"Actor: Domingo"

• Les Troyens - Berlioz/The Met/James Levine | DVD | (16/07/2007) from £14.31   |  Saving you £1.94 (14.87%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Filmed at the Metropolitan Opera in 1983 Berlioz's masterpiece Les Troyens is a tragic tale of love and fate based on Virgil's Aeneid. Under the baton of James Levine Jessye Norman is stunning in the part of Cassandra and Pl''cido Domingo makes for a strong compelling Aeneas. This benchmark performance was hailed by both critics and audiences and performed to greatest critical acclaim. Norman's role debut as Cassandra emerged as one her most significant and compelling performances and this DVD is also a stand-out release among Domingo's extensive filmography.

• Vienna State Opera Gala 2005 - Gala Concert 50th Anniversary Of The Re-Opening | DVD | (30/01/2006) from £15.54   |  Saving you £11.21 (81.35%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A 50 year celebration of the re-opening of the Vienna State Opera since the Second World War.

• Luciano Pavarotti: A Life in Seven Arias | DVD | (09/02/2009) from £14.80   |  Saving you £2.45 (18.09%)   |  RRP £15.99

• Samson Et Dalila - Saint-Saens | DVD | (09/08/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  A production of the Saint-Saens opera performed by the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Conducted by the esteemed James Levine.

• Umberto Giordano - Fedora | DVD | (02/10/2006) from £19.51   |  Saving you £8.47 (51.27%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Giordano: Fedora (Gavazzeni / Freni / Giordano / Umberto)

• The Tribute to Pavarotti | DVD | (24/02/2009) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-4.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

• The Year of Living Dangerously | DVD | (21/02/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• La Fanciulla Del West - Puccini | DVD | (15/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Giacomo Puccini's 'La Fanciulla del West' a stage production by The Metropolitan Opera 1992.

• Ponchielli: La Gioconda | DVD | (05/11/2001) from £18.72   |  Saving you £6.27 (33.49%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The Vienna State Opera's 1986 production of La Gioconda, Amilcare Ponchielli's only lasting success, was an increasingly rare event. The story--based on a long forgotten Victor Hugo drama--is an emotional roller coaster of high passion and self-sacrifice, but has fallen out of favour with the major international opera companies; instead, Ponchielli's contemporary Verdi and one-time pupil Puccini are today's guaranteed crowd-pullers. This is a shame. Ponchielli's score might be sumptuous to the point of occasional over-ripeness but it contains some marvellous arias, not least Enzo's "Cielo e mar". And whenever La Gioconda herself is on stage, it's hard not become enthralled by the richness of her suffering as painted by Ponchielli's lush, explosive music. Here is a woman who is given every opportunity to ensure the removal of her rival (Laura) for Enzo's affections, but who always does the decent thing, ultimately leaving herself with a stark choice between suicide and the repulsive paws of the evil Barnaba who has pursued her since Act I. As La Gioconda, Hungarian soprano Eva Marton is utterly compelling. It's a role that places extraordinary emotional demands on the singer (Callas, not surprisingly, had a field day with it). Marton maintains total credibility. In voice, she is well matched by Placido Domingo's Enzo, who is at the virile peak of his vocal powers, rather suggesting a strength that the suggestible Enzo doesn't really possess. But perhaps the strongest aspect of Ponchielli's opera is the way in which the vocal jewels are distributed throughout the cast. Ludmilla Schemtschuk is an elegant Laura and Margarita Lilowa as La Gioconda's blind mother, La Cieca, sings an unforgettable "Voce di donna o d'angelo". And the ballet within the opera, the "Dance of the Hours", assumes its rightful place as a gleaming component of the whole work. On the DVD: Originally filmed for television, this La Gioconda is presented in PCM Stereo with 4:3 picture format, neither of which do the overall quality any favours. The sound is uneven; when the singers turn upstage it is sometimes impossible to hear what they are singing and the orchestra, conducted by Adam Fischer, sounds dull. The colours are muted. And while the booklet provides the customary comprehensive notes we have come to expect from Arthaus products, it is surprising that the cover photograph is not of the magnificent Eva Marton in the title role.--Piers Ford

• Il Trovatore - Verdi | DVD | (24/09/2004) from £7.76   |  Saving you £23.49 (361.38%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Recording of the Verdi opera from the Wiener Staatsoper in 1978 with Herbert von Karajan conducting.

