The Nutcracker

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The Nutcracker ballet. Music by Tchaikovsky to libretto by Marius Petipa. Choreographed and staged per Rudolf Nureyev under direction of Manuel Legris. Performed 2012 at the Wiener Staatsoper. Stars Liudmila Konovalova (Clara), Vladimir Shishov (Drosselmeyer/The Prince), Emilia Baranowicz (Luisa/Spanish Dance), Davide Dato (Fritz/Spanish Dance), Franziska Wallner-Hollinek and Gabor Oberegger (The Parents/Russian Dance), Eva Polacek and Christoph Wenzel (The Grandparents/Arabian Dance), Atilla Bakó and Martin Winter (The Rat King), Trevor Hayden (Little Nutcracker), Alena Klochkova and Prisca Zeisel (Two Snowflakes), Ketevan Papava and Eno Peci (Arabian Dance), Marcin Dempc, András Lukács, and Richard Szasbó (Chinese Dance), Ioanna Avraam, Kiyoka Hashimoto, and Masayu Kimoto (Pastorale), plus dancers of the Corps of the Wiener Staatsballett and students of the Ballet Academy of the Wiener Staatsoper. Paul Connelly conducts the Orchestra and Stage Orchestra of the Wiener Staatsoper together with Children of the Opera School of the Wiener Staatsoper. Set and costume design by Nicholas Georgiadis; staging by Aleth Francillon and Manuel Legris; staging for children scenes by Nathalie Aubin; lighting design by Jacques Giovanangeli. Directed for TV by Michael Beyer. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

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LAC (After Swan Lake)

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LAC (After Swan Lake) ballet. Music by Tchaikovsky. Choreographed by Jean-Christophe Maillot for Les Ballets de Monte Carlo. Recorded 2013 at Grimaldi Forum, Monaco. Stars Bernice Coppieters (Her Majesty the Night); Anja Behrend (The White Swan), April Ball (The Black Swan), Stephan Bourgond (The Prince), Alvaro Prieto (The King), Mimoza Koike (The Queen), Jeroen Verbruggen (The Prince's Confidant), Asier Uriagereka and Asier Edeso (Two Archangels of Darkness), Simone Webster (The Conceited Woman), Gaëlle Riou (The Indifferent Pretender); Anjara Ballesteros and Noelani Pantastico (The Two Libertines), and Maude Sabourin (The Insatiable Woman). Corps members dance the following roles: Hunters by Raphaël Bouchard, Leart Duraku, Ediz Erguc, Julien Guerin, Alexis Oliveira, George Oliveira, Daniele Delvecchio, Bruno Roque, and Stefan Stewart; Hunters' Friends by Sivan Blitzova, Quinn Pendleton, Francesca Dolci, Anne-Laure Seillan, and Kaori Tajima; Chimeras by Anjara Ballesteros, Sivan Blitzova, Francesca Dolci, Liisa Hämäläinen, Vanessa Henriques, Frances Murphy, Noelani Pantastico, Quinn Pendleton, Gaëlle Riou, Maude Sabourin, Anne-Laure Seillan, Beatriz Uhalte, and Simone Webster; and Court by Anjara Ballesteros, Sivan Blitzova, Francesca Dolci, Frances Murphy, Noelani Pantastico, Anne-Laure Seillan, Maude Sabourin, Beatriz Uhalte, Simone Webster, Raphaël Bouchard, Leart Duraku, Ediz Erguc, Julien Guerin, Alexis Oliveira, George Oliveira, Daniele Delvecchio, Bruno Roque, and Stefan Stewart. Leonard Slatkin conducts the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra.  Dramaturgy by Jean Rouaud; visual designs by Ernest Pignon-Ernest; costumes by Philippe Guillotel; lighting by Jean-Christophe Maillot and Samuel Thery. Directed for the screen by Denis Caïozzi; executive producers were Antoine Perset and Denis Morlière. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+

