{"title":"C Major Entertainment Sale 2026","description":"\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eExplore the artistry of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eC Major Entertainment\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e with over \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e100 titles\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e on sale now!\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShop timeless works by \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBellini, Verdi, Faccio\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and more. Experience unforgettable performances from renowned artists and ensembles including the \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eWiener Philharmoniker, Paul Anka,\u003c\/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003eSan Francisco Ballet\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. From grand opera and orchestral masterpieces to ballet and legendary live performances, discover something spectacular for your collection!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"shopify-section-template--18107431616746__blocks_hpEaLT\" class=\"shopify-section\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"shopify-block-ARk1HUVd2TGNpVktaW__ai_gen_block_00051a3_B6TAYk\" class=\"shopify-block\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header__container-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header__description-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"shopify-section-template--18107431616746__blocks_hpEaLT\" class=\"shopify-section\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"shopify-block-ARk1HUVd2TGNpVktaW__ai_gen_block_00051a3_B6TAYk\" class=\"shopify-block\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header__container-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header__description-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"shopify-section-template--18107431616746__blocks_hpEaLT\" class=\"shopify-section\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"shopify-block-ARk1HUVd2TGNpVktaW__ai_gen_block_00051a3_B6TAYk\" class=\"shopify-block\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header__container-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header__description-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"shopify-section-template--18107431616746__blocks_hpEaLT\" class=\"shopify-section\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"shopify-block-ARk1HUVd2TGNpVktaW__ai_gen_block_00051a3_B6TAYk\" class=\"shopify-block\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header__container-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header__description-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"shopify-section-template--18107431616746__blocks_hpEaLT\" class=\"shopify-section\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"shopify-block-ARk1HUVd2TGNpVktaW__ai_gen_block_00051a3_B6TAYk\" class=\"shopify-block\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header__container-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header__description-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"shopify-section-template--18107431616746__blocks_hpEaLT\" class=\"shopify-section\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"shopify-block-ARk1HUVd2TGNpVktaW__ai_gen_block_00051a3_B6TAYk\" class=\"shopify-block\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header__container-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ai-section-header__description-ark1huvd2tgnpvktawaigenblock00051a3b6tayk\"\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eShop the sale before it ends at\u003cstrong\u003e 9:00am ET, Monday, September 7th, 2026.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"ernani","title":"Verdi: Ernani","description":"Ernani is a gripping drama about love and revenge by Giuseppe Verdi. Written in his unique style it brims with poignant arias, rousing choruses and enthralling ensemble scenes. The rebel leader Ernani recognises his father's murderer in the Spanish King Carlo and seeks revenge on him. Both men love Elvira - as does old Silva whom she is to be married to... Director Lotte de Beer and her set and costume designer Christof Hetzer devote themselves to the fictional   plot which bears references to the 16th century. They demonstrate their rich scenic imagination in this production,   conducted by Enrique Mazzola who \"provides musically magic moments at the stand of the Wiener Symphoniker\"   (Schwabische Zeitung). \"Great singers, fiery music and an action-packed staging\" (Allgauer Zeitung). \"A mixture of Tarantino's 'Kill Bill' and Monty Python's 'The Knights of the Coconut'.\" (Deutschlandfunk)","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181624467736,"sku":"810116910526","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4371516-3238090.jpg?v=1777495138"},{"product_id":"der-freischutz-1","title":"Weber: Der Freischutz","description":"Bull's eye, Carl Maria von Weber triumphantly wrote to his librettist Friedrich Kind after the enthusiastically received world premiere of Der Freischutz in 1821 in Berlin. With it's emotional and gripping music, it soon became the epitome of German Romantic opera. As one of the most popular operas in the German-speaking world, Der Freischutz has now been staged on the Seebuhne for the first time under the lead of director and stage designer Philipp Stolzl and conductor-in-residence Enrique Mazzola. The two teamed up again in Bregenz following their phenomenal success with Verdi's Rigoletto. \"The staging is overwhelming\" (Suddeutsche Zeitung). \"A small theatre miracle is taking place in Bregenz\" (Der Tagesspiegel). BONUS: A Winter's Tale: Inside 'Der Freischutz' at Bregenzer Festspiele","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181624533272,"sku":"810116910533","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4371517-3236027.jpg?v=1777495203"},{"product_id":"ernani-1","title":"Verdi: Ernani","description":"Ernani is a gripping drama about love and revenge by Giuseppe Verdi. Written in his unique style it brims with poignant arias, rousing choruses and enthralling ensemble scenes. The rebel leader Ernani recognises his father's murderer in the Spanish King Carlo and seeks revenge on him. Both men love Elvira - as does old Silva whom she is to be married to... Director Lotte de Beer and her set and costume designer Christof Hetzer devote themselves to the fictional   plot which bears references to the 16th century. They demonstrate their rich scenic imagination in this production,   conducted by Enrique Mazzola who \"provides musically magic moments at the stand of the Wiener Symphoniker\"   (Schwabische Zeitung). \"Great singers, fiery music and an action-packed staging\" (Allgauer Zeitung). \"A mixture of Tarantino's 'Kill Bill' and Monty Python's 'The Knights of the Coconut'.\" (Deutschlandfunk)","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181624664344,"sku":"810116910519","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4371515-3238089.jpg?v=1777495108"},{"product_id":"tosca","title":"Puccini: Tosca","description":"It is an event that attracts thousands of music lovers to Verona every summer: the opera season in the ancient Roman Arena. Nearly 22,000 spectators regularly fill the amphitheater for the performances. The dream couple of opera, Sonya Yoncheva and Vittorio Grigolo, returns to the breathtaking open-air stage, to perform Giacomo Puccini's Tosca. Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva is \"one of the best Toscas currently singing\" and Vittorio Grigolo \"the most Italian Cavaradossi we know. With lots of wonderful melting, elegant and nonchalant full of triumphant greatness a triumph all along the line\" (Online Merker). The captivating staging by Argentine director Hugo de Ana, who masterfully exploits the amphitheatre's vast space by placing huge elements on the stage that are reminiscent of or borrowed from the locations of the action, makes the opera a \"spectacle of monumental opulence\" (Online Merker). \"A Tosca to relish!\" (Artesnews. It) \"standing ovation Tosca at the Arena di Verona\" (Operalife).","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181624729880,"sku":"810116910472","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4371513-3238087.jpg?v=1777494627"},{"product_id":"kit-armstrong-performs-bachs-goldberg-variations-and-its-pr","title":"Kit Armstrong Performs Bach's Goldberg Variations and Its Pr","description":"When Kit Armstrong was only 14 , he overcame his mentor Alfred Brendel's reluctance to take on pupils. Brendel said ''He played so beautifully that I thought to myself, 'I have to make tiem for him.' It was a performance that really led you from the first to the last note.'' Soon Armstrong was winning international prizes both as pianists and as composer and was appearing as soloist at some of the world's foremost venues. At the Concertgebouw, Armstrong mesmerized his audience with Bach's monumental Goldberg Variations - preceded by earlier polyphonic variation masterpieces by William Byrd, Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck and John Bull. ''Enlightening and exhilarating'' (Revierpassagen). ''Armstrong's phenomenal recital was so exceptional that every attempt to describe it falls short'' (NRC).","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181629743384,"sku":"814337014162","price":16.