Opera

• Dvorak: Rusalka -- Paris Opera/Conlon | DVD | (03/11/2003) from £20.00   |  Saving you £9.99 (49.95%)   |  RRP £29.99

  A performance of Dvorak's opera 'Rusalka' which tells the story of a water nymph who becomes human. James Conlon conducts.

• Anna Russell - The | DVD | (14/12/2001) from £20.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (-10.50%)   |  RRP £18.99

  Tracklisting:How To Become A SingerWind Instruments I Have KnownOn Pink Chiffon DragA Gilbert & Sullivan OperettaWagner's Ring CycleJolly Old Sigmund Freud & Other Folk TunesRecorded live at the Baltimore Museum of Art November 7 1984

• L'Africaine - Meyerbeer | DVD | (02/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Meyerbeer - L'Africaine (Arena Orch/Chorus/Ballet SFO)

• Offenbach: Orphee aux Enfers -- Lyon National Opera/Minkowski | DVD | (25/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  In the role of Eurydice Natalie Dessay begins at once with a display of vocal and verbal pyrotechnics which are then taken up by Yann Beuron as Orpheus. Together they give us an ideal of the developments to follow. Dancers and singers melt into a unit. The stage setting and an unconventional choreography sparkle with inventiveness. When Pluto for example arrives on skis from the underworld onto Mt. Olympus and Offenbach quotes the famous can-can right in the middle of Pluto's aria it seems to be a parody of his own work. The production offers a wealth of material for modern interpretations and immorality. Thus we see a bored Eurydice lying on the sofa in her apartment as she zaps her way through the TV channels constantly looking for diversion showing us how timeless an opera buff can really be. Sometimes she sings upside down hopping around - a vocal masterpiece. Laurent Naouri also captivates in the role of Jupiter and costumed as a fly demonstrates his vocal and acting talent with Jacques Offenbach's Buzz aria. To sum up; the present production is a fountain-of-youth cure for Offenbach's operetta classic. A cascade of ideas and ironic allusions turns this ingenious work into a feast for eyes and ears.

• Tosca - Arena Di Verona | DVD | (25/07/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Tosca is a story of lust crime and idealistic young love originally written for Sarah Bernhardt. Puccini transformed it into an opera of the highest drama and passion and it became central to his career. This production by Sylvano Bussotti of one of Puccini's best loved works comes from the magnificent Roman amphitheatre in Verona and was filmed in 1984. Hungarian soprano Eva Marton is Tosca a role for which she is particularly well-known on stage. Ingvar Wixell is a superbly wick

• Aida | DVD | (21/05/2004) from £4.99   |  Saving you £25.00 (501.00%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Daniela Dessi Elisabetta Fiorillo Fabio Armiliato Juan Pons and Roberto Scandiuzzi lead the cast in the renowned period production filmed in 2003 against the historic paper trompe-l'oeil sets painted between 1936-45 by Josep Mestres Cabanes the last representative of the old Catalan school of stenography.

• Gounod: Romeo et Juliette | DVD | (19/11/2001) from £24.19   |  Saving you £10.80 (44.65%)   |  RRP £34.99

  A performance of Gounod's opera 'Romeo Et Juliette' in five acts recorded live at The Royal Opera House Covent Garden.

• Verdi: La Forza del Destino | DVD | (16/08/2000) from £26.58   |  Saving you £-1.59 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  This is a 1998 performance from the Mariinsky Theatre, St Petersburg of the original 1862 St Petersburg version of Verdi's La Forza del Destino. While the world famous version premiered in Italy in 1867 is the superior work, few will want to miss the rare opportunity to see and hear such a well-staged version of Verdi's first thoughts. Here the earlier libretto by Francesco Maria Piave is restored, the original, considerably darker ending is intact and even the sets are constructed to the 1862 designs. There are other differences, though the story remains the familiar mixture of love, misunderstanding and war, the characters ranging from the nobility to monks, soldiers and gypsies, the tone spanning low comedy to high drama. The result is a lavish production, full of life and vitality, shot through with musical urgency and some tremendously powerful singing. Particularly striking is Gegam Grigorian, making a commanding Don Alvaro, whose role here is rather more expansive than in the later version. Galina Gorchakova reprises her Leonara from the 1997 CD recording of the work with passionate intensity, and conductor Valéry Gergiev keeps the epic scale tightly focused. The direction for video unobtrusively brings out the heart of the drama on stage.On the DVD: The disc is presented at 16:9 and is anamorphically enhanced for widescreen televisions. The result is a good but not exceptional picture with clear PCM stereo sound. Other than the booklet and the option to view with or without subtitles there are no special features. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Mefistofele - Boito | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  An exceptional performance of Arrigo Boito's 'Mefistofele' conducted by Maurizo Arena.

