"Actor: Cynthia Buchan"

• Giordano: Andrea Chenier - Royal Opera House/Rudel | DVD | (23/02/2004) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-2.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Giordano's Andrea Chenier is one of the greatest of verismo operas, full of heart-stopping big tunes and powerful emotional situations. If it is not as well-known as it should be, it is because in summary it sounds a little too like Puccini's Tosca: there is a tussle between political opponents over a woman, an attempt to save a condemned man, a tenor aria about writing poetry on the eve of execution. The difference is that Gerard (Giorgio Zancanaro) is not a villain like Scarpia, he is an idealist whom the French Revolution has betrayed as much as it has his rival the poet Chenier (Placido Domingo). His temptation to abuse his power to seduce the virtuous Maddalena (Anna Tomowa-Sintow) is a momentary one, though its consequences are terrible. There is a streak of post-Wagnerian decadence in much of this--Maddalena is at least as much in love with death as she is with Chenier, and the final love duet has a deeply sinister aspect. Domingo is at his best in this Covent Garden Opera House performance from 1985; at once ardent and serious-minded, we believe in his Chenier as a poet and political figure. Conductor Julius Rudel gives the rich score all the weight and lyricism it demands and the Covent Garden chorus is at its occasional best in the scenes of revolutionary excess. On the DVD: Andrea Chenier is presented a little disappointingly in NTSC format and 4:3 picture ratio. At least the sound is sumptuous Dolby Digital 5.0. Subtitles are in English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese. --Roz Kaveney

• A Midsummer Night's Dream - Glyndebourne Festival Opera | DVD | (31/07/2004) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-2.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Benjamin Britten's enchanting opera adapted from Shakespeare's most English play is just the thing for a summer evening at Glyndebourne. In Peter Hall's magical and highly-acclaimed production for Glyndebourne Festival Opera filmed in 1981 the wood literally comes alive a perfetc setting for the mystical world of lovers fairies and rustics. The gorgeous and imaginative sets costume and lighting designs are by John Bury. Ileana Cotrubas is a majestic Tytiana James Bowman is a

• Five Operas From Glyndebourne | DVD | (25/01/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A collection of operas based on the books of children's author/illustrator Maurice Sendak: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE/HIGGLETY PIGGLETY POP, LOVE OF THREE ORANGES, and L'ENFANT ET LES SORTILEGES/L'HEURE ESPAGNOLE. Performed by the Glyndebourne Festival Opera.