"Actor: Orchestra"

• Renata Scotto - in Budapest | DVD | (04/11/2008) from £9.99   |  Saving you £13.00 (130.13%)   |  RRP £22.99

• L'Amour De Loin - Saariaho | DVD | (15/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Kaija SaariahoL'Amour De LoinOpera in five acts

• Four Orchestral Suites - Johann Sebastian Bach | DVD | (13/06/2002) from £21.58   |  Saving you £-1.59 (-8.00%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Ton Koopman has long been master of Bach's Orchestral Suites, as these 1989 recordings attest. He has a wonderful affinity for the composer's orchestral colours, for speeds that are apt but never exaggerated and for working with players who are at the very top of their profession and yet who are never simply interested in surface gloss. It's not surprising that his Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra is one of the pre-eminent bands in the period-instrument world. Visual interest is added here by the setting--the exuberantly Baroque Het Loo Palace, built for William of Orange--and having the band move from room to room, depending on the size of orchestra demanded by Bach. Unfortunately, the acoustic of that used in Suites Nos. 3 and 4 rather dwarfs the orchestra, and the string section in particular sounds unfairly scrawny. Otherwise, visual elements are deftly managed, avoiding too many unflattering close-ups of oboists in action, though perhaps we see more of Koopman's pate than is strictly desirable. Altogether, though, these are classy and thoroughly recommendable performances of these great works. On the DVD: Bach's Orchestral Suites on DVD falls down on extras, offering only the option of subtitles in English, German, French or Spanish. The booklet accompanying the DVD includes brief notes on the music but the English version is carelessly typeset, and this extends to the subtitles on the DVD itself (the Second Suite is listed as being in "B flat minor" rather than B minor). The 4:3 picture format does justice to the opulent surroundings but the acoustic is unflattering for the last two Suites, despite the otherwise acceptable 1989 stereo recording. --Harriet Smith

• Mozart: Symphony In C Major Jupiter / Symphony In C Major Linz | DVD | (14/06/2004) from £3.00   |  Saving you £13.25 (761.49%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A performance of Mozart's 'Symphony In C Major - Jupiter KV 551 and 'Symphony In C Major - Linz KV 425'. Recorded at the Viennese Schloss Schonnbrunn.

• New Year's Concert 2003 -- The Director's Cut | DVD | (17/02/2003) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-6.99 (-35.00%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Neujahrskonzert 2003 (New Year's Concert 2003)Part 1:Johann Strauss:Kaiser Franz Joseph I. - Rettungs-Jubel-MarschSchatz-WalzerNiko-PolkaScherz-PolkaJoseph Strauss:Delirien WalzerPele-Mele Polka schnellPart 2:Weber/Berlioz:Aufforderung zum TanzeJohann Strauss:Secunden-Polka francaiseHellenen-PolkaKaiser-WalzerBauern-PolkaLob der Frauen Polka MazurJohann Strauss Vater:Chineser-GaloppJohannes Brahms:Ungarischer Tanz Nr. 5Ungarischer Tanz Nr. 6Johann Strauss:Kronungslieder WalzerLeichtes Blut Polka schnellEncores:Johann Strauss:Furioso PolkaAn der schonen blauenDonau WalzerJohann Strauss Vater:Radetzky-Marsch

• The Pasadena Roof Orchestra - Dance The Night Away | DVD | (19/09/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  With a classical repertoire drawn from the swinging '20s and the lively 1930's the Pasadena Orchestra have provided an unparalleled and energetic stage shows to admirers around the world for over three decades. Featured tracks: 1.If I Had A Talking Picture Of You 2.Little Orphan Annie 3.I've Found A New Baby 4.Singing In The Rain 5.Me An Jane In A Plane 6.Am Sonntag Will Mein Susser Mit Mir 7.Segein Gen'n 8.Charleston 9.Creole Love Call 10.Running Wold 11.Yes Sir That's My

• Il Trovatore | DVD | (06/09/2004) from £10.92   |  Saving you £9.07 (45.40%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This DVD production was recorded at the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam the Netherlands. This was the 10th large scale opera production by the Companions Opera. Il Trovatore demonstrates a high standard that cannot be competed with by regular opera house productions.

• Puccini - La Boheme, Madama Butterfly | DVD | (02/12/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  La Boheme: Recorded in the San Francisco Opera House in 1988, this performance of Puccini's La Boheme contains an international cast of singers and players. ; ; Madama Butterfly: Puccini's classic opera which was completed in 1904. This performance is the 1986 La Scala production.