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181629776152,"sku":"814337014179","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/3685254.jpg?v=1778118974"},{"product_id":"verdi-attila","title":"Verdi: Attila","description":"\u003ca class=\"links\" href=\"album.jsp?album_id=812919\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on Blu-ray\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Based on a Romantic tragedy by Zacharias Werner, Attila is set in the 5th century AD. The opera takes as its starting point Attila’s plans to storm Rome with his army of Huns and the Roman’s attempts to prevent him. As with Nabucco and I Lombardi, Verdi spiced up the action with a number of patriotic choruses, guaranteeing that – against the background of the Italian movement for unification – the opera was a great success. \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Giuseppe Verdi\u003cbr\u003e  ATTILA\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Attila – Giovanni Battista Parodi\u003cbr\u003e  Ezio – Sebastian Catana\u003cbr\u003e  Odabella – Susanna Branchini\u003cbr\u003e  Foresto – Roberto de Biasio\u003cbr\u003e  Aldino – Cristiano Cremonini\u003cbr\u003e  Leone – Zyian Atfeh\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Parma Teatro Regio Chorus and Orchestra\u003cbr\u003e  (chorus master: Martino Faggiani)\u003cbr\u003e  Andrea Battistoni, conductor\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Pier Francesco Maestrini, stage director\u003cbr\u003e  Carlo Salvi, set and costume designer\u003cbr\u003e  Bruno Ciulli, lighting designer\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Recorded live from the Teatro Verdi di Busseto, 2010 \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Bonus:\u003cbr\u003e  - Introduction to Attila \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Picture format: NTSC 16:9\u003cbr\u003e  Sound format: PCM Stereo \/ DTS 5.1\u003cbr\u003e  Region code: 0 (worldwide)\u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese\u003cbr\u003e  Booklet notes: English, French, German\u003cbr\u003e  Running time: 118 mins (opera) + 10 mins (bonus)\u003cbr\u003e  No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  R E V I E W:  \u003ctitle\u003e3652590.az_VERDI_Attila_Andrea_Battistoni.html\u003c\/title\u003e  \u003cmeta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eVERDI \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003eAttila \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e Andrea Battistoni, cond; Giovanni Battista Parodi (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eAttila\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Sebastian Catana (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eEzio\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Susanna Branchini (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eOdabella\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Roberto De Biasio (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eForesto\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Cristiano Cremonini (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eUldino\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Zyian Atfeh (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eLeone\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Teatro Regio di Parma O \u0026amp; Ch \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e C MAJOR 721608 (DVD); 721704 (Blu-ray) (118:00 + 10:00) Live: Busseto 10\/2010 \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eAttila\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e (1846) was Verdi’s ninth opera, preceding \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eMacbeth\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e by almost exactly one year. It had a slow start, but became quite popular through the 1860s, after which interest in it began to diminish. Though not again a repertory piece, it has had a number of modern revivals and there are a number of recordings of it. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eIts libretto is a bit confused, almost certainly because the writer of the first part, Temistocle Solera, departed for Spain before he had finished and Francesco Maria Piave was recruited to finish it. Solera and Piave had almost opposing ideas of what an opera libretto was and so, what some have called the “oratorio” style of Solera ends in the more enclosed style of Piave. Its two principal characters, however, Attila and Odabella, his captive, wife, and assassin, are drawn with some force. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eBriefly, the Huns arrive at the gates of Rome and Odabella, whose father the Huns have killed, is brought in and announces how brave she is and Attila, impressed, strikes off her chains and gives her his sword. The Roman general Ezio arrives and offers Attila the entire empire if he will just leave Rome alone. Attila refuses and we meet Foresto, who is leading a band of refugees from the Huns. This is the easy part, and it’s all in the prologue. After framing the situation and the characters, we might expect that there would be a series of actions which might cause something to happen. What we get is a series of arias and duets, with occasional choral support, in which the principals either talk about what they are going to do or bemoan the fact that things have gone badly. This dramatic stasis is brought to an end only just before the final curtain, when Odabella kills Attila. That leaves the music. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThis is good Verdi. If it doesn’t have the edge of, say, \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eTraviata\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, or the power of \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eOtello\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, there are many good moments. Yet, one of the interesting things about it is that it is fairly even all the way through. Though each of the principals gets at least one big musical moment, there is none that overpowers the others, though Ezio’s lament over Rome comes close. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThis production comes from the Teatro Verdi in Busseto, Verdi’s hometown. The theater was opened in 1868, but Verdi apparently never set foot in it. Though he gave money to finish its construction, he called it “small, indecent, and almost unusable.” Nonetheless, Toscanini conducted many of Verdi’s operas in it, and Riccardo Muti and Plácido Domingo have also led Verdi there. It has been thoroughly restored and is a shining jewel, with one huge drawback. It is absolutely tiny. Its main floor and three balconies can seat in total 300 people. How Franco Zeffirelli managed to put \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eAida\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e into it in 2002, I cannot imagine. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eAs one \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ecan\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e imagine, the space constraints on the stage are considerable, and the director, Pierfrancesco Maestrini, has opted for one high-tech solution, a bare stage with a bit of a hump on one side and films projected onto the screen at the back. For some reason, though, Attila makes his first entrance descending from the flies on a platter. There is almost no space to move around much and the singers mostly just stand, or recline on the helpful hump. Maestrini has one bizarre convention in the arias with cabalettas, during which the singer rushes off the stage after the first verse only to rush on again for the second. Oddly, perhaps just because the director cannot do much on this stage, he is forced to let the singers be singers. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eIt sounds as if I did not like this production, but that is not the case, for the singing is well done. If this is a sample of the current state of singing in provincial Italian opera houses, then opera in Italy is in good shape, indeed. Susanna Branchini is a fine and spirited Odabella and she always gets the fires going (and she has a lot of fires to keep going, which may be why she and not Attila is on the cover). The Attila of Giovanni Battista Parodi is good without being particularly exciting. Ezio has almost nothing to do, but his aria, “Dagl’immortali vertici,” is a fine one and Sebastian Catana was generously applauded. The conductor, Andrea Battistoni, kept the small orchestra moving along, though I wished there could have been a bit more energy now and then. All of this said, there was an evenness about this production that I appreciated. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eThis DVD is one part of a project called “Tutto Verdi,” apparently centered in Parma, to publish visual recordings of all of Verdi’s operas by the end of this (Verdi) year. It is of at least passing interest, therefore, to ask how many operas Verdi actually wrote. The surveys by Roger Parker and Julian Budden insist there are 28: The “Tutto Verdi” project asserts there are only 26. The disagreement comes over the status of \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eStiffelio\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, which Verdi reworked as \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eAroldo\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, and \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eJérusalem\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, his reworking for Paris of \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eI lombardi\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e. The project has apparently decided not to include \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eAroldo\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eJérusalem\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e (for both of which ArkivMusic tells me there is a DVD). As near as I can tell, of the 26, four have previously been reviewed here (\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eErnani\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, James Miller, 29:6; \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eMacbeth\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, Raymond Tuttle, 31:2; \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eOtello\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, James A. Altena, 34:1; and \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eForza\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e, Bill White, 35:6). \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan\u003eAs I write, there are two other DVDs of \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eAttila\u003c\/span\u003e \u003cspan\u003e available, under Santi (Kultur) and Muti (Opus Arte), and one coming, under Sangiorgi (Dynamic). I have seen none of these. Of the CD versions, I rather like that under Muti (EMI), where Samuel Ramey brings Attila into his own. (NB: This is not the same performance as in Muti’s DVD.) \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: Alan Swanson \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181630628120,"sku":"814337012168","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2067845.jpg?v=1777762295"},{"product_id":"glenn-gould-the-russian-journey","title":"Glenn Gould: The Russian Journey","description":"\u003ca href=\"album.jsp?album_id=1003789\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on Blu-ray\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  A film by Yosif Feyginberg \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  The date is May 2nd, 1957. Stalin died only four years before and perestroika is still a long way off. However, the Canadian pianist Glenn Gould, who is just 24, arrives in Moscow for an exceptional tour: he is the first North American musician to play behind the iron curtain. This is the story that Glenn Gould in Russia tells by revealing documents from the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that had remained classified for years. Witness accounts from musicians such as Ashkenazy and Rostropovitch, parts of the original recordings of Gould’s concerts in Moscow and Leningrad, as well as a recording that had never been released before of his lecture-recital in Leningrad make this an invaluable documentary revealing an aspect of Glenn Gould’s artistry that few people are aware of.