"Director: Michael Hampe"

• Rossini: Il Barbiere di Siviglia (The Barber of Seville) -- Stuttgart | DVD | (06/03/2001) from £20.00   |  Saving you £4.99 (24.95%)   |  RRP £24.99

  The point of a good production of Rossini's Il Barbiere di Siviglia is to have a Rosina and a Figaro who will knock your socks off in their respective arias, while holding back enough in all those crescendo ensembles in which the farce plot reaches its several culminations that the other stars get a chance to shine too. Cecilia Bartoli and Gino Quilico give full-blooded enough performances when on stage by themselves that self-effacement seems far from imminent, yet both are capable of less, and give it when it is needed. Of the others, David Kuebler is an attractively raffish Almaviva, while Robert Lloyd turns Basilio into a memorable cameo. Gabriele Ferro is one of the most intelligent of Rossini conductors--he understands the relationship between the pulse of the music and its dramatic function, and he is also outstanding in the delicacy of phrasing, even in climaxes, that ensures that every voice, every instrument, gets the moment of glory Rossini intended. Michael Hampe's solid reliable unfussy production keeps everything moving without drawing attention to itself. The DVD has subtitles in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish, as well as trailers for other Arthaus Musik discs. --Roz Kaveney

• Handel - Serse / Rasmussen · Hallenberg · Bardon · Bayrakdarian · Piau · Lippi · Peirone · Les Talens Lyriques · Rousset · Hampe | DVD | (01/08/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Opera in three acts.Recorded live at the Semperoper Dresden 2-3 June 2000.

• Rossini - La Gazza Ladra (Bartoletti) | DVD | (02/04/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Gioacchino Rossini - La Gaza Ladra - Opera Semiseria In Two Acts.Live Recording From The Cologne Opera In 1987.

• Il Barbiere Di Siviglia | DVD | (17/04/2003) from £33.73   |  Saving you £-8.74 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Mozart - Il Barbiere Di Siviglia (Bartoli Kuebler)

• 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

• Mozart: Don Giovanni -- Von Karajan | DVD | (16/10/2000) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £14.99

  A performance of Mozart's opera 'Don Giovanni' performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Vienna State Opera Choir; conducted by Herbert Von Karajan. Singers include: Samuel Ramey and Julia Varady; directed by Michael Hampe. Recorded live at the Festpiele Salzburg in 1987.

• John Eliot Gardiner - In Rehearsal | DVD | (13/06/2002) from £21.58   |  Saving you £-1.59 (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  The In Rehearsal series continues to offer fascinating insights into the technique of conducting with this film about John Eliot Gardiner rehearsing Bach's Cantata BWV63 (Christen, ätzet diesen Tag). The venue is EMI's Abbey Road Studios, so there are the obligatory hackneyed shots of that zebra crossing at the beginning, but there's nothing else hackneyed about the rest of this engrossing film. The devil is in the detail: what Gardiner says about Bach and period performance (enlightening though it is) is less interesting than the way he says it. After one rousing chorus, for example, he leaves everyone breathless in silence while he digs some dirt from his fingernails before giving them a cool "Well done". A mild contretemps with the first trumpet leads to an interview in which the brass player nervously and darkly hints at even greater conflict under the surface of the rehearsal. It's remarkable to hear the sublime music-making that results despite, or perhaps because of, the tension: Gardiner continually urges the musicians to swing the beat and feel the pulse as if it were a dance, and they do. One quibble: the names of the soloists aren't credited anywhere, so here they are: Ann Monoyios, Sara Mingardo, Rufus Müller and Stephan Loges. On the DVD: John Eliot Gardiner in Rehearsal is presented in 4:3 ratio, with PCM Stereo sound format. The picture quality is clear without being lustrous, but perfectly adequate for the needs of the subject. The disc has subtitles available in English, German, French and Spanish. --Warwick Thompson

• Agrippina - Handel | DVD | (03/10/2005) from £29.68   |  Saving you £-4.69 (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Agrippina: Handel

• Britten: The Turn of the Screw -- Schwetzinger Festival 1990 | DVD | (25/05/2001) from £24.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Michael Hampe's celebrated production of Benjamin Britten's shattering opera based on the spine-chilling short story by the 19th century American novelist Henry James. The Radio Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart performs under the renowned Britten specialist Stuart Bedford.

