Opera

• Mozart: Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) -- Zurich/Welser-Most | DVD | (27/09/2002) from £25.00   |  Saving you £4.99 (19.96%)   |  RRP £29.99

  L's Bop' is the first work of the 'Very Special Concert' and at once points the was for the evening. Joe Henderson shows himself to be a wizard with his saxophone; Chick Corea displays his piano virtuosity and Stanley Clarke and Lenny White demonstrates their multi-rhythmical talents on double bass and drums.'Why Wait' begins with an obstinate rhythm form which Henderson develops his interpretation. The music reaches out to ever-widening realms and Henderson chances on three openings for solo's to give himself free rein for his interpretation. A dialogue follows between Corea and Clarke with the latter amply demonstrating his creativity on the double bass in the closing sequence. As a finale the four instruments again form an ensemble and for a second time we begin to recognise the theme of 'Why Wait .In the introduction of his composition '500 Miles High' Corea reveals his musical foundation with his typically classical idiom. The intensifying drive of the rhythmical power inspires White Clarke and Corea to peak form. A veritable pyrotechnics of musical ideas ignites and the composition ends on an open note so to speak .

• Dusapin - Faustus, The Last Night | DVD | (27/11/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

• Cecilia Bartoli - The DVD Collection | DVD | (08/03/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £33.99

  The DVD CollectionCecilia Bartoli: A PortraitThe original and unique portrait of the amazing Cecilia Bartoli filmed at the outset of her career and giving a fascinating insight into her background personality and approach to her art. Includes her Savoy Hotel recital.Cecilia Bartoli: Live in ItalyCecilia Bartoli's acclaimed 1998 recital in the Palladian splendour of Vicenza's Teatro Olimpico. Accompanied by French virtuoso Jean-Yves Thibaudet it ranges from v

• Gretna to Glencoe | DVD | (21/05/2007) from £11.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.99

• Livietta E Tracollo / La Serva Padrona - Pergolesi | DVD | (05/06/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Pergolesi's popular short opera La Serva Padrona and the rarely heard Livietta e Tracollo were written as intermezzi--that is, they were rough-and-ready comic interludes placed between the acts of much more high-toned serious operas. Here they are presented as an intriguing 80-minute double-bill which was recorded live at the Luna Theatre in Brussels in 1996. La Serva Padrona tells the story of a shrewish, scheming maid who marries her master, and Livietta is a farcical romp full of disguise and flirtatious intrigue. Both sound fresh and lively here, with Sigiswald Kuikjen's La Petite Bande doing sterling work in the pit: each "opera buffa" moment is treated with jolly instrumental irreverence, and yet the more sentimental arias (such as the gorgeous "A Serpina penserete" from La Serva Padrona) are given weightier, beautifully phrased support. The acting is fairly wooden and the 18th-century-style productions dull (with just back-cloths for sets), but on a vocal level the casting is great. Nancy Argenta's sound is as limpid as a mountain stream, and Donato di Stefano uses his beguiling bass sonorities with comical leaps and skips. On the DVD: There is a 10-minute interview with Sigiswald Kuikjen about Pergolesi's intermezzi and their context, and there are subtitles in English, German and French. Unfortunately the English translations are unintentionally comic and come a cropper when the Italian gets at all idiomatic: "I will be able to escape of the death", is about as good as it gets. --Warwick Thomson

• Great Stars Of Opera | DVD | (28/03/2005) from £3.71   |  Saving you £17.54 (715.92%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Favorite Arias and Scenes by Rossini Mozart Bizet J. Strauss II Puccini Cilea Verdi & LeharRecorded live at the Theatre Square Dresden.

• Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show | DVD | (30/06/2008) from £5.21   |  Saving you £17.77 (800.45%)   |  RRP £19.99

  30 Days And 30 Nights - Hollywood To The Heartland Hit the road with Vince Vaugn as he takes on America's heartland with the wildest comedy tour of all time. Friends like Justin Long Jon Favreau and Dwight Yoakam join Vince and four of today's brightest comics for a 30 city 30 night laughfest where the comedy doesn't stop. So hitch a ride on the tour bus and go behind the scenes - it's a party you'll never forget.

