Classical Music

• The Hidden Heart - Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears | DVD | (24/11/2008) from £15.48   |  Saving you £-6.49 (-72.20%)   |  RRP £8.99

  Benjamin Britten (1913-76) was the leading British composer of the twentieth century and his reputation is international. Although his life was marked with many 'establishment'' honours he remained at heart an outsider alienated by his homosexuality his pacifism his genius his uncompromising commitment to his own judgement and even his extraordinary success. But the story told in this documentary is above all a love story one that tells of Britten''s passion for music and the intensity of his union with the tenor Peter Pears his companion in life and creativity. It explores his talent triumph trials and tribulations by focusing on three of his major works - Peter Grimes the War Requiem and Death in Venice - and draws on specially-staged and newly-filmed performance extracts; clips from productions recorded in Britten''s day including several featuring Pears; archive material; and newsreel footage. A picture is drawn of the public''s perception of and reaction to the man and his music while contributions from friends and close associates reveal much about the very private person he remained in spite of his fame.

• Verdi: La Traviata (Aix-en-Provence, 2011) | DVD | (12/03/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Natalie Dessay made her first European appearances as Violetta in La traviata in a new production by the French director Jean-Franois Sivadier at the 2011 Aix-en-Provence Festival. This DVD captures her intense performance in the company of American tenor Charles Castronovo as Alfredo and French baritone Ludovic Tzier as his father, Giorgio Germont. Her theatrical impact is devastating, wrote the Financial Times. With this new production of La traviata at the 2011 Aix-en-Provence Festival, Natalie Dessay made her first European appearances as Verdi's Violetta, a pinnacle of the soprano repertoire. She made her debut in the role in 2009 at the Santa Fe Festival in the US, and subsequently sang Violetta in Japan. Dessay's 2011-12 season will include La traviata at the Vienna State Opera (in this Aix-en-Provence production by French theatre and opera director Jean-Franois Sivadier) and the New York Metropolitan. Violetta makes tremendous demands on a singer, both vocally and dramatically, and signals Dessay's transition from lighter coloratura roles to the more full-blooded lyric repertoire. I'm tired of playing weeping girls, she told the French magazine Tl 7 Jours, Violetta is a real woman. That makes a nice change! The change was clearly successfully achieved: describing Dessay’s performance, the Financial Times wrote that her theatrical impact is devastating. Sivadier's production was staged in the open air, in Aix-en-Provence's exquisite Thtre de l'Archevch with its huge spiral staircases, medieval arches and 18th-century wings. The stage dcor was minimal, the simple costumes evoked the 1940s or 1950s, and the prime focus was on intense characterisation.

• The Gaslight Anthem Live In London | DVD | (14/01/2014) from £5.03   |  Saving you £10.96 (217.89%)   |  RRP £15.99

  Tracklist: American Slang 59 Sound Handwritten '45' Here Comes My Man Too Much Blood Great Expectations Keepsake She Loves You Mulholland Drive

• Zoom Karaoke DVD - Indie, Britpop & Alternative Superhits Karaoke - 60 Songs | DVD | (02/12/2010) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £7.99

  Track Listing A Town Called Malice - Jam Alive And Kicking - Simple Minds Alright - Supergrass Ask - Smiths Baby I Don't Care - Transvision Vamp Babylon - David Gray Breakfast At Tiffany's - Deep Blue Something Common People - Pulp Crash - Primitives Creep - Radiohead Disco 2000 - Pulp Don't Look Back In Anger - Oasis Don't You (Forget About Me) - Simple Minds Everyday Is Like Sunday - Morrissey Friday I'm In Love - Cure Girl From Mars - Ash Girls And Boys - Blur Going Underground - Jam Golde...

• Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake - Valery Gergiev | DVD | (15/10/2007) from £24.95   |  Saving you £-10.96 (N/A%)   |  RRP £13.99

  Flimed in the Imperial Splendour of the Mariinsky Theatre St Petersburg the first of a new DVD series of classic productions. The Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet dancing the definitive Swan Lake conducted by Valery Gergiev. Stars the prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Ballet Uliana Lopatkina

• Maurice Ravel - L'Enfant Et Les Sortileges/L'Heure Espagnole | DVD | (07/11/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £12.25

  Maurice Ravel's one-act operas L'Enfant et les Sortil''ges and L'Heure Espagnole are often performed as a double bill. These two productions for Glyndebourne Festival Opera were first recorded and seen on BBC TV in 1987 and are both designed by the great American children's book writer and illustrator Maurice Sendak and directed by Frank Corsaro. L'Enfant et les Sortil''ges or 'The bewitched child' is an enchanting fantasy which tells the tale of a boy who is angry because he does not want to learn his lessons. He destroys his books and vandalises the room he is in. But the room comes to life - chairs grandfather clock teapot and teacup - and seeks revenge... The staging of this production featured film projection and this has been brilliantly reflected in the electronically-edited television recording. Cynthia Buchan sings the role of the boy and the cast also includes Fiona Kimm Malcolm Walker Fran''ois Loup Hyacinth Nicholls Thierry Dran Louise Winter Nan Christie Jady Pearl Carol Smith Harolyn Blackwell Anna Steiger and Alison Hagley. Simon Rattle conducts The London Philharmonic. L'Heure Espagnole means not only 'the Spanish clock' but also 'the Spanish hour'; every Thursday at the same time the clockmaker Torquemada has an appointment to wind and regulate the town clocks thus leaving his wife alone in the house for an hour... The Spanish adventure is set in a Toledo square over which towers the baroque fa''ade of the town hall where Torquemada winds and minds the clocks. Maurice Sendak's delightfully animated set comprises a huge baroque fa''ade complete with working clocks and carved emblems. The cast includes Anna Steiger Fran''ois Le Roux R''my Corazza Thierry Dran and Fran''ois Loup. Sian Edwards conducts The London Philharmonic.

