Siegfried is the third of the four operas that comprise Wagner's epic tetralogy "Der Ring des Nibelungen" ('The Ring of the Nibelung'). Siegfried, raised by the evil dwarf Mime, discovers that he is the son of Siegmund and Sieglinde. He must negotiate betrayals and dangers in a landscape of dragons and magic in order to kill Fafner, who has the Ring, as well as Mime, who has designs on it. Finally, in music of resplendent drama, Siegfried, the hero who knows no fear, can penetrate the ring of fire to awaken the sleeping Valkyrie, Brunnhilde.

Initially a failure when first performed in London in 1750, 'Theodora' has proved to be one of Handel's most enduring and compassionate masterpieces - a work of introspective depth about the redemptive power of tolerance. Theodora's determination to die in defence of her religious freedom offers her the promise of eternal salvation. In this acclaimed Viennese production, award-winning stage director Stefan Herheim contrasts Theodora's self-sacrifice with the lack of spiritual direction of our own times. La Folia Barockorchester and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor are conducted by the acclaimed countertenor and Handel specialist Bejun Mehta.

Initially a failure when first performed in London in 1750, 'Theodora' has proved to be one of Handel's most enduring and compassionate masterpieces - a work of introspective depth about the redemptive power of tolerance. Theodora's determination to die in defence of her religious freedom offers her the promise of eternal salvation. In this acclaimed Viennese production, award-winning stage director Stefan Herheim contrasts Theodora's self-sacrifice with the lack of spiritual direction of our own times. La Folia Barockorchester and the Arnold Schoenberg Chor are conducted by the acclaimed countertenor and Handel specialist Bejun Mehta.

Influential German poet Barthold Heinrich Brockes reinvented the Passion oratorio tradition, transforming it's textures into a much-admired poetic meditation that took hold of the imagination of many German Baroque composers. Of several settings Handel's is by far the most famous, creating an eloquent and moving score from his friend's libretto. This acclaimed staged version directed by Walter Sutcliffe extends the vision of the original by asking fundamental questions about the evolution of mankind and it's dangerous implications for planet Earth.

Influential German poet Barthold Heinrich Brockes reinvented the Passion oratorio tradition, transforming it's textures into a much-admired poetic meditation that took hold of the imagination of many German Baroque composers. Of several settings Handel's is by far the most famous, creating an eloquent and moving score from his friend's libretto. This acclaimed staged version directed by Walter Sutcliffe extends the vision of the original by asking fundamental questions about the evolution of mankind and it's dangerous implications for planet Earth.

Guided by his idol George Balanchine, Hans Van Manen has striven all his life to create meaning in his choreography. Alongside conversations with colleagues and collaborators, in the documentary Moving to Music, van Manen talks about his life and work, and from where his inspiration came in ballets that are charged with drama and eroticism. Also included are three complete works from Dutch National Ballet - the early Metaforen; Adagio Hammerklavier, which presents the slow movement of Beethoven's Op. 106 sonata performed live on stage with three couples in various configurations; and Frank Bridge Variations, a late masterpiece that plays with balance and counterpoint to music by Benjamin Britten. Total playing time: 127 minutes (Documentary: 52 minutes � Ballets: 75 minutes). Language: English � Subtitles: English, German, Japanese, Korean. NTSC 16:9 � PCM Stereo � DVD 9 � Region: 0 (Worldwide). Photos: Front cover � Erwin Olaf; Back cover Courtesy Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam � Erwin Olaf. Documentary � 2022 RM Creative � Ballets � 2017 La Belle T�l� - Festival Montpellier Danse - Mezzo. � 2024 Naxos Rights (Europe) Ltd � Made in Germany.

Guided by his idol George Balanchine, Hans Van Manen has striven all his life to create meaning in his choreography. Alongside conversations with colleagues and collaborators, in the documentary Moving to Music, van Manen talks about his life and work, and from where his inspiration came in ballets that are charged with drama and eroticism. Also included are three complete works from Dutch National Ballet - the early Metaforen; Adagio Hammerklavier, which presents the slow movement of Beethoven's Op. 106 sonata performed live on stage with three couples in various configurations; and Frank Bridge Variations, a late masterpiece that plays with balance and counterpoint to music by Benjamin Britten. Total playing time: 127 minutes (Documentary: 52 minutes � Ballets: 75 minutes). Language: English � Subtitles: English, German, Japanese, Korean. HD 16:9 � PCM Stereo � BD 50 � Region: A, B, C. Photos: Front cover � Erwin Olaf; Back cover Courtesy Galerie Ron Mandos, Amsterdam � Erwin Olaf. Documentary � 2022 RM Creative � Ballets � 2017 La Belle T�l� - Festival Montpellier Danse - Mezzo. � 2024 Naxos Rights (Europe) Ltd � Made in Germany.

Stephanie Novacek (Jo), Joyce DiDonato (Meg), Chad Shelton (Laurie), Stacey Tappan (Beth), Margaret Lloyd (Amy), Daniel Belcher (John Brooke), Chen-Ye Yuan (Friedrich Bhaer), Katherine Ciesinski (Cecilia March), James Maddalena (Gideon March), Gwendolyn Jones (Alma March) & Derrick Parker (Mr Dashwood)
Houston Grand Opera Orchestra
Conductor: Patrick Summers
Stage Production Director: Peter Webster
Directed for Television by Brian Large

Based on Louisa May Alcott’s enduringly popular novel about the adventures of Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy in civil-war era New England, Mark Adamo’s opera Little Women has been performed in more than 70 national and international engagements since its 1998 première by Houston Grand Opera and has achieved the status of an American classic.
This recording, with a superb cast expertly directed for television, vividly brings to life an opera that The New Yorker hailed as “A beautifully crafted work, brilliantly molding Alcott’s tale into operatic form,” and The New York Times dubbed a “masterpiece”.