• La Traviata - Verdi | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Recorded live at the Teatro La Fenice Venice 18 November 2004.When the legendary Venetian Teatro La Fenice which had been completely destroyed by fire in 1996 rose like a phoenix from the ashes again its rebirth was celebrated with Verdi's La Traviata an opera that had seen its premiere more than 150 years earlier in the same theatre. Led by star conductor Lorin Maazel a cast of brilliant singer-actors brought an exact replica of the March 1853 version to the stage giving audiences the opportunity to experience the opera as the world first heard at its premier in Venice. The original score had been found in the archives of La Fenice so that La Traviata could relive its premiere without any revisions. The great Violetta-Germont duet the second act finale and the opera's last two numbers resounded through the theatre in just the way that Verdi initially intended.With Italian soprano Patrizia Ciofi in the title role German-Italian tenor Roberto Sacca as her lover and Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky as his father the live recording features highly eminent singers of the Italian repertoire and stars who are at home in opera houses throughout the world.

• Offenbach Gala 2001 | DVD | (26/02/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Recorded at the Theatre Musical de Paris - Chatelet, December 2001.Contains excerpts from:- La Grande-Duchesse de Gerolstein.- Fantasio.- Le Carnaval des revues.- Madame l'Archiduc.- Les Contes d'Hoffman.- La Belle Helene.- Barbe-Bleue.- Lischen et Fritzchen.- La Vie parisienne.- La Fille du tambour-major.- La Perichole.- Orphee aux enfers.- Souvenir d'Aix-les-Bains.- Ouverture a grand orchestre.

• Giulio Cesare - Handel | DVD | (03/01/2006) from £32.38   |  Saving you £-2.39 (-8.00%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Recorded live at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Barcelona July 2004.Giulio Cesare is regarded by many as Handel's greatest and most exquisite work.This new adaptation comes from director Herbert Wernicke who includes in his version fragments of Rinaldo Orlando and Tolomeo. Wernicke concentrates on the psychology and politics of the story rather than seeking to set the opera in a contemporary context.In Handel's Giulio Cesare a far cry from the dark story of p

• Giuseppe Verdi - Rigoletto | DVD | (02/10/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Verdi: Rigoletto (Cobos / Alvarez / Mula)

• 20 Pack: Woman's Own (including Behind The Mask, Somewhere Tomorrow, Deadly Whispers, Do You Know The Muffing Man, Love Can Build A Bridge & 15 More) | DVD | (17/10/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  1. Behind the Mask (Dir. Tom McLoughlin 1999) 2. Somewhere Tomorrow (Dir. Robert Wiemer 1983) 3. Deadly Whispers (Dir. Bill L. Norton 1994) 4. Do You Know the Muffin Man? (Dir. Gilbert Cates 1989) 5. Love Can Build A Bridge (Dir. Bobby Roth 1995) 6. Murder Without Motive (Dir. Kevin Hooks 1992) 7. False Arrest (Dir. Bill L. Norton 1991) 8. Trapped in a Purple Haze (Dir. Eric Laneuville 2000) 9. Hard Evidence (Dir. Jan Egleson 1994) 10. Heart of the Lie (Dir. Jerry London 1992) 11. In a Stranger's Hand (Dir. David Greene 1991) 12. A Murderous Affair (Dir. Martin Davidson 1992) 13. Other Side of Love (Dir. Bethany Rooney 1991) 14. Out of the Ashes (Dir. Peter Werner 1990) 15. Rivals (Dir. Norma Bailey 2000) 16. Midwest Obsession (Dir. William A. Graham 1995) 17. Caged Seduction (Dir. Karen Arthur 1994) 18. The Rendering (Dir. Peter Svatek 2002) 19. Range of Motion (Dir. Donald Wyre 2000) 20. Stolen from the Heart (Dir. Bruce Pittman 2000)

