"Actor: Il Giardino Armonico"

• Vivaldi - Viva Vivaldi (Bartoli) | DVD | (24/11/2008) from £11.02   |  Saving you £-2.03 (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.99

  A full-length concert from the Theatre des Champs-Elysees Paris featuring beautiful and rare arias from Vivaldi's operas. This Brian Large film showcases the repertoire from the bestselling Vivaldi Album (Decca 1999) which catapulted Cecilia Bartoli to worldwide stardom. Bartoli's spectacular vocal pyrotechnics are supported by world-class Baroque ensemble and collaborators on the Decca album Il Giardino Armonico. Tracklisting: 1. Di due rai languir costante (Foa 28) 2. Siam navi all'onde algenti (L'Olimpiade) 3. Non ti lusinghi la crudeltade (Tito) 4. Gelosia (Ottone in Villa) 5. Domine Deus (Gloria) 6. Armatae face e anguibus (Juditha Triumphans) 7. Zeffiretti che sussurrate (Ercole sul Temodonte) 8. Gelido in ogni vena (Farnace) 9. Anch'il mar par che sommerga (Bajazet) 10.Dite oime (La fida ninfa) 11. Agitata da due venti (La Griselda) 12. Sventurata navicella (Giustino)

• Cecilia Bartoli - Viva Vivaldi! | DVD | (13/06/2001) from £12.98   |  Saving you £7.01 (54.01%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Viva Vivaldi! is a concert by the Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli interspersing arias from the 20 surviving operas of Vivaldi with two concertos. Given with the early music ensemble Il Giardino Armonico before a very appreciative audience in the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the performance is part of Bartoli's exploration of the Venetian composer's opera music which also includes The Vivaldi Album. That said there is very little overlap between the studio-recorded CD and this 105-minute concert. Anyone thinking of Vivaldi's vocal music in the context of his uplifting scared works may get a shock, for Bartoli performs as if her life depended upon it, attacking pieces such as "Armatae Face et Anguibus" from Juditha Triumphans with vengeful gusto. Indeed, there is a startling dynamic energy, which contrasts powerfully with the more restrained interpretations by singers such as Emma Kirkby. Bartoli's natural Italian and the live atmosphere of Maria Grazia d'Alessio's oboe gives her interpretation of the quietly haunting and melodically rich "Non ti Lusinghi la Crudeltade" from Tito Manlio a particular piquancy. The Flautino Concerto is a most attractive interlude, while the more famous Lute/Violin Concerto beguiles with its exquisite lyricism. One Vivaldi opera not represented, Orlando Furioso, is available in a complete performance from 1989.On the DVD: The anamorphically enhanced 1.77:1 image is well above average for a concert video with good detail, definition and colour, and compression artefacting only noticeable on rare completely static shots. There are three sound options: DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM stereo. The surround options are certainly all enveloping, though there is a certain gimmickry in placing the flutes in the rear channels which is attractive with the eyes closed but is decidedly unrepresentative of what is happening on screen. In these modes Bartoli's voice is curiously unfocused. The stereo alternative is clearly locked to the screen, with much of the information actually directed to the centre speaker. This is less expansive but has a natural clarity that will appeal to those who want a more accurate reproduction of the event. There are multiple language subtitles, including English, though the only special feature is the option to have the musical score superimposed over the concert. While a fine idea in principle the execution leaves everything to be desired: the score is presented on a translucent white backdrop, through which the musicians can be seen as pale, bleached-out ghostly figures. Unfortunately the overlaying of the two images results in such an irritating flicker that the screen is barely watchable. --Gary S Dalkin

• The Italian Bach In Vienna | DVD | (07/03/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  From the Musikverein - Vienna.Katia and Marelle Labeque Il Giardino Armonico play BACH.Recorded at the Musikverein Vienna 24.04.2000.Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)Concerto for two keyboards in C major BWV 1061I. (Allegro)II. Adagio ovvero LargoIII. Fuga Vivace.Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)Symphony in G major Wq 182-1I. Allegro di moltoII. Poco AdagioIII. Presto.Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)Violin Concerto in D minor per Pisendel RV 242I. AllegroII. LargoIII. Allegro.Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)Concerto for three keyboards in D minor BWV 1063I. (Allegro)II. Alla SicilianaIII. Allegro.

• Katia And Marielle Labeque - Il Giardino Armonico | DVD | (03/04/2006) from £20.23   |  Saving you £-2.24 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Johann Sebastian Bach:Concerto for 2 keyboards in C major BWV1061Concerto for 3 keyboards in D minor BWV1063Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Sinfonia in G major WQ182 No. 1Antonio Vivaldi:Violin Concerto in D major RV242 per PisendelRecorded live at the Grosser Musikvereinssaal Vienna 24 April 2000