Shortlisted for the Gramophone Awards! Rusalka returns to Madrid “on an overwhelming level that will leave its mark”. (El Español) Mesmerizing soprano Asmik Grigorian, “already one of the most outstanding sopranos of her generation“ (Online Merker) stars with a “voice, at its zenith of maturity“ (El Pais) in the title role of Christoph Loy’s timeless and evocative staging of Dvorak’s tragic take on the Little Mermaid fable. Especially „the direction of dancers and extras in the second act is a virtuoso performance by Loy and his choreographer.“ (El Pais) “Musically, this Rusalka is of immense quality, no doubt due to the spectacular work of Ivor Bolton.“ (El Español)

Also available on Blu-ray

This brilliant live recording features the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks under the capable baton of Maris Jansons performing Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No 9 in E minor op. 95 “From the New World” and Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Dvorak’s Ninth’s “sharply profiled landscape” sketched by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra under the incomparable Mariss Jansons is, in the words of the daily newspaper Suddeutsche Zeitung, a “musical feast.” Mariss Jansons and Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition were predestined to come together. Few conductors are as adept as Jansons to savor all the richness and colorfulness of the paintings and sketches by the artist Victor Harmann. Michael Beyer has directed the recording of this concert.

Easter at King's Is the First DVD Release of the Regular BBC Broadcast, Which Forms a Cornerstone of the BBC's Easter Programming. This Service Was First Broadcast at Easter 2014 from the College's Awe-Inspiring Chapel. Featuring Seasonal Hymns and Readings Alongside Choral Favorites, Including Allegri's Miserere, the Lacrimosa from Mozart's Requiem, the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah and Cesar Franck's Panis Angelicus, This Collection Presents a Contemplation of Christ's Death and Resurrection. Cameras Are Normally Forbidden During Services, So This DVD Provides a Rare Opportunity to Experience the Choir Engaged in It's Core Activity, Celebrating the Most Important Festival of the Christian Calendar. The Choir of King's College, Cambridge Is One of the World's Foremost Choirs and Unquestionably Among the Most Widely Heard. It Owes It's Existence to King Henry Vi, Who Envisaged the Daily Singing of Services in His Magnificent Chapel. This Remains the Choir's Raison D'e?Tre, and Is An Important Part of the Lives of It's 16 Choristers, Who Are Educated at King's College School, and the 14 Choral Scholars and Two Organ Scholars, Who Study a Variety of Subjects in the College.

EIN HELDENLEBEN

EIN HELDENLEBEN

This DVD features an engaging performance by Chick Corea (Keyboards) with Dave Weckl (Drums) and John Patitucci (Bass) at Iowa State University circa 1987. Corea travels between the jazz and fusion worlds with great ease, since he became part of Miles Davis' renowned electric group from 1968-'70, and then formed Return to Forever, with Stan Getz which began as a Latin-flavored group, then shifted toward electric fusion and fame. Since the late '70s, Corea has alternated in the electric and acoustic realms with his Elektric and Akoustic Bands, recording in contexts ranging from solo and duo projects and has won eight Grammys out of 25 nominations. This DVD is sheer proof of this magnificence.

Disc 1 is Widescreen and Infinifilm Version. Disc 2 is Fullscreen with Games, Featurette And Karaoke.

ELGAR'S ENIGMA VARIATIONS

Sir Adrian Boult was a supreme interpreter of Elgar’s music, winning accolades and awards for performances and recordings. Boult championed his music throughout his conducting life following the composer’s prophetic words in a letter to Boult in 1920: “I feel that my reputation in the future is safe in your hands.” This release represents the only existing film of Boult conducting The Dream of Gerontius filmed in Canterbury Cathedral in 1968. This performance features a stellar cast of soloists: Dame Janet Baker, a leading interpreter of The Angel in The Dream of Gerontius, who recorded the role twice, John Shirley Quirk who, with Boult, recorded a definitive interpretation of Peter in The Kingdom, and Peter Pears, who recorded the work in 1972 under the direction of his close friend Benjamin Britten. This film uses the original BBC master which is far superior to the poor copies which have been in circulation over the years. This was the first classical music production filmed in color, for which Brian Large had secured eight out of the nine color TV cameras existing in the UK at that time. The film also includes a one hour documentary on Sir Adrian Boult as a bonus. The film was originally produced in 1989 to celebrate Sir Adrian Boult’s 100th anniversary.

