Hänsel und Gretel brought Humperdinck worldwide fame but his tragic fairy story "Königskinder" (‘The King’s Children’) offers a stark contrast to it and has only begun to be revived in recent years. The doomed love of a goose girl and a prince – as they battle prejudice and are obstructed by magic – ends in their loving deaths, and with it a rebuke to the villagers who rejected them. This acclaimed production by the renowned German director Christof Loy features the award-winning singers – tenor Daniel Behle and Ukrainian soprano Olga Kulchynska.

BeyoncT's I AM WORLD TOUR is a live Blu-ray which features the singer on her I AM SASHA FIERCE tour. Featuring over ten #1 hits and guest appearances by Jay-Z and Kanye West, I AM WORLD TOUR is a must-have for any fan. I AM WORLD features songs such as "Crazy in Love," "If I Were a Boy," "Halo," "Ego (Featuring Kanye West)," "Bootylicious" and more.

Bajazet was a work of Vivaldi's late maturity, a dramatic tale that recounts the capture of the Turkish sultan Bajazet by the all-conquering Tartar, Tamerlane. It is a pasticcio, a well-established form, in which Vivaldi incorporated arias by some of the greatest young composers of his time - Johann Adolf Hasse, Geminiano Giacomelli and Riccardo Broschi, brother to the famous castrato Farinelli - to form a generous buffet of musical fireworks. Still, Vivaldi's recitatives, choruses and arias form the backbone of the opera, and constitute the majority of the music, producing a work of kaleidoscopic invention.

Alessandro Scarlatti's Il trionfo dell'onore (The Triumph of Honour) - his only comic opera - was first performed in Naples in 1718. With it's distinctive recitatives and expressive arias, and a cast including four pairs of lovers, it can be considered one of the forerunners of opera buffa. The central character is the unrepentant seducer Riccardo Albenori, a Don Giovanni-like figure though without the villainous aura. In this opera, Scarlatti ensures not only perceptive psychology but a rich variety of arias, duets and quartets that generate the work's pathos as well as it's humour and eroticism.

Recorded live in June 2017 at the magnificent Liceu Theatre in Barcelona, this DVD is the companion to Joyce DiDonato's award-winning album In War and Peace: Harmony through Music. Seeking answers to the existential question "In the midst of chaos, how do you find peace?", it makes a compelling piece of music theatre as DiDonato journeys through arias by Handel, Purcell, Monteverdi, Leo and Jommelli with Il Pomo d'Oro and conductor Maxim Emelyanychev. On stage, In War and Peace: Harmony through Music makes a compelling piece of music theatre. In Barcelona, as on the European and North American tours she made in late 2016, DiDonato was joined by the baroque orchestra Il Pomo d'Oro and it's principal conductor Maxim Emelyanychev. May and June 2018 bring further performances in Portugal, France, Germany, Turkey and Hungary. Includes Bonuses: Joyce DiDonato presents "In War & Peace" project. Joyce DiDonato in Athens with el Sistema Greece directed by Josh Allott. Video Clip Lascia ch'io pianga directed by James Darrah.

Richard Strauss described his two-act opera 'Intermezzo' as a 'bourgeois comedy with symphonic interludes'. The soprano role of Christine with her shimmering cantilenas represents Strauss's wife Pauline, while the successful Court Conductor Robert Storch is Richard Strauss's alter ego in a reality drama that was avant-garde for it's time. This acclaimed production from director Tobias Kratzer brings 'Intermezzo' into the present day, highlighting Strauss's own clever switches between reality and fiction with stunning visual effects and a superbly characterful cast.

