Opera

• The Workshop | DVD | (21/07/2008) from £6.19   |  Saving you £13.80 (222.94%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Get In Touch With Yourself... Like so many before Jamie Morgan asked the question 'What's it all about?' His spiritual search took him to California to a workshop run by a white-haired spiritual 'guru' promoting sexual adventure and the possible existence of aliens. Jamie shed his clothes inhibitions and defences on an emotional amusing and provocative roller coaster ride towards enlightenment.

• Mascagni: Cavalleria Rusticana / Leoncavallo: Pagliacci | DVD | (14/01/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

• Verdi: Otello -- Berlin Opera/von Karajan | DVD | (12/03/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The complete opera 'Otello' by Giuseppe Verdi. Performed by the German Opera Choir and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. The cast includes: Jon Vickers Mirella Freni and Peter Glossop. Conducted and directed by Herbert Von Karajan.

• Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg -- Australian Opera / Mackerras | DVD | (20/02/2004) from £32.38   |  Saving you £-2.39 (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is Wagner's most life-affirming opera, a romantic comedy about life and love in 16th century Nürnberg with none of the mythological characters and settings of the composer's other operas. The story concerns a knight, Walther Von Stolzing (here sung by Paul Frey) who must win the hand of the woman he loves, Eva (Helena Doese) by competing in a competition to become the Master Singer of the city. Against him are various romantic rivals, while in the role of his eventual mentor is the shoemaker Hans Sachs (Donald McIntyre). Doese brings just the right innocent femininity to one of only two important female roles--the other is filled by Rosemary Gunn as her governess, Magdalene. Paul Frey is fine as the romantic young knight, but the opera belongs to the great New Zealand Wagnerian bass-baritone, Donald McIntyre. His performance is richly insightful as only one so steeped in the world of the composer could be. The staging is deliberately unspectacular, the colours muted to the natural earth tones of the Middle Ages, focusing all attention on the characters, drama and exhilarating music. Though running three-and-a-half hours, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an excellent introduction to Wagner's art; especially as presented in this 1990 performance in an engagingly direct and unpretentious style, one that draws the audience in and makes for highly effective small-screen viewing. On the DVD: Die Meistersinger is presented on two DVDs to maximise picture quality over the 227-minute playing time. The image is 4:3 and is typical of a 1990 live opera performance recorded on video, being perfectly acceptable while revealing all the faults of the medium. The stereo sound is very good without being exceptional. There are optional subtitles in English, German, French and Spanish but no extras. --Gary S Dalkin

• Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) -- Zurich/Harnoncourt | DVD | (29/04/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt's approach to Le Nozze di Figaro is certainly historically informed, but both his musical direction and this Zurich Opera production as a whole lack a certain lightness of touch. In such a deliciously comic work it should be permissible to have fun. Harnoncourt's tempos seem rather too conservative; while the low stage lighting keeps the revolving sets shaded in half-shadow for much of the time. The result is a tad claustrophobic, both musically and visually. There are many compensations, however. Though Harnoncourt may be a little over-cautious, what's lost in joie de vivre is gained in clarity and nuance. Similarly, the singers have plenty of space to enunciate and cherish every rolling phrase. Although Carlos Chausson makes an appealing everyman character as Figaro, he and everyone else must perform (sometimes literally) in Rodney Gilfry's domineering shadow. Gilfry's Alamaviva is a swaggering counterpart to his Don Giovanni, with the same almost overwhelming sexual presence and charisma; no wonder, then, that Eva Mei's Countess is so jealous, or that Isabel Rey's Susanna seems genuinely attracted despite her better judgment. The ensemble cast are uniformly delightful and, unusually, are all good actors: when the Count and Countess squabble, Gilfry and Mei really work themselves into a fine passion. The set and costuming are both of indeterminate period: the Count carries a shotgun to shoot Liliana Nikiteanu's errant Cherubino, and there are deckchairs in the garden, but the ladies' costumes are cut to reveal authentically 18th-century heaving bosoms. In all, this is a Figaro distinguished by a strong cast and fine singing, but hampered a little by the staging. An airier alternative is the more traditional Glyndebourne production. On the DVD: Le Nozze di Figaro from Zurich is presented in three vivid sound options: LPCM Stereo, Dolby 5.1 or DTS 5.1. Picture is 16:9. The subtitling is occasionally unnecessarily repetitive (Figaro's "Piano, piano, piano" takes up a big chunk of the screen as: "Not so fast, not so fast, not so fast" and so on) and inadequately proofread ("Forgeive me...Falsce one" [sic]). --Mark Walker

