"Actor: Orchestra"

• Various Composers - the Art of Grace Bumbry | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £9.99   |  Saving you £7.00 (70.07%)   |  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

• Die Walkure | DVD | (01/12/2003) from £25.00   |  Saving you £4.99 (19.96%)   |  RRP £29.99

  A performance of the Richard Wagner opera by the Stuttgart State Orchestra. Conducted by Lothar Zagrosek.

• Symphony For The Spire | DVD | (24/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A spectacle of music and theatre from the West Green Salisbury Cathedral featuring the English Chamber Orchestra and the Philharmonia Chorus conducted by Richard Armstrong. Includes perfomances by Kenneth Branagh Placido Domingo Ofra Harnoy Charlton Heston and Jessye Norman. The cathedral's West Front also acts as an enormous projection screen for a series of dramatic images to illustrate a special adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry V to an acclaimed score by Scottish composer Patrick Doyle. Kenneth Branagh stars in the role that made him internationally famous and he is joined by Hollywood legend Charlton Heston. The Kneller Hall Trumpeters join the English Chamber Orchestra for a performance of the finale to Act II of Verdi's Aida. Then a massive firework display over Salisbury provides a dramatic backdrop to Handel's La Rjouissance from Music for the Royal Fireworks and orchestra and chorus bring the evening to a close with Parry's Jerusalem.

• Waldbuhne 1996 Italian Night | DVD | (05/06/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

• Cinderella | DVD | (28/09/2001) from £33.73   |  Saving you £-8.74 (-35.00%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Maguy Marin's reworking of the Cinderella story which was staged in the studio. Prokofiev's music has still been used but edited to allow additional sound effects to be added.

• Tan Dun - Tea (Lundy, Gillett, Richardson, Liang, Nhk So) | DVD | (10/01/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Tea Opera Recorded live on 22 October 2002 Suntory Hall Japan.

• Prokofiev - Romeo And Juliet | DVD | (26/07/2007) from £21.59   |  Saving you £1.40 (6.48%)   |  RRP £22.99

• Verona And Lago Di Garda | DVD | (09/09/2013) from £32.37   |  Saving you £-7.38 (-29.50%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A virtual journey to Verona and Lago di Garda with delighting music from Verona's composers as Vivaldi Pachelbel and Salleri played by the Orchestra Da Camera Di Verona Risonanza. Tracks include: 1. Verona Al Tramonto: Canone - Johann Pachelbel 2. L'Adige: Ouverture No.1 In Re Maggiore - Antonio Salieri 3. Le Chiese: Ouverture No.2 In Re Maggiore - Antonio Salieri 4. Giulietta: Ouverture No.3 In Re Minore - Antonio Salieri 5. Il Lago Di Garda: Concerto In Re Maggiore Per Violino Archi E Cembalo - Antonio Vivaldi 6. Il Centro Storico: Concerto In Re Maggiore Per Violino Archi E Cembalo - Antonio Vivaldi

• L'Elisir D'Amore | DVD | (03/06/2003) from £11.98   |  Saving you £18.01 (150.33%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Donizetti's L'ELISIR D'AMORE took two weeks to compose around a normal period of time for this quick and prolific composer who boasted he could compose a symphony in seventy-five minutes. This opera was one of his resounding successes and even inspired Wagner to compose a piano score. This 2002 production was staged at the Macerata Opera Festival directed by Saverio Marconi and conducted by Niels Muus.

• Vivaldi: The Four Seasons | DVD | (07/02/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Vivaldi: The Four Seasons

• Tchaikovsky - the Tchaikovsky Cycle Vol. 4 | DVD | (27/08/2007) from £4.63   |  Saving you £11.62 (344.81%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The Tchaikovsky Cycle - Live from the Alte Oper Frankfurt, 1991.Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 1893)Symphony No, 4 in F minor Op. 36The Year 1812, Festival Overture in E-flat major Op. 49.Violin Concerto in D Major Op. 35.

• Prokofiev/Strauss - Symphony No. 5/Death... (Celibidache) | DVD | (02/07/2007) from £4.85   |  Saving you £15.14 (312.16%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Prokofiev Symphony No.5 in B Flat op.100Strauss Death and TransfigurationOrchestra Sinfonica Di Torini Della Rai

• Perlman in Russia (Perlman, Israel Po, Mehta) | DVD | (09/05/2005) from £22.50   |  Saving you £2.49 (10.00%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Tracklistinig: 1.Bazzini - La Ronde des lutins 2.Bloch E - Nigun 3.Kreisler - Liebesleid 4.Prokofiev - March from 'The Love for Three Oranges 5.Tartini - Violin Sonata in G minor `The Devil's Trill' 6.Tchaikovsky - Violin Concerto in D Op.35 Andante cantabile 7.Wieniawski - Caprice

• Placido Domingo - Viva La Zarzuela | DVD | (10/01/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Live from the National Auditorium of Madrid recorded in 1991 tenor Placido Domingo gives a long-awaited ""all-zarzuela"" video concert to an enthusiastic crowd which included Spain's King Juan Carlos and the royal family. Domingo is joined by some of Spain's leading performers including Guadalupe Sanchez Teresa Verdera and Paloma Perez Inigo. Also featured is the colourful dancing of the Ballet Espanol making this all-zarzuela royal gala a video spectacular! Tracklisting:

• Cosi Fan Tutte - Mozart | DVD | (29/05/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Dramma giocoso in due atti K588 in two acts.Recorded live at The Kleines Festspielhaus Salzburg August 1983.

• Verdi: Otello -- Berlin Staatskapelle/Barenboim | DVD | (15/11/2002) from £13.85   |  Saving you £11.14 (80.43%)   |  RRP £24.99

  One of the chief pleasures of this live production of Otello from the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden is Daniel Barenboim's conducting. From the opening gale-force blast of storm music, through the crunching and stabbing accompaniment of Iago's "Credo" to the shimmering strings of Desdemona's "Willow Song", he doesn't miss a trick. Everything works at the highest pitch of intensity and the orchestra sticks to his beat like glue. It's a necessary compensation for the shortcomings of the staging: the stolid chorus remains unperturbed by the storm and is directed to perform with unison movements; the acting (apart from Valeri Alexejev) is non-committal, and Alexandre Tarta's video direction somewhat flat-footed. She doesn't manage to make much small-screen sense of an impenetrably murky opening scene, for example, and doesn't seem fond of reaction shots. That said, Christian Franz and Emily Magee both have large-scale voices that they know how to shade into mo! ments of intimacy, and George Tsypin's sets are impressive: the murder of Desdemona is set against a brilliant lake of fire. On the DVD: Otello is presented in 1.78:1 ratio with PCM Stereo and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound options. The picture quality is clear, although much of the lighting of this live production is low-level and thus many details do not come over well. Nor does the stage microphone system avoid some muffling of sound. There are subtitles in Italian, English, German, French and Spanish. --Warwick Thompson

• A Musical Journey: Bavaria (Bavaria/ Switzerland) | DVD | (26/10/2009) from £15.85   |  Saving you £-5.60 (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.99

  The Places: The musical tour starts in the Bernese Alps, which offer some of the finest scenery in Switzerland, with glaciers and snow-covered expanses, and the towering Matterhorn. The Nymphenburg Palace and Park, near Munich, present a contrast, in their baroque elegance. The Music: Music for the tour is taken from Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, one of the best known of all romantic concertos. This is followed by his Souvenir d'un lie.