"Actor: London"

• Gianni Schicchi - Puccini | DVD | (30/05/2005) from £16.37   |  Saving you £3.62 (18.10%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Alessandro Corbelli takes the title role in Annabel Arden's whirlwind production of Puccini's compact opera in which the scheming Gianni Schicchi retrieves for himself the spoils of a disinherited family to pave the way for his daughter to marry her love.

• Tchaikovsky: Pique Dame (The Queen of Spades) | DVD | (21/01/2002) from £20.02   |  Saving you £6.23 (33.21%)   |  RRP £24.99

  This Glyndebourne production of Pique Dame ("The Queen of Spades") received rave reviews when it appeared in 1992 due to its claustrophobic intensity and powerful acting, and these qualities help it to transfer to DVD with great success. Graham Vick's direction ensures that the story is told clearly and simply but includes a wealth of telling details: the pastoral scene from Act 2, for example, uses the boys from the opening chorus as comical sheep and the effect is enchanting. But there are much darker undertones too: Richard Hudson's slanting, angular designs produce a disorientating atmosphere which mirrors Herman's increasing mental deterioration with uncanny precision. There is a brilliant stroke of visual assonance when the Countess returns to haunt Herman and all the furniture from her death scene appears on the roof. The singing is generally good, though Yuri Marusin's voice may not be to everyone's taste; sometimes he sounds like he's shouting, and his frequent lack of vibrato produces a piercing, uncomfortable effect. Nancy Gustafson is a fine Lisa, however, and Dimitri Kharitonov (Yeletsky) is heartbreaking in the famous "Ya vas lyublyu" ("I love you") aria. For overall better singing but a more plodding production, try the 1992 Kirov recording, but for spine-tingling drama this is the one to go for. On the DVD: Pique Dame on disc has subtitles in English, German, French and Spanish. The camerawork captures the odd angularity of the designs and gives an excellent account of a fast-paced, powerful production.--Warwick Thomson

• Wagner - Tristan Und Isolde | DVD | (18/01/2008) from £31.05   |  Saving you £3.94 (12.69%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Richard Wagner - Tristan Und Isolde.

• Berg: Lulu - Glyndebourne Festival Opera | DVD | (23/02/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Alban Berg's second and last opera Lulu is one of the monuments of modernism, constructed around serial technique and containing scenes conceived of as Sonata-form, Suite and so on. The bliss of Andrew Davis's conducting in this classic Glyndebourne production is that we forget all of this--Davis doesn't gloss over the music's intellectual content, but that's not what we think about as we watch and listen. Part of the production's strength is the prodigious performance by Christine Schafer as Lulu--for once we believe in the character's sexual energy and power; and Schafer makes her real enough as a person that we largely forget the work's intrinsic misogyny. The rest of the cast are admirable too: Norman Bailey brings something perversely sweet to the disreputable painter Schigolch; Kathryn Harries makes the dying words of Lulu's lesbian lover Geschwitz one of the work's lyric high points; David Kuebler is equally powerful as Alwa. The final duet between Lulu and her destroyer Jack the Ripper is one of Wolfgang Schone's great moments, but he is equally good as Dr Schon, the man Lulu marries and kills. This is a performance of energy and beauty, matched by a simple but effective production. On the DVD Lulu on disc is presented in disappointingly in NTSC format with a 4:3 picture ratio. Fortunately, the Dolby 2.0 digital sound is ideal for the fine detail of this complex score and these nuanced performances. There are subtitles in English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese. --Roz Kaveney

• Le Nozze Di Figaro | DVD | (23/07/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Recorded at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera 1973.

• Pourquoi Pas Moi? | DVD | (10/06/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A group of gay friends plan to finally tell all of their parents the truth at a grand party, but nothing goes as planned.

