Please visit our internet radio station at:

http://www.live365.com/stations/vaimusic

And our YouTube channel at:

http://www.youtube.com/user/vaimusic

The Stone Guest (Dargomyzhsky) and Mozart & Salieri (Rimsky-Korsakov)
VAI DVD 4525 $39.95

An operatic double bill, featuring two rarely-performed works of the Russian repertoire. Dargomyzhsky’s opera is a fascinating take on the Don Juan legend. Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Mozart and Salieri” is a brilliant exploration of the rivalry between those two composers. Casts include Vladimir Atlantov, Tamara Milashkina, Tamara Sinyavskaya, Alexei Maslennikov, and Artur Eizen; conductors Mark Ermler (“Stone Guest”) and Ruben Vartanian (“Mozart and Salieri”). Bolshoi Opera 1979/1981. Color, 4:3, Mono, 132 minutes; Sung in Russian, with optional subtitles in English, French, and Russian. All regions.

Composed in 1898, “The Tsar’s Bride” was Rimsky-Korsakov’s tenth opera. Based on the true story of an ill-fated peasant bride of Tsar Ivan (“Ivan the Terrible”), the opera is filled with lush “cantilena” melodies. This 1983 Bolshoi Opera production features Alexander Vedernikov, Lydia Kovaleva, and Nina Terentieva, under the direction of Yuri Simonov. Color, 4:3, Mono, 158 minutes; Sung in Russian, with optional subtitles in English, French, and Russian. All regions.

The Golden Cockerel (Rimsky-Korsakov)
VAI DVD 4518 $39.95

Another important volume in VAI’s series of Russian operatic masterpieces, The Golden Cockerel (also known as “Le coq d’or,” or, in the original Russian, “Zolotoy Petushok”) was Rimsky-Korsakov’s last, and most modern opera. Completed in 1907, the opera’s biting satire of the Tsar and Russian imperialism made it controversial for its time, delaying the premiere until about a year after Rimsky-Korsakov’s death, in 1909. This DVD presents a stylistically authentic live 1986 performance by the Yerevan Alexander Spendiaryan State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet, under the direction of the company’s Music Director, Aram Katanian. Includes optional subtitles in English, French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. 123 minutes, Color, mono, 4:3, All regions.

The Nose (Shostakovich)
VAI DVD 4517 $39.95

The Moscow Chamber Opera Theatre made operatic history in 1974 with their definitive production of The Nose by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975). It marked the first time this modern masterpiece had been performed in Russia since its 1930 premiere; rehearsals were supervised by the composer himself. In the words of Boris Pokrovsky, who founded the Moscow Chamber Opera Theatre in 1972, “Shostakovich loved us. He loved this production. He loved our young theatre as one loves children for whom one has high hopes. For our theatre, the association with such a great artist and human being became the inspiration for the future life of our company.” In Russian; subtitles in English, French, Italian, Russian, and Spanish. 111 minutes, Color, stereo, 4:3, All regions.

Masquerade (Khachaturian)
VAI DVD 4515 $34.95

The ballet Masquerade is a rarity. The Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) originally conceived the evocative score as incidental music for a 1941 production of Mikhail Lermontov’s play of the same name. The ballet, following Lermontov’s drama, tells the tragic tale of a bracelet lost at a masked ball which leads Arbenin to wrongly accuse his wife Nina of infidelity. Despite her protestations of innocence, Arbenin poisons her, only to learn that she was guiltless. The 1985 filmed production presented here makes full use of cinematic techniques to convey the ambiguity of sinister stratagems lurking at the fringes of a swirling masquerade ball, while Khachaturian’s music – in particular the famous Waltz and the wistful Nocturne – provides the perfect accompaniment to the inventive choreography. Soloists, Corps de ballet, Orchestra and Chorus of the Alexander Spendaryan State Academy Opera and Ballet Theatre; Hakob Ter-Voskanian, conductor. 63 minutes, Color, mono, 4:3, All regions

New Year’s Concert 2010, From the Teatro La Fenice
Hardy Classic HCD 4043, $34.95

Sir John Eliot Gardiner,star soprano Anna Caterina Antonacci and tenor Francesco Meli ring in the new year in this program of arias by Verdi, Bizet and Donizetti featuring the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro La Fenice. Maestro Gardiner opens the concert with Dvorak’s Symphony No. 7. Recorded live on January 1, 2010. 96 min., Color, Dolby Digital 5.1, PCM Stereo, 16:9, All regions.