Language: English
Subtitles: EnglishTotal Running Time: 114:53
NTSC: No Region Coding
NTSC, Aspect Ratio: 16:9, PCM 2.0, Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1

This is also available in Blu-ray format.

Mark Adamo's Little Women, now 12 years old, has been seen in more than 60 venues in its short life, from New York to Toronto to Chicago to Adelaide to Tokyo. Watch this fine performance and you'll see what it is that makes it so popular. Adamo doesn't spoon-feed "new" music in this opera, but save for the recitatives, which are 12-tone, the work is tonal and contains set-pieces: arias, duets, ensembles. Of course the work is notoriously sentimental, but Adamo keeps the story going smoothly forward, and the truly sentimental moments are so beautifully handled that we feel moved rather than manipulated. An aria such as "Things change", sung by Meg as she explains that she's fallen in love with John Brooke, is one of those frozen moments of deep feeling that make opera great: its sentimentality is a by-product of its sincerity.

Vocal lines can be either direct or melismatic. When the March sisters sing together they can sound like a Renaissance quartet, but in conversation the music is set simply and naturally. Adamo uses only 18 instrumentalists, but they can make a ruckus when called for; interestingly, in moments of high drama (Beth's death scene, for example), he holds them back.

The performances from this Houston Grand Opera 2000 revival of the original 1998 production are glorious--natural, well-rehearsed, just stylized enough. Stephanie Novacek's Jo and Joyce DiDonato's Meg are the show's center; Jo's inflexibility stands in contrast with Meg's ability to accept things as they are. Both mezzos sing handsomely and clearly. Sopranos Stacey Tappan and Margaret Lloyd, as Beth and Amy, get more attention as the opera progresses, and though their characters are not as finely drawn, their places in the ensembles are crucial and appreciated.

Of the men, Chad Shelton's impetuous Laurie is bright-toned and bright-eyed, and Chen-Ye Yuan's Friedrich is suitably serious. And just when you think there may be too many high spirits, along comes Katherine Ciesinski as the girls' sour aunt Cecilia.

The sets (by Christopher McCollum) and stagecraft (Peter Webster is the director) have a summer theater way about them, but too much sophistication would kill the story. Patrick Summers conducts with love and understanding. The opera is sung in English and there are English subtitles. Sound and picture are first rate. This is lovely.

--Robert Levine, ClassicsToday.com

The places visited in this DVD are principally in the west of England, the heart of 'Elgar Country', with it's half-timbered houses, great cathedrals and churches, rivers and verdant landscapes. There are glimpses of the Malvern hills, of Hereford and Worcester, and excursions to London and to Scotland, in views largely associated with the life of the composer Edward Elgar.

I puritani is one of Bellini's most creative and influential masterpieces, a bel canto opera stamped with vocal and orchestral writing of intoxicating beauty and dramatic intensity. Set in England in the Civil War shortly before Oliver Cromwell's triumph, it involves romantic and political intrigues that drew from Bellini music of melodic raptness and melancholic depth. It also inspired him to compose some of his most breathtakingly virtuosic passages, notably Elvira's Mad Scene, that call for the utmost in theatrical power. This production includes all the music performed at the work's Paris premiere.

I puritani is one of Bellini's most creative and influential masterpieces, a bel canto opera stamped with vocal and orchestral writing of intoxicating beauty and dramatic intensity. Set in England in the Civil War shortly before Oliver Cromwell's triumph, it involves romantic and political intrigues that drew from Bellini music of melodic raptness and melancholic depth. It also inspired him to compose some of his most breathtakingly virtuosic passages, notably Elvira's Mad Scene, that call for the utmost in theatrical power. This production includes all the music performed at the work's Paris premiere.

Andalusia, in the south of the Iberian peninsula, is one of the 15 autonomous administrative regions of modern Spain. It includes the provinces of Sevilla and Granada. Spanish composers are represented here by Granados and Albeniz.

Anna Malavasi, David Sotgiu, and Pierluigi Dilegente star in this 2007 production of the Mascagni opera with Manlio Benzi conducting the Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia and Slovak Chamber Orchestra.

The music chosen for this tour or Hangzhou is played on traditional Chinese instruments. Unusually there is a Bach Minuet, transcribed for the Chinese dulcimer, the yangqin, used to accompany a visit to a silk museum.

The All-Star Orchestra gives you a front row seat to the world's greatest music, performed by top players chosen from over 30 great American orchestras, and conducted by Gerard Schwarz. The programs feature complete performances of popular masterpieces and world premieres of new works by leading American composers. Filmed in High-Definition with 19 cameras during a once-a-year 'summit' in New York's historic Grand Ballroom at Manhattan Center, the All-Star Orchestra celebrates the symphonic experience in the 21st century. Program #1 Music for the Theatre (Igor Stravinsky: Suite from the Firebird; Maurice Ravel: Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2; Bright Sheng: Prelude to Black Swan) the legendary impresario Serge Diaghilev of Les Ballet Russes commissioned from Stravinsky and Ravel some of the greatest music for the ballet. His influence stretched from St. Petersburg to Paris to the New York City Ballet founded by Diaghilev's collaborator Georges Balanchine. Former NYCB Composer in Residence Bright Sheng captures the beauty of the dance with his Prelude to Black Swan. Program #2 What Makes a Masterpiece? This program is an exploration of the creative process, tracing the genesis of Beethoven's iconic symphony, and the development of a new work by a modern master. Introductory features will demonstrate how short rhythmic and melodic motives evolve into vast symphonic organisms. Interviews include leading Beethoven scholars and the All-Star musicians.