"Actor: Orchestra"

• Victor Borge: In Concert & Encore! | DVD | (04/09/2017) from £8.91   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  To people who take music seriously, I'm a musician. To people who don't take music seriously, I'm a comedian. To people who don't take anything seriously, I'm a clown. A rare chance to see Borge the wit, Borge the pianist and Borge the conductor. International musician and comedian Victor Borge is captured at his hilarious best in this concert at the Grand Hall, Wembley Conference Centre, recorded in 1979. A child prodigy who gave his first piano recital aged eight, the Copenhagen-born Borge moved to the US and combined his musical prowess with a penchant for comic one-liners, in a unique cross between stand-up and high art. Recorded live, the concert features the seventy musicians of the Wren Orchestra, led by Rolf Wilson. Also appearing is American coloratura soprano, Marylyn Mulvey, winner of the New York Metropolitan Opera Company national finals. Packed with his trademark double-entendres and double-takes, this is a laugh-out-loud show from the master musical wit and 'comedian of the keyboard'.

• La Fanciulla Del West | DVD | (21/05/2004) from £15.25   |  Saving you £-5.26 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Puccini's Wild West opera based on Belasco's play The Girl of the Golden West has the California gold rush as its dramatic backdrop for a story in which Minnie the only woman in a mining camp gambles on her one chance of happiness. Lorin Maazel conducts a fine cast in Jonathan Miller's 1991 production of the compelling and evocative opera which Puccini himself considered his best work. Unlocked from the archives of RAI television this is a classic recording from one of the world's great opera houses.

• Russian Songs from the War Years | DVD | (24/09/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £18.99

  Russian Songs From The War Years

• Artur Rubinstein-Piano Concertos | DVD | (10/07/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Rubinstein: Rubinstein In Concert (London Symphony Orchestra Andre Previn)

• Later With Jools Holland - World | DVD | (25/07/2005) from £14.98   |  Saving you £0.01 (0.07%)   |  RRP £14.99

  This is the 8th 'Later' DVD to be taken from the series. It contains a fabulous collection of 33 performances featuring a range of artists from around the globe including leading lights in the world music scene Bebel Gilberto Gipsy Kings Youssou N'Dour Ibrahim Ferrer Cesaria Evora Ladysmith Black Mambazo Salif Keita plus a performance by Afel Bocoum featuring Blur's Damon Albarn. Tracklisting: 1. Youssou N'Dour: Li Ma Weesu 2. Ojos De Brujo: Ventilator R-80 3. Oumou Sang

• Electric Light Orchestra - Access All Areas | DVD | (21/11/2005) from £9.72   |  Saving you £3.27 (25.20%)   |  RRP £12.99

  ELO Part II in concert in Sydney backed by the 44-piece Australian Rock Orchestra. This release also includes interviews with Bev Bevan Mik Kaminski Louis Clark Kelly Groucutt Eric Troyer and Phil Bates plus behind the scenes footage. Tracklist: 1. Standin' In The Rain 2. Showdown 3. Eldorado Overture 4. Turn To Stone 5. Do Ya 6. Dont Wanna 7. Ain't Necessarily So 8. Don't Bring Me Down 9. All Fall Down (music video)

• Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg - Wagner | DVD | (17/01/2005) from £10.44   |  Saving you £12.81 (139.54%)   |  RRP £21.99

  A performance of Wagner's opera 'Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg'.

• Mozart: Operas Box Set | Blu Ray | (29/09/2014) from £29.86   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Second Chorus | DVD | (05/03/2001) from £9.62   |  Saving you £6.36 (95.93%)   |  RRP £12.99

  Trumpet players Danny (Fred Astaire) and Hank (Burgess Meredith) have been avoiding graduation for seven years so that they can continue playing with their college band. They hire pretty Ellen Miller (Paulette Goddard) as the band's agent and as she quickly increases their earning power the boys find themselves with flourishing musical careers. Ellen is one day hired as Artie Shaw's band manager and makes plans for Danny and Hank to audition for Shaw. Both however are keen rival

• Giordano: Andrea Chenier - Royal Opera House/Rudel | DVD | (23/02/2004) from £20.00   |  Saving you £-2.01 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Giordano's Andrea Chenier is one of the greatest of verismo operas, full of heart-stopping big tunes and powerful emotional situations. If it is not as well-known as it should be, it is because in summary it sounds a little too like Puccini's Tosca: there is a tussle between political opponents over a woman, an attempt to save a condemned man, a tenor aria about writing poetry on the eve of execution. The difference is that Gerard (Giorgio Zancanaro) is not a villain like Scarpia, he is an idealist whom the French Revolution has betrayed as much as it has his rival the poet Chenier (Placido Domingo). His temptation to abuse his power to seduce the virtuous Maddalena (Anna Tomowa-Sintow) is a momentary one, though its consequences are terrible. There is a streak of post-Wagnerian decadence in much of this--Maddalena is at least as much in love with death as she is with Chenier, and the final love duet has a deeply sinister aspect. Domingo is at his best in this Covent Garden Opera House performance from 1985; at once ardent and serious-minded, we believe in his Chenier as a poet and political figure. Conductor Julius Rudel gives the rich score all the weight and lyricism it demands and the Covent Garden chorus is at its occasional best in the scenes of revolutionary excess. On the DVD: Andrea Chenier is presented a little disappointingly in NTSC format and 4:3 picture ratio. At least the sound is sumptuous Dolby Digital 5.0. Subtitles are in English, French, German, Spanish and Japanese. --Roz Kaveney

