"Actor: Orchestra"

• Bruckner-Symphony No.8 | DVD | (30/10/2006) from £16.90   |  Saving you £3.09 (15.50%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Bruckner: Symphony No. 8

• Claudio Abbado In Rehearsal | DVD | (17/05/2002) from £21.58   |  Saving you £-1.59 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Claudio Abbado in Rehearsal has the eminent conductor rehearsing Verdi's Requiem Mass both at the La Scala Opera House and the church of San Marco in Milan where Verdi's choral masterpiece was first performed. This new performance was given in 1985 to mark the 200th birthday of the Italian national poet Alessandro Manzoni, with whom Verdi shared aspirations for a united Italy. The camera dwells a good deal on Abbado, whose concentration seems well nigh tangible as he raises his arms and throws out his chest to communicate the power of Verdi's music. Abbado takes much care with his soloists, gives strong leads, checking the reverberant acoustic of San Marco with a lift of the head during the thunderous "Dies Irae". We eavesdrop on a piano rehearsal with two of his soloists as he keeps the rather musically wayward mezzo on course and works with Samuel Ramey, his bass, to intensify his hushed delivery of "More stupebit" ("Death and nature stand aghast"). We also see Monserrat Caballe, who can float a note pianissimo like no other soprano, have an unexpected fit of the giggles when beginning her "Libera me". Some reservations in director Norbert Beilharz's treatment of the "Lux Aeterna" require comment. His concept of juxtaposing a well-dressed audience with pictures from tombstones and statues as a reminder of the transience of human life grows wearisome after a while, as does his commentary and translation of the Latin, already on screen as subtitles, which masks some of the most poignant music in the score. On the DVD: Claudio Abbado in Rehearsal has one major disappointment: the lighting. Neither the San Marco Church or the interior of La Scala is well lit. There are brief trailers for three other ArtHaus Musik productions, including a film about Callas and Abbado conducting the Mozart Requiem in a splendid baroque church in Salzburg where the brilliance of the picture, stunningly lit, really shows up the deficiencies of this film. To hear Abbado conduct the Verdi Requiem where everyone performs as though their lives depended on it, try the version he recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic in January 2001. --Adrian Edwards

• European Concert 1996 | DVD | (05/06/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Includes: Prokoviev - 'Highlights From Romeo And Juliet' Rachmaninov - 'Aleko's Cavatina' and Beethoven - 'Romance For Violin - Nos. 1 And 2' and 'Symphony No. 7'.

• Berlin Philharmonic - European Concert 2000 | DVD | (19/02/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The Berliner Philharmoniker Swedish Radio Choir and Eric Ericson Chamber Choir take part in this 10th Anniversary Concert performing Ludwig Van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 2 in B Flat Major and Symphony No 9 in D Minor.

• Elgar: Cello Concerto In E Minor / Serenade For Strings | DVD | (04/11/2002) from £12.98   |  Saving you £-2.99 (-29.90%)   |  RRP £9.99

  The majesty of Scotland is used as a setting for Elgar's music. Conductors are Constantine Krimetz and Adrian Leaper.

• Jon Vickers: Four Operatic Portraits | DVD | (29/11/2002) from £22.29   |  Saving you £0.70 (3.00%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Jon Vickers - Four Operatic Portraits

• Verdi - Messa Da Requiem (Abbado, Bpo, Gheorghiu) | DVD | (18/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Verdi: Messa Da Requiem

• Leaving Home - Orchestral Music In The 20th Century - Vol. 4 - Three Journeys Through Dark Landscapes | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £21.58   |  Saving you £-1.59 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Written and presented by Sir Simon Rattle the foremost British conductor of our day this series forms a fascinating introduction to and overview of the music of the 20th century. Each of the seven programmes features over thirty minutes of specially-shot music in performance with Rattle conducting the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Simon Rattle leads viewers on an exhilarating journey through the music of our time explaining the chief musical developments from Mahler t

• 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

• Waldbuhne 1995 - American Night | DVD | (10/04/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A compilation of music conducted by Simon Rattle. Includes the works:- `Rhapsody In Blue` and `Summertime` - George Gershwin `Candide` - Leonard Bernstein and `Berliner Luft` - Paul Lincke.

• Mozart - Amadeus | DVD | (13/02/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This DVD collection features pivotal performances of Mozart's operatic master-pieces - a classical hit parade of past and present vocal legends in an unprecedented tribute to this most popular of composers.Excerpts from:Don Giovanni - Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail - Le Nozze Di Figaro - Die Zauberflote - Cosi Fan Tutte - Mitridate Re Di Ponto - Idomeneo - Requiem.

• Sounds Like Christmas | DVD | (04/10/2004) from £12.19   |  Saving you £5.80 (47.58%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Sounds Like Christmas by the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.