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Picture format: NTSC 16:9\u003cbr\u003e  Sound format: PCM 2.0 (Historical material: Mono)\u003cbr\u003e  Region code: 0 (worldwide)\u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: English, German, French, Korean\u003cbr\u003e  Running time: 60 mins\u003cbr\u003e  No. of DVDs: 1\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eR E V I E W: \u003ctitle\u003e3754520.zz6_GLENN_GOULD_RUSSIAN_JOURNEY.html\u003c\/title\u003e   \u003cmeta http-equiv=\"Content-Type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003e GLENN GOULD: THE RUSSIAN JOURNEY \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e Glenn Gould (pn); various artists; Yosif Feyginberg (dir) \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e C MAJOR 714108 (DVD 56:00) \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhat could have easily been a dull and routine affair—after all, little film footage and few recordings exist of Gould’s historic May 1957 tour of the USSR—turns out to be a stunning and fascinating film that riveted my attention from first to last. Part of this documentary’s charm, and value, comes from the fact that Gould’s trip is explored in full detail, including his initial shock at not being able to sleep in a double bed and a postcard he sent back home to his dog! All of this, plus the warm reminiscences of the men and women who met him, acted as guides and\/or translators, or heard him play, not to mention the actual voice of Gould himself recalling the ups and downs of his journey, adds layer upon layer to the story until you actually start to feel that you are watching a documentary made at the time, as if Glenn Gould himself had been able to participate in its making. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhat caused such a \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003efurore\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e? As this video tells us, part of it was the fact that Bach, so long a musical \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003epersona non grata \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ein the Soviet Union for his strong association with religious works, came as a revelation to most of his Soviet audience. The hall for his first concert in Moscow—the complete Bach \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eThe Art of Fugue, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ea work most people had never even heard—was not even half full when he began. Partway through the first half, however, people ran out of the hall to pay phones and called friends, relatives, colleagues, and told them that they \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003ehad \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eto come down ASAP and hear this man. By the time the concert ended, the hall was packed, not only with breathless lay spectators but also with musicians, and the Russian audience went absolutely berserk. In ensuing performances, and there were several, Gould opened up his repertoire to include the other love of his life, composers of the Second Viennese School. He even gave a lecture-demonstration of their music before an audience of lay listeners, students, and even professors at the Conservatory. The entire Russian musical world seemed to want to absorb Glenn Gould like a sponge. As one of them put it, halfway through the concert-lecture on Berg, Webern, and Schoenberg, some of the students became restless; it was all a bit \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003etoo \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003enew and foreign for them, and they begged him to play Bach. “We brought him back down,” the commentator said. But Gould responded positively to the rapt attention he received, and to a certain extent I think that it was upon his return to North American concert life that he became increasingly restless about performing in person because he felt that the majority of audience members were inattentive or only half-listening. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eYet his impact on the Russians, and theirs on them, went much further than just playing and talking to them. Sviatoslav Richter, at the time (as Gould relates) practically unknown in the West, went up to him after a concert, congratulated him, and invited him to one of his own. Mstislav Rostropovich then later recalls something that Richter had told him: “I can play Bach as well as Gould, but I won’t do it because it would take me too much time to rehearse it and too much concentration!” \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNowadays, there is a counter-reaction to Gould’s Bach. Once viewed as ultra-modern, crisp and unbelievably lucid in the revealing of the inner voices, it is now sometimes thought of as willfully distorted: the slow sections are played too fast, the fast sections even faster or too slow. Yet for others, Gould’s architectonic approach to the music remains miraculous simply because, for all its clarity and consistent tempo, it lives and breathes. It has \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003efeeling \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003edespite, not because, of its rapid pace. And that is what is often missing in the playing of modern-day pianists who approach Bach; yet all of them should be thankful to Gould for making it acceptable to play Bach on the piano and not only or always on the harpsichord or clavichord. The crisp, staccato sound of his particular Steinway model is forever etched in the minds of his listeners. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter Gould returned to Canada he was unable to go back to the USSR again; after 1964, the welcoming window of opportunity closed for a very long time. But he continued to talk about the Russians on his CBC television programs, to play their music (the video includes clips of him performing the Shostakovich Piano Quintet and a Prokofiev sonata), and to talk about the difficulties the Russian people faced under the Soviet system. He sent his recordings to them to be reproduced on the Melodiya label and continued to receive warm letters from those he had met and some he had not. It was, in short, a very cathartic experience for him, even if he did beg his doctor for “those little yellow pills” (valium) that calmed him down so he could take them on his trip. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThis is a fascinating and extraordinarily well-put-together documentary of an exceptional trip, and time, in the life and career of an exceptional pianist. I highly recommend it. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: Lynn René Bayley \u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181630726424,"sku":"814337011413","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2309723.jpg?v=1777746983"},{"product_id":"best-of-verdi-arias","title":"Best of Verdi - Arias","description":"\u003cb\u003eThis Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003ca class=\"links\" href=\"album.jsp?album_id=1559159\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on standard DVD\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  BEST OF VERDI ARIAS\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Giuseppe Verdi:\u003cbr\u003e  La traviata: E strano! … Ah, fors e lui … Sempre libera \/ De’ miei bollenti spiriti \/ Di Provenza il mar, il suol\u003cbr\u003e  Rigoletto: Questa o quella \/ Caro nome che il mio cor \/ La donna e mobile\u003cbr\u003e  Don Carlo: Io la vidi e al suo sorriso \/ O don fatale\u003cbr\u003e  Aida: Celeste Aida \/ Numi, pietà del mio soffrir!\u003cbr\u003e  Il trovatore: Stride la vampa! \/ Ah! sì, ben mio … Di quella pira I vespri siciliani: Mercé, dilette amiche\u003cbr\u003e  Un ballo in maschera: Ma se m’è forza perderti\u003cbr\u003e  La forza del destino: Pace, pace mio Dio! \/ O tu che in seno agli angeli\u003cbr\u003e  Otello: Piangea cantando nell’erma landa \/ Ave Maria, piena di grazia \/ Niun mi tema\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  featuring\u003cbr\u003e  Nino Machaidze, soprano\u003cbr\u003e  Daniela Dessì, soprano\u003cbr\u003e  Dimitra Theodossiou, soprano\u003cbr\u003e  Marcelo Álvarez, tenor\u003cbr\u003e  Francesco Meli, tenor\u003cbr\u003e  Leo Nucci, baritone\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Picture format: 1080i High Definition\u003cbr\u003e  Sound format: PCM Stereo \/ DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 \u003cbr\u003e  Region code: 0 (worldwide)\u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: Italian, English\u003cbr\u003e  Running time: 110 mins\u003cbr\u003e  No. of Discs: 1","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181630923032,"sku":"814337011864","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2794978.jpg?v=1777761046"},{"product_id":"verdi-alzira","title":"Verdi: Alzira","description":"\u003ca class=\"links\" href=\"album.jsp?album_id=824899\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on Blu-ray\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Giuseppe Verdi ALZIRA \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Alvaro – Francesco Facini\u003cbr\u003e  Gusmano – Thomas Gazheli\u003cbr\u003e  Ovando – Joshua Lindsay\u003cbr\u003e  Zamoro – Ferdinand von Bothmer\u003cbr\u003e  Ataliba – Yasushi Hirano\u003cbr\u003e  Alzira – Junko Saito\u003cbr\u003e  Zuma – Anna Lucia Nardi\u003cbr\u003e  Otumbo – Joe Tsuchizaki\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Orchestra Haydn di Bolzano e Trento\u003cbr\u003e  (chorus master: Marco Medved)\u003cbr\u003e  Istituto Corale ed Orchestrale di Dobbiaco\u003cbr\u003e  Gustav Kuhn, conductor\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Andreas Leisner, scenic concept \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Recorded live at the Grand Hotel Centro Culturale, Dobbiaco, 13 and 15 September 2012, in a concert performance from the Alto Adige Festival\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Bonus:\u003cbr\u003e  - Introduction to Alzira \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Picture format: NTSC 16:9\u003cbr\u003e  Sound format: PCM Stereo \/ Dolby Digital 5.1\u003cbr\u003e  Region code: 0 (worldwide)\u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese\u003cbr\u003e  Running time: 107 mins (opera) + 10 mins (bonus)\u003cbr\u003e  No. of DVDs: 1\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181630955800,"sku":"814337012144","price":13.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2108937.jpg?v=1777762281"},{"product_id":"giordano-andrea-chenier","title":"Giordano: Andrea Chénier","description":"Classical Music","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181631054104,"sku":"814337010799","price":13.