Musicals and Stage

• Cecilia Bartoli - Viva Vivaldi! | DVD | (13/06/2001) from £12.98   |  Saving you £7.01 (54.01%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Viva Vivaldi! is a concert by the Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli interspersing arias from the 20 surviving operas of Vivaldi with two concertos. Given with the early music ensemble Il Giardino Armonico before a very appreciative audience in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the performance is part of Bartoli's exploration of the Venetian composer's opera music which also includes The Vivaldi Album. That said there is very little overlap between the studio-recorded CD and this 105-minute concert. Anyone thinking of Vivaldi's vocal music in the context of his uplifting scared works may get a shock, for Bartoli performs as if her life depended upon it, attacking pieces such as "Armatae Face et Anguibus" from Juditha Triumphans with vengeful gusto. Indeed, there is a startling dynamic energy, which contrasts powerfully with the more restrained interpretations by singers such as Emma Kirkby. Bartoli's natural Italian and the live atmosphere of Maria Grazia d'Alessio's oboe gives her interpretation of the quietly haunting and melodically rich "Non ti Lusinghi la Crudeltade" from Tito Manlio a particular piquancy. The Flautino Concerto is a most attractive interlude, while the more famous Lute/Violin Concerto beguiles with its exquisite lyricism. One Vivaldi opera not represented, Orlando Furioso, is available in a complete performance from 1989.On the DVD: The anamorphically enhanced 1.77:1 image is well above average for a concert video with good detail, definition and colour, and compression artefacting only noticeable on rare completely static shots. There are three sound options: DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM stereo. The surround options are certainly all enveloping, though there is a certain gimmickry in placing the flutes in the rear channels which is attractive with the eyes closed but is decidedly unrepresentative of what is happening on screen. In these modes Bartoli's voice is curiously unfocused. The stereo alternative is clearly locked to the screen, with much of the information actually directed to the centre speaker. This is less expansive but has a natural clarity that will appeal to those who want a more accurate reproduction of the event. There are multiple language subtitles, including English, though the only special feature is the option to have the musical score superimposed over the concert. While a fine idea in principle the execution leaves everything to be desired: the score is presented on a translucent white backdrop, through which the musicians can be seen as pale, bleached-out ghostly figures. Unfortunately the overlaying of the two images results in such an irritating flicker that the screen is barely watchable. --Gary S Dalkin

• Zero Patience | DVD | (05/07/2004) from £24.99   |  Saving you £-5.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In this wacky musical with a message the ghost of Patient Zero the French-Canadian flight attendant who allegedly first brought AIDS to Canada materialises and tries to contact old friends... A timely and eccentric musical that serves up water baller dancing jungle animals and singing butt puppets to explore the politics of AIDS scapegoating!

• Gold Diggers of 1933 | Blu Ray | (08/02/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Branford Marsalis/Harry Connick Jr. - a Duo Occasion | DVD | (14/11/2005) from £12.98   |  Saving you £12.01 (48.10%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The world premier duo performance of Harry Connick, Jr. and Branford Marsalis filmed on June 24, 2005 at the 25th Anniversary of the Ottawa Jazz Festival.
  
  Tracklisting:
  
  Chattanooga Choo Choo
  Brown World
  Occasion
  Valentine's Day
  Good To Be Home
  Virgoid
  I Like Love More
  Spot
  Steve Lacy
  Light The Way
  Chanson Du Vieux Carre

• Damned -- Live Live Live -- Tiki Nightmare | DVD | (08/10/2012) from £13.99   |  Saving you £2.00 (14.30%)   |  RRP £15.99

  The legendary London punk band The Damned, who released the first ever UK punk single, are captured here still going strong in 2002. The line-up features original members Dave Vanian and Captain Sensible as they rattle their way through such hits as New Rose, Love Song, Neat Neat Neat as well as a host of newer material. Recorded live at Shepherds Bush Empire on July 31st 2002. The Damned were always at the cutting edge. They were the world’s first punk band to score a top ten hit with New Rose and since then, they have added some 15 hits to their cannon. There are brilliant extras to the DVD including specially shot interviews and home movies, behind-the-scenes footage from a chaotic US tour and even an appearance from a trained monkey on stage! Complete with total mayhem from the psychedelic punksters! Bass – Patricia Morrison; Drums – Pinch; Film Director, Executive Producer – Robin Bextor; Guitar – Captain Sensible Keyboards – Monty Oxy Moron; Vocals – David VanianSpecial Features: Interview With The Damned Photo Gallery Tracks: Street Of Dreams Amen Democracy Plan 9 Channel 7 Song.com Wait For The Blackout I Just Can't Be Happy Today Would You Be So Hot Disco Man Under The Floor Again Ignite She Neat Neat Neat Happy Talk New Rose Eloise Smash It Up I Feel Alright Love Song

• Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | UMD | (19/05/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  After years of rumours, it turns out that Tim Burton was the perfect visionary to film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Stephen Sondheim's Broadway masterpiece, and the result is a macabre and moving musical movie as enthralling as anything Burton has ever done. The show's mix of gothic horror, Grand Guignol, very dark humor, and witty and beautiful music never was the stuff of traditional musical comedy, but it's a powerful work, and perhaps the richest of the late 20th century. In the movie, Burton's frequent collaborator, Johnny Depp, plays Todd, a wronged man whose lust for revenge drives him to murder (an 19th-century legend who has been traced to a real-life barber). Helena Bonham Carter, another Burton mainstay, is Mrs. Lovett, the barber's partner-in-unspeakable-crime. It's no surprise that Depp is an excellent choice to convey Todd's brooding intensity and volcanic rage, but he can also sing a score that is so challenging it has often played in opera houses (though not with the same style as the Broadway original, Len Cariou, and he occasionally lapses into pop style). Bonham Carter is small of voice and lacks the humour of the original Broadway Lovett, Angela Lansbury, but she sings on pitch, in rhythm, and in character at the same time, which is no small feat for a Sondheim show. Aficionados will regret the loss of certain musical passages--"The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" is just an instrumental overture and the chorus is gone altogether, among others, but the reassuring presence of orchestrator Jonathan Tunick and conductor Paul Gemignani ensures that the music feels right and sounds great. And the film's depiction of a Victorian London hellhole, with cinematography by Dariusz Wolski and costumes by Colleen Atwood, also looks and feels right. The excellent cast is filled out by Alan Rickman as the villainous Judge Turpin, Timothy Spall as his seedy Beadle, Sacha Baron Cohen as a rival barber, Jamie Campbell Bower as the young lover Anthony, Jayne Wisener as his object of affection, and Ed Sanders as the young Toby. For fans of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp who don't think they like musicals, Sweeney Todd should be a revelation (though not for the squeamish, as the gore is intense and completely appropriate). For fans of Broadway and Sondheim, it's hard to imagine getting a better adaptation than this. The fact that there's no newly composed Oscar-bait song sung by a Josh Groban-type over the end credits only makes it better. --David Horiuchi

• Puccini:Turandot | Blu Ray | (09/01/2015) from £29.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Verdi: Simon Boccanegra | DVD | (22/05/2020) from £25.19   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Ballet For Children (Box Set) | Blu Ray | (31/03/2017) from £42.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Handel: Agrippina | Blu Ray | (01/09/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Monteverdi: L'Orfeo (Teatro alla Scala di Milano 2009) | Blu Ray | (31/01/2011) from £26.81   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Rossini: Two Classic Operas | Blu Ray | (02/11/2018) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Handel: Messiah | Blu Ray | (04/01/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• A Night at the Philharmonie Berlin | DVD | (16/02/2024) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Kings Of Leon - Iconic | DVD | (16/01/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Kings of Leon revolutionized modern music with there soulful brand of rock. Behind there impeccable sound is a story of passion, dedication, and tremendous sacrifice. This is the story of how three brothers from Franklin Tennessee and a cousin from Mississippi, created one of the most prolific bands in modern music KINGS OF LEON.

• The Stone Guest: Bolshoi Opera (Dargomyzhsky) | DVD | (25/08/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Leonard Bernstein, Vol. 2 | Blu Ray | (25/09/2022) from £82.75   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Krasavin: Paquita | DVD | (22/07/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Handel: Giulio Cesare | DVD | (23/09/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Cilea: Adriana Lecouvreur | Blu Ray | (09/09/2022) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A