This performance of Elgar's Enigma Variations forms an historic account of the first concert Sir Georg Solti conducted as Chief conductor of the LPO in 1975. It is also the first DVD release with Solti performing Elgar's Symphony No.2. Solti, who prepared new works by listening to Elgar's own recordings, identified closely with his music. The virtuoso playing of the orchestra combined with his fresh, energetic approach make for an exciting, uplifting experience. The ICA Classics Legacy series presents a collection of historic performances by some of the world's greatest artists. These performances are released on DVD for the first time, incorporating rare archive footage that has been expertly and lovingly restored.

Edward Elgar:
Symphony No. 2 in E flat major, Op. 63
Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 36, "Enigma"

London Philharmonic Orchestra
Georg Solti, conductor

Recorded at the Royal Festival Hall, London, 13 February 1975
(Symphony No. 2), and 25 September 1979 (Enigma)

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: LPCM Mono
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Running time: 84 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

1956 was Elvis Presley's breakthrough year, and this program takes you back, including his early television performances on the Dorsey Brothers Show and the Ed Sullivan Show, and an entire hour of rare footage and performances captured during the amazing year when Elvis Presley became not only a star, but a phenomenon. So slip on your blue suede shoes, and step back to the beginning of an era, with rare, early recordings and never-before-seen footage. The reign of the King has just begun! Narrated by The Band's Levon Helm.

EMILIA GALOTTI

Fr�meaux & Associ�s and La Seine TV present a live concert by Rodolphe Raffalli. Recorded in October 2014, the artist is accompanied by brothers S�bastien and Raoul Gastine. Here Raffalli demonstrates the immense range of his repertoire, covering Latin America, great popular songs and both Swing and Gypsy Jazz, as his guitar delicately picks out melodies with the precision of a goldsmith. The result is a perfect celebration of this internationally recognized and brilliant artist.

This program delivers a wonderful, nostalgia-laden tribute to the Hollywood stars who took their show "on the road" to American troops abroad in World War II. Along with film clips of Jack Benny, Jimmy Durante, Abbott and Costello, Eddie Cantor, Lucille Ball, and dozens of others doing their part, Bob Hope is featured in a special reunion with some of his leading ladies of the USO years. Songs include "Any Bonds Today," "Don't Fence Me In," "Thanks for the Memory," and many more.

ENTRE ELLE & LUI (DVD) - LIVE

ERNANI

Originally released in 2009. Directed by Laura Borello, Gregorio Zurla. Starring Veronique Mercier, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Gian Luca Pasolini. Artist: G. Bottesini, Title: Ero & Leandro, Genre: Classical & Opera, Music Video & Concerts, Sub-Genre: Classical - Classical Composers, Musicvideo - Music Video (Concert / Performance), Release Date: 1 January 2011, Starring: Veronique Mercier, Gian Luca Pasolini, Roberto Scandiuzzi, Directed By: Gregorio Zurla, Laura Borello customer review: "Ero and Leandro" is a tragic opera, composed by Giovanni Bottesini, premiered in Italy in1879 and staged an amazing 29 times before vanishing from the repertoire. It features three excellent singers: Veronique Mercier as Ero, tenor Gian Luca Pasolini as Leandro, and basso Roberto Scandiuzzi as the cruel tyrant Ariofarne. The Coro Claudio Monteverdi and the Orchestra Filarmonica del Piemonte provide a superb musical context for these three singers, whose arias are the sort of grand be canto that Verdi fans adore. In fact, Bottesini and Verdi were well acquainted; Bottesini conducted the premiere of Verdi's Aida, and the libretto for Ero & Leandro was written by another opera composer, Arrigo Boito."

