"Actor: Zurich Opera House Chor And Orch"

• Die Lustige Witwe - Lehar | DVD | (30/05/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Recorded Live from the Zurich Opera House 2004Based on the comedy L'Attache d'ambassade by Henri Meilhac.

• Berg: Lulu - Zurich/Welser-Most | DVD | (05/01/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A performance of the Alban Berg opera in two acts plus excerpts from the Lulu Symphony music for the third act which was never completed. Franz Welser-Most conducts.

• Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) -- Zurich/Harnoncourt | DVD | (29/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt's approach to Le Nozze di Figaro is certainly historically informed, but both his musical direction and this Zurich Opera production as a whole lack a certain lightness of touch. In such a deliciously comic work it should be permissible to have fun. Harnoncourt's tempos seem rather too conservative; while the low stage lighting keeps the revolving sets shaded in half-shadow for much of the time. The result is a tad claustrophobic, both musically and visually. There are many compensations, however. Though Harnoncourt may be a little over-cautious, what's lost in joie de vivre is gained in clarity and nuance. Similarly, the singers have plenty of space to enunciate and cherish every rolling phrase. Although Carlos Chausson makes an appealing everyman character as Figaro, he and everyone else must perform (sometimes literally) in Rodney Gilfry's domineering shadow. Gilfry's Alamaviva is a swaggering counterpart to his Don Giovanni, with the same almost overwhelming sexual presence and charisma; no wonder, then, that Eva Mei's Countess is so jealous, or that Isabel Rey's Susanna seems genuinely attracted despite her better judgment. The ensemble cast are uniformly delightful and, unusually, are all good actors: when the Count and Countess squabble, Gilfry and Mei really work themselves into a fine passion. The set and costuming are both of indeterminate period: the Count carries a shotgun to shoot Liliana Nikiteanu's errant Cherubino, and there are deckchairs in the garden, but the ladies' costumes are cut to reveal authentically 18th-century heaving bosoms. In all, this is a Figaro distinguished by a strong cast and fine singing, but hampered a little by the staging. An airier alternative is the more traditional Glyndebourne production. On the DVD: Le Nozze di Figaro from Zurich is presented in three vivid sound options: LPCM Stereo, Dolby 5.1 or DTS 5.1. Picture is 16:9. The subtitling is occasionally unnecessarily repetitive (Figaro's "Piano, piano, piano" takes up a big chunk of the screen as: "Not so fast, not so fast, not so fast" and so on) and inadequately proofread ("Forgeive me...Falsce one" [sic]). --Mark Walker

• Tannhauser - Wagner | DVD | (17/01/2005) from £24.28   |  Saving you £-8.29 (-51.80%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This newest release in the EMI Classics Opera on DVD series is a stunning production of Wagner's masterpiece Tannhauser from the Zurich Opera conducted by Franz Welser-Most featuring Peter Sieffert as Tannhauser Solveig Kringelborn as Elisabeth and Thomas Hampson as Von Eschenbach. Initially produced in Dresden in 1845 Tannhauser provoked by a few ardent friends and admirers among them Schumann and Liszt. The history of the Zurich Opera is rich in cultural highlights: in 1913 Wag

• La Traviata - Verdi | DVD | (14/11/2005) from £23.95   |  Saving you £1.04 (4.34%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A performance of Verdi's opera performed live from the Zurich Opera House in 2005.

• Fidelio - Beethoven | DVD | (18/02/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Ludwig van Beethoven - FidelioRecorded live at the Opernhaus Zurich 15 February 2004.

• Der Freischutz - Carl Maria Von Weber | DVD | (24/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The chorus and orchestra of the Zurich Opera are conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt in this 1999 performance.