"Actor: Richard Croft"

• Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Mozart - Mitridate | DVD | (19/03/2007) from £11.17   |  Saving you £5.08 (51.26%)   |  RRP £14.99

• Buy It in Bottles | DVD | (07/04/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

• Don't Bother to Knock | DVD | (23/07/2012) from £24.21   |  Saving you £-14.22 (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  An airline pilot, dumped by his girlfriend, pursues a baby-sitter in his hotel...and gradually realizes she's dangerous.

• Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) - Netherlands Opera | DVD | (22/12/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  In an audio recording, the distinctive quality of this Netherlands Opera production of The Barber of Seville would go unnoticed, and a lot of people might like it better without pictures. The singing is first-class, with a pert, smart, visually appealing Rosina (Jennifer Larmore), a Count who can spin out bel canto melodies and also do a good drunk scene (Richard Croft), and a Figaro with lots of personality (David Malis). Conductor Alberto Zedda is an expert in the music of Rossini, but video reveals that, for better or for worse, this Barber of Seville differs radically from other treatments of Rossini's comic masterpiece. Usually, The Barber of Seville is an intimate little comedy with a half-dozen solo roles and a small, all-male chorus. Except for a few ensemble numbers, there are only two or three people on stage at any given moment, often conversing in stage whispers. Sometimes, in a plot full of secrets and deceptions, supernumeraries are out of place. Dario Fo's staging ignores this stylistic tradition. He gives the solo singers a crowd of artfully choreographed silent partners (including acrobats, dancers and two men rigged to imitate a donkey), who scamper around the stage carrying ladders and sheets, pushing platforms, waving banners and making sure that there is always something to amuse the eyes as well as the ears. This staging gives a solid visual embodiment to the comic spirit of the words and music, but it wipes out any pretence of dramatic realism. The Barber of Seville does not pretend to be "a slice of life" and many patrons will find that the energy of these added participants is its own justification. But those who treasure traditional staging and the conventions of realism should be ready for a lively but unconventional production. Perhaps they can listen with their eyes closed and enjoy a first-class sound recording. --Joe McLellan

• Monteverdi: L'Incoronazione di Poppea | DVD | (04/12/2000) from £2.96   |  Saving you £23.29 (1,370.00%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea (1642) marks one of the very foundations of opera. Revolving around real historical characters, the Roman emperor Nero, his love for Poppea, the betrayal of the empress Octavia, and death of the philosopher Seneca, Monteverdi pits human love, ambition and intrigue against the fates. The set, a symbolic part-globe, and the costumes drawn from various ages suggest--very much in the way of the surreal film of Shakespeare's Titus (1999)--that the concerns of ancient Rome are timeless. With the emphasis on the text (the music alone does not hold the attention for 150 minutes) conductor Jacobs depends upon an excellent cast to bring the production alive. Patricia Schumann dominates the stage, her Poppea is warm, sensual and likeable, without being entirely trustworthy, an effective counterpart to Richard Croft's Nero. Darla Brooks brings just the right degree of vivacious gullibility to Drusilla, while Curtis Ryam offers eccentric comedy as Arnalta. As Ottone Jeffrey Gall is a man acutely tormented by love. Recorded at the 1993 Schwetzinger Festspiele, there is no sign of an audience, the many close-ups suggesting this performance was specially given for video. On the DVD: There are subtitle options for English, French and German, but no special features. The booklet is well documented but does not contain the libretto. The sound is good PCM stereo while the 4:3 image (not 16:9 as stated on the packaging) is better than video but otherwise unremarkable. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Pelleas Et Melisande | DVD | (27/06/2005) from £24.28   |  Saving you £-6.29 (-35.00%)   |  RRP £17.99

  Debussy's haunting opera Pelleas et Melisande based on a tragic fairy tale recounts the ill fated love of half brothers Golaud and Pelleas for the same woman the enigmatic Melisande. Graham Vick's beautiful fin-de-siecle production for Glyndebourne Festival Opera filmed in 1999 stars Christiane Oelze as Melisande Richard Croft as Pelleas and John Tomlinson as Golaud.

• Stargate S.G -1: Season 4 (Vol. 19) | DVD | (28/01/2002) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99

  The 1994 movie Stargate was originally intended as the start of a franchise, but creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin were distracted celebrating their Independence Day. Episodic TV treatment was the natural next step. In the roles of Colonel Jack O'Neill and Dr Daniel Jackson respectively are Richard Dean Anderson and Michael Shanks. They're joined by Captain Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) and guilt-stricken former alien baddie Teal'c (Christopher Judge) to form the teacher's-pet primary unit SG-1. With a seemingly endless network of Stargates found to exist on planets all across the known universe, their mission is to make first contact with as many friendly races as possible. Chasing their heels at almost every turn are the "overlord" Goa'uld--the ancient Egyptian Gods who are none too chummy after the events of the original film. There's something of The Time Tunnel to the show's premise, but Stargate has held its own with stories that put the science fiction back into TV sci-fi. On the DVD: Episodes: Double Jeopardy and Exodus. In "Double Jeopardy", SG-1 experiences a bogus journey when they're reunited with their robot doppelgangers (from "Tin Man"). Some welcome resolution is given to their separate story line, since they'd basically been left to fend for themselves. The split-screen effects are excellent allowing the actors to interact with themselves. This was the directorial debut of Michael Shanks (Dr Jackson). The big Season Four finale had a lot of continuity to pull together before allowing our heroes their "Exodus". Sam gets to spend more time with her Tokra father than has been possible while everything disintegrates around them. While Teal'c goes out of his way to avenge the death of an old lover (how many wives has he had?), the unveiling of Earth's most recently acquired piece of technology seems to turn the tide of battle against the Goa'uld. And then all is lost. Including them.--Paul Tonks

• Salieri: Falstaff | DVD | (21/06/2000) from £26.98   |  Saving you £-1.99 (-8.00%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Recorded at the Schwetziner Festspiele in 1995.

• Science of Silence | DVD | (06/01/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £4.99