"Actor: Murray Perahia"

• Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 / Symphony No. 7 / Overture To Coriolan | DVD | (18/12/2000) from £22.19   |  Saving you £-2.20 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The London Symphony Orchestra, Solti and Perahia in an all-Beethoven performance could hardly be anything but first class. This concert, which took place in 1987 to mark the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Barbican Arts Centre in London, also benefits from Solti's astute programming. Asked that his choice of music should reflect the policy of the venue in offering "variety in unity", the conductor selected the brief but thickly textured Coriolan Overture (splendidly un-ponderous under Solti's baton), the sprightly First Piano Concerto (here handled with kid gloves by Perahia) and the ebullient Seventh Symphony. The latter is marred at the outset by a spot-the-downbeat domino effect from the orchestra but this is swept away after a few bars to allow Solti's usual bravura to carry the concept off superbly, although his energised and convulsive old-school podium style is infuriatingly distracting when exposed to the merciless scrutiny of the cameras. Musically, however, the results are a delight, with some immaculate section playing, notably from the woodwinds. The disc includes a trailer for two other Arthaus releases. --Roger Thomas

• All-Star Tribute to Steinway | DVD | (23/05/2005) from £9.99   |  Saving you £13.00 (130.13%)   |  RRP £22.99

  An All-Star Tribute To Steinway

• Beethoven: Murray Perahai | Blu Ray | (14/04/2014) from £6.93   |  Saving you £24.32 (428.92%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Murray Perahia has often been described as an aristocrat of the piano, and with good reason. There is, however, nothing exclusive or 'intellectual', let alone academic, about his playing. His commanding vision, like his supremely polished virtuosity, is complemented by a luminous intelligence and a poetic sensitivity which has been his trademark from the start, embracing equally the lyric and the epic - just as Beethoven did who combined the Classic and Romantic like no other. Perahia's Beeth...

• Solti and Perahia: Bartok's Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion | DVD | (25/08/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Sir Georg Solti (1912-97) had a special link with Bartok's 'Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion' - he turned the pages for Bartok's wife when she and her husband premiered the piece in Budapest in 1938. Half a century later with pianist Murray Perahia and percussionists Evelyn Glennie and David Corkhill he produced a recording of this masterwork. This film observes the musicians at work during the marathon CBS recording sessions and includes a performance of the completed work.