Barbarous Street Aka Rue Barbare (1984) Gilles Béhat, Bernard Giraudeau, Christine Boisson, Jean Pierre Kalfon

Claudio Abbado’s youthful Beatle­cut marks the age of this film‚ still one of the better screen Barbieres if not absolutely the best. Jean­Pierre Ponnelle based it on his Scala stagings‚ but filmed it‚ as he always preferred‚ in studio and in lip­sync – more successfully than most. As a result‚ it looks and sounds very much fresher on DVD than contemp­orary videotapes.

This luxuriously cast film of Mozart's beloved opera buffa features a host of legendary interpretations, including Kiri Te Kanawa's exquisite Countess Almaviva, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as her philandering husband, Hermann Prey as the wily title character, Mirella Freni, a delight as his no less savvy bride Susanna, and Maria Ewing, hilarious as the lovesick page Cherubino. Director Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's imaginative camera-work tellingly emphasizes character and mood in this immortal story of love, intrigue and class struggle, set against the historical background of ancien regime Europe sliding inexorably towards revolution.

Filmed in 1980 among the ruins of ancient Rome, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's stunning production marked the beginning of a renaissance for Mozart's late opera and continues to stand out as one of the finest opera films of all time. James Levine conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker in this performance of Mozart's operatic marvel driven by imperial intrigue, fury and forgiveness.

The French pianist Jean-Pierre Collot presents a highly interesting and, at first glance, unusual juxtaposition of the music of Helmut Lachenmann (b. 1935) with that of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827). Franz Liszt's (1811–1886) piano transcription of Beethoven's Sixth Symphony 'Pastoral' is in dialogue with Serynade and Marche fatale by Helmut Lachenmann. In this WDR production, Collot comes across as a contemporary painter and creates fascinating timbres and shades of these highly virtuoso masterpieces.

The music in this album spans a forty-year period from 1948 to 1988 and reflects DUTILLEUX’s stylistic development as a composer. He considered the Sonata to be the first main work in his catalogue and it represents a turning away from tradition and embraces the transformative musical explorations of the day. The Three Préludes are pieces of concentrated atmospheres, ‘a kind of study of timbres’, in the composer’s words, and each are dedicated to a renowned pianist: No. 1 to Arthur Rubinstein, No. 2 to Claude Helffer, and No. 3 to Eugene Istomin. Dutilleux’s lively music for the ballet Le Loup (‘The Wolf’) is heard here in a première recording of the original piano solo version.

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (1932-1988) was one of the most eminent opera directors of the second half of the 20th century. His productions not only graced the repertoires of opera houses in Salzburg, Milan and New York, but also enhanced television programming with original, classical opera films produced exclusively by Unitel. Ponnelle always bestowed particular love and care on Mozart's operas, whether popular works such as "Die Zauberflöte" and "Figaro," or less known works such as "La clemenza di Tito," "Idomeneo" and "Mitridate."

This extraordinarily powerful 1983 production may be the best-sung performance by Luciano Pavarotti on DVD, but when acting values are counted in, Ingvar Wixell manages to outshine the tenor star. Verdi gave the Duke two of Italian opera's most brilliant arias ("Questa o quella" and "La donna e mobile"), but he gave the deformed jester Rigoletto a depth and complexity of character that is reflected in music of great variety and enormous emotional impact: the cruel mockery of the opening scene, the self-doubts inspired by his dialogue with Sparafucile, the paternal anxieties and final despair at his daughter's sad fate, and the burning, self-destructive thirst for revenge. All these motives work their way into music of great dramatic richness, variety, and intensity. Wixell rises to its challenges, not only in the title role but in a cameo appearance as Rigoletto's nemesis Monterone. Location filming provides an atmosphere unavailable in staged productions. (Joe McLellan)

Puisque tout compositeur des XVIIIème et XIXème siècles qui voulait plaire à la bonne société se devait de composer de la musique sacrée, et notamment un Requiem, Ignaz Pleyel (1757-1831) y est allé du sien. Il a même composé, outre ses 40 symphonies, ses quatuors, ses cantates et hymnes patriotiques, plusieurs messes et motets, hélas détruits accidentellement lors d'un incendie.