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/1900727_aae14eea-1c95-43fa-b856-ebc0086efb07.jpg?v=1777761082"},{"product_id":"verdi-messa-da-requiem-blu-ray","title":"Verdi: Messa da Requiem [Blu-ray]","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe history of Verdi’s Messa da Requiem’s interpretation is inextricably bound up with the name of Herbert von Karajan. He conducted the work on countless occasions and in this legendary concert he performed it with some of the greatest singers of that time: Anna Tomowa-Sintow, Agnès Baltsa, José Carreras, and José van Dam. Verdi wrote his Messa da Requiem in 1873\/74, between Aida and Otello, for Alessandro Manzoni, a poet whom he much admired. Verdi’s Mass for the Dead is not intended for liturgical use but for the concert hall. In addition to its profound spirituality, this masterpiece brings together the finest qualities from Verdi’s operas: endless melodic lines and captivating musico-dramatic effects.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181947658520,"sku":"814337016890","price":22.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4223212-3130262.jpg?v=1777628729"},{"product_id":"mozart-don-giovanni-3","title":"Mozart: Don Giovanni","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen Herbert von Karajan conducted Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni at the Salzburg Festival in 1987 featuring an outstanding cast of singers, the fantastic Wiener Philharmoniker and staged by Michael Hampe, it became a legendary performance of the highest artistic level. Samuel Ramey stars as the title character Don Giovanni, alongside Gosta Winbergh as Don Ottavio and Anna Tomowa-Sintow as Donna Anna. This dream of artistic collaboration made it one of the best opera performances, which now is available for the first time on Blu-ray.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181947920664,"sku":"814337016869","price":22.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4096133-2831842_fa13cf2e-746f-4e7a-a9cb-51e8183c1352.jpg?v=1777718173"},{"product_id":"pavarotti-in-central-park-luciano-pavarotti","title":"Pavarotti in Central Park \/ Luciano Pavarotti","description":"\u003cp\u003e﻿When more than 500,000 people gathered in New York's Central Park on 26 June 1993, they wanted to hear only one thing: The voice of the greatest tenor of the twentieth century: the voice of Luciano Pavarotti. He is accompanied here by the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under Leone Magiera, featuring the flutist Andrea Griminelli and The Boys Choir of Harlem. (C Major)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181947724056,"sku":"814337016999","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4182409-2945796.jpg?v=1777718638"},{"product_id":"verdi-falstaff-salzburg-festival-1982","title":"Verdi: Falstaff - Salzburg Festival 1982","description":"\u003cp\u003eBased, in part, on Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor, Falstaff is Verdi’s last work for the stage – and only his second comic opera. In this legendary performance from the Salzburg Festival, Herbert von Karajan is not only leading a stunning cast of singers featuring the Wiener Philharmoniker, he too directed the opera, in the amazing set design of Günther Schneider-Siemssen. (C Major)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181947789592,"sku":"814337016876","price":22.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4164117-2923224_30e52919-953f-48b0-a68b-dfe9a0a894f0.jpg?v=1777718650"},{"product_id":"horowitz-in-moscow-blu-ray","title":"Horowitz In Moscow Blu-ray","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1986, the legendary pianist Vladimir Horowitz, who left his homeland 61 years ago, announced that he would return to the Soviet Union for the first time since 1925 to give recitals in Moscow and Leningrad. This sensational historic recital from Moscow includes works by Sergei Rachmaninoff and Alexander Scriabin, whom Horowitz knew both. (C Major)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181947855128,"sku":"814337016906","price":22.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4211085-2979188.jpg?v=1777546843"},{"product_id":"orff-carmina-burana-dvd","title":"Orff: Carmina Burana [DVD]","description":"\u003cp\u003eWith Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana; one of the most popular pieces in music history and the most performed choral\/orchestral work of the 20th century; Teatro La Fenice returns to the Piazza San Marco in Venice; in front of the magnificent façade of the Basilica di San Marco. Conducted by the great master Fabio Luisi; featuring the word-class singers Regula Mühlemann; Michael Schade and Markus Werba it was a magnificent event. \"La Fenice’s orchestra and choir; in this case with the addition of the Piccoli cantori veneziani in the final part; have hit the mark“ (Il Gazzettino) with this concert and \"it is noticeable overall the work made by the conductor Fabio Luisi; who managed to maintain the tension of the various historical pages with determination and energy.\" (Il Gazzettino)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181948182808,"sku":"810116910236","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4237555-3130253.jpg?v=1777536165"},{"product_id":"new-years-concert-teatro-la-fenice-2023","title":"New Year's Concert: Teatro la Fenice 2023","description":"\u003cspan\u003eThe Teatro La Fenice opened in 1792 and is one of the most renowned and most beautiful theaters in the world. 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(C Major)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181948379416,"sku":"814337016883","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4182408-2948167_7a1f1a22-7f4a-4200-8e96-86358ff4a926.jpg?v=1777722745"},{"product_id":"verdi-i-due-foscari","title":"Verdi: I due Foscari","description":"In his ‘new life’ as a baritone, Plácido Domingo has triumphed in the role of Francesco Foscari in Los Angeles, London and Vienna. Now he takes to the role to La Scala, Milan, the theatre that is the symbol of Italian opera. I due Foscari, premiered in 1844, famously one of Verdi’s darkest operas, is staged by Alvis Hermanis, who made such an impact at the Salzburg Festival with \"Die Soldaten\" and \"Il trovatore\". Domingo is joined by two of Italy’s most exciting singers, the soprano Anna Pirozzi and the tenor Francesco Meli, and the acclaimed Italian conductor Michele Mariotti. The Financial Times was deeply moved by Domingo’s performance, calling his interpretation of the role “sublime”.","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"4K ULTRA HD Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181948444952,"sku":"814337017774","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/3898004.jpg?v=1777753198"},{"product_id":"three-tenors-voices-for-eternity-dvd","title":"Three Tenors - Voices for Eternity [DVD]","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe documentary Three Tenors – Voices for Eternity, tells the story of the most successful concert in the history of classical music, featuring recent interviews with José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Zubin Mehta, Pavarotti‘s widow Nicoletta Mantovani, and many more. Includes behind-the-scenes-footage, showing the emotional highlights of the first concert and the sequel in Los Angeles.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181948510488,"sku":"814337016814","price":16.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/4085529-2819836.jpg?v=1777726453"},{"product_id":"tosca-1","title":"Puccini: Tosca","description":"It is an event that attracts thousands of music lovers to Verona every summer: the opera season in the ancient Roman Arena. Nearly 22,000 spectators regularly fill the amphitheater for the performances. The dream couple of opera, Sonya Yoncheva and Vittorio Grigolo, returns to the breathtaking open-air stage, to perform Giacomo Puccini's Tosca. Bulgarian soprano Sonya Yoncheva is \"one of the best Toscas currently singing\" and Vittorio Grigolo \"the most Italian Cavaradossi we know. With lots of wonderful melting, elegant and nonchalant full of triumphant greatness a triumph all along the line\" (Online Merker). The captivating staging by Argentine director Hugo de Ana, who masterfully exploits the amphitheatre's vast space by placing huge elements on the stage that are reminiscent of or borrowed from the locations of the action, makes the opera a \"spectacle of monumental opulence\" (Online Merker). \"A Tosca to relish!\" (Artesnews. 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The film includes interviews with Valerie Solti, Valery Gergiev, and more. “Larger Than Life” revolves around Leonard Bernstein, and includes interviews with his children and other music giants like Stephen Sondheim and Gustavo Dudamel. Finally, “Maestro for the Screen,” is about the life of Herbert von Karajan and shows the fascinating development of Karajan’s language for filming orchestral productions and starts with the very first concert production in 1957 in Japan, followed by the impressive cooperation with director Henri Georges Clouzot in 1965 to Karajan’s own film company Telemondial.","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181949264152,"sku":"814337014414","price":53.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/3763203.jpg?v=1777546873"},{"product_id":"herbert-von-karajan-maestro-for-the-screen","title":"Herbert von Karajan - Maestro for the Screen","description":"Herbert von Karajan broke boundaries in many aspects of conducting, among those being that he was the first conductor to become interested in filming his performances to preserve his cultural heritage. 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Music and action alternate in masterly fashion between large-scale crowd scenes and intimate interiority, illustrating Verdi's real theme: The manner in which fallible human beings are destroyed by a cruel fate.","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181949395224,"sku":"814337012441","price":30.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2225666_09fb8dd5-52a4-41a4-93db-28838c504cc5.jpg?v=1777545863"},{"product_id":"verdi-falstaff-2","title":"Verdi: Falstaff","description":"All the world's a joke, says Falstaff, and these words are truly given weight by Ambrogio Maestri, one of the finest Falstaffs of our time. The Italian baritone brings a powerful, versatile voice to his role, but also brings to his character a hilarious buffo quality. Daniele Gatti, one of the most acclaimed opera conductors working today, leads a stunning cast of singers, including Barbara Frittoli as Alice Ford. This boisterous production by stage director Sven-Eric Bechtolf delivers a Falstaff that is a fireworks display of high spirits. \"Bechtolf turns Verdi's last opera \"musically and dramaturgically into a feast of life and of love of life.