Performing Arts

Jules Massenet: Werther (Legendary Performances) [Blu-ray]

Filmed at the Vienna State Opera in 2005, Andrei Serban’s production of Massenet’s opera with a late 18th century setting pushes the action forwards to the 1950’s,with the visuals exemplifying that decade with precision.With as much delicacy on display as naked passion,his(Alverez)morbid poet is outstandingly realised both vocally and dramatically. Together with Erod’s dour Albert and Ileana Tonca’s …

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Europakonzert 2015 [Blu-ray]

The founding of the Berlin Philharmonic on the 1 May 1882 is annually celebrated in a European city of cultural significance. In 2015 the May Europakonzert, a smash hit with the assembled audience, took place for the second time since 2004 in Athens, Greece, with Leonidas Kavakos joining the Berlin Philharmonic for the Sibelius Violin Concerto and …

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Offenbach: Les contes d’Hoffmann [Blu-ray]

Although posthumous, Les Contes d’Hoffmann (The Tales of Hoffmann) is considered as the masterpiece of Jacques Offenbach’s work. Inspired by E.T.A Hoffmann’s, this opéra fantastique mixes love, pain and whim. Its an ôde to art and poetry. The intrigue settles around three stories about a broken love. Told by Hoffmann, narrator and hero, these tales paint a …

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Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro (Legendary Performances) [Blu-ray]

Teatro alla Scala 2006 – Giorgio Strehler was one of Europe’s most celebrated theatre directors. In his Piccolo Teatro in Milan he created outstanding interpretations of Bertolt Brecht and William Shakespeare. As an opera director he worked at all the major international opera houses, most notably the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, where he was responsible for productions of …

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Julia Fischer at the BBC Proms [Blu-ray]

From the pastoral landscapes of Beethovens Symphony No. 6 to the vibrant folk scenes of Strauss sound-poem Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche and Dvoraks Violin Concerto, this Prom takes a vivid journey across Central Europe. At the BBC Proms 2014, the worlds largest classical music festival, David Zinman appeared in his final concert as chief conductor of Zurichs Tonhalle …

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The Puccini Opera Collection [Blu-ray]

Three magnificent Royal Opera productions of three of Puccini’s greatest operas. John Copley’s iconic La bohème brings the Paris of the 1830s to life in vivid detail; Jonathan Kent’s atmospheric and naturalistic Tosca evokes the turbulence of Rome in 1800; and Andrei Serban’s visually stunning Turandot is a glorious tribute to Puccini’s last and grandest creation. Featuring a …

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Giuseppe Verdi: Rigoletto (Legendary Performances) [Blu-ray]

Gran Teatre del Liceu 2004 – In their series of celebrated opera productions from the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, Arthaus presents a staging of Rigoletto, one of Verdi’s most popular operas. The tragic opera about the Duke of Mantua, the court jester Rigoletto and his daughter Gilda forms part of the composer’s trilogia popolare together with …

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Mahler: Symphony No. 7 [Blu-ray]

“It is my best work, with a primarily cheerful character”. This was Gustav Mahler’s assessment of his Symphony No. 7, which was also highly regarded by Arnold Schoenberg, who said, “I had an impression of absolute peace based on artistic harmony. Something able to set me in motion without recklessly unsettling my center of gravity.” Riccardo Chailly, in …

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Arrigo Boito: Mefistofele (Legendary Performances) [Blu-ray]

San Francisco Opera 1989 – Boito’s treatment of the Faust legend in Mefistofele has never been as popular as Gounod’s, but Boito was an imaginative composer and a great librettist (he wrote the words for Verdi’s Otello and Falstaff, two of the finest librettos in Italian opera). As the title suggests, his version puts the spotlight on the diabolical villain of the …

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