"Director: Harry Kupfer"

• Zimmerman: Die Soldaten | DVD | (14/03/2002) from £8.44   |  Saving you £17.81 (248.05%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Opera doesn't come harder hitting than Die Soldaten, Bernd Alois Zimmermann's gripping attempt to reinvent the medium from the Modernist perspective of the 1950s and 60s. Those for whom opera means the Italian and French classics will blanch at the stinging vocal writing and complex orchestral contribution replete with jazz combo and electronics in Zimmerman's only work in the genre. Yet Jakob Lenz's story of the dehumanising quality of war needs no apology, and Harry Kupfer's intricate yet explicit staging--relishing the many opportunities for simultaneous action--pulls no punches. Nancy Shade is persuasive as the awkward adolescent Marie, whose naiveté leads relentlessly to her downfall. Michael Ebbecke is sympathetic as Stolzius, her jilted lover and avenger, while William Cochran is properly brutish as Desportes, the officer who initiates her spiral of decline. Bernhard Kontarsky gets a dedicated response from his Stuttgart Opera forces, who perform with belief in this often excessive but always engrossing work. On the DVD: Die Soldaten on disc has a sharp 4:3 picture and PCM stereo sound that shows little sign of age. Director Hans Hulscher has captured with real immediacy the impact of this 1989 production. There are subtitles in four European languages, and a detailed introduction and synopsis in the booklet. The special feature, however, is merely an ArtHaus trailer: a production such as this really deserves a background feature to reinforce its significance and value. --Richard Whitehouse

• Das Rheingold | DVD | (27/03/2006) from £24.28   |  Saving you £-6.29 (N/A%)   |  RRP £17.99

  The legendary production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen directed by Harry Kupfer at Bayreuth Festival Opera with designs by Hans Schavernoch and conducted by Daniel Barenboim is considered one of the greatest productions of this titanic work ever staged. For their innovative staging Kupfer and his team have turned away from the work's time of origin and located The Ring at a crossroads of history a meeting place of past present and future which sets the scene for the story

• Die Walkure | DVD | (01/06/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The legendary production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen directed by Harry Kupfer at Bayreuth Festival Opera with designs by Hans Schavernoch and conducted by Daniel Barenboim is considered one of the greatest productions of this titanic work ever staged. For their innovative modernist staging Kupfer and his team turn away from the work's time of origin and located The Ring at a 'road of history' a meeting place of past present and future which sets the scene for the story'

• Wagner-Der Ring Des Nibelunge | DVD | (02/07/2007) from £80.98   |  Saving you £-20.99 (N/A%)   |  RRP £59.99

  This legendary Bayreuth Festival production of Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen directed by Harry Kupfer with designs by Hans Schavernoch and conducted by Daniel Barenboim is considered perhaps the finest video recording of these four operas ever made. For their innovative modernist staging Kupfer and his team turned away from the work's time of origin and located The Ring at a road of history a meeting-place of past present and future which sets the scene for the story's struggles of power and love. Barenboim's authoritative yet highly responsive reading of the immense score and the extraordinary performances of the cast help to make this a truly memorable Ring.

• The Legend Of Tsar Saltan | DVD | (16/05/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £21.99

  A Masterpiece of Russian Opera by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Full Title: The Legend of Tsar Saltan, of His Son, the Famous and Mighty Hero Prince Guidon, and of the Beautiful Swan Princess Staged and directed by Harry Kupfer, German Version, Dresden State Opera conducted by GND Siegfried Kurz, Starring: Lidija Rushizkaja, Rolf Wollard, Barbara Hoene, Stephan Spiewok, Elenore Elstermann, Barbara Gubisch, Ilse Ludwig, Ingrid Schuh, Friederike Riedel. Written by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov to celebr...

• Wolfgang Mozart's The Abduction from Seraglio Opera | DVD | (17/10/2011) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera masterpiece, The Abduction from the Seraglio (Die Entfuhrung aus dem Serail), is vibrantly interpreted in this performance by the Dresden State Opera Company, conducted by Peter Gulke, on this DVD. Staged and Directed by Harry Kupfer, this live performance of the opera,in the original German, is captured forever with this historic opera film. Featuring the famed coloratura soprano aria 'Martern aller arten (Torture me and flay me),' the film celebrates the tr...

• Der Ring Des Nibelungen (De Billy) | DVD | (06/11/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £97.99

  Der Ring Des Nibelungen (De Billy): Complete Box Set (11 Discs]