Opera

• Verdi Gala -- Greatest Operatic Arias from Giuseppe Verdi | DVD | (01/01/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  In March 2001 some of the world's greatest lyric voices assembled in the cavernous Teatro Padiglione Palacassa in Parma for a Verdi Gala to commemorate the centenary of the composer's death. The works included in this concert are generally taken from his most famous operas, but there are one or two surprises too: it's not often you get the chance to hear the gorgeous "Dieu nous separe" from the Parisian grand opera Jerusalem (1847), for example, or arias from Il Corsaro (1848). The singing is mostly of a very high standard: Barbara Frittoli uses her glorious voice with intelligence in the excerpt from Il Trovatore, and Daniela Dessi is stunning in "Pace, pace" from La Forza del Destino. Older singers like Carreras and Domingo are also still on superb form, too, and both men manage to sound heavenly while packing a mighty dramatic punch. But there are also some weak links: Mariella Devia is a little too slippy-slidy in her coloratura to be a convincing Violetta, and Leo Nucci simply shouts his way through Il Trovatore. Despite the familiarity of the material, Zubin Mehta conducts with a beguiling freshness of approach and plenty of warmth and wit: the playful phrasing in "La donna e mobile" is simply charming On the DVD: Verdi Gala comes with fine picture quality, but the recording balance favours the singers over the orchestra and leaves some details of the ensemble inaudible. Each number is introduced with a personal comment from the singers, leading to some old ham from Jose Cura and some silly journalese from the others: "And thus La Traviata was born overnight", is one particularly vacuous example. The DVD also includes a slide-show of stills from the rehearsals, and subtitles in English, German, French, Spanish and Italian. --Warwick Thompson

• Domingo - In Concert | DVD | (28/08/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £18.99

• Capriccio - Richard Strauss | DVD | (06/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The new production in June 2004 was a huge success in Paris because of the illustrious cast especially Renee Fleming in the role of countess. She sung this part for the first time and impressed the audience with her exceptional voice and stage presence. She will sing the role also at the Met in 2006/07.The other singers Anne Sofie von Otter Rainer Trost Gerald Finley Dietrich Henschel and Franz Hawlata are all idiomatic and beautifully singing so that the performance was regarded as an ideal interpretation of Richard Strauss' last opera by the French press. Ulf Schirmer is a German conductor who is regularly appearing at the Paris Opera the Deutsche Oper Berlin or the Vienna State Opera and recorded the same opera with Kiri Te Kanawa on Decca. Stage director Robert Carsen created a luxurious stage with colourful costumes which links up the tradition with the modern chic.

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

  Die Walkure is the 'first day' of Wagner's great tetra logy of music dramas Der Ring des Nibelungen.Conducted by Pierre Boulez and directed by Patrice Chereau this 1976 production commemorating the centenary of the first Bayreuth Ring has come to be seen as the most illuminating and significant of modern times.

• Tosca | DVD | (30/08/2002) from £27.29   |  Saving you £-2.30 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Opera in Three ActsMusic by Giacomo PucciniLibretto by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica.Complete live performance of June 3 1961.

• The Rake's Progress | DVD | (28/11/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Inger Aby's stunning film version of Stravinsky's opera The Rake's Progress won the coveted 1995 Prix Italia in the music and arts section the industry's most prestigious prize. The film stars Greg Fedderly as the innocent Hakan Hagegard as Nick Shadow and the counter-tenor Brian Asawa in the role of Baba the Turk. Esa-Pekka Salonen conducts the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and Choir. Stravinsky's neo-classical masterpiece is a tale of innocence entering a pact wi

• Wild Discovery | DVD | (25/06/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Wild Discovery brilliantly profiles nature''s creatures of the world

• Die Walkure - Wagner | DVD | (02/05/2005) from £21.20   |  Saving you £13.79 (39.40%)   |  RRP £34.99

  In the second work of Wagner's epic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen Wotan faces the consequences of his actions begun in Das Rheingold while his daughter Brunnhilde emerges as the heroic voice of the conscience he strives to silence. Struggles of power mix with adulterous and incestuous love in an episode of dramatic vengeance. Filmed at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu in 2003 Harry Kupfer's acclaimed production first staged in Berlin numbers among the greatest productions of modern times and is recorded in sumptuous surround sound.

