"Actor: Stanford Olsen"

• Rossini: Semiramide | DVD | (31/12/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £34.99

  Bel canto can be translated as "pretty singing", and that definition seems tailor-made for this production, which offers grace, charm, and a fine-tuned sense of style in abundance to compensate for its limited psychological and emotional impact. The four principal singers are all specialists in the bel canto style and this opera has played a key role in building their substantial reputations. For its sweeping musical imagination and technical wizardry, Rossini's epic about royal assassination and misdirected lust in the ancient Babylonian Empire deserves a place in any inclusive opera collection, and we are not likely to have a better video recording of Semiramide in the foreseeable future. June Anderson has an attractive appearance and sounds exactly right in the music's florid melodic lines. But she is not dramatically compelling as the wicked queen who had her husband killed and fell in love with a man who turned out to be her long-lost son, Arsace. Marilyn Horne rose to the highest levels of international fame in the role of that conflicted son, and her presence alone would be enough to give this video classic status. Her voice was a bit past its prime when this performance was recorded in 1991, but still there is no other voice quite like it, no other voice so suited to Rossini's heroic mezzo roles. Samuel Ramey is a close bass counterpart to Anderson: great tone, agile florid singing, and a rather wooden but visually appealing stage presence. Sanford Olsen has a small role and sings it near perfectly. James Conlon gets excellent musical results; John Copley's staging is massive and static. --Joe McLellan, Amazon.com

• Sweeney Todd in Concert : Stephen Sondheim | DVD | (25/02/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  This spellbinding production of Stephen Sondheim's ""Sweeney Todd : The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"" a musical thriller of revenge and romance set in Victorian London features Broadway diva Patty LuPone as Mrs. Lovett and veteran stage actor George Hearn in the title role. This concert version of the Broadway masterpiece was recorded in 2001 at San Francisco's famous Davies Symphony Hall with the world-class San Francisco Symphony Orchestra.

• Stephen Sondheim - Sweeny Todd | DVD | (10/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  A musical thriller of romance and revenge permiered on Broadway in 1979 it went on to win 8 Tony Awards and is a masterpiece of musical theatre. This recording was done during a 2001 concert staged in San Francisco and the city's Symphony Orchestra provided powerful accompaniment to stars Patti Lupone and George Hearn.