This is the accomplished and stylish Russian debut of Tianwa Yang – one of the most unusual and energetic violinists of our time. To an enthusiastic audience within the walls of the beautiful Court Capella in St Petersburg, she performs the much-loved concertos of Tchaikovsky and Brahms with the St Petersburg State Symphony Orchestra under the sensitive direction of Vladimir Lande. The remarkable intensity of her playing is just as apparent in both her encore– Ysaÿe’s Violin Sonata No. 3 – and her separate performance of Bach’s solo Partita No. 2. Tianwa Yang has quickly established herself as a leading international performer and recording artist. She has recorded critically acclaimed interpretations of the complete music for violin andpiano, and for violin and orchestra, by Sarasate. Her recording of Mendelssohn’s two violin concertos (8572662) has won the highest praise.

Chicago tenor sax legend Anderson performs with Hamid Drake and Harrison Bankhead.

Also available on Blu-ray

A performer of fierce integrity and dazzling communicative power, young French pianist Lucas Debargue became the most talked-about artist of the fifteenth International Tchaikovsky Competition. Placed Fourth in the final round, he was however awarded the coveted Moscow Music Critic’s Prize as a player whose ‘incredible gift, artistic vision, and creative freedom have impressed the critics as well as the audience.’ This film offers unique insights into Debargue’s life as a musician at the beginning of a remarkable career, with rehearsals and concerts from Moscow to Chicago via Weimar and Salerno, revealing talents as a composer and jazz improvisor and his first-time entry into a world of recording studios, touring and fame, in a crucial year of discoveries.

VICTORIA Sancta Maria succurre miseris. Salve Regina. Super flumina Babylonis. Seniores populi. Vidi speciosam. Q quam gloriosum. Misericordiae Domini. Lux aeterna. Congratulamini mihi. Kyrie • Harry Christophers, dir; The Sixteen • CORO CORDVD 6 (DVD: 60:00)


This hour-long program was produced for BBC together with Spanish and German television to mark the anniversary of the composer’s death. The singing was filmed in the Church of San Antonio de los Alemanes in Madrid, a lavishly ornate Baroque church built by Philip III soon after coming to the throne and before Tomás Luis de Victoria’s death. Simon Russell Beale narrates the life of the composer and Harry Christophers has some comments to add. The video format allows the integration of music, painting (El Greco), architecture, and spirituality into one presentation. St. Teresa of Avila was also born in Victoria’s home town, where he knew her as a boy. She reformed the Carmelite order along with St. John of the Cross, and both contributed immensely to the spirit of the times by their writings in mystical theology. We also see the chapel of the Carmelite convent where Victoria spent the last 25 years of his life as chaplain to the dowager empress Maria, Philip II’s sister, and the chapel of El Escorial, the palace that Philip II built outside Madrid.


The music is a sampling of Victoria’s output, including excerpts from his two masterpieces, the Officium Hebdomadae Sanctae and the Officium Defunctorum . Christophers argues that Victoria is the greatest composer of the Renaissance, a claim that has been made for Palestrina and Lassus, but one that has led him to a fervent interpretation of the composer’s music on six CDs (including the Tenebrae Responsories on Virgin). There are several video features added to the main program. Sometimes the music seems subsidiary to the unfolding story, but the whole is greater than its parts. This disc is a worthy tribute to mark the quatercentenary of a great composer.


FANFARE: J. F. Weber


NTSC, Region 0, 16:9 (Widescreen), Color, English w/ Spanish Sub (Stereo), Not Rated, Run Time: 60 min.

This is the story of how the most famous dancer that England has ever produced was deceived and betrayed by those closest to her; of how a little girl called Peggy Hookham, brought up in Shanghai, told her mother she would one day become the greatest dancer in the world; and of how, in spite of being almost unable to walk, she was still performing when she was 67. It is a story of courage and tenacity, of unbelievable devotion - to her art and to those whom she loved who, in the end, left her penniless and alone, even to the extent that she was buried at first in a pauper's grave. It is the stuff of fiction - except that it is true. Among the ballets featured are: Romeo & Juliet, Swan Lake, Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Marguerite & Armand, & The Nutcracker'with Rudolf Nureyev, Frederick Ashton, Robert Helpmann, Ninette de Valois, Roland Petit, Monica Mason, Lynn Seymour, Antoinette Sibley, Anthony Dowell & Beryl Grey.

