Opera

• The Complete Drawing Course for Beginners - Part 1 | DVD | (07/04/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  PART 1 - PERSPECTIVE You will be surprised at how much you learn in the very first exercise about perspective. Almost as soon as you switch your video on, you will be able to draw three-dimensions on a two dimensional surface. You will learn the principles of eye level and vanishing points, and you will soon be able to draw streets and objects, including those with elipses such as a wine glass. Be amazed as you watch your drawings come to life!

• Weber: Der Freischutz | DVD | (31/10/2000) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-1.99 (-8.00%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Der Freischutz spends much of its length being an amiable sing-along about young Max's need to win a shooting competition in order to be allowed to woo his sweetheart Agnes. It is charming and tuneful but not exceptional. It is only when the treacherous Caspar persuades Max to seek supernatural assistance and cast magic bullets with the aid of the demon Samiel that it suddenly becomes one of the touchstones of dark high-Romanticism. One of the strengths of this production is that Albert Dohmen's handsome and vocally impressive Caspar imposes a vivid presence at an early stage so that there is no sudden leap from one style to another. The Wolf's Glen scene is traditionally one in which the designer and director go over the top, and this production is no exception--strobes and sirens abound. Charlotte Margiano provides a soulful, slightly tear-stained Agnes; Sabine Rittersbusch makes the soubrette role of Annchen a source of real comic charm. The orchestral contribution is idiomatic and well served by vivid sound. --Roz KaveneyOn the DVD: The DVD comes equipped with scene selection and with subtitles in German, French and English; the menu is also available in Spanish. --Roz Kaveney

• Agrippina - Handel | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £29.68   |  Saving you £-4.69 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Agrippina: Handel

• Die Zauberflote | DVD | (14/06/2004) from £20.23   |  Saving you £-5.24 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Opera in two acts from the Glyndebourne Festival Opera 1978. Sung in German.

• La Finta Giardiniera - Mozart | DVD | (12/01/2005) from £14.34   |  Saving you £11.91 (91.06%)   |  RRP £24.99

  This sorely-neglected opera comes from Mozart's early catalogue. Written in 1774 it tells the story of a Countess who disguises herself as a gardener in order to find and forgive her lover who thinks he has killed her in a quarrel. The opera contains elements of both opera seria and opera buffa and contains a rich and full orchestration with prominent parts for wind in particular being an unusual feature. Stage direction comes from Swedish director Goran Jarvefelt who sadly die

• 4 Collection: Chills | DVD | (05/11/2007) from £14.99   |  Saving you £-5.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Night Of The Living Dead:Special DVD release of George A. Romero's 1968 horror classic, with two versions on the same DVD disc - the original black and white version plus a colourised version. One quiet morning, Barbara (Judith O'Dea) and Johnny's (Russell Streiner) visit to their father's grave is interrupted when Johnny is killed by a flesh-eating stranger. Barbara escapes to a nearby farmhouse, meets up with a few other desperate individuals, and prepares to do battle with the zombies who ...

• Tosca - Puccini | DVD | (18/06/2004) from £28.55   |  Saving you £1.44 (5.04%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The story of betrayal and lust performed by the Teatro Real Chorus and Orchestra; conducted by Maurizio Benini. Recorded during the 2003-2004 season at Teatro Real.

• Carreras, Domingo, Pavarotti - The Three Tenors Christmas | DVD | (04/12/2000) from £12.98   |  Saving you £2.01 (15.49%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The Three Tenors capture the joy and spirit of the season with their first ever Christmas concert. Featuring live performances of international seasonal favorites by the best-selling and world-renowned trip - all music that has never appeared on any previous Three Tenors CD or video. Recorded live at the Konzerthaus in Vienna December 1999. Track Listing: 1. White Christmas 2. Let It Snow 3. Oh Tannenbaum 4. Ay! Para Navidad 5. Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle 6. Carol Of The Drum (The Little Drummer Boy) 7. Ave Maria Dolce Maria 8. Wiegenlied I 9. Jingle Bells 10. Children Of Christmas 11. La Virgen La Panales 12. I'll Be Home For Christmas 13. Adeste Fideles 14. Cantique De Noel (O Holy Night) 15. Amazing Grace 16. Feliz Navidad 17. Silent Night 18. Paregaria (El Can de L'Anima a La Verge) 19. Winter Wonderland 20. Wiegenlied II 21. Sleigh Ride 22. Susani 23. Un Nuevo Siglo 24. Dormi O Bambino 25. Happy Christmas/War Is Over

• Linda Di Chamounix - Donizetti | DVD | (03/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  A performance of Donizetti's 'Linda Di Chamounix' from the Zurich Opera House.

• Berg: Wozzeck | DVD | (15/11/2001) from £34.31   |  Saving you £-9.32 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The bleakness of Berg's operatic masterpiece Wozzeck is relatively easy to bring off: the plot, after all, tells of a man who is bullied, cuckolded and mocked by the society around him. What are harder to realise are the gallows humour and pitch-black comedy--and it's those qualities, along with the brilliant acting and edge-of-seat orchestral playing, that make this 1987 Vienna Staatsoper staging a stunning televisual operatic production. Everything works: the simple yet evocative sets translate effortlessly to the small screen, the pacing of the 15 short scenes is worthy of a Hollywood blockbuster and the singing is beautifully focussed. Baritone Franz Grundheber is vocally and dramatically outstanding as Wozzeck, cringing and shuffling around the stage in a bewildered hang-dog manner and yet never losing sight of the character's humanity. Hildegard Behrens (Marie) has rarely sounded better, and switches between Straussian lushness and spiky sluttishness with ease. The direction is also full of wonderful touches, such as Wozzeck squeezing the Captain's nose while he's shaving him (and making his voice sound like a kazoo), and the musicians of the on-stage band being fully integrated into the tavern scene. Ironic, emotionally rich, musically faultless--this one's got it all. On the DVD: the production works beautifully on DVD, and bar one or two moments in the second tavern scene (Act 3, Scene 3) the voices rarely move out of microphone range. There are subtitles in English, German, French and Spanish and four trailers for other Arthaus DVD operas, but no other special features. --Warwick Thomson

