• Vladimir Fedoseyev conducts the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra in performances of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. • Filmed live in concert at the Musikverein, Vienna, Austria, in March, 2009. • Mr. Fedoseyev has been the orchestra's principle conductor and artistic director since 1974, and its music director since 2006.

• Vladimir Fedoseyev conducts the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra in performances of Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. • Filmed live in concert at the Musikverein, Vienna, Austria, in March, 2009. • Mr. Fedoseyev has been the orchestra's principle conductor and artistic director since 1974, and its music director since 2006.

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The Paris Opera Ballet, though historically and famously a classical ensemble, proved over the years to be perfectly at ease with the demands and the subtilities of the contemporary repertoire. A tribute to its dazzling technique and unique style, this collector box-set features three milestones in the recent history of the French company : Pina Bausch’s Orpheus und Eurydike, a "Tribute to Jerome Robbins," ten years after his passing, and Anne Teresa de Keersmaker’s Rain. All these programs were filmed at the Palais Garnier, a world-reknowned temple of classical ballet : a way to insure the continuity between the masterpieces of yesterday, and those of today.

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The Paris Opera Ballet, though historically and famously a classical ensemble, proved over the years to be perfectly at ease with the demands and the subtilities of the contemporary repertoire. A tribute to its dazzling technique and unique style, this collector box-set features three milestones in the recent history of the French company : Pina Bausch’s Orpheus und Eurydike, a "Tribute to Jerome Robbins," ten years after his passing, and Anne Teresa de Keersmaker’s Rain. All these programs were filmed at the Palais Garnier, a world-reknowned temple of classical ballet : a way to insure the continuity between the masterpieces of yesterday, and those of today.

The starting point and destination of Heinz Spoerli's new ballet is the "Magnificat" by Johann Sebastian Bach. From the beginning of the "Allemande mouvement" of the "Partita in A minor for solo flute" through the joy of living of "Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major", this is the the question of faith, which sparked Heinz Spoerli's interest in this piece. Heinz Spoerli intensifies the wealth of expanded emotions here, by inserting the two arias from the cantatas "Wo soll ich fliehen hin" ("Where shall I flee") and "Ich habe genug" ("I have enough"). This is an important aspect for Heinz Spoerli in his discourse with the text of the "Magnificat", in which his deep respect for all religions, or rather every faith, for him is not about the worship of a certain creator-figure, but more about the conditions and prerequisites of this for the expression of a profound devoutness, which also involves rejection, exlusion, uncertainty and separation. Images coming out of the silence and returning back to it, which Heinz Spoerli would like his audience to take with them, images which create individual stories and references. The Orchestra La Scintilla is conducted by Marc Minkoswki.

Choreography: Heinz Spoerli
Set design: Peter Schmidt
Format: NTSC 16:9 HD
Region Code: 0 (All Region)
Recorded: live from the Zurich Opera House February, 2012

When I'm working, I let the music come to me. The choreography is a dialogue with the music. I love all kinds of music and I've written ballets using works by all sorts of composers, but my relationship with Bach is something special. For me he remains a very contemporary composer. He sets my head straight. He lets me concentrate.-- Heinz Spoerli To the term 'choreographer' Heinz Spoerli prefers 'dance maker'. In the few short years since he took charge of the Zurich Ballet, the company has gained an international reputation, with the austere yet poetic In den Winden im Nichts (Cello Suites) among its flagship works. Following on the success of his adaptation of the Goldberg Variations, Spoerli turned to that other Bach masterpiece, the Suites for Solo Cello, offering his abstract vision in three stunningly beautiful dance episodes. The choreography mixes solos, pas de deux, trios and ensemble work. Beginning and ending with a near-identical solo, the cycle is dominated by circularity. The duets are virtuoso gems, athleticism made dance. Its subtle play on balance and the relationship between bodies and light, the symmetry and asymmetry of the ensemble parts, its purity of movement and its sheer energy make this a ballet of remarkable density, depth and theatrical beauty. The Bach Suites are played here by Claudius Herrmann, solo cellist with the Zurich Opera Orchestra, in a rendition that does full justice to their choreographic potential.

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Performed in 1981 by Rudolf Nureyev and re-created specifically for the Bolshoi Ballet by French choreographer Pierre Lacotte, “Marco Spada, or the Bandit’s Daughter” is a grandiose and unique ballet on both a technical and dramatic level: complex choreography, five lead roles created for five principals, several changes in scenery, the participation of nearly all the Corps de ballet and even the presence of animals on stage. The American soloist David Hallberg stars as Marco Spada with Evguenia Obraztsova, Olga Smirnova, Semion Chudin and the Corps de ballet of the Bolshoi Ballet.

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The Bolshoi Ballet troupe in Yuri Grigorovich’s version of the romantic masterpiece 'Giselle', at last available in HD. First performed in 1841, 'Giselle' was an immediate hit. With music by Adolphe Adam and a libretto by The?ophile Gautier and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, the ballet touches on the great romantic themes: local colour, a pastoral love affair doomed to end in tragedy, a plunge into fantasy and redemption through the power of love.

