My Great Predecessors

This fantastic DVD captures one of the most auspicious operatic debuts of 2009, Jonas Kaufmann’s Lohengrin. We have here a record of that rarest of things: a night at the opera when everything worked. The singing is outstanding across the board, the excellent orchestral playing is guided by a conductor of vision and excitement and the production is insightful, stimulating and intelligent…

– Simon Thompson, MusicWeb International

Passionate about trains, Michael Portillo continues to chart the great British romance with the railways in this phenomenally successful series. Armed with his copy of George Bradshaw's famous railway handbook, he retraces four journeys that were first documented in the Victorian guide, witnessing what's changed and discovering how our love of the railways began. Throughout, he makes stops at some of Britain's most beautiful cities and secluded villages, meeting extraordinary people and hearing how their lives have been shaped by the railways.