• Stravinsky - The Rake's Progress | DVD | (31/12/2007) from £25.59   |  Saving you £4.40 (17.19%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Stravinsky's masterwork The Rake's Progress, created for La Fenice in Venice in 1951, is based on a libretto by W.H. Auden and Chester Kallman, inspired by a series of 18th-century prints by William Hogarth. This amazing production from La Monnaie - De Munt 'jazzifies' the setting by replacing Hogarth's sin city, London, with 1950s Las Vegas, turning it into a glittering, cinematic gallery of tableaux vivants inspired by the early days of television. Staged by one of the most visionary theatre directors of our age, the Quebecois Robert Lepage, the neo-classical morality tale truly becomes a grand spectacle. Lepage's visual imagination works its magic superbly, while Kazushi Ono's energetic musical direction drives the sparkling ensemble to exhilarating heights. Recorded in High Definition and true surround sound.

• Handel: Alcina | DVD | (21/01/2002) from £14.98   |  Saving you £10.01 (66.82%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Produced with the cast of a year-2000 Stuttgart stage version, this performance of Handel's 1735 opera Alcina has been specially shot for home viewing without the audience present (though applause is heard during the closing credits). Director Janos Darvas enhances the usual low theatre illumination with stronger television-friendly lighting to provide more detail, and he also takes his cameras much closer to the artists than live performance permits, offering film-style close-ups that greatly enhance the drama. With just eight performers and an essentially static set--though some intriguing interesting things are done with a large "mirror"--this intimate approach proves an enormous advantage. Handel's complex tale of intense romantic entanglement on the island of the enchantress Alcina focuses as much on high-voltage acting as powerful music-making. The 20th-century costumes are initially disconcerting, but soon become part of a psychologically intense world where time seems out of joint and charged with otherwise-unimaginable emotional possibilities. As Alcina, Catherine Naglestad gives an extraordinary performance, both strikingly passionate and deeply sensual, her revealing costuming being just the most obvious sign of a production intent on the erotic. Though Naglestad dominates, each performer offers memorable characterisation and fine singing. On the DVD: Alcina comes to disc with an anamorphically enhanced 16:9 picture that is clear and detailed, while the PCM stereo audio is natural and is recorded with good presence. Other than various optional subtitles, including English, extras are entirely absent. Within the booklet is a brief biography of Handel, background notes on Alcina and a synopsis, but nothing on the artists or performance. --Gary S Dalkin

• Tony Joe White-Live at the Basement | DVD | (01/12/2008) from £14.48   |  Saving you £-5.49 (-61.10%)   |  RRP £8.99

  Tony Joe White Live at the Basement:-Undercover Agent For The Blues-High Sheriff Of Calhoun-The Organic Shuffle-Crack The Window-Steamy Windows-Rainy Night In Georgia-Polk Salad Annie-Even Trolls Love Rock 'N' Roll-Feeling Snakey- Credits-Interview

• Il Matrimonio Segreto - Cimarosa | DVD | (31/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  'Il Matrimonio Segreto' is Cimarosa's most famous opera which is reputed to have won immense admiration from Emperor Leopold II at its first performance in 1792. T Austrian Emperor liked this masterpiece so much that he ordered it to be played again from the beginning! Domenico Cimarosa's opera about the amorous bumblings of Bolognese gentry is performed by the Cologne Opera at the 1986 Schwetzingen Festival.

• Adriana Lecouvreur - Cilea | DVD | (27/02/2006) from £31.16   |  Saving you £-14.91 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Francesco Cilea's most popular work is based on the 1849 play by Eugene Scribe and Ernest Legouve. Adriana Lecouvreur is a star of the stage who could seemingly have any man she desires but when she falls hopelessly in love with the Count of Saxony she discovers he's already been promised to the Princess of Bouillon leading to a battle of wills between them.Filmed at Sydney Opera House Australia.

• Mozart: Don Giovanni -- Cologne/Conlon | DVD | (15/05/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Conlon conducts a skittishly dynamic performance of Don Giovanni that suits the promiscuous protagonist's restless energy more than some more ponderous and serious productions. He relies on Thomas Allen's tough Don to give the work much of its dark menace and on Holle's terrifying Commendatore to provide the moral outrage--his job is to keep things moving, and he does. The exteriors--blank city spaces reminiscent of the paintings of Giorgio De Chirico--and moodily claustrophobic interiors mirror effectively the anguish of the orphaned Anna and the abandoned Elvira; this is a performance in which the two women victims of the Don function effectively as correctives to his libertine charm. Andrea Rost as Zerlina brings real delicacy to her role, reminding us that "La ci darem la mano" is a duet about her flirtation with Don Giovanni and not just a famous stand-alone moment. This is an admirable presentation of a fine performance. The only special features of the DVD are subtitles in the standard languages. --Roz Kaveney

• Fidelio | DVD | (05/10/2006) from £22.15   |  Saving you £2.84 (12.82%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A performance of the Beethoven's Fidelio. James Levine conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus.