TONY PALMERS FILM ABOUT THE ADVENTURES OF BENJAMIN

TORVALDO E DORLISKA

Angela Gheorghiu, an iconic artist with a beautiful voice and a star quality that dazzles on stage, captivated the world in her role as Tosca, at the Royal Opera House in July 2011. Puccini's ever-popular opera, Tosca, returned to the Royal Opera House, where the stellar cast included Jonas Kaufmann, Bryn Terfel, the Royal Opera Chorus and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, who were under the baton of Antonio Pappano, the Music Director of the Royal Opera House. With the all-star cast, opera history was in the making and was, by far, the hottest ticket in town. For the majority of US who were not lucky enough to be there, it has been captured on this DVD, exclusively released by EMI Classics. Gheorghiu received much praise and accolades as Tosca. Laura Kate Wilson of Bach track wrote As Gheorghiu delivered the chilling O Scarpia, avanti a Dio! (Oh Scarpia, we shall meet before God!) and that final heart-wrenching refrain rose from the orchestra pit it was clear that opera history had been made, and I felt incredibly lucky to have witnessed it. Rupert Christiansen of the Telegraph added that the velvety smoothness of (Angela Gheorghiu's) line and tone was something to marvel at.

Russia’s two great ballet companies, the Bolshoi Ballet and the Kirov Ballet (now the Mariinsky) undertook their first major post-war tours in the early 1960s, exposing the West to the bravura and discipline of the Russian dancers for the first time. This DVD brings together performances by members of both companies, providing rare footage of some of the most brilliant dancers of their time. This is the first DVD released of this material.

Sergey Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower, Op. 118: Act I
Danila – Yuri Soloviev
Katerina – Alla Sizova
Mistress of Copper Mountain – Alla Osipenko
Severyan – Anatoli Gridin
Kirov Ballet
Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden
Niyazi, conductor
Yuri Grigorovich, choreographer
Recorded from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on July 1960

Pyot’r Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake, Op. 20, Act II: Scene and pas de deux
Odette – Galina Ulanova
Prince Siegfried – Nicolai Fadeyechev
Bolshoi Ballet
Royal Opera House Orchestra, Covent Garden
Yuri Faier, conductor
Lev Ivanov and Alexander Gorsky, choreographer
Broadcast from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 21 October 1956

Sergey Prokofiev: Cinderella, Op. 87, Act II: Cinderella and the Prince at the ball
Cinderella – Raisa Struchkova
The Prince – Mikhail Lavrovsky
Bolshoi Ballet
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Kopylov, conductor
Algis Zhuraitis, conductor
Rostislav Zakharov, choreographer

Adolphe Adam: Giselle, Act II: Giselle and Albrecht
Giselle – Ekaterina Maximova
Prince Albrecht – Maris Liepa
Bolshoi Ballet
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Kopylov, conductor
Algis Zhuraitis, conductor
Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, choreographer

Aram Khatchaturian: Gayaneh, Act IV: Gayaneh and Armen
Gayaneh – Nina Timofeyeva
Armen – Nikolai Fadeyechev
Bolshoi Ballet
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Kopylov, conductor
Algis Zhuraitis, conductor
Nina Anisimova, choreographer

Ludwig Minkus: Don Quixote, Act I: Kitri and Basilio
Kitri – Maya Plisetskaya
Basilio – Vladimir Vasiliev
Bolshoi Ballet
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Alexander Kopylov, conductor
Algis Zhuraitis, conductor
Alexander Gorsky, choreographer
Recorded from 26–30 July 1963

Picture format: NTSC 4:3 B/W
Sound format: Enhanced Mono
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 81 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Also available on Blu-ray

