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Also available on standard DVD

Kasper Holten's inaugural production as Director of Opera for The Royal Opera returns to Pushkin's verse novella to reveal the shadows of memory which haunt Tchaikovsky's lyric tragedy. Using doubles to suggest the paths taken, or not taken, by its two impulsive protagonists, Holten gives eloquent voice to the loss and regret that lies at the heart of Eugene Onegin. Simon Keenlyside and Krassimira Stoyanova bring both experience and dynamic energy to the pair of protagonists, while the youthful, 'heartrending' tenor of Pavol Breslik and the idiomatic sweep of Robin Ticciati's 'inspired' conducting (The Independent) were enthusiastically received at the premiere of this visually opulent staging.

Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
EUGENE ONEGIN

Tatyana – Krassimira Stoyanova
Eugene Onegin – Simon Keenlyside
Olga – Elena Maximova
Lensky – Pavol Breslik
Prince Gremin – Peter Rose
Madame Larina – Diana Montague

Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra
Robin Ticciati, conductor

Kasper Holten, stage director

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Feburary 2013

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean
Running time: 154 mins
No. of Discs: 1

Kasper Holten's inaugural production as Director of Opera for The Royal Opera returns to Pushkin's verse novella to reveal the shadows of memory which haunt Tchaikovsky's lyric tragedy. Using doubles to suggest the paths taken, or not taken, by its two impulsive protagonists, Holten gives eloquent voice to the loss and regret that lies at the heart of Eugene Onegin. Simon Keenlyside and Krassimira Stoyanova bring both experience and dynamic energy to the pair of protagonists, while the youthful, 'heartrending' tenor of Pavol Breslik and the idiomatic sweep of Robin Ticciati's 'inspired' conducting (The Independent) were enthusiastically received at the premiere of this visually opulent staging.

Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky
EUGENE ONEGIN

Tatyana – Krassimira Stoyanova
Eugene Onegin – Simon Keenlyside
Olga – Elena Maximova
Lensky – Pavol Breslik
Prince Gremin – Peter Rose
Madame Larina – Diana Montague

Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra
Robin Ticciati, conductor

Kasper Holten, stage director

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Feburary 2013

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean
Running time: 154 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Also available on Blu-ray

Madame Larina – Olga Savova
Tatjana – Krassimira Stoyanova
Olga – Elena Maximova
Filipjevna – Nina Romanova
Jevgeni Onjegin – Bo Skovhus
Vladimir Ljenski – Andrey Dunaev
Vorst Gremin – Mikhail Petrenko
Petrovitsj – Peter Arink
Zaretski – Roger Smeets
Monsieur Triquet – Guy de Mey
Zapevalo – Richard Prada

Chorus of De Nederlandse Opera
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra
Mariss Jansons, conductor

Stefan Herheim, stage director

Recorded live at De Nederlandse Opera, June 2011

Bonus:
- Cast gallery
- 30-Minute Documentary Film

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Dutch
Running time: 151 mins (opera) + 30 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

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It is also available in DVD format.

One of the most vibrant, colourful and eye-catching productions staged at London’s Royal Opera House who offered it as the 2009 Christmas presentation. Starting out life as Vakula the Smith, whatever its title, Tchaikovsky’s opera was based on Gogol’s story, Christmas Eve, its lighthearted fairytale aimed at creating an evening of delightful fantasy. The plot is complicated and requires a large cast, but taken down to its bare bones, it tells the story of Vakula, whose mother is courted by many men including the Devil, she too being something of a witch. He falls for the young village wench, Oxana, a rather highly-strung filly who says he will have to get the Empresses shoes before she will marry him. With the help of the Devil, who carries him on his back to St. Petersburg, he does successfully obtain a pair of the Empresses shoes. Victorious he returns only to find a contrite Oxana who has missed him greatly, and wants him as her husband with or without the Empresses shoes. Though it was heavily revised by Tchaikovsky to create Cherevichki (The Tsarina’s Slippers), he thought very highly of the finished product, but it has never found a place in the international opera repertoire. With a largely Russian cast, the Royal Opera House turned it into a visual spectacular, presenting one big scene after another, with big ballet scenes and a massive extravaganza at the Empresses palace. The cast is superb throughout, with Vsevolod Grivnov a heroic heldontenor as Vakula; Olga Guryakova a charming and typical Russian soprano as Oxana; Larissa Diadkova is a fulsome Solokha in voice and stature, but it is the big voice of Vladimir Matorin as Chub that almost steals the show. Maybe the chorus is just a little tentative at times, particularly at the return of Vakula, but with the range of magnificent costumes they still make a visual delight. A joint BBC/Royal Opera House product, the whole presentation is superb, the costume’s colours so thrillingly brought to your screen.