• Puccini - Tosca (the Canadian Opera) | DVD | (20/02/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Cesare Angelotti an escaped political prisoner hides in the Attavanti chapel. Mario Cavaradossi enters to work on his portrait of Mart Magdalene - inspired by the Marchesa Attavanti (Angelotti's sister) whom he has seen but does not know.Angelotti ventures out and is recognised by his friend Mario who hurries him back into the chapel as the singer Floria Tosca is heard calling outside. Forever suspicious she jealously questions him then prays and reminds him of their rendezvous that evening. Suddenly recognising the Marchesa Attavanti in the painting she explodes with renewed suspicion but he reassures her.When she has gone Mario summons Angelotti from the chapel; a cannon signals that the police have discovered his escape so the two flee to Mario's villa. Meanwhile the church fills with choirboys who are to sing in a Te Deum that day. Their excitement is silenced by the entrance of Baron Scarpia chief of the secret police in search of Angelotti.When Tosca comes back to her lover Scarpia shows her a fan with the Attavanti crest which he has just found. Thinking Mario faithless Tosca tearfully vows vengeance and leaves. Scarpia sends his men to follow her and schemes to get her in his power.The spy Spoletta arrives at Farnese Palace. Not having found Angelotti he brings in Mario who is interrogated while Tosca is heard singing at a Royal gala downstairs. She entered just as her lover is being taken to an adjoining room to be tortured.Unnerved by Scarpia's questioning and Mario's screams she reveals Angelotti's hiding place. Mario is carried in; realising that has happened he turns on Tosca. Mario is dragging to prison and Scarpia suggests that Tosca yield herself to him in exchange for the lover's life but she fights off his embraces. Spoletta interrupts: faced with capture Angelotti has killed himself.Tosca forced to give in or lose her lover agrees to Scarpia's proposition. The baron pretends to order a mock execution for the prisoner. after which he is to be freed. No sooner has Scarpia written a safe-conduct for the lovers than Tosca snatches a knife from the table and kills him.

• Montserrat Caballe - Celebrating Bizet | DVD | (16/04/2007) from £22.49   |  Saving you £-12.50 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Montserrat Caballe: Celebrating Bizet

• I Due Foscari - Giuseppe Verdi | DVD | (29/08/2005) from £33.73   |  Saving you £-8.74 (-35.00%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A staging from the magnificent Teatro San Carlo opera house in Naples sees Leo Nucci formidably cast in the role of the Doge of Venice.The father and son tragedy I Due Foscari premiered in Rome in 1844 has not received as much attention as it deserves. Less opulently orchestrated than some of his preceding operas and with a gloomier story than his other operas it is a jewel in its own right. TDK presents a staging directed by Werner Duggelin one of the most distinguished theatre directors in Europe and choreographed by the superb Heinz Spoerli - both closely associated with the Zurich Opera and Theatre. The story of the conflict between paternal love and the political duties of the Doge of Venice unfolds before a backdrop of the severe facades of classical Venetian architecture symbolising the strict rules that bind the elder Foscari's decisions.

• Verdi - Gran Gala Di Verdi (Mehta, Orchestra Del Mmf, Cura) | DVD | (05/03/2007) from £7.33   |  Saving you £15.66 (68.10%)   |  RRP £22.99

• Siegfried - Wagner | DVD | (30/05/2005) from £2.65   |  Saving you £32.34 (1,220.38%)   |  RRP £34.99

  In the third work of Wagner's epic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen Siegmund's shattered sword is forged once again and kills the dragon that guards the ring. When Siegfried seizes the ring he also receives its curse as he continues his fiery adventure of discovery and love. Filmed at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu in 2004 Harry Kupfer's stunning production first staged in Berlin numbers among the greatest productions of modern times.

• Gotterdammerung - Wagner | DVD | (27/06/2005) from £47.23   |  Saving you £-12.24 (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  In the final part of Wagner's epic cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen Siegfried's world descends into falsehood and betrayal before his cursed life is ended by a single spear. Fate ignites the final conflagration which sets the world to await its new beginning. Filmed at Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu in 2004 Harry Kupfer's stunning production first staged in Berlin numbers among the greatest productions of modern times and is recorded in sumptuous surround sound.

• Kiri Te Kanawa - Opera In The Outback | DVD | (02/10/2006) from £4.85   |  Saving you £10.14 (209.07%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Kiri Te Kanawa: Opera In The Outback

• Vietnam 5 DVD box Set | DVD | (17/03/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99