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Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Atys, a tragédie en musique, became known as the ‘king’s opera’ due to Louis XIV’s fondness for it. The work stands as a testament to the Sun King’s courtly refinement, as well as his moves to make France the center of European artistic culture. The opera’s themes of romantic dilemmas and ultimate tragedy, set amidst the poetic atmosphere of Ovid’s classical mythology, create the perfect vehicle for a narrative filled with dramatic intensity combined with a myriad of moving and expressive arias and duets. William Christie conducts this acclaimed production – hailed by The New York Times as being ‘as satisfying it is bold’.

REVIEW:

The role of Atys is physically as well as vocally taxing, but is here superbly realised by the German tenor, Bernard Richter, while the French soprano, Emmanuelle De Negri, is an excellent Sangaride, with the creamy voice of the mezzo, Stephanie D’Oustrac, as Cybele completing the love triangle. The cast list is large, and with the Compagnie Fetes Galantes providing the dancers, the stage is at times totally filled. The reviews at the time of filimg (2011) were suitably euphoric regarding the casting, and equally of the presence of the period instrument orchestra, Les Arts Florrissants, with the idiomatic conducting of William Christie. The filming itself is immaculate in its ideal mix of full stage and close-up images, while the sound quality is gorgeous.

– David's Review Corner (David Denton)

This series of DVDs features travel scenes accompanied by classical music.

The Places

St Petersburg, the former Russian capital, established in 1712 by Peter the Great, represented an era of modernisation. Built around the River Neva, which flows into the seas of the Gulf of Finland, its palaces, streets and parks, reflect the age of its construction and wider European influences to which the Tsar sought to direct his country.

The Music

The composers whose music is here included, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Cui, Liadov and Ippolitov-Ivanov, were themselves closely associated with Russian music of the later nineteenth century and, inevitably, with St Petersburg and its Conservatory.

This series of DVDs features travel scenes accompanied by classical music.

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The works of award-winning composer Chaya Czernowin have been performed worldwide at significant new music festivals and prestigious venues, and she is the first woman to be appointed composition professor at Harvard University. Commissioned by Deutsche Oper Berlin and widely acclaimed in the critical press, ‘Heart Chamber’ uses voice and stage as internalized sonic and visual landscapes to create a genuine multi-sensory musical experience. With only two characters and a hint of a narrative, this is a grand opera on the smallest of transformations, focusing on the intense beauty and vulnerabilities of falling in love. ‘It is seldom that audiences at the Deutsche Oper Berlin have listened with such rapture to a new commission’ (Online Merker). Director Uli Aumüller’s feature film ‘I did not rehearse to say I love you’ is also included and takes a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the opera.

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During his years in Italy, Handel absorbed the music of his contemporaries and mastered new stylistic trends. Though the staging of La resurrezione was a memorable event in the Roman musical world, it was the production of Agrippina that marked Handel’s definitive investiture as an operatic composer. It met with enormous success and an unprecedented number of performances followed. Its melodic power is overwhelming and in his creation of credible and vivid characters, the alternation of recitative and arias, and sheer theatrical power, Handel established the template that was to last for the remainder of his operatic career. The production on the present release was filmed in March 2016 at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, Austria, and was directed by Robert Carsen.

On 7 April 1923, Ciboulette premiered at the Théâtre des Variétés in Paris, and, as one of Reynaldo Hahn’s most elegant and refined works, it is considered one of the last masterpieces of French operetta. The story tells of the pretty market gardener Ciboulette who, after an encounter with a fortune teller, decides to throw herself into a hedonistic future. She comes across a whole collection of Parisian characters, but true love eventually triumphs as the prophecy is fulfilled. Although Hahn wrote other works in this genre none of them would match Ciboulette’s success. This Opéra Comique production has been acclaimed by BBC Music Magazine for a cast that was ‘impeccable.'

