The tour of Paris starts with the Eiffel Tower and includes the famous landmarks of the French capital, the Churches of Notre-Dame and the Sacre Coeur, the Opera Garnier and the great river, the Seine, that runs through the city. The tour ends with a nocturnal view of Paris and an excursion to Chartres, with it's magnificent cathedral. Music for the tour is by Beethoven, who at one time seemed to hope for employment in Paris. His 'Eroica Symphony' was at first intended as a celebration of his one-time hero, Napoleon, but reflected, in the end, his disillusion when Napoleon had himself crowned as Emperor. The music used also includes Beethoven's 'Coriolanus Overture', written, not for Shakespeare's play, but for a contemporary drama by Heinrich von Collin.

SICILY

The Places
Sicily has enjoyed a remarkably varied history, held by Phoenicians and Carthaginians, it became part of Roman territory, later to be occupied by Ostrogoths, recaptured by the Byzantines, ruled by Saracens, and occupied by the Normans, followed by German, French, and Spanish overlords. It was only in the mid-nineteenth century that the island was drawn into the unified country of Italy. The historical changes that Sicily has undergone are reflected in its culture.

The Music
The music chosen for this tour of Sicily is by Beethoven and consists of three of his best known piano sonatas, the Pathétique, the Moonlight and the Appassionata.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 57 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

The places visited in this film range from the icy slopes of the Jungfraujoch, approached by the highest railway in Europe, to the tranquility of Lake Thun, the imposing waterfalls of Trummelbach and the distinctive French, German, Italian and Romansch regions of the country. The music for this tour of Switzerland is by Franz Schubert, a composer who spent his life largely in his native Vienna. His famous 'Unfinished Symphony', the two movements of which were written in 1822, were not performed until 37 years after Schubert's death, when the manuscripts were discovered at the home of Schubert's friend Anselm Huttenbrenner. The music continues with Schubert's 'Fifth Symphony', written in the space of a few weeks in 1816, when the composer was nineteen.

Our journey takes US to places in Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Scotland, largely following the order of the seasons, from the hope of spring to the snows of winter. Violinist, priest and highly prolific composer, Antonio Vivaldi was born in Venice in 1678 and spent most of his life there. The most popular of his 500 or more concertos, then and now, has been the Four Seasons, eventually published in 1725, each concerto accompanied by an explanatory sonnet.

Krzysztof Penderecki is one of the world’s great contemporary composers and a Polish classical music icon. His 80th birthday in November 2013 occasioned an extraordinary gathering of the world's most significant musicians and his most important interpreters. Companions and long-time friends of the composer presented their homage to Penderecki with some of his most famous works being performed: Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, the Duo Concertante, the Concerto Grosso No. 1 and the unique Credo.

ALESSANDRO SCARLATTI (1660 – 1725)
Il Pastor di Corinto, Opera pastorale in tre atti (1701)

Bruna Tredicine, soprano; Anna Carbonera, soprano; Cristina Cappellini, soprano; Caterina Novak, mezzo; Carlo Putelli, tenor; Roberta De Nicola, soprano buffo; Massimo Di Stefano, bass buffo

Romabarocca Ensemble/Lorenzo Tozzi

Tito Schipa, Jr., stage director
Adriana Ruvolo, costumes; Luigi Stefano Cannelli, design

Recorded: Auditorio di San Francesco a Bolsena, August 16 & 17, 2007 NTSC All Region; 16:9; 5.1; Approx. 140 mins. Subtitled in Italian, English

ABBA FOREVER: The Winner Takes It All is the multi-Gold Award-winning, definitive up-to-date telling of the ABBA story with all four members of the band in interviews and special sequences filmed with them, rare archive, and a feast of ABBA songs. It starts with their pre-Abba careers, then the inside story of how they conquered Eurovision (first in Swedish, then in English), and then how they've continued to conquer the world several times over. We see them in performance and even going into the sound studio to discover how the ABBA sound was created. We also explore Mamma Mia!, the stage hit, onstage and backstage. With Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Agnetha Faltskog, Anni-Frid Lyngstad. Other guests include Bono (in interview and with U2 playing Dancing Queen onstage with Benny and Bjorn), Donny Osmond, Barbara Dickson, Neil Sedaka, ABBA music engineer and wizard Michael Tretow (in interview and at the mixing board!), producer Pete Waterman, broadcaster Paul Gambaccini and more. ABBA and the guests illuminate how the songs came about, how they evolved, and what makes them so incredibly good. Songs include: Mamma Mia! Dancing Queen Super Trouper Waterloo SOS Fernando Ring Ring Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight) Does Your Mother Know Knowing Me, Knowing You The Winner Takes It All Thank You For The Music The Day Before You Came I Know Him So Well (from 'Chess') Money Money Money