Ten years after his death, the Paris Opera Ballet payed homage to the American choreographer who considered the Paris Opera as his second home after New York City Ballet. The three pieces performed here illustrate not only the diversity of the choreographer's repertoire and sources of inspiration, but also his love of music and his all-embracing attitude to the performing arts. Jerome Robbins brought new energy to classical dance, introducing 20th century urban rhythms, confirming its status as a modern entertainment form and instilling it with the interrogations of contemporary theatre. En Sol, set to Maurice Ravel's Concerto en sol, follows no particular narrative line or dramatic effect. Echoing the music's jazzy invitations and light-heartedly copying Broadway style, this is a light and joyous piece for two soloists and an ensemble. It provided Jerome Robbins with an opportunity to reveal the relaxed, fluid feel so emblematic of his style.

In the Night and The Concert are two tributes to Frederic Chopin, each in a different register. Seeking to free the composer from the commonplaces that have often belittled his music, Robbins transforms Les Nocturnes into In the Night, a long and poetic pas de deux built like a metaphor of love in all its states. The Concert joins the ranks of the few comic ballets in the history of dance. Taking as its point of departure images inspired by some of Chopin’s more fancifully entitled scores, Jerome Robbins' piano recital is a comic plea for the cause of human vulnerability.

The fact that, at the very same period, he was contributing to the renewal of the musical by bringing a tragic side to his West Side Story, only underlines his insatiable thirst for originality and his immense talent for freely combining genres and styles. Lastly, Benjamin Millepied, who made his dance debut with Robbins in New York, dedicates his second creation for the Paris Opera Ballet, Triade, to the choreographer. "Dance is composed of human relations", Robbins used to say. A worthy heir to his master, Benjamin Millepied matches this credo through a fruitful dialogue with composer Nico Muhly.

R E V I E W:



TRIBUTE TO JEROME ROBBINS • Marie-Agnès Gillot, Florian Magnenet, Laëtitia Pujol, Audric Bezard, Marc Moreau, Clairmarie Osta, Dorothee Gilbert (dancers) • BEL AIR 070 (DVD: 111:00) Live: Paris 9/2008


The Paris Opera Ballet staged these four works in 2008 to honor the 90th anniversary of Jerome Robbins’s birth (he had died 10 years earlier). Robbins had always led a dual existence, one as the most innovative of choreographers for what became known as the American “show” dance style, and also as one of the more innovative choreographers of ballet. He did the former to make money, the latter for his own pleasure, yet they always influenced one another, and in the end Robbins himself influenced such people as Jacques d’Amboise, Lester Horton, and Twyla Tharp. Perhaps the best example of Robbins’s cross-styled choreography here is En Sol, essentially a summertime beach fantasy set to the music of Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G. Moves that one immediately recognizes as part of our show music lexicon go side by side with traditional ballet moves, postures, and jetées. It’s been thought that Robbins first began to mix his dance metaphors, so to speak, during his stint as a 20-year-old in an artists’ work camp (Tamiment) led by Max Liebman, where he worked with the up-and-coming comedians Danny Kaye and Imogene Coca, though he also came under the wing of Mikhail Fokine about the same time and in 1940 was accepted into the corps de ballet of the newly formed Ballet Theatre.


The level of dancing seen in this film is magnificent. Judging by ballet videos I’ve seen over the past 20 years, what was considered spectacular in 1990 was considered the par for star dancers in 2000, and considered average for members of the corps in 2010. Nearly every ballet company on video, with the exception of the La Scala ballet of Italy, has come so far up in quality that it’s astounding, and Paris seems to be the best of all. I attribute this in part to the groundbreaking work that Rudolf Nureyev did with the company in the mid-to-late 1980s, raising up not only the technical level of dancers but, more importantly, the overall expectation of what the corps could do and a perennial drive to always become better. That, combined with the exceptionally high level of dance training nowadays, has led to most dance companies being able to pull off things that would have been considered extraordinarily difficult a generation ago.


