Claudio Abbado

La Cenerentola

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle

Frederica von Stade, Margherita Guglielmi

The Prince, Don Ramiro (who has changed places with his valet, Dandini), meets Cenerentola and they are instantly attracted to each other. When the Philosopher, Alidoro, later takes Cenerentola (dressed in magnificent clothing) to the palace, Dandini (still posing as the prince) tries to talk of love to her, but Cenerentola rejects him, saying that she is in love with his 'valet'. Ramiro, who has overheard this comment, is overjoyed, and immediately proposes to her, but Cenerentola says that he must first seek her out and then, if he still felt the same way, she would marry him. She gives him one of a matching pairs of bracelets, telling him to look for its companion on her right arm (she then leaves the palace). Ramiro ends the masquerade, and he and Dandini resume their true identities. The Prince then sets out on his quest - little realising that destiny, in the form of a violent thunderstorm, is about to take a hand in the affair.

Claudio Abbado: Die Stille nach der Musik

Paul Smaczny

Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez

Shot over a two-year period observing Abbado: a) Rossini, Overture to 'll Barbiere di Siviglia' b) Schubert, Symphony no. 2 B-Major, D. 125 c) Arnold Schonberg, Kammersinfonie no. 1 E-Major op. 9 (Filmed in Venice, Gran Teatro La Fenice, in February 1995, Chamber Orchestra of Europe). a) Richard Strauss, Elektra (Deborah Polaski, Karita Mattila, Marjana Lipovsek, Ferrucio Furlanetto) b) Beethoven, Symphony no 6 F-Major, op. 68, 'Pastorale' (Filmed in the Festspielhaus Salzburg on the occasion of the Easter Festival, April 1995, Berlin Philharmonic). a) Beethoven, Concerto for piano and orchestra no. 3 C-MINOR, OP. 37 (Maria Joao Pires) b) Bruckner, Symphony no. 9 D-Minor (Filmed in Paris, Cite de la Musique, in August 1995, Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra).

Verdi: Simon Boccanegra

Giorgio Strehler, André Flédérick

Piero Cappuccilli, Nicolai Ghiaurov

Abbado wholly vindicates Verdi’s intentions through his feeling for the shape of a whole scene, for the inherent subtleties of Verdi’s scoring and for certain rhythmic effects.

Wozzeck

Brian Large, Ernst Neuspiel

Claudio Abbado, Franz Grundheber

1987 recording of Wozzeck by the Vienna State Opera with Claudio Abbado conducting. Based upon Georg Büchner's 1837 play, Alban Berg's Wozzeck details the harsh existence of the title character, a former soldier in the German army who has to struggle mightily to make a living, even as others around him prosper.

Johann Sebastian Bach: Brandenburg Concertos 1-6

Andreas Morell

Claudio Abbado, Giuliano Carmignola

Claudio Abbado conducts the Orchestra Mozart with Giuliano Carmignola, principal violinist, live at the Teatro Municipale Valli, Reggio Emilia, April 21, 2007

Il Barbiere di Siviglia

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, Ernst Wild

Hermann Prey, Luigi Alva

Count Almaviva is in love with Rosina. However, she is currently staying with Dr. Bartolo – who desires to marry her. By using a series of disguises, Almaviva manages to pass letters to Rosina and serenade her with his beautiful voice. Dr. Bartolo does his best to stop Almaviva but is constantly thwarted. In the end, Count Almaviva marries Rosina and Dr. Bartolo comes to terms with his defeat.

Peter and the Wolf: A Prokofiev Fantasy

Christopher Swann, Roger Law

Roy Hudd, Henry Feagins

A delightful DVD of Prokofiev's universally beloved and popular "musical tale," brought to life by human actors in a fairytale world inhabited by Muppet-like characters. Pop star Sting (The Police) lends his voice to a Sting puppet for the witty, enlightening commentary that guides the viewer through this charming suite.

Khovanshchina

Brian Large

Claudio Abbado, Vladimir Atlantov

The last and arguably finest opera of Modest Mussorgsky is captured in one of its most powerful interpretations in this 1989 recording from the Vienna State Opera, conducted by Claudio Abbado. A moody opera that is thematically broad at times and intimately personal in others, "Khovanshchina" tells the story of the 17th-century clash between Russian conservatives and Peter the Great's reformists. Among the singers is renowned basso Nicolai Ghiaurov and Paata Burchuladze, as well as Anatoly Kocherga, Ludmila Semtchuk, and Heinz Zednik.