Solokha – Larissa Diadkova
The Devil – Maxim Mikhailov
Chub – Vladimir Matorin
Panas – John Upperton
Oxana – Olga Guryakova
Vakula – Vsevolod Grivnov
Pan Golova – Alexander Vassiliev
The Schoolmaster – Viacheslav Voynarovskiy
Odark – Olga Sabadoch
Wood Goblin – Changhan Lim
Echo – Andrew Macnair
His Highness – Sergey Leiferkus
Master of Ceremonies – Jeremy White

The Royal Ballet Royal Opera House Orchestra
Alexander Polianichko, conductor

Francesca Zambello, stage director
Alastair Marriott, choreography

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, November 2009.

Bonus: - Introducing Cherevichki by Francesca Zambello
- Cast and Characters
- Staging Gogol's world

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: LPCM Stereo 2.0 / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish
Running time: 154 mins
No. of Discs: 1

John Tavener describes his music as resembling ‘ikons in sound’ – a window on to the Divine world. On the album, the London-based ensemble known as The Choir sing a program devoted to Tavener's hauntingly beautiful a cappella choral music..

"The power of the performances is overwhelming and the credit goes to James Whitbourn and his vocal ensemble The Choir" - The Organ.

REGIONS: All Regions
PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9
LENGTH: Approx 156 Mins
SOUND: 5.0 DTS SURROUND / PCM STEREO
SUBTITLES: ENGLISH/FRENCH/GERMAN/SPANISH/ITALIAN/DUTCH
NO OF DISCS: 1

In ‘Marco Polo, an opera within an opera’, composer Tan Dun portrays the Venetian explorer’s travels to the Far East as a journey of both inner and physical discovery, a voyage depicting spiritual experiences as well as a geographical expedition. At the same time the work, on a libretto by Paul Griffiths, can be seen as a compositional adventure of the composer himself, unifying the various cultural worlds he occupies: a blend of Western avant garde and Oriental traditions. Pierre Audi’s mythical staging and Jean Kalman’s fabulous set design complement the composer’s own musical direction, forging the dazzlingly versatile soloists, the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and Capella Amsterdam to a stunning symbiosis of elements across time and space, a true testimony to cultures intertwined in globalisation.

Polo: Charles Workman
Marco: Sarah Castle
Kublai Khan: Stephen Richardson
Water: Nancy Allen Lundy
Shadow 1/Rustichello/Li Po: Zhang Jun
Shadow 2/Sheherazada/Mahler/Queen: Tania Kross
Shadow3/Dante/Shakespeare: Stephen Bryant
Chinese/Arabian dancer: Mu Na

Netherlands Chamber Orchestra
Cappella Amsterdam
Musical Director: Tan Dun
Stage Director: Pierre Audi

Recorded live at Het Muziektheater, Amsterdam, on 13th and 18th November 2008.

Plus
Illustrated synopsis.
Cast gallery.
Documentary: The Music of Tomorrow – including interviews with the creative team and principle cast members.

Reviews
‘Tan Dun’s Marco Polo was, for me, a multi-dimensional experience which went beyond my expectations and indeed overwhelmed my senses… Here was an opera of our generation: a fusion of elements across time and space, a true testimony to the way our worlds have become intertwined in the globalisation process.’ Anne Ku, Bonjournal.com

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Following his delightful full-length ballet Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Christopher Wheeldon continues his highly successful collaboration with designer Bob Crowley and composer Joby Talbot to create his first ballet based on a Shakespeare play, the late romance The Winter’s Tale. The story follows the destruction of marriage through consuming jealousy, the abandonment of a child, and a seemingly hopeless love. Yet through remorse and regret–and after a statue comes miraculously to life–the ending is one of forgiveness and reconciliation. It is powerful material for ballet, with a story that allows for the portrayal of intense emotions between and within the characters, and the opportunity for the Company to create not just new central characters, but the whole world around them.

