"Actor: Ryland Davies"

• Janacek: Kat'a Kabanova -- Glyndebourne | DVD | (26/01/2001) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Kát'a Kabanová, Janácek's 1921 tragedy, is proof if any were needed that tales of personal oppression and turmoil will always make fine raw material for opera composers. Janácek took Ostrovsky's tumultuous drama of infidelity , The Storm, and created a compelling piece in which his music heightens the relationship between the troubled landscape of Kát'a's inner mind and the elements doing battle outside. In 1988, this Glyndebourne Festival production successfully distilled the heroine's wretched journey from put-upon wife and daughter-in-law to suicide via the ecstasy of a forbidden love affair into 100 minutes of intensely emotional operatic drama. At its heart, Janácek's unique tonal score underlines a powerful, almost naturalistic dialogue and exposes the impact of Kát'a's experiences on her escalating self-destruction. Felicity Palmer's Kabanicha--the mother-in-law from hell and the real instrument of Kát'a's downfall--is curiously remote and muted rather than the domineering figure of fear that we might expect. But the singing, particularly by Nancy Gustafson (tremendously affecting and emotionally convincing in the title role) and Ryland Davies as Kát'a's weak husband Tichon, is outstanding. Gustafson's performance alone makes this essential viewing for anybody with a passion for the great modern soprano roles. On the DVD: Sadly the only additional features are trailers for Seven Gates of Jersualem and The Damnation of Faust. The sound quality (PCM stereo) is more than fair, but inevitably the film of the production is constrained by the design: the stylised set is either very light or very dark and we don't get as close as we'd like to the characters in what is, after all, a disturbingly intimate piece. Arthaus Musik's booklet meets the expected high standards of information and background. --Piers Ford

• 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

• The Love Of Three Oranges | DVD | (05/11/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.25

  This Glyndebourne production of Prokofiev's comic fairy tale opera The Love of Three Oranges recorded in 1982 is nothing short of a sizzling visual extravaganza. The combination of Frank Corsaro's innovative direction and the brilliant creative designs of American book writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak have created an opera which mixes fantasy nightmare romance and satire. The whole production is alive with acrobats jugglers body-builders monsters outrageous inflatable figures colossal puppets and special animated sequences - creating a farcical carnival atmosphere. Willard White powerfully portrays the King whose son a doleful hypochondriac can only be cured through laughter. The antics of the court jester Truffaldino fail to raise even a giggle and it is only when the wicked witch Fata Morgana (Nelly Morpurgo) accidently loses her skirt that the Prince (Ryland Davies) breaks into hysterics. In revenge Morgana condemns the Prince to fall in love with three oranges which he pursues for three thousand miles. The exciting rhythms and brilliant orchestration of Prokofiev's score are conducted by Bernard Haitink. The cast also includes Nucci Condo (Clarissa) John Pringle (Leandro) Ugo Benelli (Truffaldino) Peter-Christoph Runge (Pantaloon) Richard Van Allan (Tchelio) Yvonne Lea (Princess Linetta) Susan Moore (Princess Nicoletta) Fiona Kimm (Smeraldina) Colette Alliot-Lugaz (Princess Ninetta) Roger Bryson (Herald/Cook) Hugh Hetherington (Master of Ceremonies) and Derek Hammond-Stroud (Farfarello).

• Handel: Theodora | Blu Ray | (25/04/2011) from £15.09   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Mozart - Cosi Fan Tutte (the Salzburg Marionette Theatre) | DVD | (20/02/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £3.99

  Performed by the Salzburg Marionette Theatre and the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by: Georg Solti.