Orchestral & Symphonic

Gloriana came into being when Britten, Benjamin was asked to compose an opera to celebrate the Coronation of HRH Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. He took as his starting point Lytton Strachey's Elizabeth and Essex, which had much interested him when he first...

Arthaus presents the Vienna State Opera's outstandingly cast new production of Werther on DVD. The production was the Vienna State Opera debut for the young Swiss conductor Philippe Jordan - the Argentinian tenor Marcelo ?lvarez, took the title role. Alth

After personal tragedies and the fiasco of his last opera Un giorno di regno, Verdi wanted to give up composing for ever. Fortunately he made a further attempt: Nabucco. His first real success, the first genuine Verdi opera", was born. Nabucco - the comp

Certainly more than just the composer of the Four Seasons, Vivaldi also wrote hundreds of largely famous instrumental works, and his glorious church music is well known; but it wasn't until recent decades that his operas - of which he is said to have writ

This DVD combines a number of operatic highlights: Puccini's Madama Butterfly - the composer's self-proclaimed favourite work and certainly one of the most beloved operas in the repertoire - is brought to life at the worldfamous Arena di Verona. This opul

From the Vienna State Opera Arthaus presents a timeless document of great opera. Lorin Maazel and a dream cast of distinguished singers, among them the young Eva Marton and Jos? Carreras in his mid-thirties, perform a celebrated staging of Puccini's...

Arthaus Musik presents a DVD release of Weber's masterpiece Der Freisch?tz in a production by the legendary director Ruth Berghaus. Chorus and orchestra of the Zurich opera are conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, universally celebrated for the structural t

One of the lesser known works by Verdi, Giuseppe; Simon Boccanegra is regarded by most opera lovers as one of his finest. The action takes place in the 14th century and deals with the political and personal rivalry between the corsair Simon Boccanegra,...

This production of Bellini's famous masterpiece Norma was extraordinary in many aspects. Staged by Italian director and filmmaker Roberto And? at the Teatro Regio in Parma, it gathered international stars like American soprano June Anderson and shooting s

The last great work from the glorious era of the Imperial ballets has never before been performed by the La Scala ballet. It's La Scala premiere marks the most faithful version of Raymonda yet to the original, which met with triumphant success in St...

The Milan Otello traditionally opens the Scala season and did so in 2001 on 7 December, but at the same time it was the farewell production before the start of the three-year renovation of the house and not least a brilliant end to the Verdi Year. The a