Also available on Blu-ray

Over a decade of dance is represented here with no fewer than 22 ballets in this magnificent 15-disc collection of stunning performances by The Royal Ballet, including spectacular stagings of well-known narrative ballets, era-defining abstract works and show-stopping shorter ballets. 19th-century masterpieces, heritage works by Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan, and contemporary classics by The Royal Ballet’s Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor and Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon are here performed by Royal Ballet dancers past and present. A special edition book contains articles about The Royal Ballet, its repertory and its choreographers, as well as full synopses for all the narrative ballets, richly illustrated with striking photographs of the productions.

A century after it's world premiere at Teatro all Scala under Arturo Toscanini, conductor Francesco Cilluffo opened the 2024 season of the Teatro Lirico in Cagliari with this acclaimed production of Arrigo Boito's rarely performed Nerone. Set in Rome and focusing on Nero during a time of conflict between belief in Roman Gods and Christianity, Boito's opera displays a forward-looking harmonic palette with an eloquent and masterly handling of large orchestral forces.

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

The hr-Sinfonieorchester has for decades been numbered among the world's leading Mahler orchestras. Between 2008 and 2013 it gave its most recent Mahler cycle as part of the Rheingau Music Festival under principal conductor Paavo Järvi. The recordings were made in the unique space of the Basilica of Eberbach Monastery, in the magnificent ambiance of the Friedrich von Thiersch Hall at the Wiesbaden Kurhaus and in the outstanding acoustics of the Great Hall of the Alte Oper in Frankfurt. In all of these venues Mahler's symphonies left a particularly fascinating impression.

Gustav Mahler
THE COMPLETE SYMPHONIES

Symphony No. 1 in D Major, “Titan”
Symphony No. 2 in C Minor, “Resurrection”
Symphony No. 3 in D Minor
Symphony No. 4 in G Major
Symphony No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor
Symphony No. 6 in A Minor, “Tragic”
Symphony No. 7 in E Minor
Symphony No. 8 in E-Flat Major, “Symphony of a Thousand”
Symphony No. 9 in D Major
Symphony No. 10 in F-Sharp Minor: I. Adagio

Camilla Tilling, soprano
Genia Kühmeier, soprano
Erin Wall, soprano
Ailish Tynan, soprano
Anna Lucia Richter, soprano
Lilli Paasikivi, mezzo-soprano
Waltraud Meier, mezzo-soprano
Alice Coote, mezzo-soprano
Charlotte Hellekant, mezzo-soprano
Nikolai Schukoff, tenor
Michael Nagy, baritone
Ain Anger, bass

Bavarian Radio Chorus
North German Radio Chorus
Limburger Cathedral Boys Choir
Leipzig MDR Radio Choir
Czech Philharmonic Choir, Brno
Europa Chor Akademie
Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra
Paavo Järvi, conductor

Recorded at Rheingau Musik Festival, 2003–2013

Bonus:
- Introductions to the Symphonies by Paavo Järvi
- Paavo’s Mahler: The Project

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Audio Language (bonus): English
Subtitles: German, English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese (Symphonies Nos. 2, 3, 4, 8) / German, Korean, Japanese (bonus)
Booklet notes: English, German, French
Running time: 12 hrs 35 mins (concert) + 96 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 5 (BD 50)

Marianela Nunez and Vadim Muntagirov star as Cinderella and The Prince in Frederick Ashton’s timeless reworking of Charles Perrault’s famous rags-to-riches story, showcasing the choreographer’s deft musicality and the beauty of Prokofiev’s transcendent score. A creative team steeped in the magic of theatre, film, dance and opera brings new atmosphere to Cinderella’s ethereal world of fairy godmothers and pumpkin carriages, handsome princes and finding true love

Three legendary performances from the Stuttgart Ballet in the choreography of John Cranko: Onegin, Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew. Including bonus conversations on each ballet and three documentaries on the Stuttgart Ballet and its outstanding dancers Marcia Haydée and Friedemann Vogel. The 3 documentaries are for the first time available on DVD and Blu-ray! (Unitel)

Verdi´s Rigoletto, one of his most successful operas, is based on Victor Hugo’s play Le roi s’amuse, which for Verdi was the greatest drama of the present day. The “spectacular production“ (La Vanguardia) at the Gran Teatre del Liceu “under excellent musical direction by Riccardo Frizza“, "the dramatic depth of Carlos Álvarez and the triumphant debut of Javier Camarena as Duke of Mantua“ (El Periodico) made it a "top-class Rigoletto“. (bachtrack.com) "A production with this simplicity requires outstanding direction, which is achieved here“ (Seen and Heard International) and is crowned by the colourful costumes of the Oscar-winning Sandy Powell.

Also available on Blu-ray

Includes the documentary The Colón Ring – Wagner in Buenos Aires.

Is it possible to stage Wagner’s Ring on a single day? After a difficult production process, the Teatro Colón has triumphantly succeeded in bringing to life and to the stage the abridged version by pianist and conductor Cord Garben – clocking in at just under seven hours. With the help of a superlative cast of Wagner singers, director Valentina Carrasco, famous for her work with La Fura dels Baus, has transposed the plot into the 1970s – the period of Argentina’s military dictatorship. However, the music remains pure and majestic Wagner, skilfully and faithfully condensed into a revolutionary format. The documentary included provides a thrilling account of the epic creative journey that took the Colón Ring from its inception to the opening night.