• Rossini - Torvaldo E Dorliska | DVD | (29/10/2007) from £25.65   |  Saving you £-0.66 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Torvaldo E Dorliska - Gioachino Rossini.

• Falstaff - Giuseppe Verdi | DVD | (04/11/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The present recording was made at a performance in Busseto Verdi's birthplace in the Emilia Romagna region. There in 2001 a whole series of events marked the 100th anniversary of the composer's death. This Falstaff performance along with Aida staged by Franco Zeffirelli constituted the high point of the impressive anniversary celebrations. The small 328-seat Teatro Verdi built in Verdi's lifetime provided the ensemble of La Scala Milan under its principal conductor Riccardo Muti with a particularly captivating backdrop and the mainly young singers including 31-year-old shooting star Ambrogio Maestri in the title role exciting young tenor Juan Diego Florez as Fenton and internationally acclaimed Barbara Frittoli as Alice - gave superb performances.

• Tosca's Kiss | DVD | (06/09/2004) from £52.55   |  Saving you £-38.56 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Daniel Schmid's film set in a home for retired opera singers in Casa Di Riposa in Milan. Characters are seen re-enacting their greatest moments in a film which centres on the aging process and inspirational music

• Concert In Honour Of Pope Benedict XVI | DVD | (03/03/2008) from £21.58   |  Saving you £-1.59 (-8.00%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Live Recorded At The Aula Paolo VI Vatican On 27th October 2007

• Idomeneo - Mozart | DVD | (29/10/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Although Idomeneo is one of Mozart's lesser known operas it sparkles with the composer's usual brilliant melodies. Glyndebourne became the main advocate of the opera in the 50s and 60s and yet despite this Idomeneo was still considered by 1974 something of a rarity.During a ferocious storm Idomeneo the King of Crete makes a vow to Neptune offering a sacrifice (the first human being Idomeneo sees) in return for the god's help in bringing his ship safely to shore. As it turns out this is his own son Idamante. This dilemma can only be solved by the unselfish love of Ilia who is willing to give her life in his stead.Richard Lewis once again confirms his position as the world's leading exponent of this opera in the title role of Idomeneo with Josephine Barstow equally mesmerising in her portrayal of Elettra's agony. This significantly shortened version begins with Idomeneo alone on the beach after having survived the fierce storm. John Cox uses strikingly dark staging echoing the drama of the action and according to Mozart's original directions includes drowning sailors and the infamous Act II sea monster.

• Lehar - Der Zarewitsch | DVD | (13/08/2007) from £16.05   |  Saving you £0.94 (5.86%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Lehar: Der Zarewitsch - The Tsarevich

• Parsifal - Wagner | DVD | (29/03/2005) from £41.65   |  Saving you £-5.40 (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Nikolaus Lehnoff's visionary staging of Wagner's opera for ENO.

• La Damnation De Faust - Berlioz | DVD | (03/01/2006) from £54.99   |  Saving you £-35.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Hector Berlioz's (1803-1869) legende dramatique about a man named Faust who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for knowledge. Recorded live at the Royal Albert Hall in 1989. Georg Solti conducts.

• Popular Puccini - Tosca/La Boheme/Madama Butterfly | DVD | (26/02/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Puccini's most popular operas in three of the most widely acclaimed opera films ever produced.Includes:ToscaLa BohemeMadama ButterflyClassic films of Puccini's best-loved operas in a specially priced 3-DVD set to celebrate the composer's anniversary year.

• Schubert: Die Winterreise | DVD | (23/10/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A special film version of Schubert's monumental song cycle 'Winterreise'. A dream team performance of one of the most popular vocal works in the repertoire. Ian Bostridge is one of the young tenor starts of the international classical music scene. Includes fifty minute documentary.

• A Life For The Tsar - Bolshoi Opera | DVD | (26/09/2005) from £24.28   |  Saving you £-6.29 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A 17th Century tale of how a peasant gave his life to save the Tsar for the Russian people. After the Russian Revolution the Communist regime renamed the opera Ivan Susanin after the main character and altered the libretto in order to emphasise how Susanin delivered Russia from attack from the Polish enemy. The original title and libretto have now been restored. In this production by The Bolshoi Opera filmed in 1992 Russian bass Egveny Nesterenko magnificently sings the dramatic role of Ivan Susanin the tragic hero who leads the Polish enemy on a false path in their search for the Tsar and so allowing the Tsar to escape. The cast also includes Marina Mescheriakova as Susanin's daughter Antonida Alexander Lomonosov as her fiance Sobinin and Elena Zaremba as Susanin's son Vanja. The conductor is Alexander Lazarev.