Ian Hart, Tim Pigott-Smith, Claire Skinner, Jack Davenport, Frank Finlay, Fenella Woolgar, Lucy Akhurst, Leo Bill, Peter Hanson, Robert Glenister, Anton Lesser. Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique / Sir John Eliot Gardiner

By the time the first public performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No.3 (Eroica) took place in Vienna in 1805, a privileged few had already heard the work at a private play-through at the Lobkowitz Palace in June 1804.
Nick Dear’s award-winning period drama, starring Ian Hart as Beethoven, brings to life the momentous day that prompted Haydn to remark ‘everything is different from today’. Filmed in 2003.

Running time: 129 mins
Region Code: All regions
Picture format: 16:9 Anamorphic
Sound format: LPCM Stereo/DTS
Surround Menu language: EN
Subtitle languages: EN/FR/DE/ES/IT

R E V I E W S:

"You could not hope for a stronger cast." -- The Times

"A clever and beautifully made dramatisation." -- Sunday Times

"This was thrilling stuff, as exciting visually as it was aurally." -- Sunday Telegraph

"Ian Hart is brilliant as Beethoven, a volatile, magnetic figure of genius and uncouth charm…not to be missed." -- Daily Mail

Eroica is a semi-authentic dramatized account of the circumstances under which Beethoven’s Third Symphony was unleashed upon an Austrian aristocracy ill prepared to comprehend it, worried over the politics of the French Revolution, and yet somehow aware that it spoke of a world to come that would no longer be theirs. In this effort, the production is a smashing success....

The backdrop is a first rehearsal of the “Eroica” at the Lobkowitz palace. In a large drawing room, the musicians and illustrious guests assemble. The musicians are none other than the members of the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, gussied up in full 19th-century Austrian costume. It must have been a real challenge to play in those ruffled cuffs, vests, and heavily adorned jackets, but they manage quite well. For the sake of authenticity, I presume, the female members of the ensemble have been sent packing....

The real art of this film lies in its silent acting. For long stretches, there is no dialogue at all. As the music unfolds, the actors in turn are shot up close, reacting to what they are hearing through intense facial expressions. Some are deeply moving, even disturbing, as in the Funeral March movement, where the camera focuses its lens on Count Dietrichstein. Here is the macho military man who has only words of criticism and disdain for Beethoven’s new symphony (which he maintains cannot even be called a “symphony”), fighting mightily to hold back his tears as the music recalls for him fellow soldiers fallen in battle....

I have complained in the past that in many instances DVDs of concert events have not yet figured out what to do with the visual dimension of the medium. This production offers a novel approach, and it is one that I really like. Part concert (Beethoven’s score is given in full) and part movie, it doesn’t really provide a lot of insight into why the “Eroica” is such a revolutionary work, but it does provide a magnificent snapshot of the cultural milieu into which the symphony was born, and the profoundly sublime to the profoundly ridiculous feelings it must have aroused in its first listeners.

Separate tracks in surround sound are included if you wish simply to listen to the symphony without watching the video, although even these tracks display a running score (ostensibly Beethoven’s original manuscript) interleaved with shots of the orchestra playing. I’m not going to rate the performance itself, because that is not the reason for buying this DVD. Gardiner and these same forces already recorded the “Eroica” on regular CD. The DVD is not the same performance.

This Prix d’Italia award-winning film from the BBC is urgently recommended.

-- Jerry Dubins, FANFARE

Also available on Blu-ray

Katie Derham introduces highlights from the past ten years at the Royal Ballet, weaving the history of ballet through carefully curated excerpts from the past decade, and goes behind the scenes to see what it takes to be a dancer in the company of The Royal Ballet as they prepare to take to the stage. With stunning solos, passionate pas de deux and jaw-dropping numbers for the corps de ballet, it is a chance to see your favourite dancers up close, including Carlos Acosta, Marianela Nuñez, Natalia Osipova and Steven McRae, alongside rising stars like Francesca Hayward and Matthew Ball, who will introduce their favourite ballets and share stories of their life on the stage. The ballets featured include the classics Giselle, La Bayadere, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker while the 20th-century heritage of The Royal Ballet is explored in works by Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan. The contemporary life of the company is showcased in works by Christopher Wheeldon and Wayne McGregor

