Dvd
Renée Fleming in Concert
Renée Fleming (Soprano); Christian Thielemann (Conductor); Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra (Strauss)); Staatskapelle Dresden (Orchestra (Wolf, Strauss, Bruckner));
"Thielemann, whose reading is satisfyingly spacious, reveals the work's structural mastery in intermingling and transforming its many themes. The excellent video director Michael Beyer expertly lays out the orchestra in front of us, following the music sensibly so that we can relish Strauss's detailed scoring...[Fleming] sings gloriously and the result is ravishing" (Gramophone - Strauss Songs and Eine Alpensinfonie)
Vivaldi: The Four Seasons
Julia Fischer (Violin);
"It seems rather appropriate that, as with LP and CD, one of the first really outstanding DVDs of The Four Seasons should come from the Academy of St Martin-in-the-Fields, this time directed and led vivaciously by Kenneth Sillito, and with a brilliant young soloist in Julia Fischer. She plays with remarkable freshness, obviously inspiring the Academy players also to give of their very best. The result is remarkably spontaneous, and one feels one is hearing this baroque masterpiece anew." (The Penguin Guide)