In this performance of Elgar’s first organ sonata James Lancelot brings this piece of music to life by realising its full colour and majesty from Elgar’s sparse markings.

Composed in only a couple of weeks, this sonata is often referred to as Elgar’s Symphony '0' and is one of the finest organ works of the period.

This DVD also takes an encyclopaedic journey examining all aspects of this sonata, of Elgar, and the organ:

...In collaboration with the Elgar Birthplace Museum we get a rare insight into the real... more

After the great success of his 2008 Vaughan Williams film "O Thou Transcendent", Tony Palmer's multi-award winning film from 1990 about Menuhin has a timely release on DVD. This heart-rending film includes all the members of Menuhin’s family living at the time, who struggle to piece together what had really happened to the son of Russian/Tartar parents who was defiantly named Yehudi - ‘the Jew’.

1. Main Title
2. Yehudi & Diana
3. Not talent but genius
4. Life of a prodigy
5. Concert in Berlin
6. Dresden, 1929
7. Boy wonder weds
8. Encountering Bartok
9. Melancholy... more

A landmark performance of the complete work by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir Andrew Davis, given in Worcester Cathedral in the heart of Elgar Country, is recorded in beautiful surround sound.

Sir Andrew Davis (conductor), BBC Symphony Orchestra
BBC Opus Arte OA0917D Technical details:
Music: 16/9 Anamorphic
Subtitles: FR/DE/ES/IT
Running Time: 85... more

This DVD includes full performances of:
Elgar's Cello Concerto;
Beethoven's "Ghost" Trio

Jacqueline du Pre's extraordinary career was cut cruelly short by illness in 1973 when she was only 28 years old. It is remarkable that when she died 14 years later, she remained as vibrant a figure in the public mind as she had been at the pinnacle of her career.

Award winning film maker Christopher Nupen succeeded in capturing the spirit of one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century in his classic documentary Jacqueline du Pre and the Elgar Cello Concerto (here restored and... more

82 Minutes

Join Brian Draper as we follow the beautiful valley of the River Teme from its source in the Kerry Hills to its confluence with the River Severn near Worcester.

We look at many villages, towns, churches and castles down the whole length of this most beautiful of rivers; the villages in the Welsh hills, through Shropshire and into Worcestershire, heading for Cotheridge Church and on to Sir Edward Elgar's birthplace at Lower Broadheath. As we head for the Severn we call at Leigh, Bransford and Powick and then to the confluence of the... more

James Naughtie's introduction includes contributions from Jerrold Northrop Moore and Andrew Davis
DVD Region Code 2,3,4,5
Warner Music Vision 3984 223512

This is an intimate look at one year in the life of Dame Janet Baker, and includes excerpts from her performances at the Royal Opera House, the London Coliseum, Glynbourne, Carnegie Hall, and Gerontius at Haddo Hall
DVD Regions 2, 3, 4, 5
Total duration: 72 mins
Picture Format: NTSC 4:3

Made for New Zealand Television, Elgar’s Enigma: Biography of a Concerto takes the final chapter of Oh, My Horses! as its starting point for an exploration of Prof. Trowell’s theory.

Producer Annie Goldson... more

William Pleath, teacher of the legendary Jacqueline du Pre and many other internationally recognised cellists, celebrated his 80th birthday in 1996. To mark the event, a series of one hour films was made of his masterclasses at the Britten-Pears School for Advanced Musical Studies at Snape.

With Kate Bennett (cello), and Frances Angell (piano}

Cello Classics CC1904

Tony Palmer's film is now complete. Undoubtedly controversial it will also be very important in raising awareness of RVW. Two-and-a-half hours long, it looks at Vaughan Williams' life as a disturbed and frustrated one. Powerful with some harrowing imagery, the film firmly dispels the myth that VW was a only a cuddly folk song collector and recycler who was affectionately known as "Uncle Ralph".

As well as exploring his musical legacy, Palmer also... more

The film also uses archive photographs of Elgar, his family and friends.

The music includes:
Enigma Variations
Serenade for Strings
Pomp & Circumstance
Salut d'Amour

Naxos Musical Journeys 2110527
NTSC, All Regions, Aspect Ratio 4:3, 52 minutes

Featuring
Natalie Klein playing the Adagio from Elgar's Cello Concerto, and the soundtrack includes a performance by Maxim Vengerov of part of Elgar's Violin Sonata.

Written by Nigel Gearing
Produced by Susan Francis
Directed by Paul Yule

Elgar's Tenth Muse, shot on location in London and Sussex, dramatises a moving moment in the life of English composer Sir Edward Elgar. It is set in 1919, with Elgar tormented by self-doubt and convinced he would never write... more