\"","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181949821208,"sku":"814337011116","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2017613.jpg?v=1777547444"},{"product_id":"berlioz-les-troyens","title":"Berlioz: Les Troyens","description":"\u003ca class=\"links\" href=\"album.jsp?album_id=570701\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on Blu-ray\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Hector Berlioz\u003cbr\u003e  LES TROYENS\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Énée – Lance Ryan\u003cbr\u003e  Chorèbe – Gabriele Viviani\u003cbr\u003e  Panthée – Giorgio Giuseppini\u003cbr\u003e  Narbal – Stephen Milling\u003cbr\u003e  Iopas – Eric Cutler\u003cbr\u003e  Ascagne – Oksana Shilova\u003cbr\u003e  Cassandre – Elisabete Matos\u003cbr\u003e  Didon – Daniele Barcellona\u003cbr\u003e  Anna – Zlata Bulycheva \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Valencia Regional Government Choir (Cor de la Generalitat Valenciana)\u003cbr\u003e  Valencian Community Orchestra (Orquestra de la Comunitat Valenciana)\u003cbr\u003e  Valery Gergiev, conductor \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  La Fura dels Baus, staging\u003cbr\u003e  Carlus Padrissa, stage director\u003cbr\u003e  Ronald Olbeter, stage designer\u003cbr\u003e  Peter van Praet, lighting designer\u003cbr\u003e  Chu Uroz, costume designer\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Recorded live from the Palau de les Arts “Reina Sofia”, Valencia, Spain, 2009.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Bonus:\u003cbr\u003e  - The making of Les Troyens\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Picture format: NTSC 16:9\u003cbr\u003e  Sound format: PCM Stereo \/ DTS 5.1\u003cbr\u003e  Region code: 0 (worldwide)\u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: French, English, German, Spanish, Chinese, Korean\u003cbr\u003e  Booklet notes: English, German, French\u003cbr\u003e  Running time: 240 mins (opera) + 21 mins (documentary)\u003cbr\u003e  No. of DVDs: 2 (DVD 9)\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \"Ancient myth meets Star Wars, and the eye is constantly engaged with images ranging from space-age technology to details of soccer uniforms.\" The New York Times\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \"This is a worthy and compelling, glittering version of a sublime work.\" International Herald Tribune\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181949919512,"sku":"814337010607","price":30.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/1855803.jpg?v=1777547547"},{"product_id":"opern-gala-highlights-of-the-opera","title":"Opern Gala - Highlights of the Opera","description":"On May 21, 2016 at the Bonn Opera House in Germany, the fifth Opera Gala for the German AIDS Foundation took place. At this performance, some of the world’s most illustrious vocalists performed, such as Simone Kermes, Roberto De Biasio, Marina Prudenskaya, and Robin Johannsen. This release features all of the very best highlights of that outstanding evening. Conducted by Stefan Blunier, music from Mozart, Gounod, Beethoven, Verdi, Delibes, Donizetti, Offenbach, and Rossini is included. This production was filmed in high definition and mastered from an HD source, and includes over an hour of music. This is the next best thing to being present at the fantastic concert.","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181950083352,"sku":"814337013998","price":16.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/3822246.jpg?v=1777746961"},{"product_id":"prokofiev-romeo-and-juliet-1","title":"Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom grand spectacles to poignant close-ups, experience Helgi Tomasson's bravura interpretation of Shakespeare's Romeo \u0026amp; Juliet like you've never seen it before. With passionate choreography, spine-tingling swordsmansip, and a celebrated score by Sergei Prokofiev, San Francisco Ballet's passionate retelling of the Bard's greatest tragedy has packed houses around the world. Romeo \u0026amp; Juliet is one of the Company's most popular and widely toured ballets and has been seen by more than 200,000 people since it premiered in 1994. Choreographed by Helgi Tomasson, with sets and costumes by Jens-Jacob Worsaae, this visually stunning production and the brilliant dancers of San Francisco Ballet bring this powerful and touching tragedy - and Renaissance-era Verona - vivdly to life. \"Tomasson lifts Shakespeare's complex and familiar language off the gilded pages and translates it into lucid classical choreography that is visceral, fresh, and ultimately sublime\" (Huffington Post).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181952803096,"sku":"814337013905","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181952868632,"sku":"814337013912","price":22.98,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/3599941.jpg?v=1778118995"},{"product_id":"faccio-hamlet","title":"Faccio: Hamlet","description":"This production ''offers all an Italian-opera-lover could possibly desire'' wrote the FAZ after the revival of this ''forgotten gem'' at the Bregenz Festival. The festival continued its rediscovery series with ''Amleto\/Hamlet'', an opera by Verdi contemporaries Franco Faccio and Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet. Premiered in 1865 in Genoa and restaged in 1871 at Milano's La Scala, ''Hamlet'' was only revived in 2014 concertante in the US before its ''triumphal rebirth'' at the Bregenz Festival, where the opera was also recorded for the first time ever. Faccio, who conducted the first performance of Verdi's Aida in Italy and the world premiere of Otello and Boito, Verdi's librettist of Otello and Falstaff, skillfully and effectively challenge the conventions of Italian opera, which they watned to revitalize by infusing it with the spirit of Shakespeare's drama. Anticipating the musical language of later Italian verismo composers, the opera combines lovely musical interludes with superb vocal writing. 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As if by magic or conjured by the imagination, figures emerge from the shadows of the labyrinthine garden: they are Mozart’s characters, and they play with – or perhaps make fun of – the guests at the party, embroiling them in their well-known amorous dalliances. With lightness and irony, this journey into the universe of Mozart tips its hat to the 1700s also with the scenery and costumes, and fills the garden with fun and passionate virtuoso dances, which follow each other dynamically and quickly with constant changes in the mood. 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This edition includes the new documentary The Three Tenors - From Caracalla to the World featuring recent interviews with José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Zubin Mehta, Pavarotti‘s widow Nicoletta Mantovani, Lalo Shifrin, Brian Large, Mario Dradi, Paul Potts, Sir Bryn Terfel, Norman Lebrecht, Didier de Cottignies and many more. Previously unpublished backstage material shows the tenors unadorned and offers a fascinating insight into what takes place beyond the spotlight in Rome, 1990 and the sequel in Los Angeles, 1994. The film takes a completely new look at the concert legends. For the first time, they talk about José Carreras‘ struggles with leukemia, their rivalries and friendships, their spectacular contract poker and life as an opera star.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181954015512,"sku":"814337015886","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/3995441-2731042.jpg?v=1777753075"},{"product_id":"placido-domingo-opera-gala-blu-ray-video","title":"Plácido Domingo - Opera Gala [Blu-ray Video]","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhat a pompous and exquisite gala to celebrate opera legend Plácido Domingo in the breathtaking Arena di Verona! 50 years ago the young Madrilenian singer Plácido Domingo gave his debut at the ancient open-air theatre: the beginning of a lasting and exceptional relationship. To mark the anniversary, Domingo presents a programme entirely dedicated to Verdi, performing three of his most complex and majestic baritone roles. No effort was spared to create an unforgettable evening in a unique atmosphere in the completely sold-out amphitheatre, which has been at the heart of Italian entertainment for almost 2,000 years. Whether as Babylonian king Nabucco, Scottish general Macbeth or as Doge Simon Boccanegra: Domingo’s versatility and aura is more than impressive, with “top phrasing and articulation, his baritone with full and sonorous intonation and a unique timbre – all this substantiates his exceptional position” (Das Opernglas). At the side of Domingo shines an excellent cast including Anna Pirozzi and Arturo Chacón-Cruz, supported by a perfectly rehearsed ballet under the baton of conductor Jordi Bernàcer who sovereignly leads the Orchestra of the Arena di Verona from scene to scene. 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Drawing capacity crowds of over 200,000 spectators in just one season, “Aida” is the festival’s most successful opera to date, even more successful than the “Tosca” production, which has been immortalized in the James Bond film “Quantum of Solace”.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Il Re – Kevin Short \u003cbr\u003e  Amneris – Iano Tamar \u003cbr\u003e  Aida – Tatiana Serjan \u003cbr\u003e  Radamès – Rubens Pelizzari \u003cbr\u003e  Ramfis – Tigran Martirossian \u003cbr\u003e  Amonasro – Iain Paterson \u003cbr\u003e  Un messaggero – Ronald Samm \u003cbr\u003e  Una sacerdotessa – Elisabetta Martorana\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Camerata Silesia \u003cbr\u003e  Polish Radio Choir, Krakow \u003cbr\u003e  Bregenz Festival Chorus \u003cbr\u003e  Vienna Symphony Orchestra \u003cbr\u003e  Carlo Rizzi, conductor\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Graham Vick, stage director \u003cbr\u003e  Paul Brown, stage and costume designer \u003cbr\u003e  Ron Howell, choreography \u003cbr\u003e  Wolfgang Göbbel, lighting designer\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Recorded live from the Bregenz Festival, 22 and 24 July 2009.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Picture format: 1080i High Definition \u003cbr\u003e  Sound format: PCM Stereo \/ DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 \u003cbr\u003e  Region code: 0 (worldwide) \u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian \u003cbr\u003e  Running time: 135 mins \u003cbr\u003e  No. of Discs: 1 (Blu-ray)\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181954965784,"sku":"814337010249","price":50.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/1672478.jpg?v=1777756225"},{"product_id":"beethoven-symphonies-nos-1-3","title":"Beethoven: Symphonies Nos. 1-3","description":"\u003ca class=\"links\" href=\"album.jsp?album_id=541433\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on Blu-ray\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e The Beethoven cycle of the 21st century!