REVIEW:

It’s possible that this nonsense might be performed more plausibly if the production and direction were toned down, but director Michael Fau’s version is certainly credible. The cast is excellent in pulling off this farce. Julie Fuchs has a lovely voice that is put to good use, and her comedic performance is excellent. Julian Behr’s Antonim is quite the simpleton with a beautiful voice. Everyone else sings the songs nicely and acts their parts in the cartoonish way required. The set design is very effective, with drops and outlined stage scenery that adds to the cartoon characters. The costume designs are certainly amusing with weird hoop dresses for the women in the Spanish cabaret sequence that have to be seen to be believed. The chorus and orchestra are also very good—as are the 16 x 9 widescreen picture and DTS 5.1 sound. There are subtitles in 5 languages including English. The booklet has cast pictures and commentary in French and English. Sit back and enjoy the music and the silliness.

-- American Record Guide

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Charles Gounod was enchanted by the young Provençal-born Frédéric Mistral’s epic love poem Mirèio, and enlisted the distinguished Michel Carré to fashion a libretto. Against the grain of prevailing operatic practice in the 1860s, and its promotion of glamour and spectacle, Gounod relished instead the lives of modest country people and their idyllic world. He utilizes folk dances and a shepherd’s lament to chart the story of his tragic heroine whose desire to marry her true love ends in her death. ‘Everything feels true to the opera’s pastoral spirit’ wrote Gramophone about this production, which marked the opera’s first appearance at the Paris Opera.

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The famous traditional Chinese tale of La Fresque (‘The Painting on the Wall’) tells of two travellers who take shelter at a small temple, one of whom becomes so enraptured by the image of a beautiful girl in a fresco that he is transported into another dimension. Angelin Preljocaj, one of France’s leading contemporary choreographers, explores this mysterious relationship between representation and reality with a spectacular and unforgettable ballet filled with dynamic action, emotive lyricism and powerful responses to the music of Nicolas Godin, one half of the celebrated music duo Air. La Fresque has been admired for its ‘breath-taking scenes’ (La Terrasse) and its ‘dark and splendid beauty’ (L’Humanité).

Hindemith conceived Mathis der Maler, his ‘opera in seven tableaux’, as a reimagining of Matthias Grünewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece, a depiction of Christ’s intense suffering and crucifixion. Set during the turbulence of the German Peasants’ revolt in the early 16th century, the work’s focus is on artistic freedom of expression and human isolation during a time of plague, repression and violence. Hindemith wrote his own libretto finding in Grünewald a metaphor for his own times. Performances of the opera in Germany were duly banned by the Nazis.

REVIEW:

The singing and the acting are excellent throughout. Wolfgang Koch’s baritone might be considered a bit light for Mathis, but one quickly forgets that. Tenor Kurt Streit is ideal for Albrecht. Manuela Uhl’s Ursula is the star of the show; her pearly dramatic soprano unfurling for her big scene with Albrecht. There’s not a weak link in the cast. Bertrand de Billy keeps tempos moving at all times. The direction is clear and straightforward; only the Temptations of Saint Anthony scene is a bit confusing—as perhaps it was intended to be; one must be on one’s toes to follow every detail.

Superbly translated English subtitles make it clear what a magnificent libretto Hindemith wrote to match his finest music, often voicing concerns that continue to reverberate today, as when Ursula asks herself “What else am I in this men’s world but a tool or a toy?” The radical young composer turned slowly into the ageing conservative; at this crucial moment (c. 1934) in that arc, he was at the height of his powers. The Nazis felt its social implications and prohibited its performance in Germany, where it happily outlasted them.

Subtitles are in German, English, French, Japanese, and Korean. This is a long-awaited first video representation of Mathis der Maler, much welcomed for its overall quality, including superb audio and video.

-- Fanfare

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These live performances from Snape Maltings Concert Hall present some of the most popular classical works for younger audiences. Their perennial appeal is a result of vivid melodies, witty instrumental characterisation, and in three works, the use of spoken texts to illuminate the narrative. Whether composed to amuse, entertain or educate, each possesses marvellous vitality, lyricism and bravura. The performances are conducted and narrated by Marin Alsop, one of the world’s most inspirational musical communicators.

