"His technique is superb, and the lyric quality of his voice is so beautiful!" Praise from Placido Domingo for Albanian lyric tenor Saimir Pirgu, who’s continued winning plaudits on operatic stages the world over. Recorded with one of the world’s finest orchestras, this recital goes from strength to strength showcasing his affinity for the Verdi roles and the "silken touch" (New York Times) he brings to both the verismo repertoire and the French and Italian bel canto.

Also available on Blu-ray

Ferdinand Hérold
LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE

Colas – Carlos Acosta
Lise – Marianela Nuñez
Simone – William Tuckett
Alain – Jonathan Howells

The Royal Ballet
The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Anthony Twiner, conductor

Frederick Ashton, choreographer
Osbert Lancaster, set design

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 2 February 2005.

Bonus: Cast gallery and illustrated synopsis

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic
Sound format: LPCM Stereo / 5.1 Surround sound
Region code: 0 (All regions)
Menu language: English
Running time: 112 mins

R E V I E W:

A delightful production … considerable charm and appeal.

Choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton was born in September 1904, so it was always likely that the Royal Ballet – of which he was Director for most of the 1960s – would take the opportunity to celebrate his centenary with revivals of some of his best works.

My colleague Ian Lace has already given a very warm welcome to Opus Arte’s DVD of the 2005 revival of Ashton’s 1952 production of Delibes’s Sylvia (see review). Now this new release, from the same television/DVD producers, is likely to offer just as much – if not more – pleasure to admirers of both the choreographer and several of the Royal Ballet’s most accomplished artistes.

The origins of the score are somewhat obscure. The earliest music – dating from 1789 - was cobbled together by an unknown hand from a variety of popular melodies. But by 1828 it was considered sufficiently dated for Ferdinand Hérold to be commissioned to rearrange and supplement it, using not just his own material but also unauthorized extracts from pieces by Donizetti, Rossini and others.

Hérold’s score held the field for less than 40 years, though, before it in turn was considered so old-fashioned that it was superseded by one penned by Peter Ludwig Hertel. Thus, from the 1860s onwards, it was Hertel’s music – at various times added to substantially by Drigo, Pugni, Minkus and Delibes, not to mention Anton Rubinstein and a certain Johann Armsheimer – that was associated with the La fille mal gardée story.

Had Ashton had a grander conception for his planned 1960 Covent Garden production, he might well have used the by now traditional Hertel score. But instead he envisaged a simple, pastoral, light-hearted and pastel-shaded interpretation of the old story – Watteau rather than Winterhalter. Thus, having retrieved Hérold’s long-neglected music from the archives, he asked John Lanchbery to edit and re-orchestrate it. [Ironically enough, a single bit of Hertel did eventually find its way into the new version and, as the theme of the famous clog dance, can be heard in one of the ballet’s best loved episodes!]

La fille mal gardée – yet another story of young lovers thwarting an ambitious parent’s plan to marry off one of them to a far wealthier suitor - is now considered the quintessential Ashton ballet and is certainly the best loved. The choreography’s apparent - but not actual! - simplicity and its sheer joie de vivre work in perfect harmony with the undemanding light-hearted story and the tuneful 1828 score to ensure that audiences invariably leave the theatre with faces wreathed in smiles. That would certainly have been so as patrons left the Royal Opera House on 2 February 2005 – and thankfully the BBC’s cameras were there to record the occasion.

While not having any great emotional depths to plumb in their roles, attractive and charismatic soloists Marianela Nuñez and Carlos Acosta are utterly convincing as youthful lovers. She is an exceptionally pretty girl, whereas he is the epitome of a virile and handsome young swain. Moreover, unlike many ballet productions, this is one case where the protagonists look genuinely and appropriately young. In fact, Nuñez was, at the time, just 23 and the Royal Ballet’s youngest Principal – though mere youth was clearly no handicap as she received, that same year, the Best Female Dancer accolade in the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. Acosta, though actually nine years older, makes an ideal visual match – as his many admirers will certainly testify.