• Mozart In Turkey | DVD | (22/12/2003) from £4.99   |  Saving you £15.00 (300.60%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Mozart in Turkey is a feature-length 88-minute hybrid BBC co-production which interleaves making-of documentary footage (24 minutes) and filmed highlights (64 minutes) from Mozart's opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail ("The Abduction from the Seraglio"). Working to their pre-recorded performance of the complete opera conducted by leading Mozartian Sir Charles Mackerras with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Choir, we see the cast mime to playback key arias, duets and quartets from Mozart's gorgeous work. The story of a Spanish noble woman, Konstanze (soprano Yelda Kodalli), her English maid, Blonde (soprano Désirée Rancatore), fiancé, Belmonte (tenor Paul Groves) and his servant, Pedrillo (tenor Lynton Atkinson) in the Turkish Harem of Pasha Selim (Oliver Tobias in a speaking role) is beautifully filmed in the famous Topkapi Palace in Istanbul. The documentary sections offer a brief, rather superficial look at Mozart's writing of the opera and the ideas that influenced it and are expressed within the drama. The music-making is hardly to be faulted and the staging is ravishing. Unfortunately the whole seems like an over-length DVD extra that should accompany a complete film of the opera--the very thing that is mysteriously missing from this release. On the DVD Mozart in Turkey is presented anamorphically, enhanced at 16:9 for widescreen televisions, with a virtually flawless picture taken, presumably, from digital tape. If the programme is watched complete the sound is stereo only and the music sometimes sounds harsh. If music highlights are selected, sound is available in stereo or a much fuller and more rounded Dolby Digital 5.1. There are optional subtitles in English, German, Spanish, French and Dutch, but if any of these is selected it is imposed over the English-language documentary sections as well as the German-language opera scenes. When playing music highlights there are rather abrupt and unmusical fades in and out between scenes. The menu is awful, offering the option either to play all or select a given track, but not to play from a particular scene onwards. Switching subtitles on or off, or changing audio tracks, entails returning to the main menu then starting the programme afresh. There is no resume play facility and there are no extras. --Gary S Dalkin

• A Simple Man | DVD | (18/02/2005) from £2.49   |  Saving you £17.50 (702.81%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Commissioned to celebrate the centenary of the birth of the painter L.S. Lowry in 1987 this BAFTA award-winning dramatic ballet celebrates the life and work of a unique artist. Created by Gillian Lynne in collaboration with the composer Carl Davis this memorable production filmed in 1987 is performed by the Northern Ballet Theatre led by ex-Royal Ballet stars Christopher Gable and Moira Shearer. Re-mastered for DVD with the addition of recent interviews with Lynne and Davis it gives a fascinating insight into the creation of an inspirational work in the history of dance which remains as fresh as ever.

• Herbert Von Karajan - Karajan In Concert | DVD | (17/03/2008) from £19.92   |  Saving you £-4.93 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Herbert von Karajan conducts Berliner Philharmoniker, performing works by various composers.

• Don Giovanni - Mozart | DVD | (23/04/2004) from £9.77   |  Saving you £0.22 (2.20%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A performance of the Mozart opera Don Giovanni.

• Bellini: La Sonnambula | Blu Ray | (01/09/2013) from £25.65   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Verdi - Messa Da Requiem | DVD | (15/08/2005) from £15.79   |  Saving you £1.20 (7.60%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Acknowledged to be the finest Karajan recording of this overwhelming sacred masterpiece. This 1967 performance features four of the 20th century's greatest Verdi singers - Price Cossotto and Ghiaurov were at the peak of their careers while the young Pavarotti was still comparatively unknown (though not for long).

• La Boheme - Puccini | DVD | (06/12/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  La Boheme - Recorded live at the Teatro degli Arcimboldi Milan February 2003 - Staged by the Teatro all Scala.

• The Moody Blues - The Other Side Of Red Rocks With The Colorado Symphony Orchestra | DVD | (21/02/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £22.99

  On September 9th 1992. The Moody Blues once again mad erock 'n roll history when they performed their music as it was originally intended..and imagined..live on stage with a symphony orchestra. This historic concert with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra at red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado fulfilled a dream. That night the Moody blues twenty-five years into their musical odyssey created a moving and inspiring performance of sight and sound. The Other Side of Red Rocks reveals

• War Requiem | DVD | (10/01/2012) from £19.31   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Eugene Onegin: Metropolitan Opera (Gergiev) | Blu Ray | (24/02/2014) from £18.89   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A