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



J. STRAUSS II Die Fledermaus • Vladimir Jurowski, cond; Pamela Armstrong ( Rosalinde ); Thomas Allen ( Eisenstein ); Håkan Hagegård ( Dr. Falke ); Pär Lindskog ( Alfred ); Malena Ernman ( Prince Orlovsky ); Lyubov Petrova ( Adele ); Ragnar Ulfung ( Dr. Blind ); Artur Korn ( Frank ); Udo Samel ( Frosch ); Reneé Schüttengruber ( Ida ); Glyndebourne Ch; London PO • BBC/OPUS ARTE 7004 (Blu-ray Disc: 198:00) Live: Glyndebourne 8/17/2003


& Cast & costume galleries. The Genesis of the Waltz. The Architect Returns. Interviews. Frosch interlude


This pretty-much-perfect production of Strauss’s pretty-much-perfect operetta is an ideal specimen to demonstrate the visual and sonic virtues of the Blu-ray medium. The Glyndebourne staging is a feast to watch: the sets and costumes are lavish, the dancing accomplished. Opus Arte’s 24-bit PCM sound is way better than anything you’ve ever heard on a traditional DVD, both the stereo version and the spacious multichannel that puts the listener in the middle of the appreciative audience who experienced the real thing in Sussex back in August of 2003.


Director Stephen Lawless has moved the setting of Die Fledermaus ahead a few decades to around 1910, the Vienna of Sigmund Freud and Gustav Klimt. (Eisenstein’s dressing gown, in fact, is a facsimile of Klimt’s The Kiss .) This Fledermaus is clearly viewed as a play that happens to have awfully good music, and Lawless and Daniel Dooner have created new dialogue for the production. In the hands of an ensemble of terrific singing actors, the texts never impede the headlong momentum of this comic masterpiece.


What a cast! Pamela Armstrong, as Rosalinde, handles the part vocally quite well but is equally concerned with her character’s development: when she dresses up as someone else, Eisenstein’s wife discovers her “real self” (as the soprano puts it in one of the disc’s “extras”). Thomas Allen notes that the high tessitura of his role was a bit of a challenge—it sure doesn’t sound it—but his comic timing is impeccable and the man can actually dance. As Dr. Falke, Håkan Hagegård gives his character an edge: the practical joke that Eisenstein played on him months before the curtain rises for act I has deeply wounded him, and Falke is serious about getting revenge. Singing Alfred in an appropriately seductive manner is Swedish tenor Pär Lindskog who, like Allen, is obviously quite a versatile artist. You’d never know from this performance that the guy also sings Siegfried and Parsifal.


The kudos go on. Lyubov Petrova’s rendition of Adele’s big second-act aria is a showstopper and Malena Ernman is utterly convincing as the terminally bored and sexually ambiguous Orlovsky. It’s a surprise every time Ernman starts to sing and her voice jumps up an octave or two. The smaller parts—Dr. Blind, Frank, Ida, Frosch—are all covered quite well.


Vladimir Jurowski takes the music very seriously (as, the notes remind us, did Gustav Mahler) and his leadership of the LPO is spirited and knowingly inflected. To accompany the curtain calls, Jurowski conducts a rousing “Radetzky March.” Opus Arte provides subtitles in English, French, German, Spanish, and Dutch. There’s a generous supply of extras, including cast and costume “galleries” and brief featurettes on the history of the waltz and the new (in 1994) opera house at Glyndebourne, as revisited by the architect who designed it. We also get observations on Fledermaus from Armstrong, Allen, Hagegård, Jurowski, and director Lawless and, to close, some shtick, mostly about champagne, by Udo Samel, the actor who has the speaking role of the jailer Frosch.


Yes, this one’s on my Want List.

FANFARE: Andrew Quint


Picture Format: 1080i High Definition, NTSC 16:9
Sound Format: 2.0 / 5.0 PCM Audio
Region Code: 0 (All Regions)
Menu Languages: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch
Running Time: 198 min

If Bach had written only the Mass in B minor, he would be considered the leading composer of sacred music in the Baroque period. Composed between 1733 and 1749, on the eve of his death, this Great Mass is a musical testament for posterity: the most accomplished synthesis of the aesthetics that Bach mastered to perfection, but also an anthology of his sacred work, with it's perfectly mastered architecture. John Eliot Gardiner delivers a sensitive reading of this pinnacle of Western music, which he has frequented for half a century, with irresistible energy and compelling beauty. The Monteverdi Choir, undoubtedly the best choir in the world, delivers an extraordinary musical performance. This exceptional moment, filmed in the Chapelle Royale at the Ch�teau de Versailles, sumptuously captures the majesty of this masterpiece of sacred art.