The pair are also very well matched as dancers and offer well-nigh perfect interpretations and performances. Ashton’s choreography may not offer too much in the way of flashy opportunities to bring down the house, but it is sufficiently taxing to require the dancers to demonstrate complete concentration and immaculate technique. Both are in clear evidence here.

As Widow Simone, the domineering mother determined to engineer an advantageous – if loveless – marriage for her daughter, William Tuckett plays the role for laughs. In full pantomime dame mode and equipped with a range of wonderfully exaggerated facial expressions, he certainly succeeds. He can, though, dance too – although I would have liked to have heard the clack-clack of his clogs more clearly over the orchestra, so as to emphasize his skillful footwork in the famous highlight solo.

Jonathan Howells’s interpretation of Alain, Widow Simone’s preferred rich-but-dim suitor for her daughter, is again strong on comedy but he also conveys an air of pathos that adds considerably to the role and was clearly appreciated by the Covent Garden audience.

The production keeps the corps de ballet especially busy portraying various types of cheerful, good natured country folk. These are remarkably sophisticated rustics, however – at least when it comes to their ability to interpret Ashton’s intricate, fluid patterns on stage. The maypole dance preceding the storm that brings the first act to a close - itself a striking coup de théâtre - offers an excellent example of the company’s strength in full ensemble, as does the exuberant finale to the whole ballet.

Meanwhile, conductor Anthony Twiner directs an appropriately jaunty and light-hearted account of the score and the Covent Garden orchestra responds with aplomb throughout.

The set is from designs by Osbert Lancaster who was, at that time well-known as a professional cartoonist for the Daily Express. Its simple, cartoon-like qualities and the exaggeratedly clichéd French peasant costumes also fit the mood of this delightful production perfectly and add measurably to its already considerable charm and appeal.

-- Rob Maynard, MusicWeb International

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

Hans Werner Henze
ONDINE
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Ondine – Miyako Yoshida
Palemon – Edward Watson
Berta – Genesia Rosato
Tirrenio – Ricardo Cervera
A Hermit – Gary Avis

Royal Ballet
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Barry Wordsworth, conductor

Frederick Ashton, choreographer

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

Bonus:
- Illustrated synopsis
- Cast gallery
- The Making of Ondine – an interview with Hans Werner Henze

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish (bonus only)
Running time: 114 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)

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HENZE Ondine & • Barry Wordsworth, cond; Miyako Yoshida ( Ondine ); Edward Watson ( Palemon ); Genesia Rosato ( Berta ); Ricardo Cervera ( Tirrenio ); Royal Op House O • OPUS ARTE 7064 (Blu-ray: 114.00) Live: London 6/3,6/2009


& Interview with Hans Werner Henze; cast gallery


Ondine received its world premiere by the Royal Ballet in October 1958. Choreographer Frederick Ashton conceived the story about a human’s inconstant love for a water sprite primarily as a vehicle for Margot Fonteyn. After selecting Hans Werner Henze as composer, Ashton envisioned Ondine to have a romantic ambience and watery feel with a contemporary score. Henze’s music is early 20th-century Middle European postromantic in style, and even hearkens back to the world of Mendelssohn. Almost inevitably with the images evoked by the sea and a water sprite, there are some vaguely Impressionistic elements, but nothing that is remotely reminiscent of Debussy and La Mer. Although there are plenty of gentle dissonances, the easily accessible, even cinematic music is not particularly forbidding, but you will not hear any hummable melodies in a Tchaikovskian sense, either. Ondine frequently sounds like a relentlessly minor-key Sacre du printemps on Valium. In other words, it lacks the shock value and dramatic impact of Le Sacre du printemps even when the drums are pounding. The orchestration is excellent and usually interesting (for example, an energetic, almost Leonard Bernstein-like piano divertissement and a duet for harp and celesta). No doubt Ondine is a major full-length ballet that conjures up its own sound world that is at times brilliant but remains emotionally chilly given the romantic subject matter and stage action.