• Die Entfuhrung Aus Dem Serail - Mozart | DVD | (03/04/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  Recorded live at the Rococo Theatre Schwetzingen May 1991.Directed for TV by Claus Viller.A stage production of the Oper der Stadt Koln and the Opera de Nice from the Schwetzinger Festspiele.

• Wagner: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg -- Australian Opera / Mackerras | DVD | (20/02/2004) from £32.38   |  Saving you £-2.39 (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is Wagner's most life-affirming opera, a romantic comedy about life and love in 16th century Nürnberg with none of the mythological characters and settings of the composer's other operas. The story concerns a knight, Walther Von Stolzing (here sung by Paul Frey) who must win the hand of the woman he loves, Eva (Helena Doese) by competing in a competition to become the Master Singer of the city. Against him are various romantic rivals, while in the role of his eventual mentor is the shoemaker Hans Sachs (Donald McIntyre). Doese brings just the right innocent femininity to one of only two important female roles--the other is filled by Rosemary Gunn as her governess, Magdalene. Paul Frey is fine as the romantic young knight, but the opera belongs to the great New Zealand Wagnerian bass-baritone, Donald McIntyre. His performance is richly insightful as only one so steeped in the world of the composer could be. The staging is deliberately unspectacular, the colours muted to the natural earth tones of the Middle Ages, focusing all attention on the characters, drama and exhilarating music. Though running three-and-a-half hours, Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg is an excellent introduction to Wagner's art; especially as presented in this 1990 performance in an engagingly direct and unpretentious style, one that draws the audience in and makes for highly effective small-screen viewing. On the DVD: Die Meistersinger is presented on two DVDs to maximise picture quality over the 227-minute playing time. The image is 4:3 and is typical of a 1990 live opera performance recorded on video, being perfectly acceptable while revealing all the faults of the medium. The stereo sound is very good without being exceptional. There are optional subtitles in English, German, French and Spanish but no extras. --Gary S Dalkin

• La Scala Opera Collection - Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte - Various Artists | DVD | (12/11/2007) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £9.99

  Teatro Alla Scala Muti: Mozart - Cosu Fan Tutte

• Il Matrimonio Segreto - Cimarosa | DVD | (31/10/2005) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  'Il Matrimonio Segreto' is Cimarosa's most famous opera which is reputed to have won immense admiration from Emperor Leopold II at its first performance in 1792. T Austrian Emperor liked this masterpiece so much that he ordered it to be played again from the beginning! Domenico Cimarosa's opera about the amorous bumblings of Bolognese gentry is performed by the Cologne Opera at the 1986 Schwetzingen Festival.

• Il Signor Bruschino - Rossini | DVD | (03/02/2006) from £7.39   |  Saving you £17.60 (238.16%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A production of Rossini's one act opera 'Il Signor Bruschino' performed by the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Gianluigi Gelmetti at the Schetzingen Festival in May 1989.

• La Cambiale Di Matrimonio - Rossini | DVD | (31/03/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  This sparkling production continues the Rossini one-act opera series emerging from the Schwetzingen Festival with excellent direction acting and stagecraft.This production of La cambiale di matrimonio represented yet another piece de resistance that sets a standard in musical buffoonery for the other all too rare productions in this genre.Recorded live at the Rococo Theatre Schwetzingen May 1989.

• Gioacchino Rossini - La Cenerentola | DVD | (27/11/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £24.99

  A live recording from the Kleines Festspielhaus Salzburg 1982

• Cosi Fan Tutte - Mozart | DVD | (29/05/2006) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £29.99

  Dramma giocoso in due atti K588 in two acts.Recorded live at The Kleines Festspielhaus Salzburg August 1983.