Budapest Symphony Orchestra: Mozart's Works for Flute and Orchestra

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Price: $118.73   

Budapest Symphony Orchestra: Mozart's Works for Flute and Orchestra Review

This disc is a live performance of Mozart's two flute concertos, the Andante in C major and the concerto for flute and harp, featuring Bela Drahos (flautist and conductor), Andrea Vigh (harp) and the Budapest Symphony Orchestra recorded at the Great Hall of the Lizst Ferenc Academy of Music in Budapest in 2006. Technically, the video quality is first rate and the wonderful acoustics of the hall gives the recorded audio a warm full sound with just the right degree of reverberation. If you think the Golden Hall of Vienna's Musikverein is magnificent, this concert hall is even more dazzling and the the video captures it in all its sumptuous splendour. A visual and aural feast.
Drahos is a splendid flautist and plays the flute concertos with style and verve. I am fonder of the K 313 than the K314 and I thought the adagio and rondeau of the former particularly well played. The scaled down orchestra provided accomplished accompaniment, with lush strings and some neat horn playing. Mozart may indeed have expressed dissatisfaction with the flute (of his time) but if he could hear what sounds the modern flute can achieve in expert hands he might change his mind. Certainly the melodic invention of the concertos are of a high order.
But the piece de resistance of this concert must surely be the Flute and Harp Concerto K 299. Here the collaboration of Drahos and Andrea Vigh on the harp bears fruit in a stylish and ultimately satisfying account of this perennial favourite. The slow second movement is tender and beautiful but it is in the third movement that the harp comes out on equal terms. In a particular passage the orchestra is silent and there is just the flute warbling like a nightingale in song to the accompaniment of rippling notes from the harp ( pure Mozart wizardry). Wonderful performance from both soloists and orchestra.
And yet my own favourite is the short compositon played just before the K 299, the Andante in C major K 315 for flute and orchestra. Here Drahos is at his best, coaxing the most beautiful sounds from his flute in this beguiling and lyrical piece. A most satisfying concert then, and a disc you will find yourself repeatedly playing.
And just as an aside, check out 2 other Czech soloists playing Mozart to critical acclaim: Sharon Kam with the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Manfred Honeck giving a breathtaking performance of Mozart's sublime Clarinet Concerto ( the disc is " A Mozart Gala from Prague" ) and Radeck Baborak with his stylish account of Mozart's Horn Concerto No.1 with the Berliners conducted by Barenboim (" Europa Concert from Prague")

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Competition Judo -D

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Price: $118.03   

Product Description

IN 4 LANGUAGES- The point of this video is to unveal the main methods and "tips" that Champions use to solve the problematic postures with opponents. Marc Verillotte shows you many pedagogic exercises, opening exercises and techniques, explained and demonstrated.

Competition Judo -D Review

The DVDs are in French and English, controls select easily. Much of this is the state of the art as it was before grip fighting.

As a warning, I bought this as part of the three DVD set. I have a combined TV DVD player, a Sony DVD drive/DVD player in two of my computers and a brand-new multi-spectrum Panasonic player.

The DVD would not play on any of them. I have found this quite frustrating as I would very much like to see the material. I should note that the other DVDs in the set do not play either on them either. The website was not been terribly useful in obtaining help.

However, the fourth computer I obtained since I received the DVDs two years ago for Christmas suddenly recognizes and plays them and I can give them four stars now.

A little dated, but there is a lot of material, presented with good camera angles and precision, in combination with clear steps. This video even has some grip fighting and other advanced for the times material.

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A Taste of Honey

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Price: $87.95   

Product Description

The Prize Winning Comedy-Drama Of A Young Girl's Passionate Love For Life, Directed By Tony Richardson

A Taste of Honey Review

British filmmaking enjoyed a resurgence, known as the British New Wave, during the late 50's and early 60's, with "kitchen sink" films depicting gritty realism, working-class people, and only an occasional happy ending. A Taste Of Honey is one of the defining films of this time period.

Written by then nineteen-year-old Shelagh Delaney, and first presented by Joan Littlewood at Stratford-upon-Avon in May 1958 as a stage play, it was brought to the screen by director-producer Tony Richardson's Woodfall Films in 1961. His search for an unknown actress to play Jo, the teenage daughter, culminated in his discovery of Liverpool-born Rita Tushingham, whose "all-speaking eyes" stood out in her film test.

