"Director: Christopher Swann"

• Bernstein - the Making of Westside Story (Te Kanawa) | DVD | (11/07/2005) from £14.29   |  Saving you £2.70 (18.89%)   |  RRP £16.99

  27 years after its Broadway premiere Leonard Bernstein went into a New York studio for Deutsche Grammophon to conduct his most famous work for the first time. In selecting his cast he decided to go for sound with the sumptuous operatic voices of Kiri Te Kanawa Jose Carreras and Tatiana Troyanos. This spellbinding film winner of the Prix Italia and the British Academy's Flaherty Award documents the stresses and strains exhilaration and eventual triumph in the making of a landmark recording.

• Sting/COE/Abbado - Prokofiev - Peter And The Wolf | DVD | (10/09/2007) from £15.85   |  Saving you £-1.86 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Peter And The Wolf

• Leonard Bernstein conducts West Side Story -- The Making of the Recording | DVD | (04/02/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Filmed in 1984 for the BBC, the feature-length documentary Leonard Bernstein conducts West Side Story follows the composer through one week as he records the first-ever complete album of his musical theatre masterpiece. (The previous Broadway cast and original soundtrack albums had both been cut down to single LP length.) Virtually the entire documentary takes place in a New York recording studio with a pick-up orchestra, session singers and headliners Kiri Te Kanawa (Maria), José Carreras (Tony), Tatiana Troyanos (Anita) and Kurt Ollmann (Riff). The 89-minute programme alternates rehearsal footage with complete final takes of the main numbers--including "Tonight", "America", and "Maria"--with a limited amount of comment from the principal players. Te Kanawa explains how much the music means to her, Troyanos notes how she grew-up in the very streets depicted on stage and Carreras provides a rare moment of tension when a session ends unsatisfactorily. Bernstein himself is by turns commanding, charming, enthusiastic or weary. For anyone wanting an extensive insight into what happens as a major album is recorded this is fascinating, though others who just want to enjoy the wonderful music will be better served by the resultant two-CD set. On the DVD: Though filmed for British television, Deutsche Grammophon have chosen to release a single region-free (Region 0) DVD for the entire world. Unfortunately this means the disc is in NTSC format rather than PAL, and requires an NTSC-compatible television for playback. It also means that while the sound has been effectively remastered for PCM stereo the picture shows all the signs of a bad NTSC copy--weak, washed-out colours and poor definition with a serious lack of detail. Most videos are far better. The DVD has subtitles in German, French, Spanish and Chinese. There are no extras, though the booklet adapts an interesting article by producer Humphrey Burton which originally appeared in Gramophone magazine in 1985.--Gary S Dalkin

• Paul Mccartney - Standing Stone | DVD | (04/10/1999) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Side 1: The World premiere performance of Standing Stones (a symphonic poem in four movements) at the Royal Albert Hall London 14 October 1997 and The Standing Stone Poem. Side 2: The Documentary of the Creation of the Work Picture Gallery Biographies Background Information and The London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus.

• Paul McCartney's Standing Stone | DVD | (07/09/2009) from £17.53   |  Saving you £-1.54 (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A Symphonic Poem for orchestra with chorus. Lawrence Foster conducts the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra who perform a rarely played piece written by ex-Beatle Sir Paul McCartney where he tries to describe the way Celtic man might have wondered about the origins of life and the mysteries of human existence. Unlike the 'Liverpool Oratorio' which features prominent roles for four solo singers 'Standing Stone' relies entirely on colours and effects drawn from orchestral and choral forces

• Prometheus - Musical Variations On A Myth | DVD | (24/09/2004) from £16.18   |  Saving you £-1.19 (-7.90%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Prometheus Musical Variations on a MythWith Music from:Ludwig va Beethoven The Creatures of PrometheusFranz Liszt Prometheus - Symphonic PoemAlexander Skriabin Promethee Poeme du Feu - Symphony No. 5Luigi Nono Prometo

• Five Operas From Glyndebourne | DVD | (25/01/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A collection of operas based on the books of children's author/illustrator Maurice Sendak: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE/HIGGLETY PIGGLETY POP, LOVE OF THREE ORANGES, and L'ENFANT ET LES SORTILEGES/L'HEURE ESPAGNOLE. Performed by the Glyndebourne Festival Opera.

• Arvo Pärt - St John Passion | DVD | (18/10/2001) from £26.56   |  Saving you £-6.57 (-32.90%)   |  RRP £19.99

  St. John Passion performed in Durham Cathedral 1982.

• Where The Wild Things Are/Higglety Pigglety Pop | DVD | (01/01/2011) from £20.23   |  Saving you £-7.98 (-65.10%)   |  RRP £12.25

  This Glyndebourne double bill of Where The Wild Things Are and Higglety Pigglety Pop! is the result of the collaboration between one of Britain's foremost composers Oliver Knussen with the vivid magical images of American artist and author Maurice Sendak. Together they have evoked a very special form of theatre - fantasy opera. The antics of young Max and his journey to the Land of the Wild Things and Jennie the Sealyham terrier's search for something more than everything are set against beautifully intricate designs which adhere faithfully to the illustrations in the famous children's books by Maurice Sendak. The music is skilfully orchestrated with an unerring ability to depict fantasy characters and scenarios - a rare fusion of wit and lyricism. In Where The Wild Things Are Karen Beardsley sings the role of Max and Cynthia Buchan takes the role of the terrier Jennie in Higglety Pigglety Pop! Other singers include: Andrew Gallacher Rosemary Hardy Hugh Hetherington Neil Jenkins Mary King Jeremy Munro Stephen Rhys-Williams Deborah Rees and Stephen Richardson. Oliver Knussen conducts The London Sinfonietta in these performances which were first shown on BBC TV in 1985.

• English Concert Orch And Choir - Christmas In Rome - The English Concert And Choir | DVD | (12/11/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99