Frederick Ashton’s choreography is designed to evoke images of the sea: “I wanted the movement to be fluid like the rhythm of the sea rather than set ballet steps. In general, all the choreography has been inspired by the sea. I spent hours watching water move and have tried to give the choreography the surge and swell of waves.” The interaction of the dancers and the sets in act II with painted scrims reproducing the effect of a ship riding on waves climaxed by the concluding storm scene is truly amazing and perhaps unprecedented. Unfortunately, Henze’s music does not quite match the stage action in the storm sequence.


Miyako Yoshida may not be Margot Fonteyn but her dancing is fluid and graceful, and she evolves effectively into a tragic figure. Edward Watson appears to be the Royal Ballet’s go-to guy in modern dramatic ballets. As in Mayerling , his acting is the primary focus. His dancing is more lyrical than physical here. Yoshida and Watson generate considerable chemistry onstage. Their pas de deux in acts I and III are very affecting. Ricardo Cervera is smoothly athletic but not particularly menacing as Tirrenio. Barry Wordsorth conducts the Royal Opera House Orchestra effectively.


The Blu-ray visual images of the spectacular stage action play a crucial role in this production. In the accompanying Henze interview, the aging composer reveals himself to be a charming and humble man as he discusses the genesis of Ondine in his home in Italy. Ondine is highly recommended for anyone interested in moving outside of the mainstream of classical ballet. For those of you with little or no interest in dancing, Ondine is available in a complete Deutsche Grammophon recording played by the London Sinfonietta conducted by Oliver Knussen.


FANFARE: Arthur Lintgen

Hans Werner Henze
ONDINE

Ondine – Miyako Yoshida
Palemon – Edward Watson
Berta – Genesia Rosato
Tirrenio – Ricardo Cervera
A Hermit – Gary Avis

Royal Ballet
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Barry Wordsworth, conductor

Frederick Ashton, choreographer

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

Bonus:
- Illustrated synopsis
- Cast gallery
- The Making of Ondine – an interview with Hans Werner Henze

Picture format: 16:9
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish (bonus only)
Running time: 114 mins
No. of Discs: 1

Miyako Yoshida dances the title role originally created for Margot Fonteyn in the hauntingly beautiful underwater world of Ondine, vividly brought to life by The Royal Ballet. Frederick Ashton’s shimmering choreography, Lila de Nobili’s impressionistic designs and Hans Werner Henze’s specially commissioned, vibrant and inventive score, memorably combine to evoke the many moods and colours of the sea. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true surround sound.

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

Also available on standard DVD
This release is the world premiere recording of Brett Dean’s new opera based on Shakespeare’s best-known tragedy: To be, or not to be. This is Hamlet’s dilemma, and the essence of Shakespeare’s most famous and arguably greatest work, given new life in operatic form in this original Glyndebourne commission. Thoughts of murder and revenge drive Hamlet when he learns that it was his uncle Claudius who killed his father, the King of Denmark, then seized his father’s crown and wife. But Hamlet’s vengeance vies with the question: is suicide a morally valid deed in an unbearably painful world? Dean’s colorful, energetic, witty and richly lyrical music expertly captures the modernity of Shakespeare’s timeless tale, while also exploiting the traditional operatic elements of arias, ensembles and choruses. Matthew Jocelyn’s inspired libretto is pure Shakespeare, adhering to the Bard’s narrative thread but abridging, reconfiguring and interweaving it into motifs that highlight the main dramatic themes: death, madness, the impossibility of certainty and the complexities of action. ‘World Premiere of the Year’, 2018 International Opera Awards, London ‘…one of the unmissable operatic events of the year.’ (The Sunday Times 4 Stars) ‘…a richly imaginative composer at the top of his game.’ (The Times 4 Stars) ‘Dean’s music is many-layered, full of long, clear vocal lines … new opera doesn’t often get to sound this good … Hannigan’s spectacular high-soprano unhinging is the more shocking following her poise and inwardness’ (The Guardian 4 Stars) Clayton triumphs with ‘unimpeachable vocal and acting credentials’ (The Independent 4 Stars)

