"Actor: Michael Halasz"

• Russian Fireworks | DVD | (02/12/2002) from £16.16   |  Saving you £-6.17 (-61.80%)   |  RRP £9.99

  This Russian Fireworks instalment of the "Naxos Musical Journey" series focuses on the wide geographical and cultural diversity of a vast country, from winter forest scenes near St Petersburg to the holiday resort of Yalta on the Black Sea, complemented by music drawn from a range of Russian composers linking the musical history of their homeland. The film opens with the Procession of the Sardar by Ippolitov-Ivanov with pictures of lakes and mountains in Uzbeksitan. Lyadovs charming Russian Folksongs begins east of Moscow in Suzdal, in the 13th-century cathedral. Rubinsteins Dance of the Bayaderes No. 2 takes us to Yalta, the lake resort where Chekov recovered from tuberculosis. A Galop by Kabalevsky underscores pedestrians running up and down the Potemkin steps in Odessa; while Mussorgsky accompanies scenes of the rich farm land round Kiev, Uzbekistan and oases on the silk-road to Samarkand. Lyadovs Baba Yaga is set in woods round St Petersburg, evoking the witch of Russian folk lore, and Kilimora, set in the same location, depicts a snowy landscape. The Enchanted Lake shows the Valday Heights, where the Volga rises. All these pieces are well played by the Slovak Philharmonic, following one another with very short breaks. On the DVD: Russian Fireworks comes with travel notes as a guide to each location in the filming. There are also brief composer biographies, and trailers for more "Musical Journeys". The picture and sound quality leave nothing to be desired. --Adrian Edwards

• Beethoven - Symphony No 3 / Coriolanus Overture | DVD | (02/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Two of Beethoven's most powerful orchestral works, the third symphony ("Eroica") and the Coriolanus Overture, get vigorous, refined performances from the Czech and Slovak orchestras, but music is only part of this package. More important is the splendid panorama of Paris and Versailles presented for nearly an hour. While the orchestras play Beethoven's musical essays on heroism, the camera wanders from the Eiffel Tower to Notre Dame, Sacré Coeur, Les Invalides, the Bibliothèque Nationale, and the Arc de Triomphe; it browses the city's open-air markets and bookstalls, views the Seine's bridges and busy boat traffic, the city's wonderful variety of parks and fountains, its drivers and pedestrians. The pictures' flow seems correlated to the music's mood, pace, and dynamics. The "Eroica" is a logical choice for a musical journey through Paris because the Symphony No. 3 was inspired by Napoleon, who shows up in portraits and memorabilia during the slow movement. --Joe McLellan