No. of Discs: 5
Run time: 489 minutes
Disc Format: DVD
Picture: NTSC, 16:9
Audio: PCM Stereo, PCM 5.1
Region Code: 0 (worldwide)

“During creation, every new ballet seems a possible film. When developing the idea of filming “A Midsummer Night’s Dream“, I insisted on planning a true ballet film which, for me, is completely different than a documentary. Within the three days of recording, we did not schedule a single complete run-through of the work. Instead, we recorded the film in sequences and with exciting camera positions which can be compared to the way one would film a drama. What we really love when watching films, is the immediacy, the vibrancy of the moment. The camera being so close, means that we don’t want the dancers representing something, we don’t want them presenting something, we want them simply being – “now”. We want that spark of truth that springs towards us and that touches us.” John Neumeier

In Palermo, where Richard Wagner composed this monumental opera during a long stay, conductor Omer Meir Wellber makes a highly successful debut as music director of Palermo’s Teatro Massimo, architecturally and artistically one of Italy’s most impressive opera houses. “With the Teatro Massimo’s excellent orchestra he succeeded in a reading that was absolutely straight forward” (Opera Today). The singers are excellently cast, especially Julian Hubbard as Parsifal “who was a sensation” (neue musikzeitung). Stage director “Graham Vick strips Parsifal of mysticism to deliver a powerful indictment of divisive ideologies” (Musical America).

Arrigo Boito's libretti, including those for Giuseppe Verdis's Otello and Falstaff, are some of the most outstanding achievements in operatic history and his own completed opera Mefistofele is present on the opera stages. On his opera Nerone Boito started working in 1862, but struggled to complete it immediately, leaving it unfinished for several decades. It became his life's work and it was only after his death that the conductor Arturo Toscanini created a performable version. The world premiere was held at La Scala Milan in 1924. Boito´s opera Nerone is here available for the first time on DVD/Blu-ray "Musically it´s brilliant.“ (Wiener Zeitung) and "Rafael Rojas triumphs in the murderous role of Nero, Lucio Gallo (Mago) is a great prince of darkness“ (Süddeutsche Zeitung).

Opera confronts us with extremes of emotion, sometimes delivering unforgettable, life-changing experiences. Fuoco Sacro (‘Sacred Fire’) seeks out singers who have the power to pierce our hearts, presenting three of them at work in the most intimate details of their rehearsals and preparations. Ermonela Jaho, Barbara Hannigan and Asmik Grigorian are watched closely as some of their secrets are revealed: how they inhabit their roles and transform words and notation on a page into that intangible but powerful magic being communicated to audiences from the opera stage. Over 90 minutes of extras are included featuring vocal warm-ups and live performances accompanied by pianists Evgenia Rubinova, Reinbert de Leeuw and Francesco Piemontesi.

An exile from his native land following the failed revolution of 1848, the impoverished Richard Wagner is in Zürich working on his opera Tristan und Isolde. There he meets Otto and Mathilde Wesendonck, ardent admirers of his music. Wagner’s passionate and scandalous affair with Mathilde, whose poems he set to music, is explored in this feature film by director Jens Neubert. After their relationship ended, Wagner left Zurich for Italy, forever remembering Mathilde as ‘my first and only love’.

Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore is a melodrama giocoso in two acts and has remained one of the world’s most popular and often performed operas. Nemorino is in love with Adina, who is indifferent, but eventually falls for him, helped by the huckster Dr Dulcamara’s elixir (in reality, cheap red wine). This performance restores cuts and is heard in full, as Donizetti intended, played on original instruments of the time at the original pitch. This allows one to hear more fully how he turned a traditional opera buffa into a masterpiece of characterization and theatrical power.

Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel (Le Coq d’or) is based on a Pushkin folk tale, but the opera’s Orientalism, comedy and sultry elements go far beyond its original influence. The composer saw in the story of a Tsar, punished for his cowardice and despotism, an opportunity to employ satire to condemn Russia’s autocratic ruler, Nicholas II. This new production premiered in May 2021 and was staged by the Australian director, Barrie Kosky, a specialist in Russian opera. Critics hailed the ‘glorious’ singing of Dmitry Ulyanov and the ‘exquisite’ performance of Nina Minasyan calling the event ‘a triumphant evening for all concerned’ (Bachtrack.com).

REVIEW

Dmitry Ulyanov is simply the best Dodon I have ever seen and heard... His singing is impeccable, sonorous and characterful… The rest of the Russian-speaking cast acquit themselves honourably. There may be a glut of recent Cockerel DVDs out there but this is one that cannot be missed.

--Gramophone

Find Grimaud's previous DVD release from the Elbphilharmonie on Arkiv as well!

Hélène Grimaud headlines a spectacular evening with the illustrious Camerata Salzburg, directed from the front desk by concertmaster Giovanni Guzzo, at one of the world's most famous contemporary concert halls, the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg. She selected pieces that are all in minor keys, yet composed during intensely creative periods in both Mozart’s and Robert Schumann’s careers.

Mozart did not write many works in minor tonalities but Grimaud chose to emphasize the minor mode because it “provides a glimpse behind the mask of jollity that surrounds many of his famous works.“ As an encore: a work by a living Ukrainian composer whose music has accompanied Grimaud through much of her career, Valentin Silvestrov.

“Hélène Grimaud and the Salzburg Camerata hypnotise the audience in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie on this unforgettable evening, with piano concertos of the early Romantic era of Mozart and Schumann that are unique in sound.“ (operaversum.de)