• Beethoven: Symphonies No. 4 And No. 7 - Berliner Philharmoniker - Abbado | DVD | (30/06/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  A performance of Beethoven Symphony No. 4 and No. 7. The Berlin Philharmoniker is conducted by Claudio Abbado.

• Mozart: Great Piano Concertos - Vol. 4 | DVD | (31/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Mozart: Great Piano Concertos Vol. IV features Mozart's piano concertos No's 5 8 17 & 27.

• Francesca Da Rimini - Zandonai/Levine | DVD | (16/07/2007) from £15.75   |  Saving you £1.24 (7.30%)   |  RRP £16.99

  Over the centuries the story of Francesca da Rimini has inspired many Italian artists including verismo composer Riccardo Zandonai. A cast of three acclaimed singing actors - Renata Scotto Pl''cido Domingo and Cornell MacNeil - bring the medieval characters to life in this beautiful production filmed at the Metropolitan Opera in 1984 First performed in 1914 Francesca da Rimini is a prime example of the lush musical style of the late Romantic era superbly conducted here by James Levine.

• Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail - Mozart | DVD | (01/08/2005) from £16.18   |  Saving you £-1.19 (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Recorded at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera 1980

• New Year's Concert 2009 | DVD | (09/02/2009) from £12.98   |  Saving you £3.01 (23.19%)   |  RRP £15.99

• Carl Orff: Carmina Burana / Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 (Choral) | DVD | (10/05/2004) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  This DVD uniquely presents maestro Seiji Ozawa conducting two great choral masterpieces beloved by audiences and singers the world over. Carl Orff's 'Carmina Burana' by turns boisterous and lyrical sets ribald medieval songs in a celebration of life's pleasures. Also includes Ludwig van Beethoven's monumental Ninth Symphony the Choral which famously concludes with the uplifting 'Ode to Joy' a timeless plea for universal brotherhood. Performed in Latin singers include Kathleen Battle Frank Lopardo and Thomas Allen. Conducted by Seiji Ozawa and directed by Barrie Gavin.

• Live from Salzburg - Dudamel/Simon Bolivar Orchestra | DVD | (06/04/2009) from £9.45   |  Saving you £6.54 (40.90%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Gustavo Dudamel and the glorious Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela perform a whole host of wonderful arrangements of classics, including Beethoven's "Triple Concerto" and "Pictures at an Exhibition" by Mussorgsky.

• Luciano Pavarotti - Verdi: Ernani | DVD | (05/11/2007) from £16.79   |  Saving you £3.20 (19.06%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This version of Verdi's Ernani was a new Metropolitan Opera production filmed in 1983 and brought together an all-star billing of singers including Luciano Pavarotti in his absolute operatic prime. He was joined on stage by Leona Mitchell as the female heroine and the great baritone Sherrill Milnes and bass-baritone Ruggero Raimondi. James Levine conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus on this DVD which has the wonderful atmosphere that only comes with live recordings. Tracklisting: 1. Verdi: Ernani - Opening Credits 2. Preludio 3. Evviva! Beviam! 4. Merc'' Diletti Amici 5. Come Rugiada Al Cespite 6. Oh Tu Che L'alma Adora 7. Surta ''ˆ La Notte 8. Ernani! Ernani Involami 9. Tutto Sprezzo Che D'ernani 10. Fa Che A Me Venga 11. Da Quel Di Che T'ho Veduta 12. Non T'ascolto Mia Sarai 13. Tu Se' Ernani 14. Che Mai Vegg'io! 15. Infelice! E Tuo Credevi 16. Infin Che Un Brando Vindice 17. Uscite ... Ma Signore 18. Mio Signor Dolente I Sono 19. Esultiamo! Letizia Ne Inondi! 20. Jago Qui Tosto Il Pellegrin Adduci 21. Oro Quant'oro Ogn'avido 22. Tu Perfida! 23. Ah Morir Potessi Adesso! 24. Scellerati Il Mio Furore 25. Cugino A Che Munito Il Tuo Castel Ritrovo? 26. Lo Vedremo Veglio Audace 27. Fu Esplorata El Castello Ogni Latebra Pi'' Occulta 28. Vieni Meco Sol Di Rose 29. Vigili Pure I Ciel Sempre Su Te 30. D'ernani I Fidi Chiedono 31. Odi Il Voto 32. E Questo Il Loco? 33. Gran Dio! Costor Sui Sepolcrali Marmi 34. Oh De'verd'anni Miei 35. Ad Augusta! 36. Si Ridesti Il Leon Di Castiglia 37. Qual Rumore? Che Sar'' 38. Io Son Conte Duca Sono 39. O Sommo Carlo Pi'' Del Tuo Nome 40. Oh Come Felici Gioiscon Gli Sposi! 41. Cessaro I Suoni Dispari Ogni Face 42. Ecco Il Pegno 43. Ferma Crudele Estinguere Perch'' Vuoi Tu Due Vite?