Format: All Formats
Regions: All Regions
Picture size: 16:9
Approx running time: 295 Mins
Sound: DTS SurroundSound / LPCM STEREO
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian
Released: 01/04/2006
Number of discs: 3

Bonus:
Documentary about the opera including interviews with William Christie, David McVicar and the cast.
Informal portrait of Danielle de Niese in her first-ever Glyndebourne season.

"David McVicar's production of Giulio Cesare manages to combine serious insight with entertainment, bringing Handel's masterpiece to life in a powerful, convincing and highly intelligent way. In every line of the complex narrative the subtle nuances are apparent, reflecting perfectly the transparent and exquisite nature of Handel's musical expression. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true surround sound, the outstanding singing of the all-star cast, led by a superb Sarah Connolly, and the vivid playing of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment under the energising baton of William Christie reveal the colour and dramatic character of Handel's music in a most delightful manner." - BBC Opus Arte

"...a lively and imaginative production, directed by the ever resourceful David McVicar, enchanted and amused. …there was so much good acting, often whilst singing difficult and controlled coloratura." - Musical Opinion

"Christie conducts Handel beguilingly - in fact, I’d go so far as to suggest that nobody does Handel better. Christie drew brisk playing from the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, crisp and punchy, yet he also carried the slow tempos with magical stillness. But the performance was about much more than sound alone: underneath the OAE's sheen there was an internalized musical depth to each of the numbers." - Opera

"...a production with performances to savour, led from the pit by William Christie and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment on stylish form. Sarah Connolly...gave a complete performance full of intelligence and subtlety. Danielle de Niese stole the show as a wily, fun-filled sex kitten who renders men helpless with her irresistible charms." - Opera Now

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 last days of the American icon Walt Disney form a powerful and poignant subject for Philip Glass's latest opera, which was filmed at its first performances in Madrid in January 2013. Phelim McDermott's spectacular production is worthy of Disney's own visual imagination and its definitive influence on American culture, while in the pit is the conductor Dennis Russell Davies, an experienced and authoritative champion of the composer's hypnotically beautiful music, which gives wings to Rudy Wurlitzer's operatic transformation of Peter Stephan Jungk's novel, using both fact and fiction to peer into Disney's troubled psyche as illness forces him to confront his mortality.

What the press said: ''...one of the crowning events of the past year's globe-trotting celebration of Mr. Glass's 75th birthday.'' The New York Times

Philip Glass
THE PERFECT AMERICAN
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Walt Disney – Christopher Purves
Roy – David Pittsinger
Dantine – Donald Kaasch
Hazel George – Janis Kelly
Lillian Disney – Marie McLaughlin
Sharon – Sarah Tynan
Diane – Nazan Fikret
Lucy / Josh – Rosie Lomas

The Improbable Skills Ensemble
Madrid Teatro Real Chorus and Orchestra
Dennis Russell Davies, conductor

Phelim McDermott, stage director

Recorded live from the Teatro Real, Madrid, February 2013

Bonus:
- Cast gallery

Picture format: 1080i High Definition
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean
Running time: 120 mins
No. of Discs: 1 (Blu-ray)