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Der Rosenkavalier

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Richard Strauss Der Rosenkavalier opera to libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Directed 2014 by Harry Kupfer at the Salzburg Festival. Stars Krassimira Stoyanova (Feldmarschallin), Günther Groisböck (Baron Ochs), Sophie Koch (Octavian), Adrian Eröd (Faninal), Mojca Erdman (Sophie), Silvana Dussmann (Leitmetzerin), Rudolph Schasching (Valzacci), Wiebke Lehmkuhl (Annina), and Stefan Pop (Sänger). Franz Welser-Möst conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker, Konzertvereinigung Wiener Philharmoniker (Chorus Master Ernst Raffelsberger), and the Salzburger Festpiele und Theater Kinderchor (Chorus Master Wolfgang Götz). Set design by Hans Shavernoch; costume design by Yan Tax; lighting design by Jürgen Hoffmann; video direction by Brian Large. Released 2013, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Great Ballets from the Bolshoi

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Great Ballets from the Bolshoi box set. This box  has four ballets from the Bolshoi. All have been released individually, and we already have done reviews with screenshots and grades for all of them. Following are links to more information and our grade for  each title:

1. Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker D
2. Tchaikovsky The Sleeping Beauty (La Belle au Bois dormant) A+
3. Adam Giselle C+
4. Asafiev The Flames of Paris (Les Flammes de Paris) A

Released 2014. Combined Grade: C+

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Herbert von Karajan 1965-1966 Movie Documentary

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Herbert von Karajan 1965-1966 Movie Documentary. This title begins with a 1965 motion picture of Karajan conducting the Mozart Violin Concerto No. 5 with the Wiener Symphoniker and Yehudi Menuhin. Then comes the 1966 motion picture of Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmoniker in the Dvořák Symphony No. 9 ("New World"). Finally, there are two bonus items in which Karajan discusses the art of conducting with Menuhin and Prof. Joachim Kaiser as well as a few minutes of Karajan in rehearsal. The filming was the work of motion-picture director Henri-Georges Clouzot. Released 2010, the entire title is in 4:3 black and white. It has PCM stereo sound for the music and mono sound for the extras. Grade: X-B-

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Giselle

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Giselle ballet. Music by Adolphe Adam revised by Joseph Horovitz. Libretto by Théophile Gautier and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. Choreography by Marius Petipa after Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. Directed 2014 by Sir Peter Wright at the Royal Opera House. Stars Natalia Osipova (Giselle), Carlos Acosta (Count Albrecht), Thomas Whitehead (Hilarion), Deirdre Chapman (Berthe), Johannes Stepanek (Wilfred, Albrecht's Squire), Christopher Saunders (Duke of Courland), Christina Arestes (Bathilde, Courland's daughter), Alastair Marriott (Leader of the Hunt), Hikaru Kobayashi (Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis), Elisabeth Harrod (Moyna, Myrtha's attendant), Akane Takada (Zulme, Myrtha's attendant). Pas de Six danced by Yuhui Choe, Valentino Zucchetti, Francesca Hayward, Luca Acri, Yasmine Naghdi, and Marcelino Sambé). Boris Gruzin conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Concert Master Peter Manning). Designs by John Macfarlane; lighting  by Jennifer Tipton recreated by David Finn; staging by Christopher Carr; directed for screen by Ross MacGibbon. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A-

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Lohengrin

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Richard Wagner Lohengrin opera to libretto by the composer. Directed 2009 by Richard Jones at the Munich Festival. Stars Jonas Kaufmann (Lohengrin), Anja Harteros (Elsa), Wolfgang Koch (Telramund), Michaela Schuster (Ortrud), Christof Fischesser (König Heinrich), and Evgeny Nikitin (Herald). Kent Nagano conducts the Bayerisches Staatsorchester. Set and costume design by Ultz; lighting design by Mimi Jordan Sherin; video direction by Karina Fibich. Released 2014, disc has dts-HD Master Audio surround sound. Grade: NA

