"Actor: Orchestra"

• War And Peace - Prokofiev | DVD | (01/04/2004) from £32.38   |  Saving you £-2.39 (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  A performance of Prokofiev's opera at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg. Valery Gergiev conducts the Kirov Opera Orchestra. Sung in Russian.

• Herbert Von Karajan - New Year's Concert 1988 | DVD | (01/10/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

• Puccini: Tosca -- La Scala/Muti | DVD | (02/12/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Tosca was revived to great acclaim at La Scala in this 2000 production, which built on Luca Ronconi's 1996 version with musical direction from principal conductor Riccardo Muti and Lorenza Cantini's nightmarishly distorted set. Puccini's most recorded opera is loved and derided in equal measure for its high-octane dramatics, rich arias and the fire-spitting exchanges of the eponymous heroine and her wily tormentor Scarpia. Under Muti, the music takes precedence over the self-conscious theatricality of the book. As a result, some high dramatic points--the stabbing, always tricky, and Tosca's suicide, equally dicey--are underplayed here. Singers of the calibre of Maria Guleghina and baritone Leo Nucci can be relied upon for rounded, controlled performances. Guleghina eschews the ferocity of Callas for a less stately, earthier honesty and enjoys moments of great delicacy, particularly in a sweet "Vissi d'arte". And her grief at Cavaradossi's death is searing. The key to Tosca, though, is the ambivalent relationship between the singer and the chief of police. Scarpia is probably the most toxic antihero in opera, and Nucci could do with a touch more virulence. Even so, this is a fascinating production that strips away much of the traditional artifice and gives real insight into the complex emotions that make the opera so compelling for its devotees. On the DVD: Tosca, like so many operas recorded in the theatre, here relies on the performances to compensate for the camera's inability to convey the overall majesty of the production. The 16:9 anamorphic picture format gives no more than a hint of the crushing power of Cantini's set. Happily, the choice of Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 surround sound means there is no compromise on the sound front. Orchestra, chorus and principals unite in a fluid homage to Puccini's score. There are no extras on the DVD. One minor niggle: careless editing of the booklet notes means that Puccini briefly becomes Verdi in the description of the opera's genesis. --Piers Ford

• Don Giovanni - Mozart | DVD | (30/05/2005) from £33.73   |  Saving you £-8.74 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Riccardo Muti and an outstanding cast of singers were joined by the Vienna State Opera ensemble in a spirited and time-travelling interpretation of the eternal myth of Don Giovanni.

• Turandot - Puccini | DVD | (27/02/2006) from £18.84   |  Saving you £-3.85 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  In the Imperial Palace of Peking the Emperor announces that any prince seeking to marry his daughter Turandot must first answer three riddles. Prince Calaf falls immediately in love with Turandot and successfully answers all three. However before the Prince marries Turandot he asks her a riddle of his own.

• Valery Gergiev Conducts The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra | DVD | (01/07/2002) from £22.98   |  Saving you £-2.99 (-15.00%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Valery Gergiev's career knows few bounds, and this concert from the 2000 Salzburg Festival finds him guiding the Vienna Philharmonic through three 20th-century Russian classics with typically edge-of-seat charisma. After a ponderous start, Prokofiev's Classical Symphony goes with style and subtlety. Alfred Schnittke's Viola Concerto has the extreme emotional range expected of this still-controversial composer, but soloist and dedicatee Yuri Bashmet covers all bases in this powerfully focused account. The concert ends with Stravinsky's ballet The Firebird in its complete 1910 version (ignore what it says in the next-to-useless booklet note). If lacking the vividness that Gergiev's Kirov orchestra would bring to it, there's no doubting the sophistication or the commitment of the Vienna players. Gergiev's conducting grows more unorthodox by the year--at times evoking a shamanistic Max Bygraves--but his energy and communicating zeal are something else. On the DVD: Valery Gergiev conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra is presented on DVD in a 16:9 aspect ratio that reproduces Brian Large's incisive direction with the expected clarity; plus there's a choice of PCM Stereo, Dolby 5.1 or DTS options. The special feature--subtitled in four European languages--consists of a chat with Gergiev on Prokofiev and Stravinsky, and a lengthier conversation with Bashmet on his association with Schnittke and the genesis of the Viola Concerto, with enough amusing anecdotes to keep listeners intrigued while listening to the music. --Richard Whitehouse

• Bellini - Norma (Netherlands Co) | Blu Ray | (28/07/2008) from £5.59   |  Saving you £24.40 (436.49%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Vincenzo Bellini's Norma, performed by Netherlands Chamber Orchestra as well as other performers, and conducted by Julian Reynolds.

• Waldbuhne Concert 2002 - A Night Of Encores | DVD | (01/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Vadim Repin in concert performing encores. Featuring Wieniawski's Polonaise Op. 4.

