Blu-ray

Shakespeare: Three Tragedies (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Shakespeare: Three Tragedies (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Paapa Essiedu (Hamlet (Hamlet)/Edmund (King Lear)); Marcus Griffiths (Laertes (Hamlet)); Cyril Nri (Polonius (Hamlet)); Natalie Simpson (Ophelia (Hamlet)); Antony Sher (King Lear (King Lear)); Nia Gwynee (Goneril (King Lear)); Natalie Simpson (Cordelia (King Lear)); Hugh Quarshie (Othello (Othello)); Joanna Vanderham (Desdemona (Othello)); Lucian Msamati (Iago (Othello)); Jacob Fortune-Lloyd (Cassio (Othello));

"It is an utterly engaging performance by Paapa Essiedu." (The Times - Hamlet ★★★★)

Shakespeare: Titus Andronicus (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Shakespeare: Titus Andronicus (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Nia Gwynne (Tamora); Stefan Adegbola (Aaron); Hannah Morrish (Lavinia); Patrick Drury (Marcus Andronicus); Martin Hutson (Saturninus); Dharmesh Patel (Bassianus); Tom McCall (Lucius); Luke MacGregor (Chiron); Sean Hart (Demetrius); Jon Tarcy (Alarbus); David Troughton (Titus Andronicus); Kristen Atherton (Nurse);

"There’s fantastic work, throughout, from Troughton, grizzled, grey-faced, buttoned-up and stiff-limbed – a loyal old warrior surviving battles abroad only to be betrayed at home, driven to clarifying madness by his blind adherence to a heartless state. He catches Titus’s rasping, ramrod arrogance, his crumpling up with agony, and the particular macabre pathos too of his wildly empathetic raving in defence of a slain fly: “How if that fly had a father and a mother?...”" (The Daily Telegraph ★★★★★)

Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (De Nederlandse Opera)

Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (De Nederlandse Opera)

Eva-Maria Westbroek (Katerina Lvovna Ismailova); Christopher Ventris (Sergey); Carole Wilson (Aksinya); Vladimir Vaneev (Boris Timofeyevich Ismailov); Lani Poulson (Sonyetka); Ludovít Ludha (Zinovy Borisovich Ismailov);

"...a first-rate protagonist in Eva-Maria Westbroek, a Katerina of Jean Harlow-like allure, who had all the vocal power and stamina that the role demands…" (The Financial Times)

Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (Glyndebourne)

Strauss: Ariadne auf Naxos (Glyndebourne)

Soile Isokoski (Ariadne ); Kate Lindsey (Composer ); Laura Claycomb (Zerbinetta ); Sergey Skorokhodov (Bacchus ); Thomas Allen (Music Master );

"Everything fits superbly and the production captures the fragility of happiness and the undertow of melancholy better than any I can remember.The mellow glow of the LPO under Vladimir Jurowski’s sensitive baton complements the vision perfectly, while a fine cast enhances the pleasure. Soile Isokoski is superb as Ariadne ..." (The Evening Standard ★★★★)

Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Glyndebourne)

Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier (Glyndebourne)

Tara Erraught (Octavian); Kate Royal (The Marschallin ); Lars Woldt (Baron Ochs auf Lerchenau ); Teodora Gheorghiu (Sophie ); Michael Kraus (Herr von Faninal ); Miranda Keys (Marianne Leitmetzerin ); Christopher Gillett (Valzacchi ); Helene Schneiderman (Annina);

"Robin Ticciati conducts briskly, lovingly, and the London Philharmonic is on top form." (The Financial Times ★★★★)

Strauss: Die Fledermaus (Glyndebourne)

Strauss: Die Fledermaus (Glyndebourne)

Pamela Armstrong (Rosalinde); Thomas Allen (Eisenstein); Lyubov Petrova (Adele); Malena Ernman (Orlofsky); Håkan Hagegård (Falke);

"Here is a perfect example of the quality of Glyndebourne opera. A classic yet inventive staging of a work without stars but composed of excellent singer-actors ... Thomas Allen is a perfect bourgeois cad...and the young Vladimir Jurowski confirms his talent as conductor in a brilliant rendition of Strauss' marvellous music." (Le Monde de la Musique)