• Jungle Book | DVD | (05/11/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

• Opera Hits | DVD | (08/11/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Opera Hits features many of opera's best-loved arias duets and choruses in performances from La Scala Milan La Fenice Venice The Royal Opera Covent Garden Arena di Verona and Glyndebourne Festival Opera. The extracts are taken from some of the world's favourite operas: La Traviata The Barber of Seville Tosca Andrea Chnier Orfeo ed Euridice Aida Gianni Schicchi Samson et Dalila Carmen Les Contes d'Hoffmann La Bohme Madama Butterfly and Nabucco.

• The Heart Of The Garden Vol.1 | DVD | (21/01/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.99

  The first in a series of DVDs that provides a nationwide showcase of the best that nature has to offer. *** Narrated by Richard Briers and filmed across the seasons, a refreshing and unique look at some of the best gardens from the South West of England. *** This DVD comes with offers and incentives worth many times the cost of original purchase. *** Featuring: The Abbey Garden, Tresco - Trebah Gardens - Pencarrow - Prideaux Place - Docton Mill Gardens - Fast Rabbit Farm Garden - Bicton Park Botanical Gardens - Burrow Farm Gardens.

• Werther - Massenet | DVD | (31/10/2005) from £33.73   |  Saving you £-8.74 (-35.00%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A 2005 production of Massenet's opera which tells the tragic story of Werther's intense passion for Charlotte who has married his best friend Albert fulfilling a pledge to her now deceased mother. But Werther's letters of love bring Charlotte to his side when he promises to take his own life. Philippe Jordan conducts the Vienna State Opera Orchestra.

• Donizetti-Don Pasquale | DVD | (26/02/2007) from £20.23   |  Saving you £-5.24 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Recorded at the Teatro Lirico, Cagliari, February 2002.

• Wagner: Gotterdammerung | DVD | (15/10/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Gotterammerung is the 'third day' of Wagner's great tetra logy of music dramas Der Ring Des Nibelhngen.

• Joan Sutherland - The Complete Bell Telephone Hour Performances 1961-1968 | DVD | (30/11/2001) from £21.39   |  Saving you £3.60 (16.83%)   |  RRP £24.99

• Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) -- La Scala | DVD | (19/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Like all successfully filmed operas, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's 1974 film of his 1972 La Scala production of The Barber of Seville weaves its magic on multiple levels: naturalistic lighting and camera-work which break through the invisible barrier of the proscenium arch and take the viewer to the heart of the action; wonderful casting and magnificent singing; opera singers who can act to the camera (Teresa Berganza, in particular, is luminous); and conducting which simply revels in the richness of a much-loved score (Claudio Abbado wrings every ounce of levity and brilliance from the music). Rossini's 1816 work, based on Beaumarchais' Figaro characters and an earlier libretto by Paisiello, is one of the great joys of comic opera, crammed with familiar arias and duets, all of which drive the galloping pace of the book without ever interrupting the plot. Its ingredients of romance, disguise and intrigue merge in Rossini's extraordinarily vibrant and increasingly explosive score. At the heart of the tale is the love triangle of Count Almaviva (a lusty Luigi Alva), the wilful Rosina (Teresa Berganza at the peak of her mezzo-soprano powers) and her guardian with an ulterior motive Bartolo (Enzo Dara, constantly foiled). Thanks to the machinations of Figaro (Hermann Prey, making the most of his trademark theme "Largo al factotum") they are put through a series of hoops in which love conquers all and no real harm is ever done. On the DVD: If this Barber has dated at all it's largely thanks to Abbado's pudding-basin haircut and the film's inevitable 1970's quality. It is presented in standard 4:3 format with a PCM Stereo soundtrack, producing a merely average video-standard viewing experience. Apart from a good choice of subtitles there are no extras. A history of the production would have been useful. But these shortcomings, and the occasionally dull sound quality, are soon forgotten in the heat of the action.--Piers Ford

