and soloist in the Philharmonie Hall. There are no subtitles in any language for the choral sections, and the special features comprise two trailers for Cecilia Bartoli's Vivaldi album and a recording of Penderecki's The Seven Gates of Jerusalem. --Warwick Thompson

• Berlin Philharmoniker - Staatsoper Unter Den Linden 1998 | DVD | (05/06/2000) from £16.16   |  Saving you £-6.17 (-61.80%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Includes the music of Beethoven Robert Schumann Franz Liszt and Richard Wagner.

• Barenboim - Beethoven Piano Concertos | DVD | (19/11/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Daniel Barenboim Beethoven Piano Concs 1-5 (2 Discs)

• Verdi: Macbeth | DVD | (29/01/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  One of the best of Verdi's earlier operas, Macbeth has a distinctive energy to which, in this performance, conductor Sinopoli gives full rein. His excellent chorus--terrifyingly skittish witches, mournful exiles, sinister-facetious murderers, outraged and vengeful courtiers in the aftermath of Duncan's murder--is as much a participant as the principals, and the orchestral accompaniment reminds us that what the young Verdi lacked of his later subtlety he made up in sheer vigour. Renato Bruson is an extraordinary Macbeth, caught in a nightmare of his own making and unable to find release save through further killings and eventually self-destruction; Maria Zampieri has the sort of voice Verdi specified and which many productions avoid, a voice prepared to give its all, not to any sort of lyric beauty but to a harshness that is dramatically appropriate--this is a fine characterisation. Dennis O'Neill has comparatively little to do, but makes his vengeance aria a memorable reminder that guilt and shame are not all that this opera is about. --Roz Kaveney

• Waldbuhne 1994 Dance And Rhapsodies | DVD | (02/04/2002) from £12.98   |  Saving you £7.01 (54.01%)   |  RRP £19.99

  At the Waldbuhne concert in 1994 the Berlin Philharmonic put a programme together under the heading' A night of Dances and Rhapsodies' which is presented the works of central European composers. The dance and folk pieces of music from the 19th century which the orchestra performed under the baton of Mariss Jansons emphasised the different styles and trends from this musically significant era.

• Mozart: Requiem | DVD | (05/04/2000) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-6.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The packaging labels this disc Mozart Requiem, but the actual programme on the DVD bears the title "Herbert Von Karajan Memorial Concert", a document of a concert given on July 16, 1999 in Salzburg Cathedral to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the death of the conductor. Mozart's unfinished Requiem, as completed by Süssmayr, is obviously the main work. We are told that other works were performed, but not what they were, the only additional pieces being two short arias for soprano, Betrachte dies mien Herz un Frage Mich, KV42 and Laudate Dominum, KV339 beautifully sung by Rachel Harnisch. In the Requiem Claudio Abbado summons a deeply atmospheric performance from the Berlin Philharmonic and Swedish Radio Choir, and equally expressive singing from his finely matched soloists. Bass Bryn Terfel is powerfully communicative, soprano Karita Mattila hauntingly resigned. If not as fiery as if Karajan himself were conducting, this is still a memorable and rewarding tribute.On the DVD: There is a wonderfully three-dimensional Dolby-Digital 5.1 sound mix which brings the Salzburg Cathedral ambience alive, and a stunningly detailed and clear anamorphically enhanced picture. Documentation is minimal; no texts, subtitles or information about either Von Karajan or Rachel Harnish is given. There is only one special feature, which is not documented on the disc: by default the disc offers a standard multi-camera view, but at a press of the "angle" button it switches to a second set of cameras focused entirely on Abbado. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Brahms: Eine Deutsches Requiem | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £22.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

• European Concert 2002 - Berliner Philharmoniker - Claddio Abbado | DVD | (15/12/2003) from £23.88   |  Saving you £-3.89 (-19.50%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A concert performance by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in Palermo in 2002. Works include: Brahams Violin Concerto and Dvorak Symphony No. 9. Conducted by Claudio Abbado.

• Berlin Philharmonic - New Year's Gala 1997 - A Tribute To Carmen | DVD | (15/05/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Not to be confused with the more famous Vienna New Year's Day concerts, this is a recording of the Berlin Philharmonic's New Year's Gala from 31st December 1997. The concert was billed as "Dances of Life, Love and Death", a homage to Carmen. Beginning with six of the most famous selections from Bizet's opera, the all-star cast features mezzo-soprano Anne Sophie Von Otter, baritone Bryn Terfel and tenor Robert Alagna. Other than being passionately romantic there is no direct link between Carmen and Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, but a warm-hearted performance by pianist Mikhail Pletnev requires no excuse. Delivered with fiery virtuosity by violinist Gil Shaham, Pablo de Sarasate's Carmen Fantasy then transforms Bizet's melodies into a concentrated instrumental extravaganza. The mood continues with Ravel's Rhapsodie Espagnole and De Falla's Ritual Fire Dance, with the closing Hungarian Dance No. 5 by Brahms maintaining the theme by gypsy association. This is a wonderfully sultry concert for a cold winter's day, conductor Claudio Abbado delivering pure romance, winning uplifting performances from his fabulous gallery of musicians and stellar soloists. On the DVD: The packaging mistakenly states a picture format of 4:3. The DVD is actually presented at 16:9, anamorphically enhanced for widescreen TVs. There is no option for standard 4:3 viewing. When viewed on a "standard" television the programme is squeezed and distorted, making everyone too tall and thin. On a widescreen TV the picture, while vastly superior to VHS, shows grain and is not always well focused. The sound, in both PCM and Dolby Digital stereo, is excellent. Unless one counts the well-appointed booklet there are no bonus features. However, the disc is Region 0, and should work in any DVD player. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Songs of Love and Desire / Freni, Schäfer, Alvarez, Keenlyside, Berlin Phil., Abbado - Silvesterkonzert 1998 | DVD | (02/12/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Under the musical direction of Claudio Abbado a cast of singers perform works from Bach to Haydn from Donizetti to Verdi and from Schumann to Schonberg.

