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Kuijken directs spirited performances of the Paris Symphonies. The opening movement of Symphony No. 83 (The Hen) is particularly successful. The music is crisply articulated at the same time as being sensitively phrased. The orchestral playing is really first class, with a pleasing string tone which still achieves bite when the rhythms demand it. Could there be a better example of what Haydn meant by 'Allegro spiritoso'?

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Handel’s opera Faramondo (Pharamond), still rarely performed, is set in 5th century France. The title role, a mythical king, is taken by Zagreb-born countenor Max Emanuel Cencic, an alumnus of the Vienna Boys’ Choir, who took a starring role in Virgin Classics’ recent DVD of Landi’s Sant’Alessio and in September 2007 released a thrilling recital of virtuoso Rossini arias. On stage he has performed a number of Handel operas: Giulio Cesare, Tamerlano, Fernando and Serse (written shortly after Faramondo). The other star countertenor on this recording is Philippe Jaroussky, whose Virgin Classics album Carestini – The Story of a Castrato included arias by Handel and who was recently named Singer of the Year in Germany’s Echo Klassik awards.

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Product Description

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On October 16, 2002, two months into his world tour in support of The Rising, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band took the stage of the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona, Spain, to create the kind of soul-stirring concert experience that transforms Springsteen neophytes and fans alike into true believers. Live In Barcelona captures Springsteen and the E Street Band at the peak of their form performing a dream set-list of new songs, classic hits, audience favorites, and seldom-heard rarities. Containing more than two-and-one-half hours of music running the course of two DVDs, "Live In Barcelona" marks the first time an individual Springsteen concert has been released in its entirety. This special DVD release includes "Drop The Needle And Pray: 'The Rising' On Tour," a bonus featurette of material never-seen-before including rare live footage, exclusive interviews with Springsteen and E Street Band members, and unpublished photos chronicling The Rising tour. In all, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band performed 120 concerts in 82 cities across the globe. Now, you can feel the passion and power of those historic performances as you experience, on DVD for the very first time, "the house rockin', pants droppin', heart stoppin' sound" of Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band Live In Barcelona.

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Product Description
In June 2004, some of the greatest living guitar players and their bands gathered at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, for a three-day festival to benefit the Crossroads Centre in Antigua. It was the ultimate concert for any music lover, featuring one legend after the other: Eric Clapton, BB King, Buddy Guy, Eric Johnson, James Taylor, Jimmie Vaughan, Joe Walsh, John Mayer, Robert Cray, Robert Randolph, Santana, ZZ Top, and many more. This 2-DVD set beautifully documents the event and contains over 4 hours of content. Planned extras include in-depth artist interviews, a mini-documentary, photo gallery, alternate angle, and more. Royalties from the DVD sales will benefit the Crossroads Center.

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Although it could have been twice as long, this double-DVD set effectively captures over three hours of highlights from one of the most comprehensive and diverse collection of guitarists ever assembled for a single event. Recorded over three days in June of 2004 to benefit Eric Clapton's Crossroads Center in Antigua (as do the sales of this set), the show is not surprisingly heavy on the rootsy blues and country that comprise Clapton's primary inspirations. But it also includes folk (James Taylor), gospel (Robert Randolph & the Family Band), fret-shredding rockers (Steve Vai who delivers a dazzling performance), jazz (John McLaughlin), and, most interestingly, Indian classical music (a stunning piece from Vishwa Mohan Bhatt). Most compelling are the rare and sometimes unusual collaborations. Joe Walsh and Taylor clown around on "Steamroller Blues," and Booker T. & the M.G.'s back both Joe Walsh on a rollicking "Rocky Mountain Way" and Los Lobos' David Hidalgo tearing into a sizzling "The Neighborhood." Clapton and J.J. Cale share the stage as do Clapton and Carlos Santana, and a show-stopping blues summit with Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan, Hubert Sumlin, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Clapton is a treat for all involved. There are some shortcomings. The event isn't presented in chronological order--different stages, days, and backing bands are shuffled with Clapton's own set scattered throughout--ZZ Top's closing is a bit anticlimactic, and there are many omissions due to time constraints. But every act rises to the occasion, and this expertly recorded and shot DVD gives the viewer a front-row seat to a once-in-a-lifetime experience. --Hal Horowitz

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Martin Scorsese leaps into the madness of the Rolling Stones’ organization in Shine a Light, barely controlling (in a most entertaining way) a documentary that culminates in the Stones’ best concert on film. The movie’s highly entertaining, pre-performance prologue finds a frazzled Scorsese trying to get a clue about the band’s plans for a very special New York City date in 2006, a benefit hosted by Bill and Hillary Clinton. While Mick Jagger quibbles over concepts for the stage’s set and peruses lists of possible songs to include in the show, Scorsese tries to figure out how to shoot something for which he has few production details. Everything falls into place eventually, and after an extraordinary meet-and-greet scene in which Jagger, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, and Charlie Watts catch up with the Clintons and sweetly introduce themselves to Hillary’s mom, the Stones launch into a set that leans less heavily than usual on their greatest hits canon. Longtime fans are sure to appreciate the wealth of generally-untapped material from Let It Bleed ("You Got the Silver," "Live With Me"), Exile On Main Street ("All Down the Line," "Loving Cup"), and Some Girls ("Faraway Eyes," "Just My Imagination"). Jack White, Christina Aguilera, and Buddy Guy are on hand for memorable collaborations, but the Stones all alone are truly on fire in the relatively intimate setting of a small theater. Among the highlights is a sexy and even thrilling call-and-response between Jagger and ace backup singer Lisa Fischer on "She Was Hot," Richards’ gracious and expansive solo on "Connection," and Jagger’s witty take on "Some Girls" (which manages to skip over the controversial verse about "black girls"). Throughout the show, Scorsese and an army of camera operators cover the action from every conceivable angle, which results not so much in another hyperkinetic concert film but rather in the kind of graceful, flattering portrayal of a great band that the director mastered with The Last Waltz. Tom Keogh

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