ACCLAIM
“Steven McRae and Sarah Lamb lead the company in flurries of joyful movement in a buoyant Act II, as the plot turns into a hugely enjoyable caper. By the time they’re in a chase across the high seas, you’ll be hooked.” - Evening Standard

“‘A game-changer for Wheeldon’ – Christopher Wheeldon rises to the challenge of translating Shakespeare into dance, creating one of most fully achieved story ballets to be staged at Covent Garden in years. Yet Christopher Wheeldon has turned these challenges into inspiration. Together with composer Joby Talbot and designer Bob Crowley (whose mix of video, light and set design vividly illuminates the story), Wheeldon has used this play to develop the most expressive and inventive dance language we’ve yet seen from him.” - The Guardian

Here in all their whimsy and vivid charm is a pair of fairy-tale masterpieces from choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. His brilliant adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s surreal Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, choreographed for The Royal Ballet where he is Artistic Associate, is described by The Times as ‘spectacular family entertainment brought to life with enormous theatrical verve’. His innovative reimagining of Cinderella for Dutch National Ballet, to Prokofiev’s celebrated and colourful score, gives the characters renewed depth and complexity, creating a truly magical experience. ‘‘...This Alice looks set to become a classic.’’ Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (The Guardian 4 Stars) ‘‘Wheeldon's narrative offers magic in every sphere - design, choreography, and orchestra.’’ Cinderella (BBC Music Magazine 4 Stars)

Here in all their whimsy and vivid charm is a pair of fairy-tale masterpieces from choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. His brilliant adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s surreal Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, choreographed for The Royal Ballet where he is Artistic Associate, is described by The Times as ‘spectacular family entertainment brought to life with enormous theatrical verve’. His innovative reimagining of Cinderella for Dutch National Ballet, to Prokofiev’s celebrated and colourful score, gives the characters renewed depth and complexity, creating a truly magical experience. ‘‘...This Alice looks set to become a classic.’’ Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (The Guardian 4 Stars) ‘‘Wheeldon's narrative offers magic in every sphere - design, choreography, and orchestra.’’ Cinderella (BBC Music Magazine 4 Stars)

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Also available on standard DVD



This ravishing production from Covent Garden, recorded in May, 2015, certainly takes its cues from Freud... The score is a stunner, alternately sensual and sumptuous, with dissonant eruptions. It can sometimes overwhelm with its exotic, anointed quality, which makes it seem obvious, but it is certainly one of a kind. It requires, of course, a cast willing to learn Polish, and for that alone we should praise this production – it sometimes sounds as if it has no vowels. I suspect it would not have come to be were it not for Polish-born Mariusz Kwiecien, a remarkable singing actor in foreign languages and now even more remarkable in the comfort of his own. Roger is a veritable garden of uncertainties and hungers, and Kwiecien’s acting and singing give us each doubt, each fear, each unresolved bit of passion. His voice is in wonderful shape as well–a highly placed, bright baritone.


There are subtitles in English, French, German, Japanese, and Korean and bonus features including explanations by Pappano and Holten – as well as a blow-by-blow documentary. King Roger is not an oddity or a rarity–it’s a major part of the operatic canon and this is an ideal way to get to know it.

--ClassicsToday.com

FORMAT: All Formats
REGIONS: All Regions
PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9
LENGTH: Approx 154 Mins
SOUND: DTS 5.1 SURROUND / LPCM STEREO
SUBTITLES: English/French/German/Spanish/Italian/Dutch

"***** Under evocative Midwestern skies, Robert LePage radically reimagines Stravinsky's Hogarth-inspired classic for Belgium's premier opera house in 1950s Las Vegas, complete with neon-lit fairgrounds and film-set bar-room brawls. The setting is revelatory, the vision spectacular. Kazushi Ono draws vibrancy and insight from his Belgian band, cranking the American twangs and classical borrowings of Stravinsky's punchy score. The indolent Rake, an effortlessly Hogarthian Andrew Kennedy in cowboy boots and excellent voice, is vocally and dramatically matched by Willian Shimmell's dark, full-bodied Nick Shadow. A must-see." -- Sarah Urwin Jones, The Times, January 19, 2008 [reviewing the standard DVD version]

FORMAT: All Formats
REGIONS: All Regions
PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9
LENGTH: Approx 154 Mins
SOUND: DTS 5.1 SURROUND / LPCM STEREO
SUBTITLES: English/French/German/Spanish/Italian/Dutch

"***** Under evocative Midwestern skies, Robert LePage radically reimagines Stravinsky's Hogarth-inspired classic for Belgium's premier opera house in 1950s Las Vegas, complete with neon-lit fairgrounds and film-set bar-room brawls. The setting is revelatory, the vision spectacular. Kazushi Ono draws vibrancy and insight from his Belgian band, cranking the American twangs and classical borrowings of Stravinsky's punchy score. The indolent Rake, an effortlessly Hogarthian Andrew Kennedy in cowboy boots and excellent voice, is vocally and dramatically matched by Willian Shimmell's dark, full-bodied Nick Shadow. A must-see." -- Sarah Urwin Jones, The Times, January 19, 2008

Also available on Blu-ray

Richard Strauss
SALOME

Salome – Nadja Michael
Herodias – Michaela Schuster
Herod – Thomas Moser
Narraboth – Joseph Kaiser
Jokanaan – Michael Volle

The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Philippe Jordan, conductor

David McVicar, stage director

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on 3, 6, and 8 March, 2008.