• Busoni - Doktor Faust | DVD | (29/10/2007) from £30.05   |  Saving you £4.94 (16.44%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Ferruccio Busoni - Doktor Faust - Live Recording From The Zurich Opera House 2006.

• Great Voices Of Today | DVD | (12/12/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £5.99

  This DVD features a fantastic array of classical and operatic performances from some of the most revered performers including Roberto Alagna singing Quanto E Bella Quanto E Cara' and 'Una Furtiva Lagrima' from 'Donizetti' David Daniels sings 'Cara Sposa' from Handel's opera 'Rinaldo' and much much more... Tracklist: 1.Roberto Alagna - 'Quanto E Bella' & 'Una Furtiva Lagrima' 2.Angela Gheorghiu - 'Prendi Per Me Sei Libero' 3.Thomas Hampson - Mi Si Affaccia Un Pugnal & Piet

• Orfeo Ed Euridice - Gluck | DVD | (29/03/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Recorded Live At The Royal Opera House Covent Garden 1991.According to legend Orpheus' magical power as a musician enabled him to regain his wife from the dead on condition that he did not look at her on the journey back from Hades - a condition it proved impossible to fulfil. In Harry Kupfer's updated version Orfeo in leather jacket trainers and jeans sees his Euridice die in a street accident. Succumbing to depression he languishes in Hades - a psychiatric hospital - before taking his electric guitar to charm the bests in an inner-city concrete jungle. Hans Schavernoch has designed an ingenious set with projected imagery on revolving screens and mirrors.The German male alto Jochen Kowalski gives a virtuoso performance as the tormented Orfeo with the young British soprano Giliam Webster as Euridice.

• Verdi: Macbeth | DVD | (29/01/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  One of the best of Verdi's earlier operas, Macbeth has a distinctive energy to which, in this performance, conductor Sinopoli gives full rein. His excellent chorus--terrifyingly skittish witches, mournful exiles, sinister-facetious murderers, outraged and vengeful courtiers in the aftermath of Duncan's murder--is as much a participant as the principals, and the orchestral accompaniment reminds us that what the young Verdi lacked of his later subtlety he made up in sheer vigour. Renato Bruson is an extraordinary Macbeth, caught in a nightmare of his own making and unable to find release save through further killings and eventually self-destruction; Maria Zampieri has the sort of voice Verdi specified and which many productions avoid, a voice prepared to give its all, not to any sort of lyric beauty but to a harshness that is dramatically appropriate--this is a fine characterisation. Dennis O'Neill has comparatively little to do, but makes his vengeance aria a memorable reminder that guilt and shame are not all that this opera is about. --Roz Kaveney

• Das Rheingold - Wagner | DVD | (27/02/2006) from £22.23   |  Saving you £7.76 (25.90%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Richard Wagner's tetralogy 'Der Ring des Nibelungen' in which Power and Love are presented as mutually exclusive ideas is always a huge challenge for any opera house. 'Das Rheingold' is the opening of this extraordinary production of 'The Ring' from Het Muziektheater Amsterdam with the orchestra taking its place both in the pit and ring-shaped on the astonishing stage. The fantastic stage direction by Pierre Audi succeeds in forging a profound unity combining the lyrical mythical and philosophical qualities of Wagner's work. Breathtaking sets by George Tsypin superb costumes by Oscar-winner Eiko Ishioka and the passionate performances of the soloists and Residentie Orchestra under their inspired guest conductor Hartmut Haenchen all contribute to an intense total experience that will leave a permanent impression.