• Tristan Und Isolde - Wagner | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £29.88   |  Saving you £5.11 (14.60%)   |  RRP £34.99

  John Treleaven and Deborah Polaski lead an outstanding cast in Wagner's operative tour de force based on the medieval voyager legend of Sir Tristan and Isolde Princess of Ireland who unknowingly offers the knight a love potion in place of the poison she had intended should kill them both. Bertrand de Billy conducts the Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu in an acclaimed production.

• Inside the Actors Studio - Robert Redford | DVD | (26/01/2009) from £7.89   |  Saving you £0.10 (1.27%)   |  RRP £7.99

  With powerful performances in films like The Sting All The President s Men and Out Of Africa making his case and his mark as an actor Robert Redford then expanded his horizons and ours stepping behind the lens to become one of only six actors ever to win a Best Director Academy Award'' as he was saluted for Ordinary People in 1980. Pursuing his passion for the art of film Redford went on to revolutionize independent cinema in 1980 by launching the acclaimed Sundance Institute for aspiring filmmakers. His charm wit and wisdom make this interview taped in 2004 an effective reminder that before there was the Sundance Institute there was the Sundance Kid.

• Favourite Opera Choruses | DVD | (02/05/2006) from £16.18   |  Saving you £-1.19 (-7.90%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Various Composers: Favourite Opera Choruses

• Wagner: Die Walkure -- Metropolitan/Levine | DVD | (12/04/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The 1990 Metropolitan Opera performance of Die Walkure ("The Valkyrie") with James Levine conducting is a solid, four-square performance with few frills and no gimmicks, just extraordinarily fine singing and orchestral playing. There is no point in this where you find yourself asking why the director did something: this is the sort of production which could be criticised as unimaginative but defended as serving Wagner's intentions for this instalment of his Ring cycle. Levine and his orchestra give the music an emotional intensity that never overwhelms its grandeur, though perhaps in Wotan's farewell to Brunnhilde, we feel him more as father than as god. James Morris as Wotan has real stature, making us feel that he has finally created the free agents he needs to avoid the curse he has unleashed on the world, but he has broken his heart in the process. Jessye Norman is surprisingly good and erotically self-assured as Sieglinde; the Act 1 love duet with Gary Lake as Siegmund has an ardour that makes the incestuous aspect less a matter of perversity than of the conduct of heroes. Kurt Moll makes Sieglinde's rapist and husband Hunding, a three-dimensional sinister villain; and Christa Ludwig almost manages to sell us Fricka's interminable paean to family values. The most impressive performance here, though, is Hildegard Behrens as Brunnhilde, the steely godling who sacrifices everything because she learns to feel and to know what is right. On the DVD Die Walkure on disc comes with menus and subtitles in German, French, English, Spanish and Chinese and with a picture gallery of the production. Awkwardly it is presented in (American) NTSC format not PAL, with a visual aspect of standard TV 4:3. More impressive is the choice of PCM stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 6.1; the sound is admirably clear and well-balanced. --Roz Kaveney

• Les Contes D'Hoffmann | DVD | (31/05/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Hoffmann a poet and composer is in love with the prima donna Stella. As the opera begins she is appearing in her most famous role: Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni. Hoffmann's Muse declares that she will win back the artist and protect him from any further amorous obsessions. In order to do so she will assume the identity of Hoffmann's friend Nicklausse.Councillor Lindorf also desires the diva Stella and he bribes her servant Andres into giving him a letter addressed to Hoffmann which contains the key to her dressing room. As the curtain falls on Act I of Don Giovanni Luther and his waiters hurriedly prepare for the arrival of Hoffmann and his friends.Hoffmann is in an agitated state of mind but is soon persuaded to sing the ballad of Kleinzack. While doing so he is distracted and recalls his first love. His friends bring him back to reality and he finishes the song. Suddenly Hoffmann sees Lindorf and a heated argument develops between them. Hoffmann reveals that Lindorf has always brought him bad luck. When three of the poet's friends boast about their mistresses Hoffmann declares that Stella embodies three types of woman: the young girl the artist and the courtesan. Hoffman asks his friends if they would like to hear about three of his past loves. Despite Luther's warning that the curtain is about to rise on Act II of Don Giovanni the crowd fill their glasses and prepare to listen to Hoffmann's tales.