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Strauss Tone Poems

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Richard Strauss Tone Poems concert [our name]. Andriss Nelsons conducts the Concertgebouw Orchestra at the Royal Concertgebouw in 2013 and 2014. The program includes:

1. Also sprach Zarasthustra
2. Till Eulenspiegel
3. Macbeth

Released 2014, disc has dts 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Il trovatore

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Verdi Il trovatore opera to a libretto by Salvadore Cammarano and Leone Emanuele Bardare. Directed 2012 by Dmitri Tcherniakov at La Monnaie / De Munt. Stars Misha Didyk (Manrico), Marina Poplavskaya (Leonora), Sylvie Brunet-Grupposo (Azucena), Scott Hendricks (Il Conte di Luna), and Giovanni Furlanetto (Ferrando). Marc Minkowski conducts the Orchestre symphonique de la Monnaie and the Choeurs de la Monnaie. Set and costume design by Dmitri Tcherniakov. Directed for TV by Andy Sommer. Sung in Italian. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Giselle

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Giselle ballet. Music by Adolphe Adam to libretto by Théophile Gautier and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges. Choreography by Marius Petipa, Jean Coralli, and Jules Perrot as revived by Yuri Grigorovich. Recorded 2011 at the Bolshoi Theatre, Moscow. Stars Svetlana Lunkina (Giselle), Dmitry Gudanov (Albrecht), Vitaly Biktimirov (Hans [Hilarion]), Maria Allash (Myrtha), Elena Bukanova (Berthe), Ekaterina Barykina (Bathilde), Alexay Loparevich (Duke), Vladislav Lantratov (Wilfreed), Chinara Alizade and Andrey Bolotin (Pas de deux des paysans). Pavel Klinichev directs the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra. Set and costume designs by Simon Virsaladze; lighting design by Mikhail Sokolov; produced by François Duplat; directed for TV by Vincent Bataillon. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

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Falstaff

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Verdi Falstaff opera to libretto by Arrigo Boito. Directed 2013 by Damiano Michieletto at the Strasburg Festival (Haus für Mozart). Stars Ambrogio Maestri (Sir John Falstaff), Fiorenza Cedolins (Mrs. Alice Ford), Massimo Cavalletti (Ford), Eleonora Buratto (Nannetta), Javier Camarena (Fenton), Elisabeth Kulmann (Mrs. [or Mistress] Quickly), Stephanie Houtzeel (Mrs. Meg Page), Luca Casalin (Dottore Cajus), Gianluca Sorrentino (Bardolfo), and David Fersini (Pistola). Zubin Mehta conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker and the Philharmonia Chor Wien (Chorus Master Walter Zeh). Video direction by Karina Fibich. Released in 2014, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Don Giovanni (Schrott)

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Mozart Don Giovanni opera to libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. Directed 2013 by Philipp Himmelmann at the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus. Stars Erwin Schrott (Don Giovanni), Luca Pisaroni (Leporello), Anna Netrebko (Donna Anna), Charles Castronovo (Don Ottavio), Malena Ernman (Donna Elvira), Katija Dragojevic (Zerlina), Jonathan Lemalu (Masetto), and Mario Luperi (Commendatore). Thomas Hengelbrock conducts the Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble (Leader Riccardo Minasi) and Balthasar-Neumann-Chor (Chorus Master Frank Markowitsch). Donna Elvira's maid (acrobat role) by Susanne Preissler. Extras: Alisa Berlin, Anna Biberacher, Angela Covelli, Kristina Daniel, Marcel Fox, Jessica Hempel, Mia Hilger, Valerie Holfeld, Ferris Jung, Nino Kolicic, Lisa Koßmann, Luisa Krieser, Sophie Kuznik, Camilla Maul, Florentina Maul, Franziska Meyer, Tamima Rastätter, Tabea Schell, Markus Senger, Mario Scholz, Deniz Can Ulucan, Lisa Wehle, and Hans Zelenka. Stage design by Johannes Leiacker; costumes by Florence von Gerkan; lighting by David Cunningham; directed for video by Jérémie Cuvillier. Stereo and sound recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C+

