Opera

• Carmen | DVD | (07/03/2005) from £16.07   |  Saving you £-10.08 (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Bizet's powerful opera staged at London's Earls Court in Steven Pimlott's production....

• Orphee Aux Enfers - Offenbach | DVD | (15/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Orphée aux Enfers, Offenbach's riotous parody of the dissipations of French life in the Second Empire, fairly gallops past in this 1997 Herbert Wernicke production staged at the Theatre de la Monnaie in Brussels. Based on Offenbach's meatier second version (1874) of the Orpheus legend, it features nicely judged performances across the board and some stunning special effects, notably the explosive locomotive crash signalling the breach of the divide between Heaven and Hell. Satire reigns, not least in the reactionary figure of Public Opinion, a pinny-clad bossy boots with a hint of Dame Edna Everage about her. Olympus is a moribund salon full of bored Gods, sick of the Ambrosian diet. The casting is excellent, with Jacqueline van Quaille's chain-smoking dowager Juno heading the field. Alexandru Badea’s Orpheus subverts the legend in his purely pragmatic pursuit of Eurydice (the thrush-voiced soprano Elizabeth Vidal) that has nothing to do with love. Dale Duesing's Jupiter is louche and sexy, particularly in the very funny fly scene in the second act. From first to last, Wernicke's production offers something to catch the eye and ear, culminating in the well-loved, frantic can-can finale. Overall this is not only well-sung but very entertaining. On the DVD: Orphée aux Enfers gets the standard stage-to-video treatment. The picture quality (16:9) is OK but often dark so you strain to catch some of the production's design subtleties. Excellent sound (PCM stereo) brings Offenbach's vibrant score to the forefront, well matched by the strong performances of the principal singers.--Piers Ford

• Beethoven - Fidelio | DVD | (26/02/2007) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-1.99 (-8.00%)   |  RRP £24.99

• King Arthur - Purcell | DVD | (29/08/2005) from £28.93   |  Saving you £6.06 (20.95%)   |  RRP £34.99

  A dramatic opera in five acts.A performance from the Salzburger Festspiele recorded live at the Felsenreitschule 24-28 July 2004.

• Billy Budd | DVD | (01/04/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Benjamin Britten's opera 'Billy Budd' in two acts tells of the sadism and injustice abroad a British man-of-war.

• Louis Armstrong - Live in Australia 1964 "When It's Sleepy Time Down South" | DVD | (28/04/2008) from £5.47   |  Saving you £13.78 (327.32%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Louis Armstrong Live In Concert Australia 1964

• Verdi: La Traviata -- Glyndebourne | DVD | (31/10/2000) from £16.28   |  Saving you £11.70 (88.04%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Performances of La Traviata stand or fall to an unusual extent on their principal soprano; the first thing that needs saying about this Glyndebourne performance is that Marie McLaughlin has all of the attributes needed for a role that is fundamentally a virtuoso one, no matter how emotionally involving it is as well. The point about Violetta is that she is, with absolute authenticity, all of the things she becomes in the course of the opera--the febrile socialite and yearning love of Act One, the quiet domesticated woman of Act Two who sacrifices her love for Alfredo to precisely the family values he has talked her into espousing, the dying penitent of Act Three. Walter McNeil is an impressive poetic Alfredo in whose successful courtship we can believe. He is also unusually good in Act Two, Scene Two where for once his public humiliation of Violetta is actually painful, which makes his repentance at her deathbed far more moving. Brent Ellis is solidly powerful as his father Germont--the duet in which he talks Violetta into renouncing his son and comes to value what he is destroying is one of the high points here, as it should be. Bernard Haitink conducts impressively. On the DVD: As (unfortunately) usual with Arthaus Musik, the DVD contains no extra features worth mentioning past the usual subtitles in German, English and French, relegating discussion of the opera's stormy history to the booklet. --Roz Kaveney

• Undercover Kids | DVD | (07/04/2008) from £2.69   |  Saving you £3.30 (122.68%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Nicole and Nelson are not ordinary kids - they have psychic powers. With the help of the school boff George and his high-tech gadgets the twins embark on a mission to reveal who is vandalizing their school.

• Beatrice Di Tenda - Bellini | DVD | (29/09/2003) from £35.81   |  Saving you £-5.82 (-19.40%)   |  RRP £29.99

  A performance of Bellini's Beatrice Di Tenda which tells a story of unrequited love. The Zurich Orchestra and Chorus are conducted by Marcello Viotti.