• The Grind | DVD | (23/07/2007) from £12.96   |  Saving you £6.03 (31.80%)   |  RRP £18.99

  Go Big Or Go Home While the rest of his high school graduating class is heading to the same old grind of college skateboarder Eric Rivers and his best friends Dustin; a goal-oriented workaholic; and misfit slacker Matt; have one last summer roadtrip together to follow their dream of getting noticed by the professional skateboarding world - and getting paid to skate. When skating legend Jimmy Wilson's skate demo tour hits town the boys figure that as soon as he sees their fierce tricks he'll sign them up for his renowned skate team immediately right? Unfortunately the guys are intercepted by Jimmy's road manager and they can't get their foot in the door much less their boards. But they do get some free advice: keep skating stay true to yourself and stay in the game - if you're good you'll get noticed. Following their dream - and Jimmy's national tour - Eric Dustin and Matt start their own skate team reluctantly sponsored by Dustin and his college fund. After recruiting laid-back ladies man Sweet Lou to join their crew and provide the wheels for their tour team ""Super Duper"" launches the ride of their lives in an outrageous road trip from Chi-town to Santa Monica. The professional scene doesn't exactly welcome ""nobody"" skaters but these outsiders stick together through extreme misadventures. In their quest to go pro they meet professional vert skating champions Bucky Lasek Bob Burnquist and Pierre Luc Gagnon skate pro Bam Margera and his crew Preston Lacy Ehren ""Danger"" McGhehey and Jason ""Wee Man"" Acua as well as sexy skate chick Jamie as they grind handrails across America and force the skateboarding world to give 'em a piece of the action.

• Mahler - Symphonies Nos. 1 and 8 (Tennstedt) | DVD | (04/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Recorded live in Royal Festival Hall London 1991.

• Anniversary Album | DVD | (21/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The London Community Gospel Choir celebrates its rich history as well as its future with this definitive album recorded in Abbey Road's famous Studio One before an invited audience. Together with some of the many great artists they have worked with over the years the Choir gives a typically enthralling performance of songs - old and new - that have been honed to perfection over 21 extraordinary years. Tracklist: 1. How I Got Over 2. Faith 3. Back In The Fold 4. My Soul Says Yes 5. The Living Years 6. I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever 7. Blessed Be Your Name 8. In The Garden 9. I Surrender All 10. Some Day 11. Dance 12. Our Song

• Bizet - Carmen (Mcvicar, Jordan, Lpo, Von Otter) | DVD | (12/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  'Carmen' is here restored to the original Opera Comique in a production from Glyndebourne. Music is under the direction of Philippe Jordan.

• Essential Opera Collection | DVD | (11/10/2013) from £84.29   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Mstislav Rostropovich | DVD | (03/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Tracklisting: Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death performed by Galina Vishnevskaya (soprano) Mstislav Rostropovich (piano). Prokofiev: Sinfonia Concertante in E minor for cello & orchestra Op 125 performed by Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) and the Orchestre National de l'Opra de Monte-Carlo Okko Kamu. Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No 1 in E flat major Op 107 performed by Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) and the London Symphony Orchestra Charles Groves.

• Mozart: La Clemenza di Tito -- Glyndebourne | DVD | (29/04/2002) from £11.74   |  Saving you £14.51 (138.45%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Mozart's Clemenza di Tito ("The Clemency of Titus") makes for riveting viewing in this Glyndebourne performance directed by Nicholas Hytner and conducted by Andrew Davis staged in the composer's bicentenary in 1991. Mozart's last opera, Clemenza was for some time considered below par by his own exalted standards. He composed it in a rush, the recitatives are by a pupil and it had to be on an appropriate theme to please the new Hapsburg monarch, for whose enthronement it was designed. There's little character development and the musical style harks back to operatic conventions Mozart had done so much to overthrow. Watching this production one would scarcely credit that such reservations once held sway. Hytner and his team have put a contemporary angle on a story set in Rome AD 78 in which sets, props and the stage itself are constructed to different dimensions offering alternate perspectives on a static tale. A slanting pillar and a sloping corridor allude to the unhinged mind of the scheming Vitellia, the central character, who puts her confidant Sesto on an emotional roller coaster ride as she ensnares him to plot the downfall of Titus. The principals use their eyes to communicate to one another as well as the audience and in the imaginatively staged entrances and exits of the ensembles one senses Hytner's choreographic instincts coming to the fore. The superb cast sing magnificently and look stunning. Philip Langridge is an eloquent Titus, Diana Monatgue a sincere Sesto and Ashley Putnam brings a touch of Alexis Colby to her portrayal of Vitellia. The London Philharmonic are all fired up under conductor Andrew Davis' fervent direction. The performance (the "Overture" accompanied by a visual montage of artefacts of Ancient Rome) is played on modern instruments yet articulated and reproduced with the clarity and definition associated with period ones. On the DVD: La Clemenza di Tito has no special features save for the obligatory subtitles. The picture quality is outstanding with the imaginative and colourful production design caught, like the music, with exceptional fidelity. The high drama at the conclusion of Act 1 justifies running on without a break into Act 2. This is a must for all lovers of opera. --Adrian Edwards

