Simon O’Neill

Sir Simon Rattle conducts Arnold Schönberg's Gurre-Lieder for the 75th anniversary of the Bavarian Radio Orchestra at Munich's Isar Philharmonic.

Love, lust and political intrigue fill the world of a passionate singer. When her lover is imprisoned by a police chief, Tosca takes matters into her own hands with dramatic consequences. Puccini’s timeless opera never ceases to provoke great emotions. Starring Orla Boylan as Tosca and Simon O’Neill as Cavaradossi, New Zealand Opera’s acclaimed production filmed for cinema release transposes the famous plot to Italy in the 1950s, shadowed by the mafia and post WWII politics.

Richard Wagner called Die Walküre the “first evening” of the Ring of the Nibelung; he called Das Rheingold the prologue or Vorabend. Musically and dramatically, we are introduced to a radically new and different world when the opening bars of Die Walküre resound. A fully developed orchestral palette of Leitmotivs paints a wild storm scene, and the curtain rises on a modest dwelling: a fully human scene that has nothing to do with the gods, dwarves and nymphs of Das Rheingold. At the same time, however, the way Die Walküre portrays radical beginnings reveals some telling reminiscences of the unfolding of Das Rheingold. Die Walküre is exciting and deeply feeling drama.

Parsifal in Bayreuth, directed by Stefan Herheim and conducted by Daniele Gatti.

This is a 4-DVD set, featuring the Estonian conductor Paavo Järvi and the chamber orchestra (around 40 members) Die Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen. The first 3 DVDs feature live performances of all 9 of Beethoven's symphonies, and the 4th DVD is a documentary produced for DW (Deutsche Welle) on this Beethoven project.