CLAUDIO ABBADO
and the SIMÓN BOLÍVAR YOUTH ORCHESTRA OF VENEZUELA
LUCERNE FESTIVAL AT EASTER 2010

Sergey Prokofiev: Scythian Suite, Op. 20

Alban Berg: Lulu-Suite

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, Act II: Ach! Ich fühl's, es ist verschwunden

Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, "Pathetique"

Anna Prohaska, soprano
Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela
Claudio Abbado, conductor

Recorded live at the Concert Hall of the Culture and Convention Center, Lucerne, 18-19 March 2010.

Five years after first conducting the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra in their Venezuelan home, Claudio Abbado continues his commitment to this stunning ensemble in this first joint audiovisual concert recording. Prokofiev’s extrovert Scythian Suite is a gift for the boundless energy of these young players, while the intricacy and anguish of Berg’s Lulu-Suite are an Abbado speciality, with soprano Anna Prohaska, in her Lucerne Festival debut, singing the heroine’s dazzling statement of self-justification. The concert ends with an impassioned account of Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique, his final symphony, one of the most moving works in music history.

"Abbado ... draws everything from this orchestra - and everything this marvel requires is there." -- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung

"...a sound that, even in the dazzling glare of the brass, kept its razor-sharp edge and precise outlines. And so left room for incredible colours to emerge..." -- Zentralschweiz am Sonntag

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 112 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

The master of musical parody, Professor Peter Schickele, brings US a complete opera by P.D.Q. Bach, a man who has been called a "pimple on the face of music", "the worst musician ever to have trod organ pedals", and "the most dangerous musician since Nero".

Pianist Achucarro plays pure magic... Achucarro knows exactly what to do at all times. He simply brings to bear his wonderful sense of pace, his neatness and clarity, his strong grasp of structure and his intuitive choice of the precise dynamic. And the result is pure magic. (The Toronto Star). Born in Bilbao, Spain, Achucarro won a number of international prizes in Spain, France, Italy and Switzerland during his student days, but it was his victory in England at the Liverpool International Competition, and the rave reviews in the London papers after his debut with the London Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall, that marked the beginning of his career. Since then, Achucarro has had an exceptional, uninterrupted international career that has earned him global recognition. The pieces Joaquin Achucarro has selected from the works of Brahms, Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Scriabin and Grieg are musical pages that have accompanied him throughout his lengthy international career and that in recent years have gained particular traction within his ample repertoire, which ranges across every period and style. But the six composers share something else besides their romantic sensibility: each of them, from their particular standpoint, has explored the sonorous and expressive possibilities of the piano to their furthest reaches. The recital at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao offers the unique occasion to hear six piano music composers in visual counterpoint to the creation of leading artists of the 20th century whose works are housed in the Bilbao museum. The DVD includes an extensive interview with Joaquin Achucarro where he plays and explains the background of the music pieces performed in the recital.

Sara Mingardo, Ruth Rosique and Atonio Abete lead the cast in this premiere recording of Handel's opera from Turin's Teatro Carignano in 2009. Davide Livermore, the director, makes this 2009 production both enjoyable and interesting to watch. It has been recorded in the newly restored and beautiful Teatro Carignano in Turin and features Sara Mingardo, Ruth Rosique and Atonio Abete in the leading roles. Based on the well-known mythological story narrated by Ovid in the Metamorphoses, this is a classical tale of jealousy and love. The giant Polyphemus tries to force his attention on the fair sea-nymph Galatea, who is in love with the shepherd Aci. When mad jealousy drives Polyphemus to kill his rival, Galatea asks her father Nereus to turn Aci’s blood into a river so that, flowing into the sea, he will join her forevermore. Directed by Davide Livermore, Matteo Ricchetti. Starring Ruth Rosique, Antonio Abete, Cristina Banchetti. Language: Italian Subtitles: English, Italian, German, French, Spanish

Deemed a "record to die for" by Stereophile magazine, this DVD-Audio/Video disc features blues tunes by Dorian Michael, joined by Albert Lee and Laurence Juber. This disc contains 66 minutes of SD Video including bonus video interviews and behind the scenes footage, as well as biographies, discography and an extensive photo gallery.

