This DVD presents Seiji Ozawa conducting two great choral masterpieces, beloved by audiences around the world. Orff's Carmina Burana, boisterous and lyrical, sets medieval songs in a celebration of life's pleasures. Beethoven's monumental Ninth Symphony, concludes with the uplifting 'Ode to Joy', a timeless plea for universal brotherhood.

This acclaimed La Scala performance of "Don Giovanni" instantly took its place among the most important Mozart productions. Thomas Allen, hailed as one of the best British baritones ever, gives an engaging and seductive performance as the famous lover. Under the baton of Riccardo Muti, this La Scala production highlights all of the tragic grandeur of this masterpiece without sacrificing its lighthearted moments. Director Giorgio Strehler's staging has been lauded for its subtle psychological treatment of the characters.

Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s landmark production of Mozart’s most human comedy provides the perfect setting for this superb cast under James Levine’s ebullient leadership. The philandering and arrogant Count Almaviva (Thomas Allen) is no match for his wily servant Figaro (Ruggero Raimondi), whose soon-to-be-wife Susanna (Kathleen Battle) is as manipulative as she is charming. Add in one beautiful, disillusioned Countess (Carol Vaness) and one irrepressible, testosterone-laden teenage boy (Cherubino, played by Federica von Stade), and it’s no wonder some critics say this is the perfect opera.

Mozarts "Le nozze di Figaro" ist nicht nur eine der populärsten Opern überhaupt, sondern auch eine der besonders häufig eingespielten. Die Gesamtaufnahme unter Muti aus dem Jahre 1986 mit den Wiener Philharmonikern gehört nach wie vor zu den allerbesten. Auch wenn der Orchesterklang natürlich nicht die Frische und Durchsichtigkeit der von der historischen Aufführungspraxis geprägten Einspielungen besitzt, geht es hier höchst lebendig zu. Die Wiener Philharmoniker erweisen sich auch in diesem Fall als wunderbar mozart-erfahren, und für den mit ihnen bestens vertrauten Riccardo Muti gilt das ebenso. Vor allem aber ist das Solistenensemble von einer Qualität, dass es einfach eine Freude ist.

This disc of Vaughan Williams favorites has been a bestseller since its original release. Featured works include the composer's Serenade to Music, Five Mystical Songs, Flos Campi and the Fantasia on Christmas Carols. Matthew Best leads his Corydon Singers and the English Chamber Orchestra in a recording that is guaranteed to please.

This eight-disc set includes odes and theater pieces; and Gardiner's performances are more than excellent. He synthesizes the spare delicacy and ceremonial grandeur of Purcell's music in performances that are very satisfying.

The great Renée Fleming stars as the beguiling femme fatale who captivates all Paris in Lehár’s enchanting operetta, seen in a new staging by Broadway virtuoso director and choreographer Susan Stroman (The Producers, Oklahoma!, Contact). Stroman and her design team of Julian Crouch (Satyagraha, The Enchanted Island) and costume designer William Ivey Long (Cinderella, Grey Gardens, Hairspray) have created an art-nouveau setting that climaxes with singing and dancing grisettes at the legendary Maxim’s. Nathan Gunn co-stars as Danilo and Kelli O’Hara is Valencienne. Sir Andrew Davis conducts.

André Previn's 1975 EMI recording of Carmina Burana sounds better than ever in this new transfer. The analog tape hiss has been tamed, yet there's more "air" between the notes and a greater sense of dynamic and timbral definition. Engineering-wise, the mid-70s were golden years for EMI, and the rhythmic verve, dramatic momentum, and unbuttoned joy that Previn and his brilliant forces project still pack a sonic wallop. The soloists especially are outstanding. Thomas Allen navigates Orff's cruelly high tessitura with no effort, and Sheila Armstrong wraps her warm, flexible pipes around "In trutina mentis dubia" to moving effect.