• Vivaldi: Orlando Furioso | DVD | (22/06/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  For those with any interest in Vivaldi's operas Orlando Furioso is essential viewing, being a 1989 San Francisco Opera revival by Pier Luigi Pizzi of his own 1979 production which was largely responsible for beginning modern interest in Vivaldi's stage work. The composer first premiered Orlando finto pazzo in 1714, but the Orlando Furioso finalised in 1727 was so heavily reworked as to be virtually an entirely new opera, and so successful Handel set the same epic poem by Aristo under the title Alcina in 1735. Vivaldi's opera is not of that calibre, offering rather too much functional recitative and only a handful of truly memorable arias. However, the cast perform with such commitment and style as to make the work thoroughly enjoyable. It is a tale of romantic and magical intrigue on a small island, inevitably echoing Shakespeare's The Tempest, and the classically elegant set-design and colourful costumes evoke a suitable sense of fantasy. Mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne makes the title role her own while Susan Patterson is a characterful and strong-minded Angelica. William Matteuzzi makes a sympathetic Medoro, notably outmanoeuvred in love, while as the sorceress Alcina Kathleen Kuhlann is a appropriately complex and powerful in revealing the loneliness at the heart of her corruption. On the DVD: There are no features other than the two trailers which appear on almost all Arthaus releases. The production is presented in the original television 4:3 and the image is little better than a good video. The picture is not especially detailed and too often the performer's faces are slightly out of focus while the sets are pin-sharp. Overall the image suffers the usual problems from originally being shot on professional video, in addition to which some compression artefacting is noticeable. The prologic sound is fine, though appears simply to down mix the main stereo signal to the rear channel and the result is more accurate if switched to straight stereo. --Gary S Dalkin

• Handel: Tamerlano | DVD | (27/08/2014) from £22.35   |  Saving you £7.64 (34.18%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Handel's 1724 opera Tamerlano followed the success of his previous year's Giulio Cesare with another colourful historical costume drama. This time the setting is the court of "Timur the Tartar", who has just defeated the Turkish Sultan Bajazet at the battle of Angora. There are, naturally enough, romantic complications when both Tamerlano and his ally, the Greek Prince Andronico, fall in love with Bajazet's daughter Asteria. She, however, has plans to revenge her father's defeat. This production was directed by Jonathan Miller and staged in the intimate surroundings of the Goethe Theatre of Bad Lauchstadt as part of the 2001 Halle Handel Festival. Miller's sparse gold-draped sets, as well as the video direction, always lead the eye towards the singers and their splendidly decorative costumes. Mezzo Monica Bacelli looks a little too pretty beneath her moustache to be convincingly threatening as Tamerlano; soprano Elizabeth Norberg-Schulz is a full-blooded, perhaps overripe Asteria; and Thomas Randle tackles the very demanding tenor role of Bajazet. None of the voices are necessarily "authentic", but thanks to the musical direction of Trevor Pinnock--an experienced and sensitive Handelian--the performance always feels completely natural. In the pit Pinnock's English Concert are, as always, a delight. Anyone who has not yet discovered the sometimes arcane delights of Baroque opera will find much to encourage them here; seasoned opera seria buffs should not hesitate. On the DVD: Tamerlano comes handsomely packaged in a two-disc set with a colourful and informative booklet. The extra features put most other ArtHaus releases to shame. To begin with the "Score Plus" facility, which superimposes the score over the picture, will provide hours of joy (all DVD operas should have this as standard). There are subtitles in English, German, French or Spanish. There's a lengthy (40-minute) "Making of" documentary, which takes us behind the scenes with Jonathan Miller, Trevor Pinnock and their team at Sadler's Wells then in Halle. More material about the Handel Festival can be found in the "Interviews" section, the selection of "Historical Film Footage" from previous Festivals, and the illustrated "Interactive Chronolgy". The 16:9 picture is perfectly adequate, and the sound options are good PCM Stereo and Dolby 5.1. --Mark Walker