This month’s audiovisual releases open with Naxos’ Moving to Music, a celebration of the great Dutch choreographer Hans van Manen, whose work is performed by ninety companies around the world. From the Dynamic label we have the world premiere audiovisual recording of Donizetti’s opera Il diluvio universale (The Great Flood), heard in Edoardo Cavalli’s critical edition of the work’s original Naples version. There’s more ballet from Covent Garden’s Royal Ballet production of Massenet’s Manon, starring acclaimed dancers Natalia Osipova and Reece Clarke.
![MANEN, Hans van: Hommage à Hans van Manen [Ballets] (Dutch National Ballet, 2017) / Moving to Music (Dance Documentary, 2022) (NTSC)](../../../sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/2.110775.jpg "MANEN, Hans van: Hommage à Hans van Manen [Ballets] (Dutch National Ballet, 2017) / Moving to Music (Dance Documentary, 2022) (NTSC)")
Hans van MANEN (b. 1932)
Hommage à Hans van Manen
Metaforen
Adagio Hammerklavier
Frank Bridge Variations
Moving to Music
A film by Reiner E. Moritz
Dutch National BalletGuided by his idol George Balanchine, Hans van Manen has striven all his life to create meaning in his choreography. Alongside conversations with colleagues and collaborators, in the documentary Moving to Music, van Manen talks about his life and work, and from where his inspiration came in ballets that are charged with drama and eroticism. Also included are three complete works from Dutch National Ballet – the early Metaforen; Adagio Hammerklavier, which presents the slow movement of Beethoven’s Op. 106 sonata performed live on stage with three couples in various configurations; and Frank Bridge Variations, a late masterpiece that plays with balance and counterpoint to music by Benjamin Britten.
Also available on Blu-ray Video (NBD0183V)
![DONIZETTI, G.: Diluvio universale (Il) [Opera] (Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, 2023) (NTSC)](../../../sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/DYN-38029.jpg "DONIZETTI, G.: Diluvio universale (Il) [Opera] (Fondazione Teatro Donizetti, 2023) (NTSC)")
Gaetano DONIZETTI (1797–1848)
Il diluvio universale
Azione tragico sacra – Libretto by Domenico Gilardoni
Nahuel Di Pierro • Enea Scala • Giuliana Gianfaldoni • Maria Elena PepiOrchestra Donizetti Opera • Coro dell’Accademia Teatro alla Scala
Riccardo Frizza, Conductor • MASBEDO, Direction
Initially composed for performance during the season of Lent, Donizetti’s Il diluvio universale (‘The Great Flood’) takes a Biblical story and mixes it with the human nature of the main characters, creating a uniquely intense drama. Performed here with a stellar cast in its acclaimed 2023 revival at the Festival Donizetti in Bergamo, this production transports Donizetti’s opera into the present day. In this staging collective and individual destinies are interwoven, urging us to reflect on issues such as the environmental crisis and climate change.
New production in collaboration with GAMeC of Bergamo for ‘Bergamo Brescia Capitale italiana della Cultura 2023’.
Also available on Blu-ray Video (DYN-58029)
![MACMILLAN, K.: Histoire de Manon (L') [Ballet] (Royal Ballet, 2024) (NTSC)](../../../sharedfiles/images/cds/hires/OA1390D.jpg "MACMILLAN, K.: Histoire de Manon (L') [Ballet] (Royal Ballet, 2024) (NTSC)")
Jules MASSENET (1842–1912)
Manon
Natalia Osipova • Reece ClarkeOrchestra of the Royal Opera House
Kenneth MacMillan, Choreographer • Koen Kessels, Conductor
Torn between her desire of a life of splendour and riches and her devotion to her true love Des Grieux (Reece Clarke), the alluring and capricious Manon (Natalia Osipova) pays the ultimate price.
MacMillan’s adaptation of Abbé Prévost’s novel L’Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut embodies his acute insight into human psychology and his mastery of narrative choreography. This is MacMillan at his best; finding full expression in the impassioned duets of the central couple, visceral and urgent in their desire.
Also available on Blu-ray Video (OABD7327D)
The Opus Arte Critics’ Choice series is a diverse range of titles featuring some of the most acclaimed recordings in the label’s catalogue at a very special price. In this series we celebrate many famous classics while also revisiting some of the more innovative, original and perhaps less well-known productions that the label has long been renowned for showcasing. All the new Critics’ Choice releases contain the beautifully designed, original artwork and colour booklets which, along with a new unique cover design uniting all the titles, makes them ideal for collectors.
![HAMPSON, C.: Snow Queen (The) [Ballet] (after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov's The Snow Maiden) (Scottish Ballet, 2019) (NTSC)](../../../sharedfiles/Images/naxos-images/2024/oct/OA1329D_CC.jpg "HAMPSON, C.: Snow Queen (The) [Ballet] (after N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov's The Snow Maiden) (Scottish Ballet, 2019) (NTSC)")
Nikolay Andreyevich RIMSKY-KORSAKOV (1844–1908)
The Snow Queen
Scottish BalletChristopher Hampson, Choreographer
Scottish Ballet Orchestra
Jean-Claude Picard, Conductor
From the bustle of a winter’s market, to the shivers of a fairy tale forest, take a journey to the Snow Queen’s icy palace.
Along the way you’ll meet a colourful cast of characters, from young lovers parted by a spell, to a circus ringmaster with a few tricks up his sleeve.
Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s classic tale of love and friendship, this glittering production is sure to delight the whole family.
Also available on Blu-ray Video (OABD7284D)