As mentioned, En Sol grabs the eye as much for the mixing of dance metaphors as it does for the way the moves are executed. Male dancers, especially, do leaps that angle the legs in a way that shouts Broadway rather than Fokine or Ashton (although Ashton himself was not entirely immune to Robbins’s work; some of his later ballets incorporate a little of the American’s style). The choreography still looks fresh because it was conceived as timeless, and if the men do many moves that remind one of show dance, the women are far more balletic, being on pointe a great deal of the time and looking as if they should be in tutus even when they’re just in bathing suits. I’m sure there was a time when this choreography was not merely controversial, but annoying to balletomanes, but we are so far past that point that we now simply see it as great 20th-century dance. Regardless of the venue he was working in, Robbins always filled space well, and that is no exception here. In a sense, the star of this ballet is the corps, although danseuse étoile Marie-Agnès Gillot is cast in one of the lead roles.


The second ballet in this set, Triade, is not actually Robbins’s work, but choreography by Benjamin Millepied, who worked closely with the American from the age of 16. The music is also newly minted, a pretty modern score composed by Nico Muhly, and it’s as interesting as the choreography. Millepied describes it as On the Town- influenced, although here we have two male and two female dancers—at least, in the beginning. Toward the end, a third couple suddenly comes out of the wings and joins them on stage. Like Robbins’s own work, Millepied’s ballet is just a generalized dance, showing four people who simply interact out of pure emotion; it “doesn’t tell a story and hardly ever makes a point; it’s just an excuse for talking about human relationships and feelings.” But Millepied pushes the balletic envelope here even further than Robbins did. His dancers swoop and dive on stage, crossing each other to create fascinating patterns despite the minimal number involved. Further, the use of an almost black, night-like set works to his advantage. At one point one of the male dancers, wearing dark slacks, dances with only a pale spotlight on him. The effect is that we focus on his face, hands, and arms, the only flesh-colored items in the spotlight, which create their own unique pattern. The introduction of a third couple in the last stage of the work adds to the ability to fill space, even if it confuses the story somewhat. At one point, a female dancer “sits” on pointe, held only by the arm of her male partner, a gravity-defying stunt. At another, there is an arabesque that appears to be even more incredible than many yoga-inspired positions: A female dancer leans backward on the floor, her knees bent and her body held in a perfect rectangle by just one arm, similarly bent underneath her, leaning on that one elbow. One is reminded how much of modern dance, from the time of the Ballets Russes to the present, is influenced by and incorporates geometric designs. The stars of this production are Gillot, Laëtitia Pujol, Audric Bezard, and Marc Moreau.


Next comes Robbins’s In the Night, one of his purely classic, romantic ballets, set to Chopin nocturnes. Both the costumes and the choreography are more traditional here, with only occasional touches of the show dance style for which Robbins became famous. This could quite easily be the work of Ashton as much as Robbins. Again, the choreography is sparse, centered on six solo dancers who work in pairs; again, it is extremely difficult and challenging dance, requiring each of those six dancers to be an étoile. Even so, the choreography is quietly difficult, most of the technique requiring slow and careful interaction, grace, and delicacy of movement. As a result, the viewer is drawn in to the details of the dance. It lacks the flamboyance and sheer joie de vivre of classic Robbins, yet is much more classical. The dancers are all principals of the company, Clairemarie Osta, Benjamin Pech, Agnes Letestu, Stéphane Buillon, Delphine Moussin and Nicolas le Riche (whom I’ve seen before in other works, and he is outstanding).