Caesar returns from war, all-conquering, but mutiny is rumbling through the corridors of power. Angus Jackson directs Shakespeare's epic political tragedy, as the race to claim the empire spirals out of control. "Julius Caesar is helmed by Angus Jackson - and he's brought something with him that delivers a spark of new fire in the air. The raw power of it's delivery and the spectacle of this conspiratorial tragedy make it so much more than an invocation of Trumpian machinations. Robert Innes Hopkins's magisterial set evokes imperialism at it's grandest and functions brilliantly as both the public face of Rome and the crumbling ruins outside it's walls. But it is enhanced by the sensitive and articulate lighting of Tim Mitchell, the sound design of Carolyn Dowling and the subtle, evocative music of Mira Calix. A large cast of extras creating heaps of atmosphere. At the heart of the show is a triumvirate of excellent performances... The laurel wreaths really belong to James Corrigan, Alex Waldmann and Martin Hutson as Mark Antony, Brutus and Cassius respectively. All rising young stars of the RSC, this trio spar and spark off each other with volatility, energy and real commitment, and they are a joy to watch. The portents for the forthcoming season at the RSC are promising indeed." (WhatsOn Stage)

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

John Lanchbery
TALES OF BEATRIX POTTER
(Blu-ray Disc Version)

Mrs Tittlemouse – Victoria Hewitt
Johnny Town-Mouse – Ricardo Cervera
Mrs Tiggy-Winkle – Jonathan Howells
Jemima Puddle-Duck – Gemma Sykes
The Fox – Gary Avis
Pigling Bland – Bennet Gartside
Pig-Wig – Laura Morera
Aunt Pettitoes – David Pickering
Mr Jeremy Fisher – Zachary Faruque
Tom Thumb – Giacomo Ciriaci
Hunca Munca – Iohna Loots
Peter Rabbit – Joshua Tuifua
Squirrel Nutkin – Steven McRae

The Royal Ballet
Royal Ballet Sinfonia
Paul Murphy, conductor
Frederick Ashton, choreographer

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 23 and 27 December 2007.

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LANCHBERRY Tales of Beatrix Potter • Royal Ballet; Paul Murphy, cond; Royal Ballet Sinfonia • OPUS ARTE BD7058 D (Blu-ray: 76:00) Live: Covent Garden 2008


Frederick Ashton prepared a dance treatment of several tales by writer-illustrator Beatrix Potter (of Peter Rabbit fame) for a short 1971 film. Ashton later revised and expanded it for a lavish stage production, and what we have here is a video of a 2008 stage performance. (Peter Rabbit, oddly, plays almost no role in the action.) The score, of Victorian/Edwardian shape and sentiment, is by John Lanchberry, who orchestrated and reworked popular tunes from the late 19th century; the melodic inspiration for that reason is rather thin (but no worse than scores by the likes of Pugni or Minkus), yet Lanchberry orchestrated it with a superb ear for color produced by fairly modest pit-orchestra resources. Lanchberry’s own recording for the original film, long available on LP and briefly on CD, is not quite complete, and at any rate currently seems to be available only as an MP3 download. If you’re fond of the score, this new video production is the best way to obtain it.


As for the ballet itself, it’s a visual feast, but it must be a trial for the dancers. Ashton’s ever-elegant choreography seems not to be extraordinarily challenging (with a few fine exceptions), but the dancers perform in heavy, padded costumes with oversized heads that must make balance sheer hell. It’s heaven for viewers, though, and not just children; Rostislav Doboujinsky’s masks and Christine Edzard’s overall design make Potter’s animal characters pop right off the storybook page, true to the original illustrations and also true, as much as possible, to the anatomy of the actual small creatures, against beautiful, lavish backdrops. Some of the dancing necessarily barely rises above pantomime, but much of it is quite impressive, including the sleek frogsmanship of Zachary Faruque as Mr. Jeremy Fisher, and the verve and energy of the squirrels, led by Steven McRae as Squirrel Nutkin.


Clearly, this is a production designed to entertain children, but it does require a knowledge of the Potter stories (provided, in part, by the illustrated synopsis that constitutes the disc’s only special feature). Except for an unfortunate incident involving Squirrel Nutkin’s tail, there are no real onstage threats to the characters; barking hounds in the wings scare away a fox before he can do any damage to Jemima Puddle-Duck; a butcher van briefly pulls up in front of the home of some pigs, but does not linger; a cat casts its shadow over a pair of mice, who easily find safety (and make trouble) in a dollhouse. No Brothers Grimm violence here; children will be enchanted, not traumatized, and adult balletomanes should be tickled by Ashton’s sly little references to steps from major ballets of the past.