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Romeo and Juliet

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Romeo and Juliet ballet. Music by Prokofiev. Libretto by Leonid Lavrovsky and Sergei Prokofiev. Choreography by Leonid Lavrovsky as staged 2013 at the Mariinsky Theatre under the direction of Yuri Fateyev. Stars Diana Vishneva (Juliet), Vladimir Shklyarov (Romeo), Ilya Kuznetsov (Tybalt), Alexander Sergeyev (Mercutio), Islom Baimuradov (Benvolio), Yuri Smekalov (Paris), Valeria Karpina (Juliet's Nurse), Vladimir Ponomarev (Capulet), Elena Bazhenova (Lady Capulet), Pyotr Stasyunas (Montague and Friar Lawrence), Nikolai Naumov (Duke of Verona), Grigory Popov (Jester), Elena Firsova (Paris' Page), Yekaterina Osmolkina (Juliet's Companion), Maxim Zyuzin (Troubadour), Elena Chmil and Daria Lomako (Beggers), Yekaterina Devichinskaya, Yekaterina Mikhailovtseva, and  Olga Balinskaya (Courtesans), Maria Adzhamova, Maria Lebedeva, and Nadezhda Batoeva (Tavern Girls), Mikhail Berdichevsky, Denis Zainetdinov, and Nikita Lyashchenko (Servants to Capulet), Ivan Sitnikov and Soslan Kulaev (Servants to Montague), Xenia Dubrovina, Olga Belik, Boris Zhurilov, and Anatoly Marchenko (Folk Dancers). Valery Gergiev conducts the Mariinsky Orchestra. Set and costume design by Pyotr Williams; directed for TV by Olivier Simonnet. This title includes a Blu-ray disc and a separate DVD disc in a "double play" package. Released 2014, music was recorded using 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling, but the Blu-ray disc only has PCM stereo output. Grade: C-

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Parsifal

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Wagner Parsifal opera to a libretto by the composer. Directed 2014 by Stephen Langridge at the Royal Opera House. Stars Simon O'Neill (Parsifal), René Pape (Gurnemanz), Angela Denoke (Kundry/Voice from Above), Gerald Finley (Amfortas), Willard W. White (Klingsor), Robert Lloyd (Titurel), David Butt Philip (First Knight), Charbel Mattar (Second Knight), Dusiča Bjeli (First Squire), Rachel Kelly (Second Squire), Sipho Fubesi (Third Squire), Luis Gomes (Fourth Squire), and Celina Byrne, Kiandra Howarth, Anna Patalong, Anna Devin, Ana James, Justina Gringyte (Flowermaidens). Antonio Pappano conducts the Royal Opera Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Concert Master Peter Manning). Designs by Alison Chitty; lighting design by Paul Pyant; movement by Dan O’Neill; video design by Thomas Bergmann and William Bramsche. Directed for TV by Jonathan Haswell. Sung in German. Released 2014, disc claims 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: NA

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Chopin Warsaw Recital

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Chopin The Warsaw Recital. Daniel Barenboim performs the following solo Chopin pieces in 2010 at the Warsaw National Philharmonic Hall:

1. Fantasia in F minor
2. Nocturne in D flat major
3. Sonata in B flat minor
4. Barcarolle in F sharp major
5. Waltz in F major
6. Waltz in A minor
7. Waltz in C sharp minor
8. Berceuse in D flat major
9. Polonaise in A flat major
10. Mazurka in F minor
11.Waltz in D flat major

Directed for TV by Michael Beyer; Director of Photography was Nyika Jancsó; Audio Producer was Georg Obermayer. Claudia Groh and Günter Atteln were Disc Producers with Executive Producer Paul Smaczny. The music was recorded with 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling. Released 1011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A

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