• Scarred | DVD | (20/03/2006) from £8.08   |  Saving you £11.91 (147.40%)   |  RRP £19.99

  An abusive drunk and his wife live in a cabin in the middle of the desolate forest. An alcoholic stupor a passing drifter a brief moment of passion nine months later a bastard child is born of the mother's illicit affair. For many years the angry man stares hatefully at the child's face reminded of his wife's deceit in a moment of violent rage he does the unimaginable the unspeakable even: he carves off the child's face off and throws her little body in a swamp then sets fire

• Herbert Von Karajan - Vivaldi : The Four Seasons | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

• Gala From Berlin - Invitation To The Dance 2001 | DVD | (03/03/2003) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-6.99 (-35.00%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The New Year's Eve concert from Berlin under the musical direction of Daniel Barenboim.

• Europa Konzert From Lisbon | DVD | (28/06/2004) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-1.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  European Concert recorded live at the Mosteiro dos Jeronimos Lisbon.Maurice Ravel - Le Tombeau de CouperinWolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 20 in D Minor K466Bela Bartok - Concerto for Orchestra Sz116Claude Debussy - Fetes (from Trois Nocturnes)

• Waldbuhne 1997 Saint Petersburgh Night | DVD | (10/04/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Recorded at the Waldbuhne Berlin June 25 2000. Tracklist: He Got Rythm (Hommage a George Gershwin) - Jean Pascal Beintus La Valse - Maurice Ravel Hi-Ten-Yu - Isao Matsushita Utage - Eitetsu Hayashi My Favourite Concubine - Zhao jiping Daphnis et Chloe Suite No. 2 - Maurice Ravel Fascinating Rhythm - Gershwin The Man I Love - Gershwin Nice Work - Gershwin Someone To Watch Over Me - Gershwin Summertime - Gershwin I Got Rhythm - Gershwin Berliner Luft - Paul Lincke

• Beethoven: Symphonies 3 & 9 -- Berlin PO/Abbado | DVD | (31/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The celebrated Claudio Abbado conducts the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in performances of Beethoven's Third and Ninth Symphonies. No. 9 comes first, in a performance given in the Berlin Philharmonie hall for the year 2000 Europe Concert; the finale of Beethoven's masterpiece having been coopted as the anthem of the European Union, this tenth annual concert emphasised unification in an international broadcast seen by millions worldwide. Abbado is as qualified to conduct this music as anyone alive and brings a deeply sympathetic reading from the BPO, eliciting a particularly spirited and uplifting second movement Molto vivace and eloquently moving Adagio. The epic choral finale features the combined forces of the Swedish Radio Choir and Eric Ericson Chamber Choir together with top international soloists, including the soprano Karita Mattila. The result is exhilarating, rapturous music-making which is never overwhelming but which truly captures the joy of Schiller's text. Recorded in February 2001 at the National Academy of St. Cecilia in Rome, a fine performance of Beethoven's Third Symphony, "Eroica" completes the programme. The two venues ensure some visual contrast in both pieces, with Abbado a compelling figure to watch as he delivers this incomparable music. On the DVD: Beethoven Symphonies 3 amp; 9 is presented anamorphically enhanced at 16:9 ratio with a strong, clear picture and sound options covering PCM stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. The last of these is the best, the surround speakers being used subtly to give a real sense of live concert-hall ambience and an enveloping spread of the choirs in the Ninth. Other than a reasonably informative booklet the only significant extra is a multi-angle option for No. 3. With this selected the camera remains on Abbado throughout, offering a useful orchestra's eye view for musicians and conducting students. Finally there is a sound-check to test for the correct connection of surround speakers. --Gary S Dalkin

• Berlin Philharmonic - European Concert 1999 | DVD | (08/05/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Enjoy the splendour of the Berlin Philharmoniker led by Bernard Haitink at their 1999 European Concert in Cracow.

• Prometheus - Musical Variations On A Myth | DVD | (24/09/2004) from £16.18   |  Saving you £-1.19 (-7.90%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Prometheus Musical Variations on a MythWith Music from:Ludwig va Beethoven The Creatures of PrometheusFranz Liszt Prometheus - Symphonic PoemAlexander Skriabin Promethee Poeme du Feu - Symphony No. 5Luigi Nono Prometo

• Beethoven: Symphonies 2 And 5 | DVD | (27/09/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In February 2001 Claudio Abbado and the Berlin Philharmonic presented all Beethoven's symphonies at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome. The success was overwhelming: there were standing ovations after every performance and the critics spoke of ""blissful unanimity"" between conductor and orchestra. This cycle marked a new pinnacle at the culmination of Abbado's Berlin career. Recordings of these concerts are now available on DVD. They document readings that are the fr

• Silvesterkonzert 2000 | DVD | (27/12/2001) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-6.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Silvesterkonzert 2000 - Giuseppe Verdi Music is an Earthly Revel.