Don Carlo (Verdi)
Hardy DVD HCD 4042 $49.95 (2 DVD SET)

This new production at the Teatro alla Scala was recorded live on opening night, December 7, 2008. The cast is lead by Ferruccio Furlanetto, Stuart Neill, Dalibor Jenis and Dolora Zajick. Danielle Gatti conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of La Scala. 200 min., Color, 16:9, PCM Stereo, Subtitles in English, French, German, Italian, & Spanish. Includes “behind the scenes” bonus material.

Eugene Ugorski and Konstantin Lifschitz in Recital
VAI DVD 4509 $29.95

Two acclaimed young virtuosos in recital, presented by the Miami International Piano Festival, 2009. Works include Bach: Chaconne; Strauss: Violin Sonata; Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 3; Ravel: Tzigane; and more. Miami International Piano Festival, 2009. 92 minutes, Color, 4:3, stereo, All regions.

Neeme Järvi Conducts Strauss: An Alpine Symphony
VAI DVD 4511 $29.95

The eminent conductor Neeme Järvi leads Residentie Orchestra The Hague (The Hague Philharmonic) in this live 2008 performance. Also includes Strauss’s Oboe Concerto (with Pauline Oostenrijk, oboe) and Diepenbrock’s Elektra Suite. 96 min., Color, Surround Sound/stereo, 16:9 widescreen, All regions

Juan Pons, Barbara Frittoli, Mariana Lipovsek, Leo Nucci lead the cast in this live March 2008 performance from Milan. The Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro alla Scala Milan is conducted by Riccardo Chailly Subtitles in Italian, English, French, Spanish. 206 min., Dolby digital, Color, Stereo, 16:9, All regions

Jerome Rose Plays Liszt, Live in Concert
Medici Classics M50049 $24.95

Jerome Rose is regarded as one of the supreme interpreters of Liszt’s music
Sonata in B minor, Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude, Funerailles, Annees de peleriange - Petrarch Sonnets Nos. 47, 104, 123, Vallee D’Oberman. Bonus: Mephisto Waltz. Live 2009, 88 min, Filmed in HD, Color, Stereo, 1.78:1, All regions

The Seagull (Shchedrin)
VAI DVD 4497 $34.95

A brilliant adaptation of the Chekhov play, with music by Rodion Shchedrin and choreography by Maya Plisetskaya, who portrays both the symbolic seagull, and Nina, the catalyst for the work’s tragic denouement. In the apparitions of the seagull, Plisetskaya appears to soar in the air with arms undulating like the wings of a great bird. Her Nina is complex amalgam of innocence and desire, and Alexander Bogatirev’s anguished Konstantin, Lyudmila Butzkova’s Arkadina, and Boris Efimov’s Trigorin triumph on a similar level. Live 1982 performance by the Bolshoi Ballet. Orchestra of the Bolshoi Theatre is under the direction of Alexander Lazarev. 85 minutes, Color, Mono, 4:3, All regions

Alberto Reyes Plays Chopin
VAI Audio 1271-2 $16.99 (Two CDs for the price of one)

A recital of masterworks of Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) featuring the Sonata Nos. 2 in B-flat major, Op. 60, Sonata No. 3 in B minor, Op. 58, Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, Fantasy in F minor, Op. 49, and the Barcarolle in F-sharp major, Op. 60.

Earl Wild Performs His Own Compositions and Transcriptions
Ivory Classics, 79003 $16.99

Variations on a Theme by Stephen Foster (Doo-Dah) Earl Wild, piano; Des Moines Symphony – Joseph Giunta, conductor; Piano Sonata 2000; Improvisation on “Someone to Watch Over Me”; Adventure for Piano and Orchestra. Earl Wild, piano; NBC Radio Orchestra – Earl Wild, conductor. Rákóczy March (Berlioz/Wild). Earl Wild’s renown as a concert pianist has eclipsed his equal success as a composer and conductor. He is a master of all three. This CD presents five original and transcribed w