Volume 3 of this three volume set recorded at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris with Yuri Temirkanov conducting the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra includes Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet - Overture (1870), Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33 for Trumpet and Orchestra (1877) with soloist Sergei Nakariakov, and Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 'Pathetique' (1893).

Asafyev: Les Flammes De Paris

In Memoriam of the Great French Revolution.

World Premiere Recording at the Bolshoi Ballet in DVD.
The Flames of Paris belongs to the pearls of the pure classics of classical dance.

Produced in the 30's of the last century The Flames of Paris on a music by Boris Asafiev was presented on the eve of the anniversary of the October Revolution, and later continued to be included in the ranks of works which were always brought out for an airing on anniversaries of this sort. And this is hardly surprising, The Flames of Paris is about the conflagration of the great French Revolution. And it had a new "hero" type which, up to then, had not been encountered in ballet - one of its main characters was the populace, revolutionary in mood and ready for action.

The choreographer Alexei Ratmanky has attempted to make maximum use of the preserved fragments of Vasily Vainonen in his new ballet. The most talented soloists of the Bolshoi Ballet appear in this production as Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev or Denis Savin and Anna Antonicheva.

Cast:
Director: Vincent Bataillon Natalia Osipova (Jeanne)
Denis Savin (Jerome)
Ivan Vasiliev (Philippe, un Marseillais)
Yuri Klevtsov (Marquis Costa de Beauregard)
Nina Kaptsova (Adeline)
Anna Antonicheva (Mireille de Poitiers)
Ruslan Skvortsov (Antoine Mistral)
Bolshoi Ballet & Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre, Pavel Sorokin

Format: NTSC, DTS 5.1, PCM Stereo
Region: all
Subtites:French, English, German

Volume 2 of this three volume set recorded at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees in Paris with Yuri Temirkanov conducting the Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra includes Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 (1888).

Susan Gritton, Sylvie Brunet, Soile Isokoski, Susanne Resmark, Helene Guilmette, Bernard Richter, and Alain Vernhes star in this Bayreuth production of the Poulenc opera conducted by Kent Nagano and directed by Dmitri Tcherniakov.

Violeta Urmana, Dimitri's Tiliakos, Ferruccio Furlanetto, and Stefano Secco star in this Paris Opera production of the Verdi opera conducted by Teodor Currentzis and staged by Dmitri Tcherniakov.

With the complicity of the excellent Royal Swedish Ballet, Alexander Ekman makes dreams dance in a new surprising, lyrical and cosmic choreographical piece. After the instant success of Midsummer Night’s Dream, exploring the density of traditional mysticism and the maze of imagination, choreographer Alexander Ekman and the Royal Swedish Ballet once again brings us on a dancing journey through the looking glass, beyond our own reality. Known for the spectacular quality of his pieces and the oneiric imagery he tends to deploy, Ekman seamlessly takes us from one unlikely situation from the next, thanks to the incredible technical mastery and versatility of the Royal Swedish Ballet dancers. ‘‘I like creating worlds that have never been seen before’’, Ekman wrote while creating Play with the Paris Opera Ballet: without ever sacrificing lyrical beauty and deep contemplation to pointless incongruity, Eskapist proves once again that the theatrical stage truly is a magic place, where the world as we know it shifts shapes only to dissolve into the most poetic fantasies one could envision. Once more, Ekman has sought support from his long-term acolyte, Swedish composer Mikael Karlsson, whose entrancing music follows the wide range of styles mobilized by Ekman: sometimes downright comic and uplifting, and sometimes reflexive, deep, and ultimately cosmic.

Also available on Blu-ray

Leocadia Begbick - Jane Henschel
Fatty "the Bookkeeper" - Donald Kaasch
Trinity Moses - Willard White
Jenny Smith - Measha Brueggergosman
Jim Maclntyre - Michael König
O’Brien/Higgins - John Easterlin
Bank-Account Bill - Otto Katzameier
Alaska-Wolf Joe - Steven Humes

Conductor: Pablo Heras-Casado
Stage Direction : Alex Ollé, Carlus Padrissa – La Fura dels Baus

A hard-hitting new production of Kurt Weill’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by the Catalan collective La Fura dels Baus at the Teatro Real de Madrid.

Composed in the 1930s by Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, this is a mordant satire on capitalism and the inexorable industrialisation of a society in which the ultimate crime is not having money. In twenty scenes the authors tell the story of a city lost in the middle of a desert and run by three thugs; in Mahagonny food, sex, gambling and violence rule supreme.

