"Actor: Mstislav Rostropovich"

• Prom At The Palace | DVD | (01/07/2002) from £9.59   |  Saving you £10.40 (108.45%)   |  RRP £19.99

  One of the most remarkable things about this recording of the Queen's Golden Jubilee Prom at the Palace--quite apart from the musical goodies on offer--is the opportunity to glimpse inside the royal garden, and see what Her Majesty's principal home looks like from the back. Who would have guessed she had her own lake? Voyeurism aside, director Bob Coles also catches the palpable sense of occasion and excitement that surrounds the concert, with some swooping camera angles and shots of a very chuffed-looking crowd. The music, introduced by Michael Parkinson, is a mix of popular favourites (Zadok the Priest, "Jupiter" from The Planets, Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks) and a few lesser-known items such as Malcolm Arnold's The Nation's Dances. The outdoor acoustic is generally handled pretty well with some sensitive microphone placement, and the soloists all sound wonderful; Angela Gheorghiu stops the show with a passionate account of "Vissi d'Arte" (from Tosca) and 13-year-old clarinettist Julian Bliss gives a remarkably assured performance of Messager's fluffy salon-piece Solo de Concours. Occasionally the BBC Symphony Orchestra loses concentration and plays somewhat scrappily--the accompaniment to Figaro's aria "Largo al Factotum" is not all it should be--but overall this is a fine souvenir of a historic concert. On the DVD: Prom at the Palace has no special features on DVD. The arias in French and Italian are all subtitled in English. All profit from the sale of the DVD will be donated to the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Trust. --Warwick Thomson

• The Art Of Violin | DVD | (02/04/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A documentary film by Bruno Monsaingeon devoted to the 20th century's greatest violinists, The Art of Violin really cannot be faulted. The same, incidentally, can also be said of the similar volumes which cover the piano and singing, so there's never been a better time to collect a personal audio-visual archive of some wonderful historical performers. The added dimension provided by the painstakingly collected film material (here featuring no fewer than 20 outstanding soloists) is of course of exceptional value when observing violin technique, and the diversity of approaches presented here in loving detail is in itself a subject for endless comparison. The material mixes archive performance footage, much of which one might never have dreamed existed, with interviews and documentary commentary. However, rather than turn the project into a museum piece, Monsaingeon includes contributions from contemporary figures such as Perlman and, shrewdly, Hilary Hahn--not that there'd be any doubt of the huge relevance of the material to any contemporary player or lover of the repertoire. An absolute must. --Roger Thomas

• Rostropovich - Life And Art | DVD | (05/11/2007) from £15.04   |  Saving you £-1.05 (-7.50%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Mstislav Rostropovich (1927-2007) one of the 20th century's greatest musicians is captured here on film with the two most famous conductors of his generation - Karajan and Bernstein - in Schumann's Cello Concerto Strauss's Don Quixote and Bloch's Schelomo. The Portrait produced by Arte features the manifold talents of this truly charismatic artist: Rostropovich as a conductor teacher and cellist with interview footage and comments about the great musician by Vengerov and others combined with fantastic historic black & white footage Tracklisting: 1. Nicht zu schnell 2. Langsam 3. Sehr lebhaft Rostropovich / Bloch 4. Lento moderato - Andante moderato - Allegro moderato - Allegro - Andante moderato Rostropovich / Strauss 1. Introduktion (Miges Zeitma) 2. Don Quixote der Ritter von der traurigen Gestalt 3. Sancho Panza 4. Variation 1 (Gemchlich) 5. Variation 2 (Kriegerisch) 6. Variation 3 (Miges Zeitma) 7. Variation 4 (Etwas breiter) 8. Variation 5 (Sehr langsam) 9. Variation 6 (Schnell) 10. Variation 7 (Ein wenig ruhiger als vorher) 11. Variation 8 12. Variation 9 (Schnell und strmisch) 13. Variation 10 (Viel breiter) 14. Finale (Sehr ruhig)

• Dvorak/Saint-Saens - Cello Concertos | DVD | (10/09/2007) from £18.88   |  Saving you £-9.89 (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.99

  Dvorak Saint Saens - Cello Concerts.Antonin Dvorak 1841-1904Cello Concerto in B minor Op.10401. Allegro.02. Adagion Ma Non Troppo.03. Finale: Molto AllegroCamille Saint - Saens 1835 - 1921Cello Concerto No. 1 in A Minor Op. 3304. Allegro Non Troppo - Allegretto con moto - Un peu moins vite.