A breath of fresh air is blowing over the Ural Opera Ballet with this new version of Paquita, halfway between tradition and modernity! A festive ballet recounting the thwarted loves of a Romani woman and an officer, Paquita marked the debut of Marius Petipa in Saint Petersburg. But only the last scene of the ballet, the famous Grand pas Classique, remained in the companies’ repertoire. Thanks to a careful reconstruction, the Ural Opera Ballet finally revives the original version in three acts. The product of methodical research by expert Sergei Vikharev and former Principal Vyacheslav Samodurov, the choreography scrupulously recreates Petipa’s 1881 version, according to notes kept at the Harvard Theater Collection. The original score has been rearranged by the famous Saint Petersburg composer, Yuri Krasavin. But if this new production uses the original libretto of the ballet, it nonetheless transposes it in time. The result is a show of great relevance, which brings up to date the strong political and social substrate of the original plot by illustrating it with artistic references gleaned throughout the 20th century. A powerful theatrical experience, crowned with the jury’s special award of the ‘‘Golden Mask’’ in 2019.

If there is one work that has been crucial to Daniel Barenboim’s conducting career, it has to Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde: he has been working on piercing its secrets for more than 35 years. In the pit of the newly renovated Staatsoper Berlin and at the head of his Staatskapelle, he once again makes magic happen. Entrusted with the stage direction, Dmitri Tcherniakov delves into the psychological aspects of the drama and gives a new realistic depth to this opus. Thanks to his demanding direction of the cast, but also to a clever use of video projections, he manages to craft intense images which effectively resonate with the rapturous and voluptuous enchantments of the score. To complete this high-level artistic crew, the Staatsoper called upon some of the finest Wagner experts: Andreas Schager, already a superb Parsifal and a regular guest at the Bayreuth Festival, is Tristan, Anja Kampe is an unforgettable Isolde, and Ekaterina Gubanova thrills as Brangäne.

The Paris Opera Ballet is one of the most active dance companies in the world. The dancers, used to practicing 5 to 7 hours a day, develop themselves by working with coaches and choreographers, but first and foremost through a close relationship with their audience. But in 2020, the pandemic radically changed their artistic life. They had never stayed away for so long from the rehearsal studios and from the stage of the Palais Garnier and the Opéra Bastille. This film witnesses a unique moment in the history of the Ballet and follows the dancers from their first day back in the studios, to the reopening of the venues, and through the rehearsals of Rudolf Nureyev’s La Bayadère.

This new release is a tribute to the art and elegance of Svetlana Zakharova, “prima ballerina assoluta” and queen of the Bolshio Ballet. All of these performances were recorded at the State Academic Bolshoi Theater of Moscow. Tchaikovsky’s famous “Swan Lake” opens the programme. Next is “The Sleeping Beauty,” choreographed by Yuri Grigorovich for a breathtaking experience. Marius Petipa’s exotic ballet “La Bayadere” is set in legendary and mysterious India. Finally, “The Pharoh’s Daughter,” recreates the spectacular sumptuousness of the original with its stupendous costumes and striking scenery. Also included on this release is a special documentary about the creation of the ballet at the Bolshoi and an exclusive interview of Pierre Lacotte.

Enter the Ballet School of the Opéra national de Paris and follow the young students’ dance lessons, taught by Danseurs Étoiles Élisabeth Platel and Charles Jude in the style of legendary ballet master Alexander Kalioujny. Alexander ‘Sasha’ Kalioujny, born in Prague on April 15th,1923, was a Czech dancer and ballet master. In 1947, he entered Serge Lifar’s Paris Opera Ballet as Danseur Étoile; and then following Rudolf Noureyev‘s request, he returned in 1970 as ballet master and devised a highly praised dance training that focused on technique, strength and movement mastery. This film is the living memory of his classes, reconstituted by his former students, Danseurs Étoiles Élisabeth Platel and Charles Jude, and performed by the young dancers of the Ballet School of the Opéra national de Paris. A fascinating testimony and an indispensable work tool for all classical dancers around the world.

Snegurochka (Snowmaiden), the daughter of Spring and Winter, dreams of a life amongst the humans; but the bitter Sun, looking for revenge, plans to use the fire of love to make her melt away... The Snow Maiden, Rimsky-Korsakov’s third opera, draws its focus from playwright Alexander Ostrovsky’s eponymous play, itself inspired from National folk tales. This literary work was quite unexpected, given that Ostrovsky was better known for his political satires rather than his interest in fairy tales. But the composer found a clever way to spin this paradox, and applied himself in turn to reconcile traditional singing with a creative orchestration, bringing together heritage and modernity. Stage director Dmitri Tcherniakov, a highly regarded specialist in Russian opera, humanizes this marvelous and cruel coming-of-age tale, under the surface of which innocent eroticism and bitter jealousy boil furiously. He also uses this production to draw a parallel between this paradoxical work and the contradictions of modern\-time Russia, by transposing the action into an intriguing backward-looking community which, and quite unlike Snowmaiden, does not seem to be quite ready to face the unknown yet…