"Actor: Elizabeth Futral"

• Andre Previn | DVD | (01/06/2009) from £7.99   |  Saving you £6.00 (75.09%)   |  RRP £13.99

  'Andr� Previn at 80! It scarcely seems credible. This is the man who won 4 Oscars almost 50 years ago, and still maintains a full conducting, playing and composing schedule, each discipline of which would exhaust a man half his age. And he really is a phenomenal pianist, a conductor of profound insights, and a composer of considerable tonal originality. I once asked him how many songs he had written. After much hesitation, he told me he couldn't really remember. And that was not modesty; he j...

• Mozart: Don Giovanni (Axiom Films: AXM644) | DVD | (01/10/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Previn: A Streetcar Named Desire | DVD | (28/02/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  André Previn's first opera, A Streetcar Named Desire, is an intelligent adaptation of Tennessee Williams' play, written to be performed by two very strong principals. Renée Fleming's performance as Blanche Dubois is one of the best things she has done, full of a dangerous bravado and a vulnerability that wins us despite our irritation. The role is one which gives her voice ample opportunity both for extended displays of controlled, passionate singing and for those moments when singing by itself is enough and the voice has to break off in sorrow or madness. Rodney Gilfrey as Stanley Kowalski is equally fine--his voice has the right dangerous energy. In the important subsidiary roles of Stella and Mitch, Elizabeth Futral and Anthony Dean Griffey are also remarkable. Futral in particular gives a total performance in which we forget to make a distinction between her acting and her singing. The opera itself is, as you would expect, one of the most accessible new scores to arrive on the opera stage for some years, drawing heavily on the legacy of jazz and with that nervous musical intensity we associate with the play. Previn conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra effectively. A complete CD recording with the same cast is also available.On the DVD: The DVD comes with menus in English, French, German and Spanish and sub-titles in French and German. It is presented in 4:3 ratio and with PCM stereo sound. The booklet gives a moderately interesting account of the opera's genesis. --Roz Kaveney

• Tan Dun: The First Emporer | DVD | (15/09/2008) from £13.21   |  Saving you £2.04 (17.07%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Legendary tenor Pl''cido Domingo stars in the visually stunning opera The First Emperor by Academy Award winning composer Tan Dun (Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) - Filmed live at the Metropolitan Opera in High-definition. EMI Classics continues its 'Metropolitan Opera : Live in High-Definition DVD series' with the Metropolitan Opera's world-premiere of Tan Dun and Ha Jin's The First Emperor. Commissioned by the MET in the mid-1990s this spectacular new production was one of the most highly anticipated cultural events of the 2006-07 Metropolitan Opera season. The Opera tells of Emperor Qin's quest for a national anthem for his new country and his ill-fated decision to force a rebellious but talented young composer to write it. Tragedy results following the composer's love affair with the emperor's crippled daughter including the deaths of three principal characters. Pl''cido Domingo as Emperor Qin leads an all-star ensemble in this classic story ideally suited to the opera stage. The First Emperor combines the expressive power of traditional ancient Chinese singing with the long musical lines of Italian Opera. This juxtaposition of musical cultures illustrates Tan Dun's musical style and influences perfectly. In his music not only East and West but ancient and modern coexist. One of just six composers to conduct their own works at the Met Tan Dun lead all the performances of the first run of the opera. Revered Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou (Hero Raise the Red Lantern) directs and was instrumental in the opera's creation having worked closely with Tan Dun while he composed the music.