• 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.

• Classic Archive - Mstislav Rostropovich | DVD | (04/11/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Rostropovich / Richter - Classic Archive

• Various Composers - Domingo in Concert | DVD | (10/01/2005) from £4.59   |  Saving you £14.66 (440.24%)   |  RRP £17.99

  This fantastic three disc boxed set features three concerts from Placido Domingo: 1.Placido Domingo Live in Miami 2.Placido Grandissimo 3.Placido Domingo meets Mstislav Rostropovich Placido Domingo is largely responsible for the increasing mainstream popularity of opera among contemporary listeners. To date, he has made over 100 recordings, has won eight Grammy Awards, and has sung more roles and been seen by more people than any other tenor in history. In the sold-out Miami Arena, Domingo gives an evening of musical delight to the crowd. Joined by American soprano Ana Panagulias, he presents a bounty of favourite arias, duets and songs by Puccini, Donizetti, Meyerbeer and others. His talent sparks the Miami crowd to give an ecstatic ovation for one of the master entertainers of our time. Officially opening the Seville World Expo in 1990, Placido Domingo gives a thrilling live concert performance to a capacity crowd at the Seville Stadium. He performs favourite arias by Puccini and Bizet, as well as a selection of popular Spanish songs and zarzuelas. Soprano Julia Migenes joins Domingo in a duet from "Carmen", and also performs solos from Puccini and Gershwin. Domingo is accompanied by the National Symphonic Orchestra of Spain conducted by Eugene Kohn and Manuel Alejandro. Also joining him is soprano Guadalupe Sanchez and guitarist Ernesto Bitetti. A concert from the Roman Theatre in Merida, Spain, recorded in 1991, shows Placido Domingo at his best. He not only sings some of his favourite arias but also conducts the orchestra for Mstislav Rostropovich's performance of a Haydn Cello concerto, plays piano and joins soprano Olga Borodina in an excellent performance of a duet from Bizet's "Carmen". As additional features all DVDs contain biographies and composer documentaries.

• David Oistrakh - Artist Of The People? | DVD | (26/08/2002) from £28.53   |  Saving you £-10.54 (-58.60%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Bruno Monsaingeon's David Oistrakh: Artist of the People? is a probing portrait of perhaps the most thought-provoking of modern violin virtuosi, and a good companion to his similarly revealing documentary on pianist Sviatoslav Richter. Although conversation with the man himself is minimal (Oistrakh died in 1974), Monsaingeon is able to draw upon the priceless reminiscences of those who worked with him, including his son Igor, conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky, cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, protegé Gidon Kremer, and the late Yehudi Menuhin: their frank and sincere comments on Soviet society make for sobering listening. Equally important, the range of Oistrakh's repertoire is covered, from Bach to Shostakovich, in footage covering half a century of performance. The musicianship and humanity of a life dedicated to music in the face of an often ruthless establishment is powerfully and movingly evoked. This is a documentary that no-one interested in great music-making or 20th-century culture should miss. On the DVD: David Oistrakh: Artist of the People? reproduces its disparate sources with remarkable consistency in a 4:3 picture, and if the high level transfer of the musical extracts gives a harder edge to Oistrakh's sound than was the case, the Linear PCM Stereo itself is fine. There are subtitles in five European languages, and a useful background article by Monsaingeon, similarly translated, in the booklet. --Richard Whitehouse

• Bach/Brahms/Mozart - Oistrakh/Menuhin/Rostropovich | DVD | (05/10/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Part of EMI's Classic Archive Series, which features great performances from legendary artists of the golden age.Contained here are works composed by Bach, Mozart and Brahms, performed by David Oistrakh and Yehudi Menuhin on violin and Mstislav Rostropovich on cello, accompanied by various orchestras and conductors.

• Rostropovich/Domingo - Perform and Conduct | DVD | (21/11/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  One of the greatest tenors Placido Domingo joins forces with legendary cellist Mstislav Rostropovich for a stellar performance of of some of the best operatic overtures and cello concertos ever composed.