"Actor: Orchestra"

• Tchaikovsky - the Nutcracker (Mariinsky Ballet Orchestra) | Blu Ray | (06/10/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker, performed by Artists of the Mariinsky Ballet, Students of the Academy of Russian Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, and conducted by Valery Gergiev.

• Various Composers - New Year's Concert 2006 (Jansons) | DVD | (30/01/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  New Year's Concert 2006 (Various Artists)

• Stormy Weather | DVD | (30/01/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  A musical vehicle for 'Mr Bojangles' Bill Robinson which pays tribute to some of the greatest jazz stars of all time. Hit songs include: 'Stormy Weather' 'Jumping Jive' and 'Ain't Misbehavin'.

• Rossini: Semiramide | DVD | (31/12/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Bel canto can be translated as "pretty singing", and that definition seems tailor-made for this production, which offers grace, charm, and a fine-tuned sense of style in abundance to compensate for its limited psychological and emotional impact. The four principal singers are all specialists in the bel canto style and this opera has played a key role in building their substantial reputations. For its sweeping musical imagination and technical wizardry, Rossini's epic about royal assassination and misdirected lust in the ancient Babylonian Empire deserves a place in any inclusive opera collection, and we are not likely to have a better video recording of Semiramide in the foreseeable future. June Anderson has an attractive appearance and sounds exactly right in the music's florid melodic lines. But she is not dramatically compelling as the wicked queen who had her husband killed and fell in love with a man who turned out to be her long-lost son, Arsace. Marilyn Horne rose to the highest levels of international fame in the role of that conflicted son, and her presence alone would be enough to give this video classic status. Her voice was a bit past its prime when this performance was recorded in 1991, but still there is no other voice quite like it, no other voice so suited to Rossini's heroic mezzo roles. Samuel Ramey is a close bass counterpart to Anderson: great tone, agile florid singing, and a rather wooden but visually appealing stage presence. Sanford Olsen has a small role and sings it near perfectly. James Conlon gets excellent musical results; John Copley's staging is massive and static. --Joe McLellan, Amazon.com

• Macbeth | DVD | (02/08/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Verdi - Macbeth (Sinopoli Orchestra/Chorus DOB)

• Mahler: Symphony No. 9 | Blu Ray | (04/02/2011) from £32.39   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Mahler: Symphony No. 7 | DVD | (03/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A Performance from the Lucerne Festival Summer 2005 recorded live at the Concert Hall of the Culture and Convention Centre Lucerne 17-18 August 2005.Contains Symphony No. 5 - Langsam (Adagio) - Allegro risoluto ma non troppo - Nachtmusik I: Allegro moderato - Scherzo: Schattenhaft - Nachtmusik II: Andante amoroso - Rondo-Finale: Allegro ordinario by the composer Gustav Mahler.

• Mahler - Symphonies Nos. 1 and 8 (Tennstedt) | DVD | (04/09/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Recorded live in Royal Festival Hall London 1991.

• Spartacus - Khachaturian | DVD | (01/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  SpartacusBallet in Three Acts.Recorded At The Bolshoi Theatre 1990.

• Peter & The Wolf | Blu Ray | (09/01/2014) from £19.45   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Attila - Verdi | DVD | (22/10/2004) from £13.79   |  Saving you £-3.80 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Attila Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)Ricardo Muti conducts a fine cast in the powerful and atmospheric 1991 production of Verdi's ninth opera whose story of the heroic tussle between Ezio a Roman general and Attila the Nordic invader was written for the 1846 Teatro la Fenice season and premiered there to huge acclaim. Unlocked from the archives of RAI televvision this is a classic recording from one of the world's great opera houses.Sung In Italian

• Bizet - Carmen (Mcvicar, Jordan, Lpo, Von Otter) | DVD | (12/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  'Carmen' is here restored to the original Opera Comique in a production from Glyndebourne. Music is under the direction of Philippe Jordan.

• Baroque Christmas Concert | DVD | (02/12/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A baroque Christmas concert set in the cathedral in Freiburg. Includes music from J.S. Bach: Concerto in D Major BWV 972 Allegro and Suite in D Major BWV 1068 Air W.A. Mozart: Mass in C Minor KV 427 and G.F. Handel: Messiah.

• Ben Folds & West Australian Symphony Orchestra Live in Perth | DVD | (14/04/2007) from £7.87   |  Saving you £4.12 (34.40%)   |  RRP £11.99

  Recorded in March 2005 in an outdoor venue in Perth Australia this 80-minute concert finds the singer-songwriter-pianist in the company of conductor Simon Kenway and the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Favouring material from his Rockin' the Suburbs Whatever and Ever Amen CDs Folds used local musicians for most of the arrangements with the result that the orchestra enhances the songs rather than merely augmenting them. By the time you get to ""Narcolepsy "" the twelfth of the 14 songs performed here and one that features a co-vocal by operatic tenor Stuart Haycock you can't help but be won over by this thoroughly charming show! Track Listing 1. Zak and Sara 2. Smoke 3. Fred Jones Part 2 4. Steven's Last Night in Town 5. Boxing 6. Annie Waits 7. Brick 8. Evaporated 9. Not the Same 10. The Ascent of Stan 11. Lullabye 12. Narcolepsy 13. Rock This Bitch 14. The Luckiest