• Zubin Mehta Meets Mitsuko Uchida | DVD | (27/08/2007) from £2.96   |  Saving you £14.29 (840.59%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra play together with renowned pianist Mitsuko Uchida. Her interpretation of a wide range of repertoire has gained her a formidable reputation as a pianist who brings intellectual acuity and musical insight to her performances. Concert includes repertoire by Beethoven Schubert Bach and Stravinsky. A classical and musical delight.

• Die Tote Stadt - Korngold | DVD | (06/08/2002) from £20.00   |  Saving you £4.99 (24.95%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Any fan of Alfred Hitchcock - and in particular of Vertigo his film in which Kim Novak gives male fantasies something to feed on - is certain to love Eric Wolfgang Korngold's Die Tote Stadt (The Dead City). This was the finest opera to come from the pen of this composer of film scores who found both fame and fortune in Hollywood. It relates the remarkable tale of the protagonist Paul and his individualistic approach to dealing with the loss of his beloved wife Marie. As the drama unfolds all is not what it seems - dream and reality intertwine as Paul attempts to come to terms with the past in exchange for a tolerable future.

• Chicago Symphony Orchestra - Pierre Boulez | DVD | (03/07/2006) from £3.05   |  Saving you £16.20 (905.03%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Brilliant Orchestral Music by Berg Debussy and Stravinsky.Recorded live at the Philharmonie Koln.

• Mahler - Symphony No. 6 (Abbado, Lucerne Festival Orch) | DVD | (01/04/2008) from £25.00   |  Saving you £-0.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The imposing experience of Mahler's No. 6 is captured live in a performance of tremendous power and towering climaxes with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra. The core of the orchestra is provided by the Mahler Chamber Orchestra itself an lite body of players. Soloists like violinist Kolja Blacher (concertmaster of the LFO) clarinettist Sabine Meyer violist Wolfram Christ cellist Natalia Gutman the trumpeter Reinhold Friedrich and members of the Alban Berg Quartet to name just a few

• Adam - Giselle (American Ballet Theatre) | DVD | (20/11/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Adolphe Adam's ballet 'Giselle' performed by the American Ballet Theatre and the Berlin Orchestra and Choir. Conducted by John Lanchbery. Directed by Hugo Niebeling and David Blair. Dancers include Carla Fracci and Erik Bruhn.

• Mozart - Da Ponte Box Set (Metzmacher) | DVD | (02/06/2008) from £6.79   |  Saving you £32.20 (474.23%)   |  RRP £38.99

  Cosi Fan Tutti/La Nozze Di Figaro/Don Giovanni

• Brahms: Ein Deutsches Requiem | DVD | (01/04/2004) from £5.73   |  Saving you £15.52 (347.20%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A performance to mark the centenary of Brahms' death in the Musikverein Vienna on the 3rd April 1997.

• Brian Setzer Orchestra - Its gonna rock,Cause that's what i do (Bluray) | Blu Ray | (14/12/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  (SURFDOG) CODE 1, 99 Min., Stereo, 5.1.Medium 1This Cat's On A Hot Tin RoofDrive Like Lightning (Crash Like Thunder)'49 Mercury BluesYour True LoveThe Dirty Boogie(She's) Sexy + 17Honey ManLonely AvenueTrouble TrainSummertime BluesSixteen ChicksGene & EddieRunaway BoysFishnet StockingsStray Cat StrutJump, Jive, An' WailRumble In BrightonRock This TownBrand New Cadillac

• Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 | DVD | (01/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A performance of Beethoven's Concerto No. 5 with Francois Rene Duchable on piano and John Nelson conducting the Paris Ensemble Orchestra.

• Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto In D Major / Serenade For Strings In C Major | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £12.98   |  Saving you £-2.99 (-29.90%)   |  RRP £9.99

  This volume of the NAXOS MUSICAL JOURNEY returns to Russia and the music and world of Tchaikovsky. Violin Concerto Op. 35 and Serenade for Strings evoke memories of Tchaikovsky's homeland. From the Venice-like waterways of St. Petersburg to the famed Mariinsky (Kirov) Theater; from the remote splendor of the Yelagin Palace to sacred churches. Float along the River Neva for a stunning view of St. Peterburg's wondrous beauty; experience the intimacy of Tchaikovsky's own country home p

• A Gala Evening - In The Presence Of HRH The Prince Of Wales From The Glyndebourne Festival Opera | DVD | (11/01/2004) from £21.38   |  Saving you £3.61 (16.88%)   |  RRP £24.99

  From the Glyndebourne Festival Opera a host of leading opera stars perform for HRH The Prince Of Wales. Works include Mozart's Le Nozze Di Figaro - 'Voi Che Sapete' and Rossini's Il Barbiere Di Siviglia - 'Un Voce Poco Fa'.

• Puccini: La Boheme (Live Recording From The Teatro Degli Arcimboldi Milano 2003) | DVD | (18/01/2010) from £19.66   |  Saving you £5.33 (21.30%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Boheme (La)