111 Years of Deutsche Grammophon [13 DVDs] DVD

LEONARD BERNSTEIN - MAKING OF WEST SIDE STORY
27 years after its Broadway première, Leonard Bernstein went into a New York studio für Deutsche Grammophon to conduct his most famous work for the first time. In selecting his cast he "decided to go for sound" with the sumptuous operatic voices of Kiri Te Kanawa, José Carreras and Tatiana Troyanos. This spellbinding film, winner of the prix Italia and the British Academy's Flathery Award, documents the stresses and strains, exhilaration and eventual triumph in the making of a landmark recording. "The result is terrific, not just musically, but as video vérité."
Laufzeit: 88 Minuten
Produktionsjahr: 1984
Regie: Christopher Swann


BEETHOVEN - PIANO CONCERTOS 3 & 5
"Musik"
Wiener Philharmoniker
Conductor: Karl Böhm
Maurizio Pollini - Piano

"Werke'"
- Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor (I Allegro con brio, II Largo, III Rondo. Allegro)
- Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major: Emperor, Op. 73 (I Allegro, II Adagio un poco mosso, III Rondo. Allegro)
Produktionsjahr: 2005


GEORGES BIZET - CARMEN (H. v. KARAJAN)
This famous film of te world's best-loved opera, directed by Herbert von Karajan, features the three greatest exponents of their respective roles at the time: Grace Bumbry's magnificently seductive-toned Carmen, Mirella Freni's ineffably lovely, touching Micaela, and Jon Vickers' thrilling manic-depressive Don José - "overwhelming in its truthfulness to the tragic visions of Carmen", wrote the distinguished critic David Cairns.

"Interpreten"
Carmen - Grace Bumbry
Don José - Jon Vickers
Micaela - Mirella Freni
Escamillo - Justino Diaz
Frasquita - Olivera Miljakovic
Mercédès - Julia Hamari
Moralès - Robert Kerns
Zuniga - Anton Diakov
Dancaire - Kurt Equiluz
Remendado - Milen Paunov
Mariemma & Ballet de Espana

"Musik"
Wiener Staatsopernchor
Chorleitung: Walter Hagen-Groll
Wiener Philharmoniker
Conductor: Herbert von Karajan
Laufzeit: 163 Minuten
Produktionsjahr: 1976
Regie: Herbert von Karajan


WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART - VIOLIN CONCERTOS 4 & 5
"Werke"
- Violin Concerto No. 4 in D major K. 218 (I Allegro, II andante cantabile, III Rondeau. Andante grazioso)
- Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major K. 219 (I Allegro aperto, II Adagio, III Rondeau. Tempo die Menuetto)

"Musik"
Camerata Salzburg
Anne-Sophie Mutter - Violin


MOZART - DON GIOVANNI (Wiener Staatsoper)
"Interpreten"
Don Giovanni - Cesare Siepi
Il Commendatore - Deszö Ernster
Donna Anna - Elisabeth Grümmer
Don Ottavio - Anton Dermota
Donna Elvira - Lise Della Casa
Leporello - Otto Edelmann
Zerlina - Erna Berger
Masetto - Walter Berry

"Musik"
Chor der Wiener Staatsoper
Wiener Philharmoniker
Conductor: Wilhelm Furtwängler
Laufzeit: 177 Minuten
Produktionsjahr: 1954
Regie: Paul Czinner


RICHARD STRAUSS - DER ROSENKAVALIER
"Interpreten"
Feldmarschallin - Gwyneth Jones
Baron Ochs - Manfred Jungwirth
Octavian - Brigitte Fassbaender
Faninal - Benno Kusche
Sophie - Lucia Popp
Leitmetzerin - Anneliese Waas
Valzacchi - David Thaw
Annina - Gudrun Wewezow
Sänger - Francisco Araiza

"Musik"
Chor der Bayerischen Staatsoper
Chorus Master: Josef Beischer
Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Conductor Carlos Kleiber

"The work of a master", wrote the "Los Angeles Times" on Otto Schenk's Munich staging of Strauss's opera - and it is the presence of a master, Carlos Kleiber, which makes this a uniquely satisfying "Rosenkavalier". Conducting a superlative cast who worked him in the production from the beginning and an orchestra that knows the score inside out, Kleiber excels in this legendary performance.
Laufzeit: 186 Minuten
Produktionsjahr: 1988
Regie: Otto Schenk


TSCHAIKOWSKY - SCHWANENSEE (Dt. Grammo.)
Perhaps the most popular ballet video ever released, this version of Tchaikovsky's beloved work stars one of the most famous classical dance partnership of all time, Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn. Nureyev choreographed this production for the Vienna State Opera Ballet. No ballet lover can afford to be without this DVD, which finds two icons of 20th-century dance in magnificent form. Ballet authority John Lanchbery, former music director of the Sadler's Wells and Royal Ballet companies, as well as of American Ballet Theatre and Australian Ballet, conducts the Vienna Symphony Orchestra in Tchaikovsky's enchanting score.