This CD presents the brief but remarkable output of songs by Duparc during his artistic period that was cut short by a nervous affliction. These works are beautifully performed by mezzo-soprano Sarah Walker and baritone Thomas Allen, with sensitive piano accompaniment by Roger Vignoles. The collection opens with Duparc's best known melody, L'invitation au voyage, which is a setting of a text from Baudelaire's Les fleurs du mal. The lovely rolling impressionist piano harmonies are played with exquisite fluidity, as they underscore Walker's velvety and intimate vocals. The Sérénade florentine is an impressionist lullaby to a loved one, delivered with touching emotion by Thomas Allen. Extase, Elégie and Testament show the influence of Wagner, and the Chanson triste is one of Duparc's early, Gounod-style songs. Au pays oú se fait la guerre (1869) is also an early work, but is particularly entrancing with simple modal harmonies and easily perceived song construction. By sensitive use of passing tones in the piano, the harmonies are subtly redefined and the music is extended dramatically toward the end by expressive on-rushes.

Diana Damrau and Angelika Kirchschlager star in the acclaimed 2008 production of Humperdinck's famous fairytale opera, in the company of two of Britain's most revered musical figures: Thomas Allen, playing the role of the Father, and the legendary conductor Colin Davis. Directors Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser combine their characteristic wit and a dash of deliciously dark comedy with the opera's fairytale charm. Humperdinck's music mixes catchy folk-like songs with sumptuous instrumental colour, making the result as tunefully approachable, musically memorable and visually delightful as opera gets. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in full Surround Sound.

Wagner’s enchanting Nürnberg has perhaps never looked as marvelous as in this production by Otto Schenk, with sets designed by Günther Schneider-Siemssen. James Levine’s conducting is as authoritative as it is affectionate, and the orchestra, the chorus, and the all-star cast which could not be equaled anywhere else in the world—respond with a riveting performance. James Morris is a wise, avuncular Hans Sachs; Ben Heppner’s beautifully sung Walther is a perfect match for Karita Mattila’s radiant Eva; and René Pape and Thomas Allen turn in stellar performances.

Rattle’s performance gives us a fascinating view of a masterpiece – we feel that he has approached the music afresh on its own terms, without being influenced by tradition. He has the advantage, as Britten did not, of a choir and orchestra with the music in their blood, so there need be no concerns on grounds of musical accuracy. His pacing of the work overall is masterly in his projection of the overall structure; the drama of earlier parts of the score such as the Dies Irae is not allowed to overshadow the final cataclysmic climax in the Libera Me, which is devastating in its power. In the Owen setting, “Strange Meeting” which follows is sung with great concentration by both Tear and Allen, emphasising as Britten intended the personal cost of conflict and its futility.

This famous production of Manon Lescaut from The Royal Opera, recorded in 1983, features two of the biggest stars in opera, Placido Domingo and Kiri Te Kanawa, in their vocal prime. Placido Domingo’s performance of Des Grieux is considered to be unsurpassed. Conductor Guiseppe Sinopoli made his British operatic debut with this production. Puccini’s first masterpiece was rapturously received on its first night. It has his hallmark sensuality and also a youthful freshness, its untamed outpouring of melody just as passionate as his more famous operas, La Boheme, Tosca and Madame Butterfly. The role of Des Grieux is one of the most taxing in the tenor repertoire and Domingo’s passionate portrayal is one of his greatest achievements.

Unlike the late arrival of Mozart's Turkish opera, "Figaro" was much more of a constant in Solti's long career. Apart from being his debut opera, and a work he conducted at Covent Garden in a new staging in 1963-64, he also led editions in Chicago (1957), and with the Paris Opera in the highly visible Giorgio Strehler production that opened Intendant Rolf Liebermann's bold-new-start regime in March 1973; it was initially presented at the Palace of Versailles and in 1976 toured to the US. Frederica von Stade, the most admired Cherubino of the day, who had sung the role for Solti at Versailles, also appears on his subsequent recording. Made in 1981 with an exceptional cast, it won a Grammy award, perhaps unsurprisingly given that its other major assets include Kiri Te Kanawa's creamy-voiced Countess, Lucia Popp's sprightly Susanna, Thomas Allen's authoritative Count and Samuel Ramey's weighty Figaro. Smaller roles - Jane Berbié's Marcellina, Robert Tear's Basilio and Philip Langridge's Curzio among them - are also handled with tremendous care.