"Actor: Kurt Moll"

• Mozart: Die Zauberflote (The Magic Flute) -- Metropolitan Opera/Levine | DVD | (24/03/2003) from £16.69   |  Saving you £0.30 (1.80%)   |  RRP £16.99

  A performance of Mozart's 'The Magic Flute' by puppet theatre.

• Wagner: Der Ring des Nibelungen -- Metropolitan/Levine | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £45.99

  The James Levine cycle of Wagners Der Ring des Nibelungen is humane and emotionally powerful rather than monumental or spiritual; Levine is more interested in finding our sympathy for the characters than inspiring pity or terror. These are very traditional productions in which you see a rock where you need to see a rock, a dragon where the libretto says a dragon (the Metropolitan Opera has never been a place for experiment). What Levine and the Met can and do offer is excellent orchestral playing and some of the best singers in these roles in the world. Siegfried Jerusalem is boyish and naive and touching as Siegfried, and he is also surprisingly good as the detached mischievous Loge of Das Rheingold. James Morris is uniformly impressive as Wotan and makes the character evolve from the young ruthless god of the first opera to the tired old god of Siegfried, who seeks nothing more than his own necessary defeat and death. As Brunnhilde, Hildegard Behrens makes a convincing shift from goddess to woman, from callousness to tenderness and on to vindictiveness and self-sacrificing wisdom. Overall, this is an attractive Ring cycle, well-cast and beautifully played; others have greater strengths in some areas, but Levine is reliable across the board. On the DVD: Der Ring des Nibelungen has all four operas, which are also available individually, contained in a single box. All the DVDs come with a photo gallery of the Metropolitan Opera productions and with menus and subtitles in German, French, English, Spanish and Chinese. Its a little disappointing, though, that they are presented in American NTSC format, not European PAL, and the picture ratio is standard TV 4:3. On the plus side, they all have an excellent clear acoustic in the three audio options: PCM stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1. --Roz Kaveney

• Wagner: Parsifal | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £18.65   |  Saving you £3.34 (17.91%)   |  RRP £21.99

  A performance of Wagner's opera 'Parsifal' featuring the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. Conducted by James Levine. The action takes place in the Middle Ages. At the castle of Monsalvat cut off from the rest of the world the brotherhood of Grail Knights guards the chalice in which the blood of the crucified Saviour had once been caught. In an effort to seize possession of the Grail Klingsor a powerful magician has established his realm at the foot of the mountain peop

• Wagner: Die Walkure -- Metropolitan/Levine | DVD | (14/10/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

  The 1990 Metropolitan Opera performance of Die Walkure ("The Valkyrie") with James Levine conducting is a solid, four-square performance with few frills and no gimmicks, just extraordinarily fine singing and orchestral playing. There is no point in this where you find yourself asking why the director did something: this is the sort of production which could be criticised as unimaginative but defended as serving Wagner's intentions for this instalment of his Ring cycle. Levine and his orchestra give the music an emotional intensity that never overwhelms its grandeur, though perhaps in Wotan's farewell to Brunnhilde, we feel him more as father than as god. James Morris as Wotan has real stature, making us feel that he has finally created the free agents he needs to avoid the curse he has unleashed on the world, but he has broken his heart in the process. Jessye Norman is surprisingly good and erotically self-assured as Sieglinde; the Act 1 love duet with Gary Lake as Siegmund has an ardour that makes the incestuous aspect less a matter of perversity than of the conduct of heroes. Kurt Moll makes Sieglinde's rapist and husband Hunding, a three-dimensional sinister villain; and Christa Ludwig almost manages to sell us Fricka's interminable paean to family values. The most impressive performance here, though, is Hildegard Behrens as Brunnhilde, the steely godling who sacrifices everything because she learns to feel and to know what is right. On the DVD Die Walkure on disc comes with menus and subtitles in German, French, English, Spanish and Chinese and with a picture gallery of the production. Awkwardly it is presented in (American) NTSC format not PAL, with a visual aspect of standard TV 4:3. More impressive is the choice of PCM stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 6.1; the sound is admirably clear and well-balanced. --Roz Kaveney

• Mozart - The Magic Flute | DVD | (14/11/2005) from £18.99   |  Saving you £-2.00 (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  With Wolfgang Sawallisch leading a starry cast featuring Lucia Popp Kurt Moll and Edita Gruberova this acclaimed 1983 live recording of August Everding's classic production of The Magic Flute is Mozart at his most inventive and inviting.

• Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier -- Vienna/Kleiber | DVD | (03/09/2004) from £16.96   |  Saving you £-0.71 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  The epic grandeur of Der Rosenkavalier stems not just from its immense length (over three hours) but from the all-too-human complexity of its characters--each of whom is smitten with someone else--and the endless stream of graceful melodies the composer conjures. After the tonality-stretching dissonance of Salome and especially Elektra, Strauss moved onto a different musical path here: the music's sheer gorgeousness has given this most heartbreaking of 20th-century operas its pride of place in the repertory. For this 1994 performance at the Vienna Opera House, conductor Carlos Kleiber leads a committed reading of the buoyant score that savours every note. The three leads are superb singer-actresses who get full marks for embodying Strauss's most richly romantic creations: Felicity Lott (the Marschallin), Anne Sophie von Otter (Octavian) and Barbara Bonney (Sophie) also offer a truly entrancing final trio, one of the great scenes in all opera. The stereo sound mix is solid, as is the video transfer. --Kevin Filipski, Amazon.com

• Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier -- Vienna/Von Karajan | DVD | (09/07/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A production of Strauss' opera 'Der Rosenkavalier' performed at the Saltzburg Festival in 1984. Includes the Vienna State Opera Choir the Philharmonic Orchestra with singers Wilma Lipp Anna Tomowa-Sintow and Agnes Baltsa. Conducted by Herbert Von Karajan.

