"Actor: Pamela Armstrong"

• Proof Of Life | DVD | (27/08/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Russell Crowe stars as Terry Thorne, a K&R (kidnap and rescue) expert called in by the wife of an American engineer (played by Meg Ryan) when her husband is kidnapped in South America.

• Clan Of The Cave Bear | DVD | (14/03/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  In the last days of the Neanderthals, Ayla, a young orphan, must overcome prejudice when she joins a new tribe.

• The Blu-ray Experience: Opera & Ballet Highlights | Blu Ray | (27/10/2008) from £5.40   |  Saving you £-0.41 (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  Features performance extracts from Verdi's IL TROVATORE, Tchaikovsky's SWAN LAKE, Mozart's THE MAGIC FLUTE, Puccini's LA BOHEME and GIANNI SCHICCHI, Bizet's CARMEN, Mendelssohn's A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, Strauss' DIE FLEDERMAUS, Rameau's ZOROASTRE, Bellini's NORMA, and Balanchine's JEWELS.

• J. Strauss II: Die Fledermaus -- Glyndebourne | DVD | (20/02/2004) from £24.99   |  Saving you £5.00 (20.01%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Johann Strauss II's wonderfully convoluted and ingenious Viennese farce Die Fledermaus is a masterpiece of operetta. The tale spins waltz-like around the philandering Von Eisenstein (Thomas Allen), his wife Rosalinde (Pamela Armstrong), who is tempted by singing teacher Alfred (Par Lindskog), and Adele (Lyubov Petrova), Rosalinde's maid. Following Shakespeare's romantic comedy template there is much mistaken identity, confusion of purpose and cross-dressing, with the events unfolding around an increasingly drunken masked ball and the morning after in the local jail. The champagne-fuelled entertainment carries various satiric undertones, but this adaptation by director Stephen Lawless and Daniel Dooner emphasises colour, wit and flamboyance, always ensuring the jokes work well for a modern audience. The production requires acting as strong as the excellent singing, and Thomas Allen delivers a subtly layered interpretation of Eisenstein, while Pamela Armstrong's Rosalinde offers a winning study in smouldering sensuality, well contrasted with Lyubov Petrova's more directly sexual Adele. The revolving set mirrors the swirling Strauss dances and the elegant design is a perfect match for the boldly extrovert costumes. If this Glyndebourne 2003 production doesn't match Dame Joan Sutherland's retirement performance at the Royal Opera House in 1977 for historic value, it is easily as much fun and the production values are second to none. On the DVD: Die Fledermaus is presented on a two-disc edition with Acts 1 and 2 on the first disc and Act 3 and 37 minutes of extras on the second DVD. The 16:9 anamorphically enhanced image is as strong and detailed as BBC live digital video recording can be and the sound is offered in excellent stereo, as well as superb 5.1 DTS, which places the listener in the acoustic equivalent of the best seat in the house. The extras begin with 20 minutes of short but worthwhile interviews with Pamela Armstrong, Thomas Allen, Hakan Hagegard, conductor Vladimir Jurowski and director Stephen Lawless. There is a five-minute feature on the history of the waltz and a four-minute humorous interlude in which Udo Samel explores the pleasures of champagne in his character as the gaoler Frosch. More substantial if less entertaining is Return of the Architect (8 min), a look at the design and construction of the modern Glyndebourne opera house. The set is completed with routine photo and costume galleries and a nicely produced booklet illustrated with good quality colour photographs. Optional subtitles are available in Dutch, English, French, German and Spanish. --Gary S Dalkin

• Strauss - Die Fledermaus | Blu Ray | (31/03/2008) from £20.69   |  Saving you £9.30 (44.95%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Glyndebourne's pulsating new production of the Waltz King's much-loved comic operetta.