Blu-ray

The Tempest (Royal Shakespeare Company)

The Tempest (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Simon Russell Beale (Prospero); Joe Dixon (Caliban); Mark Quartley (Ariel); Jenny Rainsford (Miranda); Simon Trinder (Trinculo); Tony Jayawardena (Stephano); Oscar Pearce (Antonio); Joseph Mydell (Gonzalo);

"Simon Russell Beale’s return to the Royal Shakespeare Company after 20 years has been overshadowed by excitement about the production’s use of digital technology. While the effects are innovative, for me the kaleidoscopic visual spectacle pales besides the show’s human values and its moving affirmation of forgiveness." (The Guardian ★★★★)

Three Ballets by Kenneth MacMillan (The Royal Ballet)

Three Ballets by Kenneth MacMillan (The Royal Ballet)

"There has never been a choreographer that I can think of who could produce three such contrasting works, and you sit watching in wonderment at the fertile imaginings of his mind." (The Daily Telegraph)

Three Ballets by Wayne McGregor (The Royal Ballet)

Three Ballets by Wayne McGregor (The Royal Ballet)

"Wayne McGregor's Infra: sumptuous beauty and shimmering possibility." (The Daily Telegraph)

Torroba: Luisa Fernanda (Teatro Real)

Torroba: Luisa Fernanda (Teatro Real)

Plácido Domingo (Vidal Hernando); Nancy Herrera (Luisa Fernanda); José Bros (Javier Moreno); Mariola Cantarero (Duchess Carolina);

"The production at the Teatro Real in Madrid was a top-of-the-range version...Vidal is a peach of a role for Domingo:his voice easily commands its baritone range and he dominates the action, convincingly heroic in voice and figure and still able to project a greying virility in the style of Sean Connery. Nancy Herrara as Luisa and Jose Bros as Javier gave fine support." (The Independent)

Turnage: Anna Nicole (The Royal Opera)

Turnage: Anna Nicole (The Royal Opera)

Eva-Maria Westbroek (Anna Nicole); Gerald Finley (The Lawyer Stern); Alan Oke (Old Man Marshall); Susan Bickley (Virgie);

".It's a tremendous show...shocking it isn't; stunning it is!" (The Independent)

Two Ballet Favourites by Christopher Wheeldon (Danish National Ballet/The Royal Ballet)

Two Ballet Favourites by Christopher Wheeldon (Danish National Ballet/The Royal Ballet)

Lauren Cuthbertson (Alice (Alice)); Sergei Polunin (Jack/The Knave of Hearts (Alice)); Edward Watson (Lewis Carroll/The White Rabbit (Alice)); Zenaida Yanowsky (Mother/The Queen of Hearts (Alice)); Steven MacRae (Mad Hatter (Alice)); Anna Tsygankova (Cinderella (Cinderella)); Matthew Golding (Prince Guillaume (Cinderella)); Larissa Lezhnina (Stepmother Hortensia (Cinderella)); Megan Zimny Gray (Stepsister Edwina (Cinderella)); Nadia Yanowsky (Stepsister Clementine (Cinderella));

"What a treat this is - such an imaginative treatment of a favourite story. There are extraordinary, eccentric sets and special effects; colourful, larger-than-life, argumentative characters and extraordinary costumes. Lauren Cuthbertson, as Alice, is excellent, her every movement suggesting the actions and emotions of this curious, spirited pre-adolescent... Christopher Wheeldon’s choreography is very imaginative and fitting for every character." (Musicweb International (Alice))