• Poor White Trash | DVD | (03/09/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £2.99

  Linda lives in a poor trailer park. Her teenage son needing money to go to college resorts to petty crime. However far from discouraging him Linda helps her son upgrade his criminal activities...

• Monsterwolf | DVD | (19/07/2011) from £3.99   |  Saving you £9.00 (225.56%)   |  RRP £12.99

  In 1528 French settlers in the New World betrayed the Atakapa Indian tribe and rounded them up for slavery using a particularly vicious wolf. Using magic the tribe’s Shaman entered the wolf becoming the BENANDANTI the legendary wolf-monster of vengeance.;Today in a small post-flood town of Louisiana history is repeating itself. Big Oil is taking advantage of the poor repressed townsfolk by taking their land at dirt cheap prices and killing their ecosystem. This betrayal of the native landowners awakens the Benandanti Wolf and those responsible are being slaughtered one-by-one.;Their only hope is Maria a 22 year old girl who used to live here as a child but has returned only to sell her property. As Maria and her childhood friend Yale try to stop the murderous wolf monster Maria discovers she’s tied to this land’s history and the wolf more than she ever imagined.

• Scavengers | DVD | (27/01/2014) from £5.04   |  Saving you £7.95 (157.74%)   |  RRP £12.99

  An explosive sci-fi action thriller that ramps up the high-energy thrills as two rival ships struggle to attain mastery of the most destructive power in the universe. In a forgotten corner of the universe a battle is raging that that threatens our very existence. Our future lies in the hands of Scavengers. The crew of the Starship Revelator survive by keeping out of trouble until they stumble across the mechanics of ultimate destruction. A rival ship has it in their sights and they will stop at nothing to master a power that could destroy the universe. The fight for the future is on - a battle against oblivion. To the victor goes untold power; to the vanquished death devastation and the cold dark emptiness of space.

• Man Of The West | DVD | (08/09/2008) from £17.53   |  Saving you £-4.54 (-34.90%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A rancher on his way to hire a schoolteacher is stranded miles from anywhere after the train he is on is robbed. Taking shelter with outlaw relatives he used to run with they all decide he can assist on one last bank job...

• Undercover Kids | DVD | (07/04/2008) from £2.69   |  Saving you £3.30 (122.68%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Nicole and Nelson are not ordinary kids - they have psychic powers. With the help of the school boff George and his high-tech gadgets the twins embark on a mission to reveal who is vandalizing their school.

• Weather Wars | Blu Ray | (29/10/2012) from £6.49   |  Saving you £9.50 (146.38%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A series of freak weather occurrences around Washington D.C. reunites two estranged brothers who are the sons of a once prestigious climate scientist. One of them suspects their father is behind it and upon further investigation, they Discs)over that all of their father's enemies are dead - victims of freak weather accidents. Soon their suspicions are confirmed as their father hijacks radio and TV transmissions to relay the message that unless a certain Senator, who canceled his Defense Depar...

• Ermione - Glyndebourne Festival Opera | DVD | (30/01/2006) from £68.99   |  Saving you £-51.00 (-283.50%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Rossini's rarely performed 'opera series' Ermione was a surprise hit when it was first performed at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1995. Set in Troy after the fall of the city to the Greeks this tragedy of great histrionic force concentrates on the bitter struggle for the love of Pyrrhus between Hector's widow Andromache and the jealous Ermione sister of Helen of Troy. Graham Vick sets this highly effective production in the classically-inspired auditorium of an