The finale of this marvelous evening is one of the very few really comic ballets ever staged, The Concert. When Robbins first presented this back in the 1950s, it was alternately reviled or misunderstood, sometimes by the same people. The liner notes say that it was, to some extent, influenced by the silent film series The Perils of Pauline, but from a late 20th-century perspective, you could really only view those films as unintentional comedy, not melodrama. Moreover, Robbins himself admitted that he tried to make the humor in The Concert as much like cartoons or comic books as possible. There is a very strong feeling of early Mad magazine in this ballet, which begins with an extraordinarily fussy pianist, fiddling with the height of her piano bench and the touch of the keyboard before she even begins playing. (I must interject here that I actually saw a real pianist, in concert, do exactly this kind of fussing around before playing, back in the 1970s.) As she plays Chopin, the members of the audience arrive on stage, one by one, carrying pale blue folding chairs which they quietly unfold and sit on. There is the Male Aesthete, there for the artistic “meaning” of it all; two women who sit behind him, comically crossing their legs in exaggerated ballet style, who immediately open their handbags to fish out hard candy to suck on; the Female Aesthete, so Devoted to Art that she has to sit right by the piano, one elbow in the cabinet of the instrument, soaking it all in like a sponge; the Art (Ms.) Androgyne in her horn-rimmed glasses and wide male-styled stride, who sits right behind the Female Aesthete; and the “odd couple” consisting of the woman who wants to be there and the husband who couldn’t care less. The latter is so bored by it all that he pulls out a newspaper and starts reading. (Since this is France, of course the paper is Le Figaro! )


But confusion is right around the corner. An usher arrives, checking people’s tickets, and discovering that most of the audience is in the wrong seats. A highly amusing round of musical chairs ensues, including one moment when Ms. Androgyne pulls the chair right out from under the rear of the Female Aesthete, who is so wrapped up in the piano that she never notices, but continues to sit in midair, her feet on pointe! The menfolk then carry the womenfolk (now dressed in tutus) on stage, where they engage in an “improvised” ballet of their own. Of course, some of them are purposely out of step, the worst being Ms. Androgyne (still in her horn-rimmed glasses as well as a tutu), who keeps ending her turns on the outside of the group, facing the wrong way. Eventually they pull each other together in a semblance of unity to take their final bow, though one dancer in the right rear still has her arms curved the wrong way for even that!


More comedy ensues, particularly from the Married Couple. There’s one bit where the wife is sitting, watching the pianist, while the husband sneaks up behind her with a knife, but it does no damage—it’s only a rubber prop. He pushes on it, assures himself that it’s soft rubber, then pokes himself in the stomach with it, only to have it penetrate him as he limps offstage. In another bit the husband, still with a cigar in his mouth, cavorts about the stage in a goofy-looking butterfly costume, appearing for all the world like Groucho Marx in a ballet. He is, of course, joined by the Female Aesthete, with whom he does a romantic dance until the Wife suddenly returns and breaks it up. This sort of thing goes on until the end, and it is obvious that Robbins was having great fun with this piece.


Naturally, the audience falls out laughing at this, and there is a tremendous roar of applause at the end. Somehow, I can’t help but feel that Robbins’s own spirit was there that night. You almost hoped he would come out from the wings and take a bow; he certainly deserved it!


FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley

Tried & True is music with a big, beating heart. Two first cousins and sons of two members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, HM play country music with electric and rock influence. They are also joined onstage by former "Hot Band" member, Albert Lee. This DVD-Audio/Video disc contains bonus features including 40 minutes of additional live concert video, small club performances and a bus trip to Vegas.

Semperoper Dresden presents an historic performance of Tristan and Isolde, directed by Marco Arturo Marelli and conducted by world-leading conductor Christian Thielemann. The sound he obtains from the Wagnerian score "fills the room with elegiac longing, drawing listeners into the emotional depths of the famous lovers." (Opera Online) Klaus Florian Vogt, in his debut as Tristan, is "fully present and convincing with natural phrasing and clear diction" (Opernmagazin), while Camilla Nylund as Isolde "convinced with her still incredibly lyrical, light soprano" (Sachsische Zeitung). At the zenith of his career, Christian Thielemann manages to set a new standard with his permeation of this difficult score and leads the Staatskapelle Dresden to new heights of artistic expression. "It would be most wonderful if this Tristan never ended." (Opernmagazin). "Brilliant performances that bring you to your knees". (Sachsische Zeitung)

TRISTAN UND ISOLDE

TRISTAN UND ISOLDE

This 78 minute black & white and color DVD documentary includes rare, previously unpublished photos, newly unearthed performance footage, & private interviews.

