"Actor: Claudio Abbado"

• Verdi: Simon Boccanegra - Abbado | DVD | (22/12/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A performance of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra which tells the story of the struggle for power in 14th Century Genoa. Claudio Abbado conducts.

• Sting/COE/Abbado - Prokofiev - Peter And The Wolf | DVD | (10/09/2007) from £15.85   |  Saving you £-1.86 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Peter And The Wolf

• Mahler: Symphony No. 2 In C Minor - Resurrection | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A performance of Mahler's Symphony No. 2 in C minor 'Resurrection' at the 2003 Lucerne Festival. Claudio Abbado conducts.

• Brahms / Schoenberg / Beethoven - 2013 Lucerne Festival | DVD | (12/05/2014) from £25.92   |  Saving you £-5.93 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  ACCEN 20282; ACCENTUS MUSIC -; Classica Orchestrale

• European Concert 1998 Stockholm | DVD | (03/07/2000) from £15.84   |  Saving you £4.15 (20.80%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Overture from Der Fliegende HollanderSymphonic Fantasia op.18 The TempestTrois nocturnes1. Nuages2. Fetes3. SirenesOuattro pezzi sacri1. Ave Maria su una scala enigmatica2. Stabat Mater3. Laudi alla virgine Maria4. Te DeumDocumentary

• Mahler: Symphony No. 7 | DVD | (03/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A Performance from the Lucerne Festival Summer 2005 recorded live at the Concert Hall of the Culture and Convention Centre Lucerne 17-18 August 2005.Contains Symphony No. 5 - Langsam (Adagio) - Allegro risoluto ma non troppo - Nachtmusik I: Allegro moderato - Scherzo: Schattenhaft - Nachtmusik II: Andante amoroso - Rondo-Finale: Allegro ordinario by the composer Gustav Mahler.

• Beethoven: Symphonies No. 4 And No. 7 - Berliner Philharmoniker - Abbado | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A performance of Beethoven Symphony No. 4 and No. 7. The Berlin Philharmoniker is conducted by Claudio Abbado.

• Berg: Wozzeck | DVD | (15/11/2001) from £34.31   |  Saving you £-9.32 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The bleakness of Berg's operatic masterpiece Wozzeck is relatively easy to bring off: the plot, after all, tells of a man who is bullied, cuckolded and mocked by the society around him. What are harder to realise are the gallows humour and pitch-black comedy--and it's those qualities, along with the brilliant acting and edge-of-seat orchestral playing, that make this 1987 Vienna Staatsoper staging a stunning televisual operatic production. Everything works: the simple yet evocative sets translate effortlessly to the small screen, the pacing of the 15 short scenes is worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster and the singing is beautifully focussed. Baritone Franz Grundheber is vocally and dramatically outstanding as Wozzeck, cringing and shuffling around the stage in a bewildered hang-dog manner and yet never losing sight of the character's humanity. Hildegard Behrens (Marie) has rarely sounded better, and switches between Straussian lushness and spiky sluttishness with ease. The direction is also full of wonderful touches, such as Wozzeck squeezing the Captain's nose while he's shaving him (and making his voice sound like a kazoo), and the musicians of the on-stage band being fully integrated into the tavern scene. Ironic, emotionally rich, musically faultless--this one's got it all. On the DVD: the production works beautifully on DVD, and bar one or two moments in the second tavern scene (Act 3, Scene 3) the voices rarely move out of microphone range. There are subtitles in English, German, French and Spanish and four trailers for other Arthaus DVD operas, but no other special features. --Warwick Thomson

• Mahler: Symphony No. 9 | DVD | (29/11/2004) from £7.45   |  Saving you £17.54 (235.44%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 9Recorded live at Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia Rome 14 April 2004

• Brahms / Schoenberg / Beethoven - 2013 Lucerne Festival | Blu Ray | (19/05/2014) from £23.57   |  Saving you £6.42 (21.40%)   |  RRP £29.99

  With his very own 'mysterious seductive power and legendary elegance' ( Le Monde ), Claudio Abbado opened for the last time the Lucerne Festival in the summer of 2013. Only a few months later, the world had to bid farewell to a monumental artist, humanist, great conductor and orchestra founder. Even in the concert itself, documented here, lived a moment of farewell, as the three great works performed tell of the transience of life. The centerpiece of the Eroica is the funeral marc.

• Mahler - Symphony No. 6 (Abbado, Lucerne Festival Orch) | DVD | (01/04/2008) from £25.00   |  Saving you £-0.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The imposing experience of Mahler's No. 6 is captured live in a performance of tremendous power and towering climaxes with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. The core of the orchestra is provided by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra itself an lite body of players. Soloists like violinist Kolja Blacher (concertmaster of the LFO) clarinettist Sabine Meyer violist Wolfram Christ cellist Natalia Gutman the trumpeter Reinhold Friedrich and members of the Alban Berg Quartet to name just a few

• Firebird / Pulcinella | DVD | (22/11/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  This release offers two short ballets by Stravinsky, The Firebird from 1909-10 and Pulcinella written a decade later, the former based on three Russian fairytales. This 1982 production by the Royal Danish Ballet was choreographed by Glen Tetley, for whom "The Firebird is a symbol of our innermost dreams and longing for freedom and true love". His interpretation has a dreamlike atmosphere, the designs echoing Jean Cocteau's La Belle et La Bete, the languorous, sensual dance evoking an understated fairytale eroticism in parallel with the shimmering score. Pulcinella comes from Stravinsky's neo-classical period and is inspired by the Italian commedia dell'arte of the 17th and 18th centuries. The story, an almost slapstick series of romantic confusions and complications amid the streets of Naples, is brought to life in this 1988 Scapino Ballet production with an enchanting mixture of dance and mime. The design is boldly colourful and Nils Christe's choreography filled with character and playful good humour. The music comes from an enthusiastic LSO under Claudio Abbado, with vocal soloists of the calibre of John Shirley-Quirk. The two works make an attractive programme. On the DVD: Other than a trailer for other Arthaus DVDs there are no special features. Reflecting the age of the material, the sound is unremarkable PCM stereo and the picture conventional 4:3. There is some audio distortion on Pulcinella, particularly on the vocal parts. The image has rich, vibrant colours and is reasonably detailed, but is also grainy and shows compression artefacts. Firebird has a smoother image, largely due to the focus being soft. The booklet contains useful notes and a full scene breakdown. The disc is encoded for regions 2 and 5. --Gary S. Dalkin

• 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

• 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

• 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.

• Alfred Brendel - Claudio Abbado | DVD | (29/05/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.3 / Bruckner: Symphony No.7

• 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

• Abbado In Lucerne | DVD | (30/08/2004) from £32.37   |  Saving you £-7.38 (-29.50%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Lucerne Festival Sommer 2003La MerSuite from Le Martyre de Saint SebastienLucerne Festival OrchestraClaudio AbbadoDocumentaryThe History of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra.