Arts & Entertainment - Page 64

Manufacturer: Decca Model: 4444396

This Covent Garden production of Bizet’s Carmen, makes a vivid musical and dramatic impression. Director Francesca Zambello creates a properly Spanish atmosphere, filling the stage with a profusion of detailed characters. In Act One’s town square each of the many soldiers, strollers, cigarette factory girls, and children are individuals, so there’s a bustle of continuous, realistic activity. That attention to detail carries over to the rest of the opera, involving viewers in the action. Tanya McCallin’s sets are a perfect foil for the direction: simple, movable panels that serve as lightly sketched backdrops for the town square, a tavern, the smugglers’ mountain hideaway, and the final scene in front of the bull ring. But what makes this Carmen special is the singing and acting of the principals. Carmen is Anna Caterina Antonacci, a soprano known for the intensity she brings to her performances. Without taking anything to excess, her Carmen is a fiery temptress, sexy, insistent on setting her own terms for love and personal freedom. She sings all the set pieces well and, with tenor Jonas Kaufmann as her besotted lover, Don José, makes the final scene a hair-raising experience. If anything, Kaufmann trumps her with a beautifully sung, rounded portrait of the village boy turned soldier ensnared in a world beyond his experience. Kaufmann conveys the complexity of the character and etches his slow descent into obsessive madness. His rendition of the Flower Song is extraordinary for beauty of tone, phrasing and the soft singing essential to make this aria’s full impact. The toreador, Escamilio, is finely sung and acted by Ildebrando D’Arcangelo. He makes his entrance on horseback, sings the Toreador Song with brash arrogance, and projects this haughty, self-absorbed figure to perfection. And Norah Amsellem, as the village girl who loves Don José, uses her attractive soprano to depict her purity and innocence. Smaller roles are well done, with special mention due t...

Manufacturer: Jazz Icons Brand: EVANS,BILL

This collection includes for the first time on commercial video Bill Evans renditions of the rarely performed or recorded Sareen Jurer, Blue Serge and Twelve Tone Tune Two. Bill Evans performs with four different rhythm sections - all of which are excellent - including the stunning duo of bassist Neils-Henning Orsted Pedersen and drummer Alan Dawson. Among the many surprises in this collection is a live performance of My Melancholy Baby by Bill Evans and saxophonist Lee Konitz.

Manufacturer: Warner Classics Brand: GHEORGHIU/VARGAS/LUISOTTI Model: 35225109

The Metropolitan Opera's acclaimed Live in High-Definition series, which projects live performances into theaters across the globe, has met with unprecedented critical and commercial success and has made opera convenient and affordable to millions of viewers worldwide. Now, EMI Classics is proud to collaborate with The Met to release 6 new DVDs made from these broadcast performances.Puccini's immortal classic of love and loss, with Franco Zeffirelli's sumptuous, iconic production and Nicola Luisotti's expressive conducting. Angela Gheorghiu, the leading Puccini soprano of our time, reprises the role of Mimì, while tenor Ramón Vargas gives a sensitive reading of Rodolfo. All these forces combine for a truly definitive performance of this beloved opera! Franco Zeffirelli’s production of La Bohème is a perennial favorite at New York’s Metropolitan Opera and it retains its power in this 2008 performance. Its large-scale settings and especially an Act II set that looks as if half the 1890’s Paris Latin Quarter has been beamed direct to the MET. It’s been criticized as an over-the-top spectacle, but as well as bringing breath-taking realism to the stage, it’s bursting with energy and directorial flair. The individuals making up the large crowds milling in front of the Café Momus each have some little stage business to do, giving the audience the feeling of participating in the onstage street festival. Zeffirelli’s detailed directing even extends to the snow-filled Act III, where shadowy figures walk across the background hill in the distance while the principals are up front. While Zeffirelli’s conception tends to scant the opera’s intimate scenes in the theatre, on DVD those scenes make heightened impact. TV director Gary Halvorson’s establishing shots show a cutaway of the bohemians’ little garret precariously poised atop a sharply raked house, but he soon cuts to closeups of the playing space and the singers, creating a sense of warm ...

Manufacturer: Motown Brand: Vivendi Entertainment Model: 5073094

Stevie Wonder performs live at London's O2 Arena in October 2008 as part of his 'Wonder Summer Nights' European tour. Songs include classics from all stages of his career including 'My Cherie Amour', 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)', 'Superstition', 'Higher Ground', 'Living for the City' and 'You Are the Sunshine of My Life'. Stevie's daughter, Aisha Morris, joins him on the stage as a backing singer.

Manufacturer: Deutsche Grammophon

This DVD portrays Gustavo Dudamel's thrilling debut at the Salzburg Festival in 2008 recorded live in the heat of the moment at the Grosses Festspielhaus. This compelling concert features Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition, orchestrated in psychedelic colors by Ravel, eliciting rousing playing from Dudamel's young instrumentalists. For the Beethoven's Triple Concerto, Dudamel assembles the classical dream team including pianist Martha Argerich, violinist Renaud Capuçon and cellist Gautier Capuçon who bring emotionality to one of Beethoven's most emotionally naked compositions. DVD EXTRAS: Die Schule des Hörens--master classes in listening led by Dudamel, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, and the SBYOV as given at the 2008 Salzburg Festival.

Manufacturer: KULTUR VIDEO Brand: Kulter

Two dazzling picture edits over one sumptuous soundtrack bring new life to Vivaldi's perennial work. Choose between the director's cut with stunning images of the changing seasons, filmed at the National Botanic Garden of Wales, or the performance edit with shots of Julia Fischer and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, in the garden's futuristic glass dome by Norman Foster.The sensational young violinist Julia Fischer brings a fresh and sparkling interpretation of this popular work.Extras: When you reach a goal . . . an interview with Julia Fischer Director's cut and performance edit options Favourite Seasons: views on the seasons' moods and Vivaldi's music

Manufacturer: Charly Brand: Big Brother & The Holding Company

The performances featured on this DVD were filmed at the studios of KQED TV in April 1967, just weeks before Big Brother & The Holding Company shot to international fame following their blinding set at the Monterey Pop Festival in June 1967 (which featured Joplin's show-stopping performance of 'Ball And Chain', a highlight also of D.A. Pennebaker's famous movie documenting the festival). For many fans this was the period when Janis Joplin was at her best, before the pressure of fame and the ravages of drugs took over. This is the first DVD to release these KQED TV tracks. The songs are interspersed with short interviews with Janis and other band members, all in excellent sound and picture quality for the era. In addition to 'Ball And Chain', which was to appear on the group's second album in the following year, the set features two of the group's hit singles, 'Down On Me' and 'Coo Coo'. This package also includes a bonus audio CD of the tracks.