Elektra

Brian Large, Harry Kupfer

Claudio Abbado, Éva Marton

Recorded at the Vienna State Opera house in 1989, this staging of Richard Strauss and Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s Elektra is one of the glories of live opera on film, deserving of eternal availability. The DVD picture has great clarity, despite the darkness of Hans Schavernoch’s set design. Other than the cliché of a huge statue head, toppled on its side, the set manages to be suitably representative of a decaying palace as well as an imposing, theatrical space, dominated by the mammoth body of the statue from which the head apparently dropped, draped with the ropes that seem to have enabled the decapitation. Sooner or later most of the characters cling to and twist around those ropes, an apt stage metaphor for the remorseless repercussions from the murder of Agammenon by his unfaithful wife Klytämnestra and her paramour, Aegisthus. Reinhard Heinrich’s costumes capture a distant era while sustaining a creepily modern look — part Goth, part homeless, part Spa-wear.

The Exile and Death of Andrei Tarkovsky

Ebbo Demant

Andrei Tarkovsky, Larisa Tarkovskaya

A documentary about the life of Andrei Tarkovsky in exile in Western Europe including Italy, Sweden, Germany and France until his sad demise to a fatal cancer.

Conducting Mahler/I Have Lost Touch with the World

Frank Scheffer

Riccardo Chailly, Gustav Mahler

Documents the interpretations of Gustav Mahler's compositions by conductors Bernard Haitink, Riccardo Chailly, Riccardo Muti, Claudio Abbado, and Simon Rattle, who detail the special relationship they have with Mahler's work.

In Search of Beethoven

Phil Grabsky

Leif Ove Andsnes, Emanuel Ax

In Search of Beethoven offers a comprehensive documentary about the life and works of the great composer. Over 65 performances by the world's finest musicians were recorded and 100 interviews conducted in the making of this beautifully crafted film. Eleven interviews are included in the Extras and Six complete movements.

Tocar y Luchar

Alberto Arvelo

Claudio Abbado, José Antonio Abreu

The captivating story of the Venezuelan Youth Orchestra System - an incredible network of hundreds of orchestras formed within most of Venezuela’s towns and villages. Once a modest program designed to expose rural children to the wonders of music, the system has become one of the most important and beautiful music phenomena in modern history. To Play and To Fight presents interviews and performances by many of the world’s most renowned musicians including the great tenor Placido Domingo, Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle, Guiseppe Sinopoli, and Eduardo Mata, as they reflect on the impact of such a far-reaching social project. The documentary also presents the inspirational stories of world class musicians who have been trained by the Venezuelan system, including The Berlin Philharmonic’s youngest player Edicson Ruiz and world class conductor Gustavo Dudamel.

Maurizio Pollini: De main de maître

Bruno Monsaingeon

Maurizio Pollini, Claudio Abbado

A unique film portrait of the famous Italian pianist. Maurizio Pollini felt himself that the time had come to submit to the probing of the camera, an exercise made all the more necessary because of his usual avoidance of the public eye.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Requiem K. 626 - Claudio Abbado, Berliner Philharmoniker

Karita Mattila, Sara Mingardo

On July 16, 1999, the tenth anniversary of the death of Herbert von Karajan, the Berliner Philharmoniker paid tribute to their late maestro in his home town of Salzburg. In a live shooting from the imposing Salzburg Cathedral, Claudio Abbado conducted an all- Mozart programme, honouring his predecessor both by the careful selection of the music and the singers. The Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Claudio Abbado, performed Mozart's Requiem in D minor, KV 626, among other works. Soprano Rachel Harnisch appeared as the soloist on the two complementing arias Betrachte dies mein Herz und frage mich and Laudate Dominum. Featuring soprano Karita Mattila, contralto Sara Mingardo, tenor Michael Schade and bass baritone Bryn Terfel as soloists of the Requiem.

Mahler Symphony No. 9 (Lucerne Festival)

Michael Beyer

Claudio Abbado

Claudio Abbado and his hand-picked players of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra take their acclaimed Mahler cycle to a new level with this audiovisual recording of the most complex and compelling of the symphonies, the intense, searching Ninth. Abbado brings all his renowned clarity of vision and the experience of a lifetime to this contradictory music half valedictory, half life-affirming and his orchestra of soloists, including some of the leading instrumentalists of our time, revels in the transparent textures and virtuosity of Mahlers last completed symphony.