• Don Pasquale - Donizetti | DVD | (10/09/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Donizetti: Don Pasquale - Juan Diego Florez

• Strauss - Eine Nacht In Venedig | DVD | (12/05/2008) from £15.85   |  Saving you £-1.86 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  A Night In Venice by Johann Strauss, recorded at BUFA, Berlin, 1973.

• Donizetti: Lucie de Lammermoor - Lyon National Opera | DVD | (15/12/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Based on one of Walter Scott's most melodramatic novels, what is arguably Donizetti's best tragic opera is here presented in its French version, Lucie de Lammermoor. The hapless Lucia (Patrizia Ciofi) tries to refuse the marriage to a minister that will rescue her family's fortunes in favour of her beloved, the family's worst enemy Edgard (Roberto Alagna). Predictably this all ends in many deaths and the audience's tears. Evelina Pido and the Orchestre Nationale de Lyon tear through the fairly unsubtle score with considerable brio and they and the cast are admirable in the opera's quieter more thoughtful moments--the famous Act Two sextet and Lucia's mad scene, in which Ciofi is solidly excellent rather than deeply memorable. Alagna turns in his usual high-gloss performance as Edgard and manages to make his final aria more moving than the quality of the piece deserves. This is an idiomatic and effective performance in a solid made-for-TV production, albeit one that never comes across as notably original. On the DVD: Lucie de Lammermoor is presented on disc in 16:9 ration with Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS or LPCM stereo sound options. It has subtitles in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. --Roz Kaveney

• Pietro Mascagni - Nerone | DVD | (05/07/2004) from £17.53   |  Saving you £-4.54 (-34.90%)   |  RRP £12.99

  A production of the opera 'Nerone' filmed in the Great Thermae at Emperor Adrian's Villa in Rome.

• Mozart: Idomeneo | DVD | (06/09/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  'Idomeneo is Mozart's grandest most richly coloured and most ambitious opera' David Cairns Sunday Times. This highly acclaimed production of Idomeneo marked the operatic debut of Trevor Nunn whose distinguished career includes Cats and Les Miserables. It was much praised for its simple but effective dramatic style blending Minoan Crete with the ritualistic delicacy of Japanese theatre. This dynamic stylization is appropriately reflected in John Napier's considered and elegant d

• Saint-Saens: Samson et Dalila -- San Francisco Opera | DVD | (11/06/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Saint-Saens' Samson et Dalila is here realised in a lavish 1981 San Francisco Opera production with Placido Domingo in his prime. Significantly expanded from the famous Bible story of the Jews under the Philistine yoke, and recast in late-19th century romantic terms, the opera was close to the composer's heart: Saint-Saens began work in 1859 but did not complete his score until 17 years later. While elements of the originally planned more formal oratorio remain, Samson et Dalila nevertheless develops considerable dramatic and orchestral power, with Domingo giving a performance worthy of a great tragic hero. Likewise, mezzo-soprano Shirley Verrett brings complex characterisation to the temptress Dalila, offering a performance of such seductive intelligence that her scenes with Domingo spark with electrifying force. Equally fine support comes from Wolfgang Brendel as Samson's nemesis, the High Priest of the pagan god Dagon. Director Nicolas Joel knows when to emphasise the spectacle of the stage production or focus on more intimate personal drama, though it is the latter which is best served in a small screen version somewhat diminished by early 1980s TV technical standards. That aside, this is music drama with the grip of a psychological thriller and is unlikely to disappoint those looking for a feast of fine singing. On the DVD: Samson et Dalila on disc has good if occasionally a little harsh PCM stereo. The 4:3 picture is somewhat soft and prone to blurring, evidencing all the problems of live concert material shot on video. There are optional multi-language subtitles, trailers for two further ArtHaus releases and a booklet with chapter details, cast list, notes on the composer, opera, production and performers, and a detailed synopsis.--Gary S Dalkin

• Giovanna D'Arco - Teatro Comunale Di Bologna | DVD | (27/02/2006) from £24.28   |  Saving you £-6.29 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  A performance of Verdi's seventh opera 'Giovanna D'Arco ' performed by the Orchestra Communale Di Bologna and conducted by Riccardo Chailly

• Romeo And Juliet | DVD | (03/12/2001) from £7.07   |  Saving you £17.92 (253.47%)   |  RRP £24.99

• Massenet: Manon -- Paris Opera/Lopez-Cobos | DVD | (30/01/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A performance of the Massenet opera 'Manon'. The Paris National Opera Orchestra and Chorus are conducted by Jesus Lopez-Cobos.

• Otello - Arena Di Verona | DVD | (25/07/2005) from £10.98   |  Saving you £10.00 (125.16%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The spectacular open-air Arena di Verona is the setting for this production of Verdi's last tragic opera Otello a work some consider to be his masterpiece. In this recording from 1982 Otello is sung by the Russian tenor Vladimir Atlantov rightly famous for his magnificent interpretation of the title role. This DVD is the only chance to see and hear one of the great Otellos as no other recordings are currently available of Atlantov in this role. The role of Desdemona is beautifull