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REVIEW:

The chamber orchestra used for Saint-Saens's Carnival of the Animals, with two solo pianists, is of excellent quality. By far the most frequently played section, The Swan, is beautifully performed by the principal cello of this student ensemble.

The video was made in 2017 and 2018, the young people having had the good fortune of working with the conductor, Marin Alsop. The resulting concerts were filmed with Alsop acting as narrator, that narration becoming more serious as she takes us through The Young Persons Guide to the Orchestra, a searching test for the young players who give a very creditable performance. As one would expect from the Snape Malting's venue, the sound quality is excellent, the result being a highly desirable gift for the children in your life.

– David's Review Corner (David Denton)

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Resonating powerfully with Hans Werner Henze’s pacifist perspective, Der Prinz von Homburg is based on a play by Heinrich von Kleist that opposes authority, celebrating a dreamer rather than a classical hero, and individualist freedom rather than militarist nationalism. Ingeborg Bachmann’s libretto heightens this message, and Henze’s chamber-music setting is at once powerful and unpredictable. This visually stunning production stretches from intimate transparency to dramatic heights, in a critically acclaimed staging by the award-winning director Stephan Kimmig.

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Resonating powerfully with Hans Werner Henze’s pacifist perspective, Der Prinz von Homburg is based on a play by Heinrich von Kleist that opposes authority, celebrating a dreamer rather than a classical hero, and individualist freedom rather than militarist nationalism. Ingeborg Bachmann’s libretto heightens this message, and Henze’s chamber-music setting is at once powerful and unpredictable. This visually stunning production stretches from intimate transparency to dramatic heights, in a critically acclaimed staging by the award-winning director Stephan Kimmig.

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

Also available on standard DVD

The works of award-winning composer Chaya Czernowin have been performed worldwide at significant new music festivals and prestigious venues, and she is the first woman to be appointed composition professor at Harvard University. Commissioned by Deutsche Oper Berlin and widely acclaimed in the critical press, ‘Heart Chamber’ uses voice and stage as internalized sonic and visual landscapes to create a genuine multi-sensory musical experience. With only two characters and a hint of a narrative, this is a grand opera on the smallest of transformations, focusing on the intense beauty and vulnerabilities of falling in love. ‘It is seldom that audiences at the Deutsche Oper Berlin have listened with such rapture to a new commission’ (Online Merker). Director Uli Aumüller’s feature film ‘I did not rehearse to say I love you’ is also included and takes a behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the opera.

FRANCE: A Musical Tour of the South of France

The Places
The tour opens with views of the Camargue, the marshy region near Arles with its wild life. Views of the Côte d’Azur are intercut with glimpses of the Munich Glyptothek with its collections of Roman and Greek statuary. Near Arles is the ancient Abbey of Montmajour and the fortified monastery and Abbey on Saint-Honorat, one of the Iles de Lérins. In Arles we see the Roman theatre and necropolis and, at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, the remains of the ancient Gallo-Greek town of Glanum.

The Music
Music for the tour includes Debussy’s evocative Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, two Gymnopédies by Erik Satie and Ravel’s two suites from his ballet Daphnis et Chloé, followed by his Introduction and Allegro for Harp, Flute, Clarinet and String Quartet.

Picture format: NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Running time: 57 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

The Places
The region of southern France known as Provence has enjoyed a varied history, occupied by Ligurian and Celtic tribes, followed by Greek settlers, and finally by absorption into the Roman Empire. The succeeding centuries brought invasions, then rule by the Counts of Toulouse, before the region became, by inheritance, part of France. The local language, the langue d’oc, reflects something of this history, as do surviving popular customs. The Roman period is represented by surviving buildings, the Middle Ages by the Romanesque and Gothic.

The Music
Music for the tour consists of string quartets by Claude Debussy and by Maurice Ravel, thirteen years his junior. Debussy’s String Quartet, Op. 10, dates from 1893, while Ravel’s single string quartet was written in 1902. Both works are highly characteristic of their relative composers.

Format: NTSC, 4:3, DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, PCM Stereo 2.0