• Nutcracker | DVD | (31/10/2009) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Schiaccianoci (Lo) / Nutcracker

• A Musical Journey - Venice | DVD | (29/03/2004) from £12.47   |  Saving you £-3.48 (N/A%)   |  RRP £8.99

  THE PLACES: Venice is one of the most famous of all cities its buildings reflecting its former commercial importance and wealth. It canals and its position at the head of the Adriatic have given it a unique character that has continued to attract visitors.THE MUSIC: The music is either associated directly with Venice or familiar there in the heyday of the Serenissima. It includes music by the Venetian composers Vivaldi and Marcello and by Domenico Scarletti Neapolitan by birth

• Motorhead - The Bronze Era | DVD | (19/08/2013) from £8.08   |  Saving you £-2.09 (-34.90%)   |  RRP £5.99

• Sommernachtskonzert 2023 / Summer Night Concert 2023 | DVD | (14/07/2023) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Anna Netrebko - The Woman The Voice | DVD | (05/07/2004) from £18.98   |  Saving you £-4.99 (-35.70%)   |  RRP £13.99

  The debut album from soprano Anna Netrebko - entitled OPERA ARIAS - is brought into the visual medium with this release. Five videos are set to arias from the album in a production originally shot for television with cutting-edge choreography coming from Vincent Patterson who formerly worked on feature films such as THE BIRDCAGE and DANCER IN THE DARK.

• Smokie - the All Time Greatest Hits Collection | DVD | (10/11/2008) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  Tracklisting: 1. Something's Been Making Me Blue 2. Lay Back In The Arms Of Someone 3. Tomorrow 4. Back To You 5. Medley: It's Your Life; Take Good Care Of My Baby; Mexican Girl; For A Few Dollars More 6. Wild Angels 7. If You Think You Know How To Love Me 8. Home Is Anywhere You Are 9. Baby It's You 10. The Night Stood Still 11. Don't Give Me That 12. I'll Meet You At Midnight 13. Have You Ever Seen The Rain 14. Oh Carol 15. Needles & Pins 16. Don't Play Your Rock 'n' Roll To Me 17. Living Next Door To Alice.

• Party On The Dancefloor - Live From The London SSE Wembley Arena | DVD | (08/06/2018) from £12.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

• Rossini: Il Barbiere Di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) - Madrid Teatro Real | DVD | (14/11/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

  This sparkling new production of Rossini's comedy is led by two of today's greatest opera stars - Maria Bayo as the young ward Rosina and Juan Diego Florez as her handsome suitor Count Almaviva. The wily Figaro (the Barber) is Pietro Spagnoli Bruno Practico is the hapless guardian Don Bartolo and the cunning singing teacher Basilio is the renowned Ruggero Raimondi.

• Mozart on Tour: Schwetzingen and Paris - Zacharias and Mitsuko Uchida | DVD | (12/11/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

• Britten: The Turn of the Screw (Toby Spence, Miah Persson, Susan Bickley, Giselle Allen - Glyndebourne Production) | Blu Ray | (22/10/2012) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £30.99

  FRAM 507; FRA MUSICA; Classica Lirica

• Massenet: Manon | DVD | (18/08/2008) from £18.95   |  Saving you £-12.96 (-216.40%)   |  RRP £5.99

  Jules Massenet's Manon performed by Staatsopernchor, Staatskapelle Berlin conducted by Daniel Barenboim.

• Charles Mingus - Epitaph | DVD | (06/04/2009) from £3.61   |  Saving you £12.64 (537.87%)   |  RRP £14.99

  On June 3rd 1989 the Alice Tully Hall at New York's Lincoln Center was the venue for the world premiere performance of Charles Mingus' masterpiece Epitaph. Conductor Gunther Schuller directed 30 musicians in what the New York Times described as One of the most memorable jazz events of the decade. The piece had been discovered after Mingus' death in 1979 and painstakingly restored and copied. It is the largest and longest piece for jazz orchestra ever written and is now available here on DVD for the first time. 1. Main Score: Part One 2. Percussion Discussion 3. Main Score: Part Two 4. Started Melody 5. The Soul 6. Untitled Ballad 7. Moods In Mambo 8. Self Portrait: The Chill Of Death 9. O.P. (Oscar Pettiford) 10. Please Don't Come Back From The Moon 11. Monk Bunk And Vice Versa 12. Peggy's Blue Skylight 13. Wolverine Blues 14. The Children's Hour Of Dream 15. Freedom 16. Untitled Interlude 17. Better Get Hit In Your Soul 18. Noon Night 19. Main Score Reprise

• Missa Solemnis - Beethoven | DVD | (03/03/2006) from £7.39   |  Saving you £15.60 (211.10%)   |  RRP £22.99

  Inaugural Concert to Celebrate the Reopening of the Dresden Frauenkirche.Recorded live at the Frauenkirche Dresden 4-5 November 2005.

• Sutra | DVD | (02/02/2009) from £7.95   |  Saving you £12.04 (151.45%)   |  RRP £19.99

  Sutra Recorded At Sadler's Wells