Bonus material:
- Documentary: "David McVicar: A work in process"
- Illustrated synopsis and cast gallery

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic
Sound format: LPCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (all regions)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian
Running time: 168 mins
No. of DVDs: 2

WARNING: Contains nudity and scenes of violence.

R E V I E W:

I’ll be coming back to this again and again.

One of the most hotly anticipated, controversial and downright exciting opera productions of this year arrives quickly onto DVD. David McVicar, one of the most in-demand opera directors at work today, produces a visceral, exciting realisation of Strauss’s lurid masterpiece. It has lots to recommend it, though it won’t be to everyone’s taste.

McVicar has moved from an enfant terrible of the operatic world to being one of its safest pairs of hands. He has a reputation for being meticulous in his attention to detail, and he begins and ends with an intimate knowledge of the score. This translates into a close relationship with his collaborators: singers, designers, choreographers et al, something illustrated in a hugely enjoyable South Bank Show Documentary included here as a DVD extra. McVicar is interested in every aspect of a production: design, acting and music, and his recent work in this country has been revelatory, such as the Glyndebourne Giulio Cesare, the Covent Garden Faust and ENO’s Clemenza di Tito. One of the things that marks him out as remarkable is the way in which he builds his productions around certain visual themes, and it is instructive that his main reference point here is not Biblical Palestine, but Pasolini’s 1975 film Salò, based on the Marquis de Sade, which charts the descent into degeneracy of a group of oligarchs in fascist Italy. McVicar’s main focus in this production, then, is the depravity that runs through Salome’s story. Yes, the sensuousness and allure so evident in Strauss’s music are there, but they share the stage with - and are often eclipsed by - the sheer horror of the action.

With the opening gurgle on the clarinet the curtain draws back very slowly, like a suggestive striptease. In the very top part of the stage we can just make out Herod entertaining his guests at a riotous banquet. The main action takes place below stairs, however, in a large chamber, halfway between a communal bathroom and a slaughterhouse. It would be difficult to imagine a more inappropriate venue for Herod to move his dinner party into, which renders it all the more shocking when he does so. References to sex and death hit the viewer immediately. Two naked women (whores?) languish around the stage, but the most disquieting thing is that no-one pays the slightest bit of attention to them, presumably because it is so commonplace. Servants swab down the floors, perhaps to remove the evidence of some earlier debauchery, while the carcass of an animal swings in the background. The scene is lit with the naked light-bulbs of the torture chamber. This gritty, unsettling room is the prison in which not only the characters but we as viewers are confined for the next 100 minutes, and the claustrophobia adds to the our sense of growing horror as the opera builds to its climax.

The below stairs staff, mostly dressed as fascist-era soldiers, seem cold and disinterested in their surroundings, which makes the young Narraboth, sensuously sung by Joseph Kaiser, stand out all the more as he strains round the banister for a glimpse of the princess. Herodias’ page, who is just as obsessed with him, echoes his body language in trying to get his attention. Salome, in contrast to the prevailing darkness in the chamber, wears a glittering white evening dress with jewels. Nadja Michael is a marvellous actress here: far from being a sex-obsessed harpy, she begins the evening as a bored girl who throws chairs around like a petulant child. It is only after being exposed to the dark force of nature in Jokanaan that she becomes sexual and full of desire. Her singing is superb. She is entirely girlish at the start, developing a powerful edge to her voice only when necessary, such as in her cursing of Jokanaan’s body and hair. In fact the moments when she is not singing are almost as exciting as her big scenes: she gazes into the cistern, transfixed by its murky gloom, with a morbid fascination.

She seems vulnerable rather than icy after her encounter with John, clearly distressed by his curse on her, but still fixated. Equally, during the squabble of the Jewish factions, staged excitingly and comically, she merely gazes out at the audience, clearly milling over her new obsession with Jokanaan. Her hypnotic stage presence is one of the great strengths of this DVD.