Edited Version. Hot off the heels of just being honored as Billboards Woman of the Year, receiving multiple Grammy nominations, and having played 140 shows in 13 countries around the globe, P!nk brings the sold-out tour and amazing spectacle of THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE TOUR: LIVE FROM MELBOURNE to fans on DVD and Blu-ray on January 21, 2014. The 1 hour and 50 minute concert, which was conceived and executive produced by P!nk and Baz Halpin, was filmed during the Australian leg of the tour, in Melbourne. Pulling from her seven album repertoire, the show includes some of her biggest hits such as "Blow Me (One Last Kiss)", "F*in Perfect, " "Try, " "Raise Your Glass, " "So What" and "Just Give Me a Reason" featuring Nate Ruess which was recently nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for the coveted Song of the Year category and Best Pop Duo/Group. THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE TOUR: LIVE FROM MELBOURNE features the jaw-dropping theatrics and acrobatics that P!nk has become renowned for, collaborating with creative partner and show director Larn Poland (who also directed THE FUNHOUSE TOUR: LIVE IN AUSTRALIA) to produce a visually stunning stage production that includes pyrotechnics, soaring stunts, and career-spanning hits.

It is an event that attracts thousands of music lovers to Verona every summer: the opera season in the ancient Roman Arena. Nearly 22,000 spectators regularly fill the amphitheater for the performances. The Arena di Verona honours Italian stage director and filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli and his legendary production of Turandot. His imposing cinematographic production reproduces imperial China thanks to it's impressive scenery and scenes, enriched by the sumptuous costumes of the Oscar-winning Japanese costume designer EMI Wada. Everything helps to highlight the atmosphere of the drama of enigma per excellence, where life itself is in danger and the answer lies in love, which melts the protagonist's icy heart. "Netrebko does not merely sing it: she interprets it. What emerges is a character much more human and ultimately truer than usual" (La Stampa)

Franco Corelli, Lucille Udovich, Renata Mattioli, Plinio Clabassi star in this production with RAI Orchestra & Chorus, Fernando Previtali conducting.

Also available on Blu-ray

"I attended the premiere, fearful that the opera would be tawdry and terrible, that the work would make fun of Smith, who died in 2007 at 39. But it proved a weirdly inspired work: engrossing, entertaining and ultimately quite moving... Here is an unlikely holiday gift that should delight and fascinate anyone interested in contemporary opera and American popular culture." -- Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times [11/20/2012]

"Anna Nicole may not be the new Madame Butterfly, but its subject matter certainly constitutes a modern-day Lulu of sorts. Prudes should run for cover, ’cause almost everything in this opera is out in the open. Everyone else has gotta see it." -- San Francisco Classical Voice

In a tragic-comic take on the extremes of celebrity culture, composer Mark Anthony Turnage, librettist Richard Thomas and director Richard Jones add Anna Nicole Smith to opera’s gallery of bad, sad girls. A pneumatic Playboy model who married an octogenarian billionaire, she achieved grotesque fame before her destitute, drugriddled death. With its jazz-coloured score and Eva-Maria Westbroek’s starry performance, this is, as the New York Times said: “an engrossing outrageous, entertaining and, ultimately deeply moving opera”.

"...It's a tremendous show...shocking it isn't; stunning it is!" The Independent

Anna Nicole – Eva-Maria Westbroek
Old Man Marshall – Alan Oke
The Lawyer Stern – Gerald Finley
Virgie – Susan Bickley
Cousin Shelley – Loré Lixenberg
Larry King – Peter Hoare
Aunt Kay – Rebecca de Pont Davies
Older Daniel – Dominic Rowntree
Blossom – Allison Cook
Doctor – Andrew Rees
Billy – Grant Doyle
Mayor – Wynne Evans

Royal Opera Chorus
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Antonio Pappano, conductor

Richard Jones, stage director

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, 23 & 26 February 2011.