• Ponchielli: La Gioconda | DVD | (05/11/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The Vienna State Opera's 1986 production of La Gioconda, Amilcare Ponchielli's only lasting success, was an increasingly rare event. The story--based on a long forgotten Victor Hugo drama--is an emotional roller coaster of high passion and self-sacrifice, but has fallen out of favour with the major international opera companies; instead, Ponchielli's contemporary Verdi and one-time pupil Puccini are today's guaranteed crowd-pullers. This is a shame. Ponchielli's score might be sumptuous to the point of occasional over-ripeness but it contains some marvellous arias, not least Enzo's "Cielo e mar". And whenever La Gioconda herself is on stage, it's hard not become enthralled by the richness of her suffering as painted by Ponchielli's lush, explosive music. Here is a woman who is given every opportunity to ensure the removal of her rival (Laura) for Enzo's affections, but who always does the decent thing, ultimately leaving herself with a stark choice between suicide and the repulsive paws of the evil Barnaba who has pursued her since Act I. As La Gioconda, Hungarian soprano Eva Marton is utterly compelling. It's a role that places extraordinary emotional demands on the singer (Callas, not surprisingly, had a field day with it). Marton maintains total credibility. In voice, she is well matched by Placido Domingo's Enzo, who is at the virile peak of his vocal powers, rather suggesting a strength that the suggestible Enzo doesn't really possess. But perhaps the strongest aspect of Ponchielli's opera is the way in which the vocal jewels are distributed throughout the cast. Ludmilla Schemtschuk is an elegant Laura and Margarita Lilowa as La Gioconda's blind mother, La Cieca, sings an unforgettable "Voce di donna o d'angelo". And the ballet within the opera, the "Dance of the Hours", assumes its rightful place as a gleaming component of the whole work. On the DVD: Originally filmed for television, this La Gioconda is presented in PCM Stereo with 4:3 picture format, neither of which do the overall quality any favours. The sound is uneven; when the singers turn upstage it is sometimes impossible to hear what they are singing and the orchestra, conducted by Adam Fischer, sounds dull. The colours are muted. And while the booklet provides the customary comprehensive notes we have come to expect from Arthaus products, it is surprising that the cover photograph is not of the magnificent Eva Marton in the title role.--Piers Ford

• Essential Opera Collection | DVD | (11/10/2013) from £84.29   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Mstislav Rostropovich | DVD | (03/03/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Tracklisting: Mussorgsky: Songs and Dances of Death performed by Galina Vishnevskaya (soprano) Mstislav Rostropovich (piano). Prokofiev: Sinfonia Concertante in E minor for cello & orchestra Op 125 performed by Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) and the Orchestre National de l'Opra de Monte-Carlo Okko Kamu. Shostakovich: Cello Concerto No 1 in E flat major Op 107 performed by Mstislav Rostropovich (cello) and the London Symphony Orchestra Charles Groves.

• Il Trovatore - Verdi | DVD | (24/09/2004) from £7.76   |  Saving you £23.49 (361.38%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Recording of the Verdi opera from the Wiener Staatsoper in 1978 with Herbert von Karajan conducting.

• Mozart: La Clemenza di Tito -- Glyndebourne | DVD | (29/04/2002) from £11.74   |  Saving you £14.51 (138.45%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Mozart's Clemenza di Tito ("The Clemency of Titus") makes for riveting viewing in this Glyndebourne performance directed by Nicholas Hytner and conducted by Andrew Davis staged in the composer's bicentenary in 1991. Mozart's last opera, Clemenza was for some time considered below par by his own exalted standards. He composed it in a rush, the recitatives are by a pupil and it had to be on an appropriate theme to please the new Hapsburg monarch, for whose enthronement it was designed. There's little character development and the musical style harks back to operatic conventions Mozart had done so much to overthrow. Watching this production one would scarcely credit that such reservations once held sway. Hytner and his team have put a contemporary angle on a story set in Rome AD 78 in which sets, props and the stage itself are constructed to different dimensions offering alternate perspectives on a static tale. A slanting pillar and a sloping corridor allude to the unhinged mind of the scheming Vitellia, the central character, who puts her confidant Sesto on an emotional roller coaster ride as she ensnares him to plot the downfall of Titus. The principals use their eyes to communicate to one another as well as the audience and in the imaginatively staged entrances and exits of the ensembles one senses Hytner's choreographic instincts coming to the fore. The superb cast sing magnificently and look stunning. Philip Langridge is an eloquent Titus, Diana Monatgue a sincere Sesto and Ashley Putnam brings a touch of Alexis Colby to her portrayal of Vitellia. The London Philharmonic are all fired up under conductor Andrew Davis' fervent direction. The performance (the "Overture" accompanied by a visual montage of artefacts of Ancient Rome) is played on modern instruments yet articulated and reproduced with the clarity and definition associated with period ones. On the DVD: La Clemenza di Tito has no special features save for the obligatory subtitles. The picture quality is outstanding with the imaginative and colourful production design caught, like the music, with exceptional fidelity. The high drama at the conclusion of Act 1 justifies running on without a break into Act 2. This is a must for all lovers of opera. --Adrian Edwards

• Gershwin: Rhapsody In Blue | DVD | (03/06/2013) from £13.31   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Strike Up the Band (ouverture) - Rhapsody in Blue - Promenade - Catfish Row / Orion Weiss, piano - John Fullam, clarinette - Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra - JoAnn Falletta, direction