Michael Volle’s Jokanaan also exerts a powerful charisma too. He emerges from the cistern as a victim of torture, blinking after the darkness of solitary confinement, yet the presence he exerts is so palpable as to stop Narraboth in his tracks as he goes to strike him. He sounds fantastically resonant as his voice echoes from the cistern, and he is really hair-raising at the top and middle of his range during his long scene with Salome. He is weaker at the bottom, however, and some of his lower notes can turn into growls. Tellingly, most of the servants avert their eyes during Salome’s attempt to seduce John, a clear indication of how depraved their encounter is as not even these desensitised regulars can bear to look at it.

One of the production’s strengths is the way McVicar picks up on the eroticism of death, so apparent in Wilde’s text. Salome barely notices Narraboth until after his suicide - to which no-one pays the blindest bit of attention - when she become fascinated with his corpse. Intriguingly, the same is true for Herod whose first action upon noticing the body is to caress it with his hand and gaze on it longingly. The sexual free-for-all in Herod’s house is also apparent in the all too sensuous way in which he caresses his favourite (male) servant. As Herod, Thomas Moser fits into McVicar’s vision a little awkwardly. His acting is decidedly of a lower level than the others, though it picks up during the Dance of the Seven Veils. Moser’s voice is also a bit thin compared to the others, understandable, perhaps, in such a demanding role, but disappointing against the high standards elsewhere. Michaela Schuster sounds good as Herodias, but her acting too is rather tame. Her relationship with Herod does not carry the venomous loathing suggested in the text, and she seems bored rather than vicious, though perhaps that is McVicar’s point.

The most striking and controversial element of McVicar’s vision is the Dance of the Seven Veils. This is a private dance for Herod, not the party guests, and as it begins the scene melts away and we are taken on a psychological journey rather than a display of choreography. McVicar’s idea is to take us through seven rooms, each one representing an aspect of Salome’s emotional state, each one taking us deeper into her interior self and suggesting that Herod has been, in McVicar’s words, a "specifically unhealthy influence" on her. We start seeing Herod "grooming" her with children’s toys, enticing her to sit on his knee, and touching her suggestively. Through each room the closeness of their contact increases and their dance intensifies, until the final room where she desperately splashes herself with water in an attempt to clean herself from the dirt of her stepfather’s abuse. Not everyone will approve, but I found this an inventive, challenging and deeply unsettling interpretation of the dance. Here the power to shock goes far deeper than a mere striptease.

The final scene shows us both the most and least successful aspects of the production. Visually speaking this is the peak to which the whole performance has been leading. On Herod’s order the executioner, who has been prowling the stage all evening long, just in case anyone needs to be killed, is stripped of his coat and descends naked into the cistern carrying only his huge blade. He then emerges covered in blood, holding the head which has blood oozing from its severed neck. Salome, by now wearing only a plain white night-dress, rubs herself against him and grabs the head; the blood slowly spreads to all over her night-dress and face, representing a steady descent into the utmost depravity as she sings her bizarre song of lust. The colour, imagery and movement of this scene are genuinely stunning and they make for a jaw-dropping tableau which fits Strauss’s music perfectly. Michael’s acting is superb here, and she makes us believe that Salome has fulfilled not just her desire but her life: hypnotised by her own passion, death is the only natural response after such consummation. It is in her singing, however, that this scene falls down. The exertions of the long evening have taken their toll and there is a distinct feeling that she has run out of steam by the time we get to this most demanding, climactic moment. Too many notes go flat and her sense of vocal line begins to fragment, a real pity considering her achievements earlier in the evening. That said, the eroticism of the kiss itself is spellbinding and I can forgive the vocal imperfections in the face of the way she so fully inhabits the character.

The star of this opera is the orchestra, and the Covent Garden forces play at the peak of their form. What’s more, the sound engineering and the balance mean that we can hear everything in Strauss’s astonishing orchestration. For an example, try the spiky moment when Salome curses John’s hair as being "like a crown of thorns" and the prickly harps play some discordant top notes by way of illustration: we hear these perfectly rather than their being subsumed into the orchestral fabric. Philippe Jordan’s is a hard-driven view of the score. He keeps his foot on the pedal through the most exciting moments, such as the Dance, and perhaps misses a little of the subtlety in this marvellous score. He does spotlight detail well, though. Top marks, too, to the video director who always places our eyes where our ears tell them that they want to be, with appropriate uses of close-up as well as the bigger picture.