The Royal Ballet's perfect pairing of Marianela Nunez and Vadim Muntagirov takes centre stage in this collection of four fairytale favourites. Royal Ballet founding choreographer Frederick Ashton's Cinderella was brought back to Covent Garden in 2023 to celebrate it's 75th Anniversary with a creative team steeped in the magic of theatre, film and dance bringing new atmosphere to Cinderella's ethereal world of fairy godmothers and pumpkin carriages, handsome princes and finding true love. Ninette de Valois' charming and funny Coppelia is a classic of The Royal Ballet repertory - a story of love, mischief and mechanical dolls. The intricate choreography is set to Delibes' delightful score and shows off the technical precision and comedic timing of the whole company. Osbert Lancaster's designs bring a colourful storybook world to life in this entertaining and joyful ballet. Marius Petipa's The Sleeping Beauty holds a special place in The Royal Ballet's repertory, with it's vibrant sets and glittering costumes and featuring such iconic moments as the Rose Adage, the Vision Pas de Deux, the exuberant wedding celebration and the charming fairy-tale guests, all danced to Tchaikovsky's richly layered music - one of the most beloved ballet scores of all time. Swan Lake is perhaps the best-loved of all the classical ballets. This production by Liam Scarlett features additional choreography while remaining faithful to Petipa and Ivanov's classic. John Macfarlane's opulent designs provide an atmospheric, period setting for this enthralling love story, illuminated by Tchaikovsky's sublime score.

FALLA La vida breve • Lorin Maazel, cond; Cristina Gallardo-Domâs (Salud); Jorge de León (Paco); María Luisa Corbacho (Grandmother); Felipe Bou (Uncle Sarvaor); Sandra Ferrández (Flamenco Singer); Ode la Generalitat Valenciana • C MAJOR 710708 (DVD: 81:00) Live: Valencia Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia 4/17/2010

La vida breve is a gift to stage directors and design teams. Its deliberate ambiguities—where is the action taking place; is it all meant to be considered as occurring in reality; what do you do when so much of the music is orchestral only, even in sections that feature short vocal moments?—allow considerable leeway to interpretation, more so than in most operas. And stage directors typically enjoy having that kind of control over a production. In this 2010 production, everything is tied to the young Gypsy girl, Salud. The men working the forge and the girl selling baskets are never seen, but Salud hears them, walking around a nearly empty stage with a starkly towering, mottled red backdrop. It is in effect Salud’s head, and heart. It is only when the characters directly interact with her that we know we have moved back into something resembling a realistic frame.

Stage director and set designer Giancarlo del Monaco (and yes, in case you were wondering, it is Mario’s son) is consistently clever in integrating Salud everywhere in the opera. The interlude between acts is presented as a duet danced before Salud between two figures in wealthy wedding finery: Our heroine’s intuition, or fears, at work, as she believes Paco is being unfaithful. The chorus then enters while she watches, followed by Paco and his fiancée, all of it done slowly as in a dream; a fire blazes behind a life-sized cross, in front of which a woman stands, arms extended as though crucified. She moves away from the cross, turning into a singer who in folk tradition praises the soon-to-be married couple. All of this is ambiguous, and more is to follow. The singer has a gritty, guttural voice, unattractive but compelling: Perhaps to celebrate passion at its most dangerous and impersonal—or is her voice just being perceived this way by Salud, still viewing events as though in a vision?

With so much emphasis on Salud’s internal dialog, I suspect something more final than the written ending conclusion to La vida breve—willing herself to death as a supreme insult to her former lover who has publicly denied any affair—was felt necessary at the opera’s conclusion. In del Monaco’s staging she feigns severe hurt, and as Paco approaches, reaches out her hand to grasp his, forcing her concealed dagger into it. She then thrusts herself upon the weapon, and dies. This production foregoes props, aside from chairs. The costumes are period-effective without attracting undo attention, mainly underscoring the class and wealth differences that drive Paco away from Salud with white lace against black linen.