• Lohengrin - Richard Wagner | DVD | (28/03/2003) from £29.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Richard Wagner was a one-man artistic movement a figure so massive that his influence was felt by all of his contemporaries and all of his major successors.Wolfgang Weber's simple staging muted colours dark clouds barren landscapes and simple shapes succeeds in evoking clear middle ages symbolism. His staging does not impress by means of the spectacular but underlines the dramatic sense embodied in the music allowing the outstanding singers full scope to express themselves.This remarkable production under Claudio Abbado has a stellar cast. Cheryl Studer as Elsa and Placido Domingo as Lohengrin (a role which he first performed on debut at the Hamburg State Opera in 1968 at the age of 27) are the cornerstone of a dream cast.

• Parsifal - The Search For The Grail | DVD | (11/01/2004) from £22.44   |  Saving you £-1.19 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Parsifal: The Search for the Grail is a documentary that sets Wagner's last opera in its cultural context, tracing the history of the Grail myth back to the Middle Ages, and arguing that any specifically Christian myth goes back no further than that. It acknowledges that Parsifal is Wagner's most problematic opera, as well as one of his greatest, and gives chapter and verse for its role in creating the culturally respectable anti-Semitism that led to the Holocaust, as well as discussing other issues like its profound, though eloquently expressed, misogyny. At the same time, it makes what case is possible for the non-aesthetic defence--all of the above is true, and yet it is also an opera about learning compassion, at once poisonous and healing. Placido Domingo is the narrator, taking us through chats with talking heads that range from theologian Karen Armstrong to members of the Wagner family and film clips that range from Monty Python and Indiana Jones to Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal. He also performs the role in a variety of extracts conducted by Valery Gergiev at the Kirov Opera, reminding us of just how viscerally impressive and lyrically beautiful late Wagner can be. On the DVD: The Search for the Grail is presented in old TV standard 4:3 ration with only PCM stereo sound. It comes equipped with a useful set of chapter headings and with subtitles in English, French, German and Spanish. --Roz Kaveney

• Puccini - Tosca | DVD | (09/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Puccini: Tosca (Sinopoli Metropolitan Opera Orchestra)

• Francesca Da Rimini - Zandonai/Levine | DVD | (16/07/2007) from £15.75   |  Saving you £1.24 (7.30%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Over the centuries the story of Francesca da Rimini has inspired many Italian artists including verismo composer Riccardo Zandonai. A cast of three acclaimed singing actors - Renata Scotto Pl''cido Domingo and Cornell MacNeil - bring the medieval characters to life in this beautiful production filmed at the Metropolitan Opera in 1984 First performed in 1914 Francesca da Rimini is a prime example of the lush musical style of the late Romantic era superbly conducted here by James Levine.

• Green Ice | DVD | (28/02/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £6.99

  Electronics expert Wiley (Ryan O'Neal) flees responsibility and New York city for Mexican adventure in this spectacular action romance. On the way he meets the beautiful Holbrook (Anne Archer) and joins up with her south of the border. But a meeting with the sinister Argenti (Omar Sharif) and the discovery of a sparkling collection of Green Ice in his hotel room lead to Wiley and Holbrook becoming embroiled in the deadly world of emerald smuggling...

• Luciano Pavarotti - The Last Tenor | DVD | (08/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

• Puccini: Tosca- In the Settings and at the Times of Tosca | Blu Ray | (03/06/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Verdi: Otello -- La Scala/Muti | DVD | (19/09/2003) from £9.98   |  Saving you £15.01 (150.40%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Riccardi Muti conducts a performance of Otello at the La Scala Theatre before the start of a three year renovation project.

• Fedora - Giordano | DVD | (13/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Italian composer Umberto Giordano's opera 'Fedora' has all of the qualities of a thrilling murder mystery. On this Bel Canto Society release of an impassioned 1998 performance soprano Mirella Freni lends her remarkable voice to the title role and tenor Sergei Larin provides powerful support.

• L'Africaine - Meyerbeer | DVD | (02/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Meyerbeer - L'Africaine (Arena Orch/Chorus/Ballet SFO)