"Actor: Dietrich Henschel"

• Gluck - Alceste / Robert Wilson, John Eliot Gardiner, Théâtre du Châtelet | DVD | (16/09/2015) from £14.98   |  Saving you £10.01 (66.82%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Rebelling against the increasingly formulaic operas of the time, Christoph Willibald Gluck's "reformist" opera Alceste (1767) was a successful attempt to return to a purer form of musical drama. It is highly appropriate that this 1999 production of the revised 1776 Paris version should be conducted by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, with the English Baroque Soloists and Monteverdi Choir, the same forces responsible for many fine Bach performances equally emphasising character and text. In setting the tragic story of the profound love between Queen Alceste and her husband King Admète, Gluck provided a score of austere, rending beauty. Principals Anne-Sofie Von Otter and Paul Groves dominate the production as much through the power of their acting as their musical prowess, the major scenes being electrifying in their emotional intensity. Contrasting with this psychological realism are the simple, Greek-inspired designs by Robert Wilson. Silhouetted geometric shapes glide gracefully through the slow-motion movements of the actors, bringing a hypnotic, dreamlike quality to the work. Near constant blue lighting adds a sense of late evening tranquillity, giving the stage a highly distinctive look and a feeling of dislocation in space and time. Both chilling and uplifting, this Alceste is a triumph. On the DVD: There are no special features other than a well-appointed booklet. The Dolby Digital 5.1 sound effectively re-creates a wide theatrical atmosphere and given the low lighting levels throughout, the anamorphically enhanced 16:9 picture makes the most of the striking imagery. The disc is encoded for regions 2 and 5. --Gary S Dalkin

• Berg: Lulu (Barbara Hannigan / Natascha Petrinsky / Tom Randle/Orchestre symphonique de la Monnaie / Paul Daniel) | DVD | (02/10/2014) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Monteverdi: Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria -- Zurich/Harnoncourt | DVD | (10/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Klaus-Michael Gruber's austere staging of Monteverdi's Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria ("Ulysses' Return") gives the impression of a sun-drenched ancient Greek island by the simplest of means: a bleached white wall against a dazzling sky-blue backcloth. It is an ideal setting for conductor Nikolaus Harnoncourt's pared-down reading of the score (fewer "authentic" rasps and rattles than 25 years ago) and Vesselina Kasarova's intense, restrained performance of Penelope, all the more powerful for being held back. For example, her repeated cry of "Torna!" ("Return to me!")--an excuse for much hand-wringing on the part of some mezzos--rarely rises above mezzo-forte here. Dietrich Henschel is equally impressive as Ulisse, and uses his rich, flexible voice with inventiveness: he handles the moment of recognition with his son Telemaco (the outrageously handsome Jonas Kaufmann) beautifully. There are some off-the-rail moments to the staging which might not appeal to English theatrical tastes: Penelope's suitors are presented in a rather silly puppet show and the comedy scenes with Iro (Rudolf Schasching) fall flat. But it doesn't prevent the final moments of reconciliation and recognition reaching powerful heights. On the DVD: Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria is presented in 16:9 ratio and has PCM Stereo or Dolby Digital 5.1 sound options. There are subtitles in Italian, German, English, French and Spanish. A handsome, well-lit production is rendered on the small screen with as much subtle shading as possible by video director Felix Breisach, and falls very easily on the eye. --Warwick Thompson

• Weihnachtsoratorium BWV 248 - Christmas Oratorio Part 1 To 6 | DVD | (31/12/2007) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-6.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A performance of Bach's Christmas Oratorio recorded in Herderkirche in Weimar in 1999. John Eliot Gardiner conducts the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists.

• Monteverdi: L'Orfeo | DVD | (29/06/2009) from £21.65   |  Saving you £-1.66 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Orfeo (L')