The premiere of Adolphe Adam's Giselle' in Paris on 28 June 1841 was an absolute triumph, and it has been considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon ever since. The theme of 'Giselle,' impossible love, is relevant to all times and cultures. Giselle believes she has found her true love in Albrecht, but he is not the person she thought he was - in fact, he is engaged to someone else. Albrecht's love for Giselle has fatal consequences, but even in death Giselle is still capable of love and forgiveness. This Dutch National Ballet production by Rachel Beaujean and Ricardo Bustamante breathes new life into 'Giselle' while remaining true to the original, combining stunning sets and costumes with ethereal beauty.

Also available on Blu-ray

Giselle remains one of the most popular Romantic ballets of all time. The story brings together an engaging mix of human passions, supernatural forces, and the transcendent power of self-sacrificing love. The production by Sir Peter Wright catches the atmosphere of this great Romantic ballet, especially in the perfection of its White Act, with ghostly maidens drifting through the forest in spectacular patterns -- one of the most famous of any scenes for the corps de ballet. Giselle dances with lightness and fragility, giving the impression of floating through the mist.

This is one of The Royal Ballet's most loved and admired productions, faithful to the spirit of the 1841 original yet always fresh at each revival. This performance features former Bolshoi star and now Royal Ballet principal Natalia Osipova in a breath-taking interpretation of the title role.

Adolphe Adam
GISELLE

Giselle - Natalia Osipova
Albrecht - Carlos Acosta
Hilarion - Thomas Whitehead
Wilfred - Johannes Stepanek
Berthe - Deirdre Chapman
The Duke of Courland - Christopher Saunders
Bathilde - Christina Arestis
Myrtha - Hikaru Kobayashi
Moyna - Elizabeth Harrod
Zulme - Akane Takada

Royal Opera House Orchestra
Boris Gruzin, conductor

Marius Petipa, choreographer
John Macfarlane, set and costume designer
Jennifer Tipton, lighting designer

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, January 2014

Bonus:
- The Romance of Giselle
- The Corps de ballet in Giselle
- Cast Gallery

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic
Sound format: LPCM 2. 0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles (bonus): English
Running time: 113 mins (ballet) + 10 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

Press Reviews
"There has never been a choreographer that I can think of who could produce three such contrasting works, and you sit watching in wonderment at the fertile imaginings of his mind." (The Daily Telegraph )

"It's grisly, and yet horribly exciting in its momentum, as the men show off to each other like skateboarders, flinging themselves into barrel turns while knotting and unknotting their legs." (The Independent )

"As far as I am aware there are no other versions of Elite Syncopations or Concerto currently available on DVD and as mentioned these are significant works in the MacMillan canon so pretty much an obligatory purchase for admirers of his work. As a programme this strikes me as an excellent triple bill as diverse in its emotional range as it is accomplished in its technical excellence from every department." (Musicweb International )

Adolphe Adam
GISELLE

Giselle – Alina Cojocaru
Count Albrecht – Johan Kobborg
Myrtha – Marianela Nuñez
Hilarion – Martin Harvey

The Royal Ballet
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Boris Gruzin, conductor

Marius Petipa, choreographer

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, January 2006.

Bonus features:
- Cast gallery and synopsis

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic
Sound format: LPCM Stereo / DTS 5.0
Region code: 0 (all regions)
Menu language: English
Running time: 112 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

A bold reinvention of a 19th-century classic. Kader Belarbi's fresh scenario and choreography give this colourful yet ultimately tragic story renewed clarity and simplicity. David Coleman conducts a score based on Adolphe Adam's original work, but enhanced with music by composers from Massenet to Sibelius, as well as new compositions and orchestrations by Coleman himself. This is a version for the modern age....'simply magnificent: A miracle in two acts.' - Le Figaro.

Also available on Blu-ray

With its narrative of buccaneering bravado, exotic opulence, romance and traitorous intrigue, Le Corsaire is one of the most impressive narrative ballets of the 19th century, and it remains one of Adolphe Adam’s best-known works. Director of the Wiener Staatsballett, Manuel Legris, has choreographed a new version that draws on the rich performance traditions of Russia and France, and carefully combines spirited action, Adam’s delightful music, choreography, scenery and costumes into an elegant and impressive production which brings to life the colourful events that surround the leading couple of Conrad and Médora.