"Actor: Robert Hampson"

• Verdi: Don Carlos | DVD | (20/11/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  This is a 1996 all-star-cast version from Paris of the original French version of Verdi's epic five-act opera, Don Carlos. First produced in 1867, only Wagner would write musical drama on a grander scale, and due to the three-and-a-half-hour running time most subsequent productions have made substantial cuts. This is therefore a rare opportunity to witness Verdi's tragedy in its entirety.Set in the 16th century in the aftermath of war between Spain and France, Don Carlo (Roberto Alagna), the heir to the Spanish throne comes to France to meet with his beloved Elizabeth de Valois (Karita Mattila). Inevitably politics divide the lovers, and while Rodrigue (Thomas Hampson) falls in with Flemish rebels, the Inquisition is determined to be the power behind the peace. This is certainly not Verdi's greatest work, but it contains great music and the stars are allowed to shine with strong characterisations in an elegantly designed production. There are no gimmicks or attempts at spurious contemporary relevance here, simply singers of the calibre of Alagna, Mattila, Hampson, plus the outstanding Eric Halfvarson as the Grand Inquisitor. This is a production that continues in the 19th-century tradition, and in the process delivers the frisson of world-class opera. --Gary S. DalkinOn the DVD: While the running time precludes much in the way of special features, via DVD-ROM the libretto can be printed in French, together with an article and biographies. The picture is presented at approximately 1.7:1 and while far superior to video could still benefit from anamorphic enhancement. The sound is stereo or excellent Dolby Digital 5.0. The booklet offers a detailed synopsis in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish and there are subtitles in the same languages. The disc is encoded for regions two to six. --Gary S. Dalkin

• Various Composers - Metropolitan Opera Gala (Levine) | DVD | (07/11/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Metropolitan Opera Gala Live Recording (selections): Metropolitan Opera House New York 27 April 1996.Highlights from: Les Pecheurs de perles - Louise - The Ghosts of Versailles - Don Pasquale - Rusalka - Andrea Chenier - Faust - Romeo et Juliette - Giuditta - L'amico Fritz - Cosi fan tutte - Le nozze di Figaro - Don Giovanni - Les Contes d'Hoffmann - La Perichole - Die Fledermaus - Der Rosenkavalier - Samson et Dalila - Eugene Onegin - Un ballo in maschera - Don Carlo - Ernani - I lombardi - Luisa Miller - Rienzi Tannhauser - Tristan und Isolde - Die Walkure - Gotterdammerung - Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg.

• Worlds In Flux | DVD | (27/09/2013) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £11.99

  13 short films from cutting-edge digital artists semiconductor includes music videos sound-films and live cinema. Semiconductor are artists Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt who make stunning cutting-edge digital artworks in the form of sound-films music videos and live animation . Guided by obsessive interests in landscape architecture geography chaos / systems theory and artificial life forms they explore the potential of the computer to unite sound and image (sounds generating and controlling imagery; and vice versa) . What's revealed are physical worlds in flux - cities in motion; shifting landscapes and systems in chaos . Hugely original and immensely creative Semiconductor approach each project from a fresh angle always looking to extend themselves and to break new ground . They have exhibited their work in gallery installations at festivals and in live / club environments; and have been awarded numerous fellowships prizes and residencies notably as artists in residence at the NASA Space Sciences Laboratory UCB . This DVD offers a comprehensive overview of their work over the past five years . Tracklist 1. Brilliant Noise 2. The Sound of Microclimates 3. Mum - ""Green Grass of Tunnel"" 4. Inaudible Cities 5. Strata 6. QT? - ""qqq"" 7. Mini Epochs 8.Sonic Inc. (Extracts) 9. Digital Anthrax 10. Earthquake Films 11. Do You Think Science... 12. All The time In The World 13. Double Adaptor - ""200 Nanowebbers""