JACO tells the story of Jaco Pastorius, a self-taught, larger-than-life musician who changed the course of modern music. Never-before-seen archive unveils the story of Jaco's life, his music, his demise, and the lasting victory of artistic genius. JACO a compelling story of prodigious talent, personal adventures and raw human vulnerability, JACO presents the world of the bass guitar phenomenon Jaco Pastorius through the eyes of his family and various musical collaborators. Produced by the Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo, and directed by Paul Marchand and Stephen Kijak, this blistering biopic contains incredible unseen footage and photography from the Pastorius family archive, and takes viewers into the heart and soul of this hugely influential cross-genre artist. Featuring interviews with an array of artists (Flea, Joni Mitchell, Sting, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Geddy Lee) and friends, JACO unveils the story of his music, his life, his demise, and ultimately the fragility of great artistic genius. Features interviews with musicians Sting, Joni Mitchell, Flea, Jerry Jemmott, Bootsy Collins, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Carlos Santana, more.

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

Also available on standard DVD

Death is never far away in Leoš Janácek’s work: in The Cunning Little Vixen, the main character falls under the fire of a hunter, Katia Kabanova kills herself, Emilia Marty in The Makropulos Case has to deal with the hard consequences of eternal youth. From the House of the Dead makes no exception, especially since the composer knew he was living out his final days when he decided to adapt into an opera Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s eponymous novel, a literary work inspired by the time the novelist spent in a Siberian prison. This painful feeling of ineluctability pervades through his disillusioned and savage score, that recounts the hopeless life of the convicts of a Soviet concentration camp. In this place where life has already drawn out, in this no man’s land forsaken by civilization, Janácek portrays the anonymous and daily sufferings, the abuses, the corporal punishments, but also evokes fragments from the prisoners’ past, bringing them back to life for the duration of a game or of a story. Against this background that contrasts the empathic solidarity of simple men with the horrific brutality of the prison guards, stage director Frank Castorf - who created a memorable Ring Cycle in Bayreuth for the Wagner Bicentennial in 2013 - embraces the aesthetics of grotesque and absurd suggested by Janácek’s score, and chooses to crudely display, with stark realism, the physical and psychological violence at the heart of the opera. In the pit, conducting the house orchestra, Simone Young underlines the power plays and the overwhelming lyricism unleashed by Janácek’s music. As the main protagonists, Peter Rose, Charles Workman and Bo Skhovus, all familiar with Janácek’s subtleties, bring back to life these agonizing anti-heroic characters forsaken by God and men.

The Italian and international press were unanimous in their praise for Peter Grimes at La Scala, which revived the tradition of Britten's operas on the lyric stages of Italy. A strong British cast was marshaled by the baton of Robin Ticciati, who has already won golden opinions for his opera conducting.

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH: CHRISTMAS

A sonic innovator or an expert on chance? This documentary by Oscar-winning director Allan Miller and Emmy-winner Paul Smaczny pays tribute to the most fascinating American avant-garde composer. Shot in America, Germany and Japan, 'Journeys in Sound ' premieres rare archival footage and features associates of John Cage and contemporary artists.

John Cranko’s The Taming of the Shrew is one of the greatest ballet comedies of the 20th century. Inspired by William Shakespeare’s world-famous play, Cranko brings to vivid life the story of the shrewish Katherina whom no one wants to marry and the dashing and clever Petruchio who makes her his wife and “tames” her. Set to cheerful and boisterous music by Kurt-Heinz Stolze after Domenico Scarlatti, and with colorful costumes and a charming set by Elisabeth Dalton, The Taming of the Shrew evokes the sunlit streets and gardens of Italy. The perfect ballet for the whole family, danced by the Stuttgart Ballet – “this company is world class” (Tanznetz).

In this program, the DNSO let's you experience the fascinating world of John Williams' music in a concert that brings cinema to life. From the epic fanfares of Star Wars to the magical sounds of Harry Potter and E.T. to the touching melodies of Schindler's List, this program spans an impressive arc between adventure, fantasy, and deep emotion. An evening full of goosebumps, big emotions, and unforgettable film music that awakens memories and ignites new enthusiasm.