• Leonard Bernstein: Beethoven - Cycle 7 | DVD | (18/11/2008) from £108.75   |  Saving you £-12.76 (N/A%)   |  RRP £95.99

• Die Schopfung (The Creation) (Full Sub Ac3 Dol) | DVD | (14/09/2009) from £11.08   |  Saving you £10.17 (103.56%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Tracklisting1. Opening Credits / Haydn: Die Schpfung / Bernstein2. 1a. Einleitung. Die Vorstellung des Chaos (Largo) 3. 1b. Rezitativ mit Chor: Im Anfange schuf Gott Himmel und Erde4. 2. Arie mit Chor: Nun schwanden vor dem heiligen Strahle 5. 3. Rezitativ: Und Gott machte das Firmament 6. 4. Chor mit Sopransolo: Mit Staunen sieht das Wunderwerk7. 5. Rezitativ: Und Gott sprach: Es sammle sich das Wasser 8. 6. Arie: Rollend in schumenden Wellen 9. 7. Rezitativ: Und Gott sprach: Es bringe die Erde Gras hervor10. 8. Arie: Nun beut die Flur das frische Grn 11. 9. Rezitativ: Und die Himmlischen Heerscharen 12. 10. Chor: Stimmt an die Saiten 13. 11. Rezitativ: Und Gott sprach: Es sei'n Lichter an der Feste des Himmels14. 12. Rezitativ: Im vollen Glanze steiget jetzt 15. 13. Chor mit Soli: Die Himmel erzhlen die Ehre Gottes 16. 14. Rezitativ: Und Gott sprach: Es bringe das Wasser 17. 15. Arie: Auf starkem Fittiche schwinget sich der Adler stolz18. 16. Rezitativ: Und Gott schuf groe Walfische 19. 17. Rezitativ: Und die Engel rhrten ihr' unsterblichenHarfen20. 18. Terzett: In holder Anmut stehn 21. 19. Chor mit Soli: Der Herr ist gro in seiner Macht 22. 20. Rezitativ: Und Gott sprach: Es bringe die Erde hervor lebende Geschpfe23. 21. Rezitativ: Gleich ffnet sich der Erde Scho (Raphael)24. 22. Arie: Nun scheint in vollem Glanze der Himmel (Raphael)25. 23. Rezitativ: Und Gott schuf den Menschen (Uriel) 26. 24. Arie: Mit Wrd' und Hoheit angetan 27. 25. Rezitativ: Und Gott sah jedes Ding 28. 26. Chor: Vollendet ist das groe Werk 29. 27. Terzett: Zu dir, o Herr, blickt alles auf 30. 28. Chor: Vollendet ist das groe Werk 31. 29. Orchestereinleitung und Rezitativ: Aus Rosenwolken bricht32. 30. Duett mit Chor: Von deiner Gt', o Herr und Gott - Der Sterne hellster, o wie schn33. 31. Rezitativ: Nun ist die erste Pflicht erfllt Surround Sound34. 32. Duett: Holde Gattin, dir zur Seite - Der tauende Morgen35. 33. Rezitativ: O glcklich Paar 36. 34. Schluchor mit Soli: Singt dem Herren all Stimmen

• Wagner: Die Walkure -- Metropolitan/Levine | DVD | (12/04/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  The 1990 Metropolitan Opera performance of Die Walkure ("The Valkyrie") with James Levine conducting is a solid, four-square performance with few frills and no gimmicks, just extraordinarily fine singing and orchestral playing. There is no point in this where you find yourself asking why the director did something: this is the sort of production which could be criticised as unimaginative but defended as serving Wagner's intentions for this instalment of his Ring cycle. Levine and his orchestra give the music an emotional intensity that never overwhelms its grandeur, though perhaps in Wotan's farewell to Brunnhilde, we feel him more as father than as god. James Morris as Wotan has real stature, making us feel that he has finally created the free agents he needs to avoid the curse he has unleashed on the world, but he has broken his heart in the process. Jessye Norman is surprisingly good and erotically self-assured as Sieglinde; the Act 1 love duet with Gary Lake as Siegmund has an ardour that makes the incestuous aspect less a matter of perversity than of the conduct of heroes. Kurt Moll makes Sieglinde's rapist and husband Hunding, a three-dimensional sinister villain; and Christa Ludwig almost manages to sell us Fricka's interminable paean to family values. The most impressive performance here, though, is Hildegard Behrens as Brunnhilde, the steely godling who sacrifices everything because she learns to feel and to know what is right. On the DVD Die Walkure on disc comes with menus and subtitles in German, French, English, Spanish and Chinese and with a picture gallery of the production. Awkwardly it is presented in (American) NTSC format not PAL, with a visual aspect of standard TV 4:3. More impressive is the choice of PCM stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 6.1; the sound is admirably clear and well-balanced. --Roz Kaveney

• Haydn: Missa Sanctae Caeciliae | DVD | (15/11/2010) from £13.79   |  Saving you £6.20 (44.96%)   |  RRP £19.99

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