• The Fairy Queen - Purcell | DVD | (25/05/2001) from £20.88   |  Saving you £7.10 (39.69%)   |  RRP £24.99

  David Pountney and Quinny Sacks' production of Henry Purcell's The Fairy Queen caused something of a sensation when it hit the ENO stage in 1995. It has the feel of a decadent 17th-century masque re-invented with late-20th-century energy: half the principals and chorus are in cross-dressing costumes, female characters are played by men (leading to some rather wonderful polymorphous perversity), and everything has an air of mad, hallucinogenic hipness about it. While Robert Israel's wild sets don't appear to their full advantage on the small screen, Dunya Ramicova's costumes look fantastic (the details are simply stunning). The very fine singing is recorded with excellent clarity: while this is obviously a live performance, there are remarkably few moments that go out of microphone range, and the balance with the orchestra is handled very sensitively. The ENO band, under the baton of Nicholas Kok, respond to Purcell's wiry lines and spiky harmonies with glee, and sound like they're having a ball, as do the singers. In particular Jonathan Best as The Drunken Poet is hilarious, and it is a wonderful testament to his acting skills that he is as funny close-up as he was from the auditorium stalls.--Warwick Thompson

• Offenbach: La Belle Helene -- Zurich/Harnoncourt | DVD | (25/09/2000) from £34.31   |  Saving you £-9.32 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Offenbach's operetta La Belle Hélene, which pokes fun at the Parisian upper class of a century and a half ago through tales of ancient Greece, requires a leap of imagination on behalf of today's audience that this production only partly succeeds in reconciling. On musical grounds we're on sure footing. Nikolaus Harnoncourt conducts the chorus and orchestra of the Zurich Opera House with his customary flair for precise and taut rhythms and an appreciation of the composer's wit and the good tunes that are a-plenty. His multi-national cast headed by Vesselina Kasarova as Helen of Troy and Deon van der Walt as her lover Paris are excellent and among the smaller parts there's a lively and stylish performance from Liliana Nichiteanus as Oreste. The video direction by Hartmut Schroder and the superb sound obtained from the relatively intimate Zurich Opera House, a delightful setting for this operetta, are further assets. The production alas is unenlightening and perpetrates an over-the-top style that seems to be synonymous with Offenbach. The backdrop, a pink concave awning is hideous. The costumes by designer Jean-Charles de Castelibajac are silly: Paris is dressed in lederhosen and looks a twerp, Calchac, the high priest wears a Ku Klux Klan hat and Helen at one point looks as though she'll take to absailing. Kasarova suggests the lure of Helen in her voice but a beauty she's not. So it's left to Harnoncourt who joins the company at the curtain call with a twinkle in his eye and a nifty side step and his superb orchestra to remind us what might have been. --Adrian Edwards

• Francesca Da Rimini - Zandonai/Levine | DVD | (16/07/2007) from £15.75   |  Saving you £1.24 (7.30%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Over the centuries the story of Francesca da Rimini has inspired many Italian artists including verismo composer Riccardo Zandonai. A cast of three acclaimed singing actors - Renata Scotto Pl''cido Domingo and Cornell MacNeil - bring the medieval characters to life in this beautiful production filmed at the Metropolitan Opera in 1984 First performed in 1914 Francesca da Rimini is a prime example of the lush musical style of the late Romantic era superbly conducted here by James Levine.

• Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail - Mozart | DVD | (01/08/2005) from £16.18   |  Saving you £-1.19 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Recorded at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera 1980

• La Traviata | DVD | (31/01/2003) from £21.30   |  Saving you £3.69 (17.32%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The role of Violetta in la Traviata is one which Verdi might well have composed with Anna Moffo in mind. Possessing a singular beauty of voice and appearance the soprano succeeds brilliantly in fulfilling the composer's difficult musical and dramatic demands. It is especially fortunate that Miss Moffo's celebrated portrayal has been captured in Mrio Lanfranchi's cinematic treatment a sumptuously beautiful and emotionally powerful film.

• Luciano Pavarotti - Donizetti - L'Elisir D'Amore | DVD | (26/02/2008) from £15.04   |  Saving you £1.95 (11.50%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Donizetti's L' Elisir D' Amore recorded live at the Metropolitan Opera, March 2nd, 1981.