\u003cbr\u003e  Christian Thielemann joins forces with the prestigious Wiener Philharmoniker in a unique and monumental project BEETHOVEN 9, their first-ever recording of all 9 Symphonies in full high definition and Surround Sound. This recording from the Golden Hall of Vienna´s Musikverein is accompanied by nine(!) hour-long documentaries, one on each symphony, featuring Christian Thielemann and Germany´s most eminent music critic, Prof. Joachim Kaiser. From insights into Beethoven´s musical thinking to interpretational comparisons, including excerpts form legendary performances by Karajan, Bernstein, Böhm, Järvi etc., to historical perpsectives – no aspect of Beethoven´s symphonic oeuvre will remain untreated! 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The eighty-one-year-old cosmopolitan pianist, conductor and classical composer has not only received no fewer than four Academy awards for his film adaptations but was also one of the most influential jazz musicians of the fifties and sixties. A Bridge Between Two Worlds is a portrait of Previn's fascinating musicianship and also looks candidly at his private life, including his relations with his two ex-wives, Mia Farrow and Anne-Sophie Mutter. As a bonus, this release features Mozart's two Piano Quartets K. 478 and K. 493 with André Previn at the keyboard.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Picture format: NTSC 16:9\u003cbr\u003e  Sound format: PCM Stereo 2.0 \/ Dolby Digital 5.1\u003cbr\u003e  Region code: 0 (worldwide)\u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish\u003cbr\u003e  Booklet notes: English, German, French\u003cbr\u003e  Running time: 52 mins (documentary) + 55 mins (performance)\u003cbr\u003e  No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181955391768,"sku":"814337010324","price":30.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/1719287.jpg?v=1777758835"},{"product_id":"the-schubert-song-cycles","title":"The Schubert Song Cycles","description":"There is no better repertoire with which to display a leider singer than the Schubert Song Cycles. For this release, baritone Hermann Prey tackles Schubert’s Die Schone Mullerin, Schwanengesang accompanied by Leonard Hokanson and Winterreise accompanied by Helmut Deutsch. As a bonus, this release includes an interview with Prey on these song cycles and a documentary on the artist. “In his finest interpretations Hermann Prey sang “Winterreise” and “Die schone Mullerin” with a captivatingly natural phrasing that flowed organically like a river and as such was the very opposite of the more intellectual approach of his rival, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau.” (Die Zeit online) “The velvety, silky timbre of his soft-grained and yet distinctively striking baritone voice, his charm, his excellent diction and the naturalness of his delivery spiced with a hint of emotion- it is all this that distinguishes the truly outstanding lieder singer.” (Opernglas)","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181956309272,"sku":"814337015138","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/3494547_b36649a1-dae3-4a1c-86e7-8f00ab1963f9.jpg?v=1777758839"},{"product_id":"messa-da-requiem","title":"Messa da Requiem","description":"C Major continues its Tutto Verdi edition with his Messa da Requiem. This film includes a 52-minute bonus documentary introducing us to Verdi’s beautiful homeland, the region of Parma; from the little village where Verdi was born, to the estate close to Parma where Verdi always came back to and chose to spend most of his life.","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181956768024,"sku":"814337012540","price":30.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2309724.jpg?v=1777745707"},{"product_id":"paths-through-the-labyrinth","title":"Paths Through the Labyrinth","description":"• A comprehensive, multi-layered documentary portrait of this 80 years young (2013) composer. _x000D_\n• Includes his personal and career reflections, dialogue and musical extracts. _x000D_\n• The film follows Penderecki from Kraków to Munich, Vienna to Leipzig, and to his country estate in Luslawice. _x000D_\n• Interviews with Anne-Sophie Mutter, Mariss Jansons and Lorin Maazel, among others. _x000D_\n• To be premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, February 2014. _x000D_\n• Availability: Blu-Ray and DVD _x000D_\n• Subtitles.","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181957095704,"sku":"814337011543","price":13.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2524850.jpg?v=1777758778"},{"product_id":"stravinsky-in-hollywood","title":"Stravinsky in Hollywood","description":"\u003ca class=\"links\" href=\"album.jsp?album_id=1344146\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on Blu-ray\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eStravinsky in Hollywood, a film by Michael Capalbo, tells the story of an \"old school\" European artist knocking heads with the brash New World. The documentary uses a combination of existing archival footage (some never before seen), interviews with Stravinsky and his assistant Robert Craft, and premieres several big studio film scenes of the 40s with music Stravinsky wrote for them.","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181957161240,"sku":"814337011635","price":13.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2573715.jpg?v=1777757845"},{"product_id":"verdi-otello-3","title":"Verdi: Otello","description":"Rarely has a production of Verdi's \"Otello\" taken place in such a prestigious location, the courtyard of the Palazzo Ducale in Venice. Directed by Francesco Micheli, this special outdoor \"event production\" of the Gran Teatro La Fenice supports the claim that \"Venice is asserting itself more than ever on a global scale as one of the great capitals of music\" (GB Opera). \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Giuseppe Verdi\u003cbr\u003e  OTELLO \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Otello - Gregory Kunde\u003cbr\u003e  Desdemona - Carmela Remigio\u003cbr\u003e  Jago - Lucio Gallo\u003cbr\u003e  Emilia - Elisabetta Martorana\u003cbr\u003e  Cassio - Francesco Marsiglia\u003cbr\u003e  Roderigo - Antonello Ceron\u003cbr\u003e  Lodovico - Mattia Denti\u003cbr\u003e  Montano - Matteo Ferrara\u003cbr\u003e  Un Araldo - Antonio Casagrande\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Teatro la Fenice Chorus and Orchestra\u003cbr\u003e  (chorus master: Claudio Marino Moretti)\u003cbr\u003e  Myung-Whun Chung, conductor\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Francesco Micheli, stage director\u003cbr\u003e  Edoardo Sanchi, set designer\u003cbr\u003e  Silvia Aymonino, costume designer\u003cbr\u003e  Fabio Barettin, lighting designer\u003cbr\u003e  Recorded from the Palazzo Ducale di Venezia, 2013 \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Picture format: NTSC 16:9\u003cbr\u003e  Sound format: PCM Stereo \/ DTS 5.1\u003cbr\u003e  Region code: 0 (worldwide)\u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: Italian, German, English, French, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese\u003cbr\u003e  Booklet notes: English, German, French\u003cbr\u003e  Running time: 149 mins\u003cbr\u003e  No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181957259544,"sku":"814337011659","price":13.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2573717.jpg?v=1777757845"},{"product_id":"the-odeonsplatz-concert-verdi-and-wagner","title":"The Odeonsplatz Concert - Verdi and Wagner","description":"\u003ca class=\"links\" href=\"album.jsp?album_id=1462947\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on Blu-ray\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e This scintillating opera gala offers you the chance to experience the Odeonsplatz Concert 2013 with Rolando Villazón, Thomas Hampson and Yannick Nézet-Séguin in all its glory, featuring opera arias, duets, overtures and choruses by Verdi and Wagner.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e THE ODEONSPLATZ CONCERT – Verdi and Wagner\u003cbr\u003e  Klassik am Odeonsplatz\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Giuseppe Verdi:\u003cbr\u003e  Les vêpres siciliennes (I vesperi siciliani): Overture\u003cbr\u003e  Don Carlos: Autodafé \/ Dio, che nell’alma infondere\u003cbr\u003e  L’esule (arr. L. Berio)\u003cbr\u003e  Il trovatore, Act II: Vedi, le fosche notturne, “Anvil Chorus”\u003cbr\u003e  Il corsaro, Act III: Alfin questo corsaro … Cento leddiadre vergini\u003cbr\u003e  Oberto, conte di San Bonifacio, Act II: Ciel, che feci!\u003cbr\u003e  Nabucco, Act III: Vá pensiero, “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Jules Massenet:\u003cbr\u003e  Hérodiade, Act II: Ce breuvage pourrait … Vision fugitive\u003cbr\u003e  Le Cid, Act III: Ah! tout est bien fini … Ô souverain, ô juge, ô pere \u003cbr\u003e  Maurice Ravel: La valse (version for orchestra)\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Richard Wagner:\u003cbr\u003e  Lohengrin: Preludes to Acts I \u0026amp; III\u003cbr\u003e  Tannhäuser: O du mein holder Abendstern \/ Entry of the Guests on the Wartburg \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Rolando Villazón, tenor\u003cbr\u003e  Thomas Hampson, baritone\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Bavarian Radio Symphony Chorus\u003cbr\u003e  Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra\u003cbr\u003e  Yannick Nézet-Séguin, conductor \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Recorded live at Odeonsplatz, Munich, 2013 \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Picture format: NTSC 16:9\u003cbr\u003e  Sound format: PCM Stereo \/ DTS 5.1\u003cbr\u003e  Region code: 0 (worldwide)\u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Korean, Chinese, Japanese\u003cbr\u003e  Booklet notes: English, German, French\u003cbr\u003e  Running time: 111 mins\u003cbr\u003e  No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181957325080,"sku":"814337011673","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2591692_3a7c0e8b-31ec-4f93-8c00-eb3837d1fe76.jpg?v=1777758823"},{"product_id":"mahler-symphony-no-13","title":"Mahler: Symphony No. 9","description":"Classical Music","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181957456152,"sku":"814337010379","price":24.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/1806874.jpg?v=1777758853"},{"product_id":"beethoven-piano-concerto-no-5-rimsky-korsakov-scheheraz","title":"Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5 - Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheheraz","description":"Still reeling from the previous night’s concert  I was eager to hear Nelsons and the Concertgebouw in this mix of Classical and Romantic pieces. They are joined by the Israeli-American pianist Yefim Bronfman, who I’ve not heard in a very long time. I tend to associate him with the Russians – notably Rachmaninov, Prokofiev and Shostakovich – but he has recorded a fine version of the Beethoven concerto with David Zinman and his Zurich band (Arte Nova). As for the Rimsky, it’s one of those showpieces that seldom fails to please; and if the sonics of that earlier Blu-ray are anything to go by it should be a knock-out.