It would take a fine singer and actress to make this conception of La vida breve work, one who was expected to be on stage the entire time, moving and reacting when she wasn’t the center of attention. Cristina Gallardo-Domâs is fortunately up to the task. The Chilean soprano’s dark chest register and soaring, lyrical top encompass the vocal requirements, and she is a strong enough actor to remain expressively in character the rest of the time for this emotionally draining role. Jorge de León acts well, too, but his bright lyric tenor is tight with pressure, and he has a regular wobble when singing above piano. María Luisa Corbacho also shows a loosening of vibrato, but that’s not unexpected as the grandmother, while Felipe Bou brings firmness of tone to his small part. Lorin Maazel plays to the score’s color, rhythmic bite, and acute dissonances. His firm tempos and solid grasp of the drama are welcome.

The camerawork is first-rate, both varying distances, and holding shots for as long as they’re important. There are no DVD extras, unless you consider trailers for other operatic DVDs (including a very strange-looking Theodora) as useful content. Subtitles are in Spanish, English, French, and German, with PCM stereo and DTS 5.1 as the sound options. The video format is 16:9. The booklet contains good cut listings and some brief, useful history on the opera, but reproduces a short synopsis that doesn’t reflect the changes (such as the ending) in the current production. This would still be a viable recommendation had the production been less considered, and the performers less able. After all, where else are you going to turn? But as good as this is, I have no hesitation in recommending it heartily.

FANFARE: Barry Brenesal

Ruggero Raimondi takes the lead role in this performance of Verdi's comic opera recorded at the Opera Royal de Wallonie in Liege, Belgium in 2009. Paolo Arrivabeni conducts. Falstaff, the lyric comedy was Giuseppe Verdi�s last opera. It is an operatic favorite, long admired by critics and opera goers alike because of its brilliant orchestration, scintillating libretto and refined melodies. This production recorded at the Op�ra Royal de Wallonie in Li�ge, Belgium was staged by Stefano Poda and features the well known Italian Bass Ruggero Raimondi as the title-role. Directed by Stefano Poda. Starring Sabina Pu rtolas, Luca Salsi, Cinzia de Mola. Language: Italian Subtitles: English, French, Italian, German

Falstaff: Stefano Posda, Ruggero Raimondi, Luca Salsi, Virginia Tola, Sabina Puertolas, Cinzia de Mola, Liliana Mattei, and Tiberius Simu star in this production of the Verdi opera with Paolo Arrivabeni conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the Opera.

Internationally acclaimed choreographer Cathy Marston, previously Associate Artist of The Royal Ballet and Director of Bern Ballett, created The Cellist for The Royal Ballet in 2020. The inspiration for her first work for the Royal Opera House Main Stage is the momentous life and career of cellist Jacqueline du Pre - from her discovery of the cello and her celebrity as one of it's most extraordinary players, to her pain, frustration and struggle with multiple sclerosis. Composer Philip Feeney incorporates some of the most moving and powerful music for cello by Elgar, Beethoven, Faure, Mendelssohn, Piatti, Rachmaninoff and Schubert into an exquisite score that is itself an homage to the cello. Jerome Robbins' elegant and elegiac classic, Dances at a Gathering, is the other work in the programme.' pure dance for five couples, set to music by Chopin, is a masterpiece of subtlety and invention."

Also available on Blu-ray

A brand new, narrative ballet about true love and grief, created to mark 200 years since Queen Victoria’s birth. As her death approaches, Queen Victoria writes her last diary entry before entrusting their many volumes into her daughter Beatrice’s care. Her surviving children arrive to say their last farewell. Beatrice begins reading the diaries, recalling the mother she knew from her childhood. As Beatrice remembers, the past unfolds. Passion, tragedy, fierce devotion. Queen Victoria’s diaries revealed a life so fascinating that Beatrice tried to rewrite history. Her irrepressible love for Albert sparked a royal dynasty. But his untimely death brought the world's most powerful woman to her knees with grief. Northern Ballet's new biopic brings the sensational story of Victoria to life in dance as celebration of the bicentenary of her birth with choreography by Cathy Marston, creator of Northern Ballet’s acclaimed Jane Eyre.