The production by Alex Ollé and Carlus Padrissa, both of La Fura dels Baus, combines enormous inventiveness, joy and energy with awe-inspiring ferocity.

Perfect casting brings together a group of singers – Measha Brueggergosman, Michael König, Jane Henschel and Willard White – who are also marvellous actors.

The Teatro Real Orchestra and Chorus are directed by young Spanish conductor Pablo Heras-Casado, who actually began his career at the Teatro Real. In November 2010, he received the “El Ojo Crítico” prize, awarded annually to Spain’s most outstanding artists in the classical music field.

Director: Andy Sommer
Length: 138 min - Image: 16/9 NTSC
Audio: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: French / English / German / Spanish
Zones: All Zones - 1 disc

Here the iconic Verona opera - and Charles Gounod's masterpiece - makes a superb comeback in the majestic setting of the Arena di Verona. 'Romeo et Juliette' had not been performed in the Arena since 1977. The new production was entrusted to Italian director Francesco Micheli, who opted for a personal, highly original version: 'An arena within the Arena, like a blood-red Elizabethan theatre. A senescent world that will not let it's own children live.' Juliette is sung by Georgian soprano Nino Machaidze, in a return to one of her early roles at the Salzburg Festival. Stefano Secco, often heard at the Opera Bastille in Paris and other international venues, is Romeo.

One of, if not the foremost ballet company in the world, the Bolshoi Ballet dates its history to 1825, and its pre-history to the original company founded in 1776.Over the course of the entire 20th century the company vaulted to the pre-eminent status it has for the most part retained to this day.Its historic legacy in names and achievements of its brilliant dancers, choreographers and productions has long since become the stuff of legend, a legacy that continues today as this 4DVD/4Blu-ray Bel Air Classiques amply proves.The four productions, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker and Sleeping Beauty, Adam’s Giselle and Asafiev’s The Flames of Paris, all filmed at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 2010, feature some of the greatest of recent or current company dancers: Svetlana Zakharova, Natalia Osipova, Nina Kaptsova, Maria Allash, Svetlana Lunkina, David Hallberg and Artem Ovcharenko.

'The Passion according to Mark-A Passion after Auschwitz,' premiered in April 2017. The project was commissioned to French composer Micha�l Levinas by the Swiss association "Musique pour un temps pr�sent", as part of the events commemorating the 500th anniversary of Luther's reform. This original oratorio is not only a reinterpretation or a mere revisitation of the Passion, it painfully faces, indeed, the irreconcilable nature of the Passion and the Holocaust. What is the object of this Passion after Auschwitz, which revolves around what can link two musical traditions, two religions that have been separated by barbarism. Which music, which tradition, which language can the composer use in order to express this double silence, both historical and theological, both human and divine? "After the Holocaust, is it possible to compose without crying and trembling?", Micha�l Levinas asks. It is not about anger or compassion. Because of the subtle polyphonies written for the chorus, the voices and the orchestra, and also because of the way the different languages - Old French, Yiddish, Aramaic, German - create meaning out of one another, both the structure and the musical language of this Passion are incredibly intricate. But they are so for a reason: by putting side by side western musical traditions and the tragic component of modern history, Levinas manages to "shake," during the artistic process, the future of the Holy Language and of the Gospel after Auschwitz. What separates therefore the Gospel of Mark from the Jewish prayer for the dead (Kaddish) or from the El male Rahamim, or from the two poems by Paul Celan ending the work, is not so much a question of representation, but more accurately it is a way to make the tragedy resound, without any artifice and without any safety net.

Roberto Alagna, Serena Gamberoni, and Marc Barrard star in this 2008 Bologna performance of the Gluck opera filmed in HD and conducted by Giampaolo Bisanti.

Directed by Christian Dumas-Lvowski, Don Kent. Starring Bill T. Jones.

Directed by Andy Sommer.

Classical Music

With Tchaikovsky’s famous and lyrically poignant score, the beloved masterpiece ‘’Swan Lake’’’s depiction of tragic love is performed to perfection by the unparalleled virtuosity of Russia’s great Bolshoi Ballet with the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra. Recorded in early 2015, this live performance available on Blu-Ray provides an opportunity to see the modern manifestation of this legendary ballet troupe with lead ballerina Svetlana Zakharova along with Denis Rodkin and Artemy Belyakov among others introducing us to the new generation at the Bolshoi.