In spite of its flaws I found this Salome compelling, exciting and visceral. As a film it probably takes a back seat to Götz Friedrich’s 1974 version with Teresa Stratas and Karl Böhm, though the comparison is a bit unfair as Friedrich’s version was conceived as a film rather than a stage production. Nor is it entirely satisfying as sound: Solti’s classic performance for Decca with Nilsson, Waechter and Stolze (an astonishing Herod) contains more consistent performances, as does Sinopoli’s more recent version, most notable for a disarmingly girlish Cheryl Studer. If you want a current version in digital sound, however, this DVD has a lot to offer. Even if the vocal performances aren’t all they could be, the consistency and originality of McVicar’s vision make this an unforgettable experience, if only for the sheer, raw power of what you see. I keep using the word "visceral", and that’s exactly what this is: it blows apart your preconceptions of the work and puts them together in a profoundly disconcerting way. Unnerving as it is, this is a DVD I’ll be coming back to again and again.

-- Simon Thompson, MusicWeb International

Also available on Blu-ray

Conducted by Christian Thielemann, this performance was the sensation of the 2010 Baden-Baden Festival. A one-act masterpiece inspired by Greek mythology, it is a dense, jagged cry for justice and vengeance. With its powerfully expressive chords, spooky waltz rhythms and mad dance of triumph, it shakes the audience to the core. Herbert Wernicke’s legendary production for the Bayerische Staatsoper stands out for its clear lines, classical structural elements and striking colour contrasts. Linda Watson, one of the great Wagnerian sopranos of today, superbly masters her role debut as Elektra, one of opera’s most demanding roles.

Elektra – Linda Watson
Klytämnestra – Jane Henschel
Chrysothemis – Manuela Uhl
Aegisth – René Kollo
Orest – Albert Dohmen
Orest's Tutor – Andreas Hörl
A young servant – Jörg Schneider
An old servant – Carsten Sabrowski
An overseer – Irmgard Vilsmaier

Vienna Philharmonia Chorus
Munich Philharmonic Orchestra
Christian Thielemann, conductor

Herbert Wernicke, stage director

Recorded live at Festspielhaus Baden-Baden, 29 January, 1 and 4 February 2010.

Bonus:
- Cast gallery

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: LPCM Stereo 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish
Running time: 100 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

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

Also available on standard DVD

Strauss's musically ravishing comic masterpiece is given a visual updating in director Richard Jones's stylish and 'gently subversive' Glyndebourne staging, one which offers 'a dreamlike distortion not just of Vienna's 18th-century past, but also of everything we know about reality' (Financial Times). Created to mark the 150th centenary of the composer's birth, the production is packed with energy and wit, its impeccable stagecraft by no means detracting from the first-class singing which underpins, among others, Tara Erraught's 'touching' (Guardian) performance as Octavian, Kate Royal's 'most graceful of Marschallins' and Lars Woldt's 'pitch-perfect' Baron Ochs (Sunday Telegraph). Conductor Robin Ticciati brings clarity and detail to the score, infusing the music with spirit and humanity.

R E V I E W:

"Lars Woldt’s Baron Ochs is rich in tone and dialect, a deliciously crude idiot, yet surprising in his muted final line and some sarcastic inflections opposite Octavian. Comic interest never flags, thanks to Jones’s deft blocking and inventive gags. Conductor Robin Ticciati, chief at Glyndebourne, keeps the London Philharmonic at a keen pitch, spreading glitter over all. It’s the standard menu in major companies today — visual provocation, musical reassurance."

-- David J. Baker, Opera News [11/2015]

Richard Strauss
DER ROSENKAVALIER
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Octavian - Tara Erraught
The Marschallin - Kate Royal
Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau - Lars Woldt
Sophie - Teodora Gheorghiu
Herr von Faninal - Michael Kraus
Marianne Leitmetzerin - Miranda Keys
Valzacchi - Christopher Gillett
Annina - Helene Schneiderman
Italian Tenor - Andrej Dunaev
Notary - Gwynne Howell
Innkeeper - Robert Wörle
Police Inspector - Scott Conner

Glyndebourne Chorus
(chorus master: Jeremy Bines)
London Philharmonic Orchestra
Robin Ticciati, conductor

Richard Jones, stage director
Paul Steinberg, set designer
Nicky Gillibrand, costume designer
Mimi Jordan Sherin, lighting designer

Recorded live at Glyndebourne Opera House, May 2014

Bonus:
- Robin Ticciati, Taking the Baton
- The Trio
- Sights and smells of a production
- Cast gallery

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean
Running time: 191 mins (opera) + 22 mins (bonus)
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)