\u003cbr\u003e     \u003cbr\u003e    \u003cem\u003eThe Ruins of Athens,\u003c\/em\u003e written to accompany August von Kotzebue’s play of the same name, is hardly a Beethovenian staple, but when it’s played with such affection it’s hard to understand why. Right from those opening figures on the double basses it’s clear this is going to be a performance of spontaneity and spirit, the camera cutting to key players when they get the chance to shine. And shine they do, the Concertgebouw as animated as they were the night before. On the podium Nelsons is equally alert, his boyish grin a sign that he’s having fun.\u003cbr\u003e     \u003cbr\u003e    And who wouldn’t, with such thoroughbreds between the shafts? As for the concerto, a warhorse that seldom gets the performance it deserves, it’s played with tremendous brio. Bronfman fingerwork is clear and unmannered, and the orchestra responds with alacrity to Nelsons’ firm tug of the reins. Balances are generally fine, although the brass and woodwinds tend to leap out in the tuttis – some unnecessary knob-twiddling, perhaps – and the bass is not as firm as I’d like. Otherwise the Allegro is both passionate and elegant, and tempi are well judged; there’s plenty of thrust too, although at times momentum does flag.\u003cbr\u003e     \u003cbr\u003e    Such lapses are rare though, Nelsons’ whipping his wayward steeds into line quickly enough. That said, the Adagio and Rondo-Allegro are more problematic. In the former the flute passage before the piano’s first entry is absurdly out of proportion – more intervention, perhaps – and Nelsons moulds the music far too much for my tastes. Yes it \u003cem\u003eis\u003c\/em\u003e beautiful, but it’s cloying and comes close to limpidity overload; as for Bronfman, his phrasing at the start of the Rondo is less easeful than usual. Even more distracting is the fitful progress, the music lacking the cumulative weight and growing tension one hears in other – more compelling – performances. It seems the audience have no such qualms though, demanding an encore. Bronfman duly obliges with a coruscating rendition of Chopin’s Etude in F major.\u003cbr\u003e     \u003cbr\u003e    I so wanted to wallow in this concerto but alas I’m not likely to return to it in a hurry. At least there’s a consolation prize in the form of \u003cem\u003eScheherazade\u003c\/em\u003e, whose terrifying start nearly blew me out of my seat. Having set the volume to a comfortable level for the Beethoven I was not prepared for such an assault on my senses; goodness, this really is Rimsky for the IMAX age, the brass- and timp-drenched climaxes simply crushing. The quieter moments are just as arresting, the Sultana’s beguiling narrative superbly evoked by the violin and harp.\u003cbr\u003e     \u003cbr\u003e    As for ‘The Story of the Kalender Prince’ it’s packed with incident and colour, the many close-ups a reminder of just how virtuosic this piece is, and how exposed players are at times. There’s firm. characterful playing from the woodwinds, and the formidable battery of trombones sounds especially baleful. The big, bold recording handles these dynamic swings with aplomb, although anyone of a nervous disposition – or with unsympathetic neighbours – might want to reduce the volume by a couple of notches. As always, Nelsons is engrossed in the music, and it’s impossible not to succumb to his obvious and infectious enthusiasm.\u003cbr\u003e     \u003cbr\u003e    That’s one of the unexpected joys of this concert; everyone is clearly having fun. What a change from those stiff-backed performers, stern of countenance, we see all too often. The tender music of ‘The Young Prince and the Young Princess’ is most eloquently done, and Nelsons shapes the dance-like episodes very persuasively. It’s the final movement, with its festival and shipwreck, that will take your breath away. The intimidating roar of this orchestra in full spate really confirms the sonic potential of Blu-ray; indeed, I’ve never heard that dash of spray, crack of sail and final cataclysm as powerfully realised as it is here. Those final, sinuous bars – as if enclosing these tales in parentheses – are simply overwhelming in their simplicity and charm.\u003cbr\u003e     \u003cbr\u003e    Not surprisingly the audience demands – and gets – an encore in the shape of one of the Slavonic Dances from Dvor(ák’s Op. 46. It’s a polka, now winsome now trenchant, its storming conclusion a thrilling coda to an exhilarating concert. That said, Nelsons still looks as fresh as a daisy, and his players don’t seem to have wilted either. Despite the rather disappointing concerto I’m very impressed by this multi-talented Latvian; he can certainly batter one’s ear drums – the Rimsky is indeed a knock-out – but as the previous night’s Shostakovich Eighth and his 50th anniversary \u003cem\u003eWar Requiem\u003c\/em\u003e so eloquently demonstrate, he can batter one’s heart as well.\u003cbr\u003e     \u003cbr\u003e    A delightful overture, a competent concerto, and a \u003cem\u003eScheherazade\u003c\/em\u003e to die for.\u003cbr\u003e     \u003cbr\u003e    -- Dan Morgan, MusicWeb International","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181957521688,"sku":"814337011024","price":34.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/1987216.jpg?v=1777762303"},{"product_id":"luisa-miller-bluray","title":"LUISA MILLER (BLURAY)","description":"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eVERDI \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003eLuisa Miller \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003eDonato Renzetti, cond; Fiorenza Cedolins (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eLuisa\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Marcelo Alvarez (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eRodolfo\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Leo Nucci (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eMiller\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Giorgio Surian (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eCount Walter\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Rafal Siwek (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eWurm\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Francesca Franci (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eFederica\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Katerina Nikolic (\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eLaura\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e); Teatro Regio Parma O \u0026amp; Ch \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e C MAJOR 722904 (Blu-ray: 147: 00 + 10:00 bonus) Live: Parma 2007 \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"EXTRAS12\"\u003e\u0026amp;\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e Introduction to \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12i\"\u003eLuisa Miller \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSome commentators say Giuseppe Verdi’s opera \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLuisa Miller\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e represents a transition in his work from the use of traditional musical forms seen early in his career to the more innovative style of his great middle period works beginning with \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eRigoletto\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and continuing with \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eIl Trovatore\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLa traviata\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e. That very well may be true, but another trend I can attest to is that with this opera Verdi’s music is getting noticeably better. Perhaps it is not consistently better throughout the opera, but certainly notable in the ensemble pieces, the finales of acts I and II and the extended duet which ends the last act. The arias for both tenor and soprano are also well conceived, if not as catchy as “Caro nome” or “La donna è mobile.” Verdi’s \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLuisa\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e overture is one of the best from his pen until \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLa traviata\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e comes along. All of this fine music unfortunately is a bit wasted on another of Frederich Schiller’s rather dreary romantic tragedies, but the opera has proved popular enough to remain in the repertoire of houses both big and small, particularly on the continent of Europe, \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe story is of the love between peasant Luisa and Rodolfo, son of the local count (although Luisa doesn’t know that at first). Their match is opposed by both fathers, who know it means trouble, and by the Count’s principal retainer, Wurm, who wants the girl for himself. Miller père challenges the Count after he insults Luisa, and Miller is thrown in jail. Wurm tells Luisa that in order to free her father she must write a letter denying her love of Rodolfo and saying she is in love with Wurm himself. She does so under duress and the father is freed, but Rodolfo takes the letter seriously amiss. He shows up at the Miller house to confront Luisa, who is honor bound not to explain her actions. Rodolfo, in despair, gives them both poison, so they can expire slowly together while singing a love duet. Rodolfo still has enough strength left to get the Wurm before he dies himself. Oh, and there’s a stray Countess around somewhere that Rodolfo is supposed to marry who gets to sing in a set piece or two. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe Parma production seen here from 2007 is a pretty good one. It is one of the sets in the Tutto Verdi project, and one of the better I have seen in that series. Tutto Verdi aims to record all of Verdi’s operas and his Requiem on high definition Blu-ray disc for release this year to honor the composer’s 200th birthday. Stage Director Denis Krief has done a clever job of providing stylized yet evocative sets of time and place which can be changed quite quickly and easily, sometimes in full view of the audience. The Millers’ humble village domicile, with wooden walls contrasts with a backdrop of geometric shapes meant to represent the Count’s much grander quarters. Video projections of swaying trees mark one or two of the outdoor scenes. Krief also uses the costumes to emphasize the difference between peasants and aristocrats so crucial to the story line. All the denizens of the Count’s estates seem to be wearing plush finery while the peasants are dressed as . . . well, peasants. Stage action is blocked quite naturally and the video direction provides a good account of it. Although a bit stylized, the whole production has a traditional feel which I enjoy. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eUnlike some other Verdi operas, this one requires six solid principal singers to be performed really successfully. Here we get five, which is above average for the Tutto Verdi series, at least in the early operas. Only the bass of Giorgio Surian as the Count really disappoints. His heavy vibrato has developed a beat which he doesn’t control, and it disfigures any attempts at lyrical singing, even noticeable in the ensembles. It is refreshing to hear a really first class tenor like Marcelo Alvarez singing here. I have always liked Argentinean Alverez’s voice, he adds a touch of vocal class to any role, and here his dramatic involvement nearly matches his fine singing. Almost the same can be said of Fiorenza Cedolins in the lead soprano role of Luisa. Her voice is just a bit heavy for the lyric agility Verdi asks for in Luisa, but Cedolins still outsings a bevy of other sopranos cast in these early Tutto Verdi productions and her high range is very enjoyable. She can also act, and if she and Alvarez are a bit more than callow youths, they still provide a properly satisfying couple in their duets together. Then we come to 65-year-old Leo Nucci, who has been a staple in several of these C Major sets. Nucci performs quite well here as Miller, and for once he is not asked to sing more than his aging stamina allows. Mezzo Francesca Franci sings the Countess and bass-baritone Rafal Siwek the role of Wurm to round out the principal singers. Both perform well, although Siwek’s vocal tone sounds too similar to the other lower voices in some of the duets and ensembles. Donato Renzetti leads the Parma orchestra members in one of their better outings, and we video viewers actually get to watch them playing during the Overture for a change. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThere are several sets of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eLuisa Miller\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e available on DVD; I have only seen the one from Venice, recorded in 2006. That set features another strong soprano performance by Darina Takova; she rivals Cedolins on this set but only the Count of Alexander Vinogradov tops the group of male leads seen and heard here. The Venice production is also quite traditional, but I like the Parma sets and costumes better. In an earlier review \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eFanfare \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ecolleague Bob Rose recommends the 1979 Met production with Scotto, Domingo, Milnes, and Morris, which I have not seen, but despite the strong cast, that video technology is nearly 35 years old, and this C Major set is in breathtaking Blu-ray video and high definition sound. It is better than satisfactory, it is quite good, and I recommend it. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: Bill White\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e     \u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181957849368,"sku":"814337012298","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2136964.jpg?v=1777762295"},{"product_id":"verdi-la-forza-del-destino-2","title":"Verdi: La forza del destino","description":"\u003cb\u003eNote: This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players, and not compatible with standard DVD players\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e   \u003ca class=\"links\" href=\"album.jsp?album_id=937674\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on standard DVD\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Chinese\u003cbr\u003e  Booklet: English, German, French\u003cbr\u003e  No. of Discs: 1\u003cbr\u003e  Run time: 190 minutes\u003cbr\u003e  Disc Format: Blu-ray 50\u003cbr\u003e  Picture: 16:9, HD\u003cbr\u003e  Audio: PCM Stereo, PCM 5.1\u003cbr\u003e  Bonus Material: Introduction to La forza del destino\u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles Bonus: Italian, English\u003cbr\u003e  Region Code: 0 (worldwide)","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181958406424,"sku":"814337012458","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2225667.jpg?v=1777748424"},{"product_id":"verdi-messa-da-requiem-3","title":"Verdi: Messa da Requiem","description":"\u003cb\u003e Note: This Blu-ray Disc is playable only on Blu-ray Disc players, and not compatible with standard DVD players.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e   \u003ca class=\"links\" href=\"album.jsp?album_id=1003790\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eAlso available on standard DVD\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Recorded live from the Teatro Regio di Parma, 8 October 2011 \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Bonus:\u003cbr\u003e  - Verdi’s Backyard – A documentary by Sergej Grguric \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  Picture format: 1080i High Definition\u003cbr\u003e  Sound format: PCM 2.0 \/ DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1\u003cbr\u003e  Region code: 0 (worldwide)\u003cbr\u003e  Subtitles: Italian, English, German, French, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Japanese (concert) \/ English, Italian (documentary)\u003cbr\u003e  Running time: 95 mins (concert) + 52 mins (documentary)\u003cbr\u003e  No. of Discs: 1 (BD 50)","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Blu-Ray","offer_id":49181958734104,"sku":"814337012557","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2309759_f5068a7e-7c06-42f5-b62e-a14394a2df9c.jpg?v=1777755540"},{"product_id":"4-symphonies-1","title":"4 Symphonies","description":"\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12bi\"\u003e4 SYMPHONIES \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e Thomas Dausgaard, cond; Danish Natl SO \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"BULLET12\"\u003e • \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12\"\u003e C MAJOR 710508 (DVD: 168:00) Live: Copenhagen 2009 \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eBRAHMS \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12b\"\u003eSymphony No. 1. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eDVO?ÁK \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12b\"\u003eSymphony No. 9. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eSIBELIUS \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12b\"\u003eSymphony No. 5. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"COMPOSER12\"\u003eNIELSEN \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"ARIAL12b\"\u003eSymphony No. 3 \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIf, as I did, you were to begin your examination of this release with disc 1, track 1 (the Brahms symphony), you might well conclude that there was little need to continue. There is something rather too cool and casual about Dausgaard’s interpretation of this powerful music. It lacks inner tension. There is not enough contrast between ideas. Accents are in the wrong places. Short notes are cheated of their value. And that’s not all. The second movement just plods on, the third is charmless, the fourth frantic and lurches from one tempo change to the next. Listening to the complete symphony several times could not induce me to alter my initial unfavorable observations. Adding visual insult to aural injury, sight and sound are not synchronized, and the difference between the two is disturbing, to put it mildly. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eBut then came the Nielsen symphony. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-style:italic\"\u003eWhat a difference!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Right from the opening moments it had all the vigor and élan and determination lacking in the Brahms. Rhythms were tight and crisp. The music bristled with enthusiasm and commitment. The finale positively beamed with Elgarian nobility and breadth, rising to an absolutely thrilling climax. What a joy! Nielsen’s Third had hitherto never been one of my favorite symphonies, but Dausgaard nearly made it so in this performance. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDoes Dausgaard work his magic on the two remaining works as well? The answer, I’m glad to say, is yes. Furthermore, the synchronization problem that affected the Brahms symphony is only minimal in the Nielsen and nonexistent in Dvo?ák and Sibelius. The “New World” Symphony receives one of the finest performances I have heard. Dausgaard’s approach is no romantic wallow but rather a clean, purposeful traversal filled with taut rhythms, precise attacks and releases, glowing sound, and architectural strength. Dausgaard likewise makes a strong case for the Sibelius Fifth, never allowing momentum to sag, carefully propelling the music forward with masterly control. I am particularly impressed with the ease in which he handles the tempo change for the second part of the first movement. By the time the grand climax of the finale arrives, one feels a great journey has been completed. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAll four performances were recorded live in Copenhagen’s Koncerthuset in 2009. The personnel changes from symphony to symphony, but both principal horns, both principal trumpets, and both timpanists are star players. Generally the woodwinds are excellent, but violins seem a bit thin for an orchestra that is otherwise so assured and well balanced. However, the basses make up for this deficiency with their huge, rich sound, heard at its best at the quiet endings of three of the Brahms movements and in some of the more powerful moments of the Dvo?ák symphony. Aside from the basses, the orchestra plays with a bright sound, textures are clear and clean, balances are well controlled. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe camerawork is devoted about 20 percent of the time to Dausgaard and his facial contortions, 10 percent to views of the full orchestra from afar, and 70 percent to the business of jerking the viewer’s eyes from one instrumental close-up to another—two seconds of a horn player’s embouchure, a second of flute keys, two notes from the timpani, etc. Who determined that this is what we want to see? I find it annoying to the point where I simply can’t bear to watch. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOn ArkivMusic the price for these four symphonies is $27 ($40 for the Blu-ray version)—just under $7 a symphony, a good buy even without the inferior Brahms symphony, especially for performances as fine as the other three. \u003c\/span\u003e \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight:bold\"\u003eFANFARE: Robert Markow \u003c\/span\u003e","brand":"C Major Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"DVD","offer_id":49181958766872,"sku":"814337011055","price":16.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/files\/2002743_43b4b6d9-a9f8-4bd7-ab14-1bc7f49c2f40.jpg?v=1777759429"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0687\/4346\/3192\/collections\/3_4_678fa15c-2723-42da-98f6-28075132ca4e.png?v=1787587932","url":"https:\/\/hbdirect.com\/collections\/c-major-entertainment-sale-2026.oembed?page=8","provider":"HBDirect","version":"1.0","type":"link"}