• Luciano Pavarotti - Verdi: Ernani | DVD | (05/11/2007) from £16.79   |  Saving you £3.20 (19.06%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This version of Verdi's Ernani was a new Metropolitan Opera production filmed in 1983 and brought together an all-star billing of singers including Luciano Pavarotti in his absolute operatic prime. He was joined on stage by Leona Mitchell as the female heroine and the great baritone Sherrill Milnes and bass-baritone Ruggero Raimondi. James Levine conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus on this DVD which has the wonderful atmosphere that only comes with live recordings. Tracklisting: 1. Verdi: Ernani - Opening Credits 2. Preludio 3. Evviva! Beviam! 4. Merc'' Diletti Amici 5. Come Rugiada Al Cespite 6. Oh Tu Che L'alma Adora 7. Surta ''ˆ La Notte 8. Ernani! Ernani Involami 9. Tutto Sprezzo Che D'ernani 10. Fa Che A Me Venga 11. Da Quel Di Che T'ho Veduta 12. Non T'ascolto Mia Sarai 13. Tu Se' Ernani 14. Che Mai Vegg'io! 15. Infelice! E Tuo Credevi 16. Infin Che Un Brando Vindice 17. Uscite ... Ma Signore 18. Mio Signor Dolente I Sono 19. Esultiamo! Letizia Ne Inondi! 20. Jago Qui Tosto Il Pellegrin Adduci 21. Oro Quant'oro Ogn'avido 22. Tu Perfida! 23. Ah Morir Potessi Adesso! 24. Scellerati Il Mio Furore 25. Cugino A Che Munito Il Tuo Castel Ritrovo? 26. Lo Vedremo Veglio Audace 27. Fu Esplorata El Castello Ogni Latebra Pi'' Occulta 28. Vieni Meco Sol Di Rose 29. Vigili Pure I Ciel Sempre Su Te 30. D'ernani I Fidi Chiedono 31. Odi Il Voto 32. E Questo Il Loco? 33. Gran Dio! Costor Sui Sepolcrali Marmi 34. Oh De'verd'anni Miei 35. Ad Augusta! 36. Si Ridesti Il Leon Di Castiglia 37. Qual Rumore? Che Sar'' 38. Io Son Conte Duca Sono 39. O Sommo Carlo Pi'' Del Tuo Nome 40. Oh Come Felici Gioiscon Gli Sposi! 41. Cessaro I Suoni Dispari Ogni Face 42. Ecco Il Pegno 43. Ferma Crudele Estinguere Perch'' Vuoi Tu Due Vite?

• Le Rossignol - Stravinsky | DVD | (03/01/2005) from £11.88   |  Saving you £4.11 (34.60%)   |  RRP £15.99

  This DVD is a stunning film adaptation of Stravinsky's Rossignol with Natalie Dessay in the title role. Inspired by Stravinsky's words: ""I said somewhere that it wasn't enough to hear the music you had to see it too..."" the firlm-maker Christian Chaudet made an innovative and ambitious animated film illustrating the opera score with 3 dimensial images into which the singers have been inserted. The film offers superb narrative and visual ingredients following Stravinsky's own st

• A Gala Concert With Joan Sutherland And Marilyn Horne | DVD | (06/08/2001) from £16.17   |  Saving you £6.81 (51.67%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In 1986 one of opera's legendary partnerships was celebrated in A Gala Concert with Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne at Sydney Opera House. Under the musical direction of Sutherland's husband and long term conductor Richard Bonynge, the great soprano and mezzo soprano treated their audience to an epic evening of solos and duets from works with which they had long since become indelibly linked. The concert was preserved and transmitted as an Esso-sponsored night at the opera by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Each diva is given ample room to shine individually. Here in all their glory are Sutherland's "Les Oiseaux dans la Charmille", the mechanical doll's aria from Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann and Horne's "Iris, Hence Away" from Handel's Semele. Magical duets include "Serbami Ognor si Fido" (Rossini's Semiramide), "Viens Mallika, les Lianes en Fleurs" (Delibes' Lakme, much-used in their advertisements by British Airways) and of course the "Barcarolle" from Hoffmann. The overwhelming effect is of their passion for the music and the great professional respect and friendship which Sutherland and Horne clearly feel for each other as two of the greatest champions of the bel canto repertoire in living memory. Essential viewing for anyone remotely interested in operatic history. On the DVD: Digitally restored and remastered from the original tape, this disc at least offers the benefit of crystalline PCM stereo sound quality. In all other respects, it is a television production which inevitably shows its age. The curtain calls and long waits between every item, while Horne and Sutherland are fetched singly or together by Bonynge, are interminable and should have been cut. The 4:3 picture format is sharp enough and reveals the cumbersome dullness of the staging in all its glory. But none of this detracts from the wonder of two appealing prima donnas near their vocal peak. --Piers Ford

• Rameau - Les Boréades / Robert Carsen, La La La Human Steps, Les Arts Florissants, William Christie, Opéra National de Paris | DVD | (20/06/2004) from £5.62   |  Saving you £25.63 (587.84%)   |  RRP £29.99

  A performance of the Rameau opera which follows the tale of Queen Alphise who is contemplating abdication rather that an arranged marriage.

• La Donna Del Lago - Rossini | DVD | (22/10/2004) from £9.15   |  Saving you £0.84 (8.40%)   |  RRP £9.99

  La donna del lagoGiachino Rossini (1792-1868)Director Werner Herzog and conductor Riccardo Muti combine with the finest of casts to lavish Rossini's rarely performed Neapolitan masterpiece set in feudal sixteenth-century Scotland with the genius it deserves. June Anderson is an outstanding Elena (the Lady of the Lake) in the 1992 production of the melodrama based on Sir Walter Scott's poem. Unlocked from the archives of RAI television this is a classic recording from one of the world's great opera houses.