The mother-daughter relationship between Helen (Dora Bryan) and Jo (Tushingham) is one of the best on film. Helen's sluttish ways and egocentric lifestyle prompt some wonderfully catty zingers from Jo. As the film goes on, we see that Helen truly loves Jo and never lies to her, but that Helen's first priority is Helen.

Jo becomes involved with a black man and with a gay man, highly controversial for 1961 audiences, and experiences a brief period of happiness - a taste of honey - before her mother returns with all of her emotional baggage intact.

A great script gives an actor the opportunity to shine, and Dora Bryan and Rita Tushingham both give standout performances.

Grittily realistic and wonderfully acted, A Taste Of Honey is essential viewing for anyone interested in British Cinema.

View some photos from the film on my Rita Tushingham fansite
[...]

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Krzyzacy (Pal System)

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Krzyzacy (Pal System) Review

"Order of Teutonic Knights" was released in 1960 to international acclaim, and it remains a landmark film for Polish cinema. I'm sure that, when it first came out, it was quite a spectacular experience at the local theatre. Clocking in at just under three hours, it tells the tale of the rising conflict between Polish nobility in the Middle Ages and the very powerful multi-national order of titular knights who may be devout Christians, but are also ruthless in their determination to expand their power throughout Europe.

There are some excellent performances in the film, and a number of memorable scenes. It has a very authentic "look", quite a contrast to some of Hollywood's medieval epics. Special kudos to the prolonged final battle scene--there were no computer-generated effects in those days--you really are looking at thousands of extras in this spectacular finale. This must have been a very expensive movie for the Polish film industry.

Unfortunately there are some technical problems with the DVD which prevented me from giving "Knights" a higher rating. The dialogue is naturally in the original Polish with English subtitles--subtitles which far too often seem to be out of synch with the person who is speaking. The widescreen, colour image is not as crisp as it should be. There also appears to have been some "cropping"--for example, there is a scene early in the film where our young heroine is singing a song, and most of her head is "cut off". Unfortunately there are numerous other examples throughout the disc where heads, sometimes whole characters, seem to be missing from the scene. I also suspect that the film might not be the original, uncut version--there seem to be "jumps" in the storyline that cause the viewer to scratch his/her head a little !

Bottom line--it would seem that we have a very fine film here that has not been presented on DVD with the technical quality that it deserves. Then again, the problem may originate with the source material--older films sadly do not always remain in pristine condition. So--recommended with caution.

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Arctic Tale/The Spiderwick Chronicles/Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story

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Price: $118.03   

Product Description

Holiday 2009 Themed 3-Film Boxset including: Spiderwick, Dreamer and Arctic Tale.

Arctic Tale/The Spiderwick Chronicles/Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story Review

My family and I were very pleased with the 3 movies in the pack. My son was especially excited to get a new copy of Dreamer as we have worn our other copy out! He is hooked on horse movies right now. Thanks! Great shipping and nice new product!!!

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Shakespeare: The Animated Tales [Region 2]

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Price: $3,769.00   

Shakespeare: The Animated Tales [Region 2] Review

What a wonderful find! Aficionados of animation know how hard it can be to find the work of Russia's Christmas Films on DVD (Operavox and The Miracle Maker being the only other North American releases that I'm aware of). This is a great set, with twelve of the Bard's famous works presented in various styles of lush animation:

Disc One

The Tempest - Stop-Motion Puppetry

A Midsummer Night's Dream - Cel Animation

As You Like It - Oil Paint on Cel

Disc Two

Hamlet - Paint on Glass

Julius Caesar - Cel Animation

King Richard III - Paint on Glass

Disc Three

Romeo and Juliet - Cel Animation

Othello - Cel Animation

The Winter's Tale - Stop-Motion Puppetry

Disc Four

Macbeth - Cel Animation

The Taming of the Shrew - Stop-Motion Puppetry

Twelfth Night - Stop-Motion Puppetry

There are some incredible moments in these films: the magical fluidity and strange forms of A Midsummer Night's Dream, the ghostly image of Ophelia floating down the corridor's of the castle, Caesar's blood-red cape flowing and wrapping around his corpse. Although each play has been truncated to 30 minutes, the performances (both animators and voice actors alike) are sharp and the essential meanings and messages have been retained. These films are marvelous, and if you enjoy the works of William Shakespeare and/or the work of great animators, I'm certain that you'll enjoy this set.

Now here's hoping for The Canterbury Tales!

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