• Ermione - Glyndebourne Festival Opera | DVD | (30/01/2006) from £68.99   |  Saving you £-51.00 (-283.50%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Rossini's rarely performed 'opera series' Ermione was a surprise hit when it was first performed at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1995. Set in Troy after the fall of the city to the Greeks this tragedy of great histrionic force concentrates on the bitter struggle for the love of Pyrrhus between Hector's widow Andromache and the jealous Ermione sister of Helen of Troy. Graham Vick sets this highly effective production in the classically-inspired auditorium of an

• Prince of the Mists - Overture | DVD | (01/05/2006) from £11.47   |  Saving you £-1.48 (-14.80%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Prince Of The Mists - Overture [Special DVD + CD]

• Great Composers - Vol. 3 - Mahler / Tchaikovsky / Puccini | DVD | (18/03/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  This three-hour compilation surveying the life and works of Tchaikovsky, Puccini and Mahler completes the BBC Great Composers series (the two previous releases contain the pairings of Bach/Mozart and Beethoven/Wagner). It's a splendid series, full of judiciously collected biographical information, lively and telling visuals, colourful anecdotes and excellent excerpted performances of the composers' best works. The directors' styles are very different, from Kriss Rusmanis' impressionistic approach (with an early chamber piece of Mahler's accompanied by shots of rippling brooks and dappled sunlight) to Chris Hunt's more forthright take on Puccini, but each is well tailored to the subject matter. There is a certain amount of psychological speculation in each case (Mahler may have inherited his sense of irony from watching nine of his siblings die while the jolly life of his father's tavern continued unabated, for example) but there's nothing outrageous. If you haven't hooked up your TV to some decent speakers the performances may sound a little pinched, but they are so good the quality shines through nonetheless; particularly noteworthy is Thomas Hampson's glorious reading of excerpts from Kindertotenlieder, and Georg Solti is on top form. On the DVD: Great Composers on disc comes with subtitles in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian, but no other special features. --Warwick Thompson

• A Gala Concert With Joan Sutherland And Marilyn Horne | DVD | (06/08/2001) from £16.17   |  Saving you £6.81 (51.67%)   |  RRP £19.99

  In 1986 one of opera's legendary partnerships was celebrated in A Gala Concert with Joan Sutherland and Marilyn Horne at Sydney Opera House. Under the musical direction of Sutherland's husband and long term conductor Richard Bonynge, the great soprano and mezzo soprano treated their audience to an epic evening of solos and duets from works with which they had long since become indelibly linked. The concert was preserved and transmitted as an Esso-sponsored night at the opera by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Each diva is given ample room to shine individually. Here in all their glory are Sutherland's "Les Oiseaux dans la Charmille", the mechanical doll's aria from Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann and Horne's "Iris, Hence Away" from Handel's Semele. Magical duets include "Serbami Ognor si Fido" (Rossini's Semiramide), "Viens Mallika, les Lianes en Fleurs" (Delibes' Lakme, much-used in their advertisements by British Airways) and of course the "Barcarolle" from Hoffmann. The overwhelming effect is of their passion for the music and the great professional respect and friendship which Sutherland and Horne clearly feel for each other as two of the greatest champions of the bel canto repertoire in living memory. Essential viewing for anyone remotely interested in operatic history. On the DVD: Digitally restored and remastered from the original tape, this disc at least offers the benefit of crystalline PCM stereo sound quality. In all other respects, it is a television production which inevitably shows its age. The curtain calls and long waits between every item, while Horne and Sutherland are fetched singly or together by Bonynge, are interminable and should have been cut. The 4:3 picture format is sharp enough and reveals the cumbersome dullness of the staging in all its glory. But none of this detracts from the wonder of two appealing prima donnas near their vocal peak. --Piers Ford