In this program, the DNSO let's you experience the fascinating world of John Williams' music in a concert that brings cinema to life. From the epic fanfares of Star Wars to the magical sounds of Harry Potter and E.T. to the touching melodies of Schindler's List, this program spans an impressive arc between adventure, fantasy, and deep emotion. An evening full of goosebumps, big emotions, and unforgettable film music that awakens memories and ignites new enthusiasm.

• The Auryn Quartet perform Haydn's Op.55 quartets Nos. 1-3 (1788). • In its 30-year existence, the Auryn Quartet has not had a single change of personnel. • The Auryn Quartet have been exclusive Tacet recording artists since 2000. • Since 2003 the quartet has maintained a teaching position at the Music Academy in Detmold, Germany, where they are professors for chamber-music.

The New Year´s Eve Concert 1988 was one of the last concerts that Herbert von Karajan gave with the Berliner Philharmoniker in Berlin. For this concert he invited the 17 year old Evgeny Kissin to his debut with the orchestra. After the concert the press did raving reviews about Kissin´s musicality and technical skills and he proves till today that he is one of the best pianists of our time. The New Year´s Concert from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein Vienna with the Wiener Philharmoniker is always one of the best-selling classical albums each year. In 1987 Herbert von Karajan conducted his only performance of the New Year´s Concert performing famous pieces from Johann Strauss I, Johann Strauss II and Josef Strauss. As soloist in one piece you can hear the legendary soprano Kathleen Battle.

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

Also available on standard DVD
A sparkling personality on the contemporary dance scene, Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman has been invited for the first time to work with the dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet. His language, both visceral and tinged with humor, combining theatricality, and classical and contemporary vocabulary alike, perfectly resonates with the incredible versatility and stage presence of the Ballet: the result is Play, a piece that evokes the world of childhood and its careless pleasures. But beyond pure entertainment, this performance contemplates the meaning and the importance of play when we become adults. Best known for the spectacular quality of his pieces and their dreamlike imagery, like for instance his Midsummer Night’s Dream, the Swedish choreographer fills the stage of the Palais Garnier with an entrancing energy. The metallic structures, dancers suspended in space, and the elevations are but a few of the powerful images that will strike the audience’s imagination! For this new creation, Alexander Ekman worked with his acolyte composer Mikael Karlsson, but also with a talented team of instrumentalists not often seen on the stage of the Palais Garnier, among which gospel singer Callie Day, or the incredible percussionist Adelaïde Ferriere. An unexpected performance, carried along by enticing rhythms and communicative energy!

Directed by David Kennard, Joan Saffa.

Directed by Gary Halvorson, David Kennard, Joan Saffa.

Directed by Gary Halvorson, David Kennard, Joan Saffa. Starring Michael Tilson Thomas.

KILLING ME SOFTLY (QUADIO)

Gregory Doran directs King and Country: Shakespeare's Great Cycle of Kings- the complete cycle of Richard II, Henry IV, Pts. 1 & 2, and Henry V. David Tennant plays the title role in Richard II, with Antony Sher and Jasper Britton as Falstaff and Henry IV respectively in Henry IV, Pts. 1 & 2. Alex Hassell follows his performance as Prince Hal in Henry IV, Pts. 1 & 2 as Henry V in the final play in the tetralogy.

"A definitive production of a great play" - Daily Mail on Richard II

"Gregory Doran's productions are a triumphant achievement." - Times on Henry IV, Pts. 1 & 2 Sound Format: 2.0LPCM, 5.1 DTS
Subtitles: EN/FR/GE (Except Henry V with EN only)
Region: 0 (Worldwide)
Running Time: 663 mins

When Kit Armstrong was only 14 , he overcame his mentor Alfred Brendel's reluctance to take on pupils. Brendel said ''He played so beautifully that I thought to myself, 'I have to make tiem for him.' It was a performance that really led you from the first to the last note.'' Soon Armstrong was winning international prizes both as pianists and as composer and was appearing as soloist at some of the world's foremost venues. At the Concertgebouw, Armstrong mesmerized his audience with Bach's monumental Goldberg Variations - preceded by earlier polyphonic variation masterpieces by William Byrd, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and John Bull. ''Enlightening and exhilarating'' (Revierpassagen). ''Armstrong's phenomenal recital was so exceptional that every attempt to describe it falls short'' (NRC).