• La Fanciulla del West | DVD | (04/11/2008) from £28.55   |  Saving you £-3.56 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

• Kent Nagano - Rhythm And Dance | DVD | (28/04/2006) from £5.19   |  Saving you £12.80 (246.63%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A programme bristling with verve and irresistible rhythm presented by Kent Nagano and the Berlin Philharmonic who take us around the world on a musical journey that runs from classical ever-greens by Ravel and Gershwin to the thunderous pulse of Japanese percussion - with amongst the star guests of this gala evening mezzo-soprano Susan Graham and that black belt of the wadaiko drums Eitetsu Hayashi.Jean-Pascal Beintus: He Got RhythmMaurice Ravel: La ValseDaphnis et Chloe (Suite No. 2)Isao Matsushite: HI-Ten-YuEitetsu Hayashi: UtageZhao Jiping: Farewell My Concubine (Suite)George Gershwin: Fascinatin' Rhythm/The Man I Love/Nice Work If You Can Get It/Someone To Watch Over Me/Summertime/I Got Rhythm.

• Bernstein in Rehearsal and Performance - Shostakovich Symphony No. | DVD | (28/04/2008) from £19.59   |  Saving you £6.66 (36.33%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Bernstein: Rehearsal & Performance

• European Concert At Versailles 1997 | DVD | (04/03/2002) from £3.59   |  Saving you £17.66 (757.94%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Since 1991 the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra has played a European Concert on every May 1 (the date upon which the orchestra was founded) in different places of cultural importance. In 1997 the venue was the Royal Opera House in Versailles, a beautiful small theatre with an intimate acoustic. The dimensions of the stage clearly limit the orchestra to smaller-scale works rather than their usual romantic repertoire, but the sound under Daniel Barenboim is glorious nonetheless. The concert opens with a tribute to Francois Couperin, one of the greatest composers ever to have been associated with Versailles. Ravel's neo-classical Le Tombeau de Couperin is performed with graceful restraint and refined elegance, and suits the style of the hall perfectly. Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 13 is less successful, simply because the solo instrument is placed facing the orchestra in order to allow Barenboim both to play and conduct. The result is that the piano sound is muffled and the orchestral direction less precise. But things pick up again in the Eroica Symphony, a piece perfectly suited to the conductor's volatile temperament: the louds are very loud, the softs extremely soft and the sudden shifts between them explosively handled. The visual direction by Bob Coles concentrates on individual orchestral performers, with highly watchable results. On the DVD: The European Concert, 1997 also includes a 20-minute documentary in German about the history of music in Paris, the construction of Versailles and an interview with Daniel Barenboim. The documentary is subtitled in English, French, Spanish and Italian. --Warwick Thompson

• Various Composers - the Art of Grace Bumbry | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £12.98   |  Saving you £4.01 (23.60%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Various Composers: The Art Of Grace Bumbry

• Berliner Philharmoniker In Japan 1994 | DVD | (14/01/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Recorded live at the Suntory Hall in Japan, this DVD brings the original version of Mussorgsky's 'A Night on Bald Mountain', Stravinsky's 1919 version of 'The Firebird Suite' and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.5 in E-minor, performed by the Berlin Philharmonic under Claudio Abbado.

• European Concert 2001 - Istanbul | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This European Concert is part of a series given by the Berlin Philharmonic in European venues of particular cultural significance: St Irene has the distinction of being the oldest church in Istanbul. These days it may be about as fashionable to play Haydn symphonies with a full orchestra as it is to venture out into the street wearing real fur, but the BPO are so well-disciplined that the results are never outlandish. Mariss Jansons may not be particularly known in this repertoire but it’s obvious that he’s having a whale of a time, and his enthusiasm is infectious. Forces are reduced for the Mozart, and Emmanuel Pahud is reunited with his old orchestra (he was appointed Principal Flute at the prodigiously young age of 22). It’s easy to understand why he’s the top dog of his generation: his sound is ravishing and his phrasing is effortless; he breathes new life (literally) into this much-loved bon-bon. For the Berlioz, the orchestra is back up to full strength, Jansons powering his way through this extraordinary masterpiece, the colours dazzling, the harps placed unusually to the front of the orchestra (and to great effect in the second-movement Ball scene). The warmth of the audience reaction at the end says it all. On the DVD: European Concert--Istanbul features pleasingly unobtrusive camera-work that avoids the temptation to spotlight individual players for the sake of it and offers a good perspective on the sheer scale of the venue. The sound is full and well-balanced and the concert is enhanced by an enticing 20-minute travelogue of Istanbul (narrated in German but with subtitles in English, German, French, Spanish or Italian). In addition, there are eight minutes of "behind the scenes" footage which is worth seeing once, and details of other TDK titles.--Harriet Smith

• Claudio Abbado - A Verdi Gala From Berlin | DVD | (02/10/2006) from £22.67   |  Saving you £0.32 (1.40%)   |  RRP £22.99