Bonus:
- Cast Gallery
- Illustrated synopsis
- Behind the scenes feature including artist interviews

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 + DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish
Running time: ca. 120 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Also available on Blu-ray

Also available on Blu-ray

From the innovative and gorgeous "Tutto Verdi" project comes a chance to catch all the high points! "Tutto Verdi" includes arias from 20 Verdi operas. The selections hail from the best-known and loved productions like Aida, La Traviata and Rigoletto as well as lesser-known beauties, all in HD.

Giuseppe Verdi
TUTTO VERDI - The Complete Operas
(Highlights)

excerpts from:
Oberto
Un Giorno di Regno
Nabucco
I Lombardi alla prima crociata
Ernani
I due Foscari
Giovanna d’Arco
Attila
Macbeth
Il Corsaro
Luisa Miller
Rigoletto
Il Trovatore
La Traviata
I Vespri Siciliani
Simon Boccanegra
Un Ball in Maschera
La Forza del Destino
Falstaff

with:
Anna Caterina Antonacci
Barbara Bargnesi
Silvia Dalla Benetta
Daniela Dessì
Norma Fantini
Tamar Iveri
Nino Machaidze
Susan Neves
Dimitra Theodossiou
Sylvie Valayre
Svetla Vassileva
Marcelo Alvarez
Marco Berti
Francesco Demuro
Antonio Gandia
Carlo Guelfi
Ambrogio Maestri
Francesco Meli
Leo Nucci
Luca Salsi
Roberto Scandiuzzi
Vladimir Stoyanov

Parma Teatro Regio Chorus and Orchestra

Recorded live from the Teatro Regio di Parma

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Italian, English
Running time: 94 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

This 2 DVD set is a unique and intimate live performance by a chamber ensemble of actors, singers, and instrumentalists, portraying the deep and ultimately tragic love between the composer Robert Schumann (Sting/Simon Keelyside) and his pianist wife Clara.

On July 11, 1798, a body of less than 1, 000 men was formally established as a United States Marine Corps. Over the next 100 years, although still relatively few in number, they were frequently dispatched overseas in a key role when U.S. interests were threatened. The Marines saw action in many places. Using some remarkable archive footage, this program develops the valiant story of the U.S. Marines through World War 2 to Korea and Vietnam.

Un ballo in maschera is a poignant love story between two complex, mature characters torn between their desires, loyalties and the inevitable consequences of their choices. In this production, stage director Vincent Boussart delves deeply into the theme of masks, revealing a rich interplay of drama and comedy, human duplicity, lies and truth. "The two male protagonists, Piotr Beczala as Riccardo and Carlos Alvarez as Renato, were the outstanding performances for the evening." (Bachtrack) "A deeply moving play of masquerade and humanity" (El Pais)

Also available on Blu-ray

Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the Philharmonia Orchestra in a unique performance of Holst's The Planets Suite, captured in High Definition by 37 cameras. This immersive experience takes the viewer to the heart of the Philharmonia as they perform this well-loved piece, using cameras placed in a multitude of positions and angles to create an extraordinary glimpse of the orchestra at work from within. As well as Holst's The Planets, the filmed performance also includes a new commission by UK composer Joby Talbot, Worlds, Stars, Systems, Infinity.

Additional features include a 'Making of' documentary feature, listening guide films for each planet, audio commentaries from conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and principal players of the Philharmonia, and (for Blu-ray only) a bonus view option that allows a simultaneous view of the conductor and orchestra in action.

The Philharmonia Orchestra is committed to bringing classical music to new audiences in creative and exciting ways, and to this end has become a technological trailblazer in its adoption and adaptation of new technology. In 2010 the Re-Rite project allowed members of the public to experience Stravinsky's Rite of Spring for the first time from within the orchestra through audio/visual projections. Their 'Universe of Sound' project from which this release stems debuted at the Science Museum in London last year, and is set to tour the country in new installations during 2013.

Larry Carlton and special guest Robben Ford sharing the same stage, unplugged. This DVD is a guitar lovers dream. This unique pairing of great guitar legends delivers and unforgettable evening of dueling guitar solos and an uncompromising evening of the Blues the way it was meant to be.