"Interpreten"
Odette / Odile - Margot Fonteyn
Prince Siegfried - Rudolf Nureyev
Mitglieder des Balletts der Wiener Staatsoper

"Musik"
Wiener Symphoniker
Conductor: John Lanchbery
Laufzeit: 107 Minuten
Produktionsjahr: 1966
Regie: Truck Branss


VERDI - LA TRAVIATA (2005)
Here is the opera event of 2005, the Salzburg Festival's "La Traviata" featuring Anna Netrebko, Rolando Villazon, and Thomas Hampson in a dramatic staging by Willy Decker - the thrilling production that prompted riotous ovations not seen since Karajan's heyday. Now on DVD.

"Interpreten"
Violetta Valery - Anna Netrebko
Flora Bervoix - Helene Schneiderman
Annina - Diane Pilcher
Alfredo Germont - Rolando Villazon
Giorgio Germont - Thomas Hampson
Gastone, Visconte de Letorières - Salvatore Cordella
Barone Douphol - Paul Gay
Marchese d'Obigny - Herman Wallén
Dottore Grenvil - Luigi Roni
Giuseppe - Dritan Luca
Domestico di Flora - Wolfram Igor Derntl
Commissionario - Friedrich Springer

"Musik"
Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor
Mozarteum Orchester
Wiener Philharmoniker
Conductor: Carlo Rizzi
Laufzeit: 132 Minuten
Produktionsjahr: 2005
Regie: Brian Large


VERDI - MESSA DA REQUIEM
Acknowledged to be the finest Karajan recording of this overwhelming sacred masterpiece - "electrifying ... with the Italian chorus and orchestra singing and playing their hearts out ... a historic document" (Gramohone). This 1967 performance features four of the 20th century's greatest Verdi singers - Price, Cossotto and Ghiaurov were at the peak of their careers, while the young Pavarotti was still comparatively unknown (though not for long).

"Interpreten"
Sopran - Leontyne Price
Mezzo-Sopran - Fiorenza Cossotto
Tenor - Luciano Pavarotti
Bass - Nicolai Ghiaurov

"Musik"
Coro del Teatro alla Scala
Chorus Master: Roberto Benaglio
Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala
Conductor & Artistic Supervisor: Herbert von Karajan
Laufzeit: 83 Minuten
Produktionsjahr: 1967
Regie: Henri-Georges Clouzot


RICHARD WAGNER - WALKÜRE
The second part of Patrice Chéreau's epoch-making Bayreuth "Ring" is a radical re-imaging of "die Walküre", unprecedented in its psychological penetration. "This Wagnerian drama", says Chéreau, "which is at once classical theatre and domestic comedy, enables us to interpret the myths in terms that are both anecdotical and sublime ... With Wagner one is dealing with a drama tuned virtually white-hot by the music." "Nothing ever seen before on television has given a better insight into Wagner's genius." (The New York Times)

Interpreten:
Siegmund - Peter Hoffmann
Hunding - Matti Salminen
Wotan - Donald McIntyre
Sieglinde - Jeannie Altmeyer
Brünhilde - Gwyneth Jones
Fricka - Hanna Schwarz
Gerhilde - Carmen Reppel
Ortlinde - Karmen Middleton
Waltraute - Gabriele Schnaut
Schwertleite - Gwendolyn Killebrew
Helmwige - Katie Clarke
Siegrune - Marga Schiml
Grimgerde - Ilse Gramatzki
Rossweisse - Elisabeth Glauser

"Musik"
Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele
Conductor: Pierre Boulez
Laufzeit: 215 Minuten
Produktionsjahr: 1988
Regie: Brian Large


SERGEI PROKOFIEV - PETER UND DER WOLF
This brilliantly inventive of Prokofiev's beloved musical tale features Sting, Claudia Abbado, members of London's celebrated Théâtre de Complicité, and some fantastic Spitting Image puppetry.
"Sting's knack for getting into character as wll as his talent for creating voices lends an appropiately caroonish atmosphere to the proceedings... With Abbado's playfully dramatic conducting... a Peter that's fun for kids as well as adults" - Classics Today
Laufzeit: 58 Minuten
Produktionsjahr: 1993
Regie: Christopher Swann, Roger Law, Steve Bendelack;