Unless you’re the sort of person who finds such things too … I think the English term is “twee,” this is an irrestible, enchanting production, its visual magic enhanced by high-definition video and DTS-HD Master Audio (PCM 2.0 is also available).


FANFARE: James Reel

"…wonderful woodland scenes are played out by dancers in fantastic costumes and masks. … recreating the magic of these books and bringing favourite characters to life is every child’s fantasy. … Peter Rabbit’s beautiful and magical garden of dreams will transport every adult straight back to their childhood." -- The Stage

Created by Frederick Ashton for a film in 1971, Tales of Beatrix Potter brings alive, with rich characterisation and invention, the famous images and stories of Beatrix Potter. John Lanchbery’s music (incorporating mostly forgotten Victorian melodies) is utterly captivating, inspiring spirited playing from the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by Paul Murphy. Christine Edzard's designs conjure up a lost England of field mice and Berkshire black pigs, of foxgloves and shady groves. Swept up in the ballet’s childlike exuberance, the entire cast delivers outstanding portrayals of such colourful figures as Jemima Puddle-Duck, Jeremy Fisher, Mrs Tiggy-Winkle and the irrepressible Peter Rabbit. Ashton's warm and witty, yet demanding, choreography creates a piece of charm and grace for all ages.

Mrs Tittlemouse: Victoria Hewitt
Johnny Town-Mouse: Ricardo Cervera
Mrs Tiggy-Winkle: Jonathan Howells
Jemima Puddle-Duck: Gemma Sykes
The Fox: Gary Avis
Pigling Bland: Bennet Gartside
Pig-Wig: Laura Morera
Aunt Pettitoes: David Pickering
Mr Jeremy Fisher: Zachary Faruque
Tom Thumb: Giacomo Ciriaci
Hunca Munca: Iohna Loots
Peter Rabbit: Joshua Tuifua
Squirrel Nutkin: Steven McRae

The Royal Ballet
Royal Ballet Sinfonia
Choreographer: Frederick Ashton
Conductor: Paul Murphy

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 23rd & 27th December 2007.

Plus: Illustrated synopsis.

REGIONS: All
PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9
SOUND: 2.0 LPCM STEREO / 5.1 DTS SURROUND
SUBTITLES: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian

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.

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

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

Also available on standard DVD

Disillusioned with life, the aged philosopher Faust calls upon Satan to help him. The devil Méphistophélès appears and strikes a bargain with the philosopher: Faust can have youth and the love of the beautiful Marguerite, but only in exchange for his soul... Gounod’s masterpiece is given the grandest of Royal Opera stagings in David McVicar’s richly layered and theatrically exuberant production, with the drama moved to Second Empire Paris, spectacular sets and costumes, and extensive dance. Michael Fabiano as a seductively witty Faust, Erwin Schrott as a devilish Méphistophélès and Irina Lungu as a passionate Marguerite are joined by the Royal Opera Chorus and a cast of Royal Opera favourites. Dan Ettinger conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in Gounod’s gloriously tuneful score.

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

Also available on standard DVD

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.

Disillusioned with life, the aged philosopher Faust calls upon Satan to help him. The devil Méphistophélès appears and strikes a bargain with the philosopher: Faust can have youth and the love of the beautiful Marguerite, but only in exchange for his soul... Gounod’s masterpiece is given the grandest of Royal Opera stagings in David McVicar’s richly layered and theatrically exuberant production, with the drama moved to Second Empire Paris, spectacular sets and costumes, and extensive dance. Michael Fabiano as a seductively witty Faust, Erwin Schrott as a devilish Méphistophélès and Irina Lungu as a passionate Marguerite are joined by the Royal Opera Chorus and a cast of Royal Opera favourites. Dan Ettinger conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in Gounod’s gloriously tuneful score.