{"product_id":"0880242727046-merchant-of-venice-bregenz-festival-nielsen","title":"André Tchaikowsky: The Merchant of Venice","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePRODUCT DESCRIPTION \u003cbr\u003e Composer Andre Tchaikowsky first made his mark in Great Britain as a concert pianist. Despite his immense success, Tchaikowsky's real passion was for composition. 'The Merchant of Venice', after William Shakespeare's play of that name, was to remain his only opera.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe score is intricate and dark, with moments of both brutality and lyricism, not to mention flashes of acerbic wit. It defies attribution to any one definite style of 20th-century compostion, intelligently drawing on Benjamin Britten, Igor Stravinsky and Claude Debussy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe tried and trusted team behind Keith Warner and an elite cast make the posthumous premiere at this year's Bregenz Festival 'a restitution to remember' (London Telegraph).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePicture Format: 1080i Full HD 16:9 \u003cbr\u003eSound Format: PCM Stereo DTS HD Master Audio 5.0 \u003cbr\u003eRegion Code: 0 \u003cbr\u003eDuration: 205 minutes \u003cbr\u003eRecorded: live from the Bregenz Festival 2013 \u003cbr\u003eSubtitles: Polish English German French \u003cbr\u003eBooklet notes: English German \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e REVIEW \u003cbr\u003e The Merchant of Venice was the only opera by the Polish pianist-composer André Tchaikowsky, who died from cancer aged 46, in 1982. Intended for English National Opera, who rejected it, it only received its premiere at the 2013 Bregenz festival, where this DVD was made. Bergian in idiom, it's a fine if uneven piece. Tchaikowsky, who was gay and Jewish, is particularly good when it comes to depicting Shylock cracking under racist pressure, and Antonio's hopeless love for Bassanio. But he found the poetry and magic of Belmont elusive, and his elision of the three casket scenes into one leads to a dramatic wobble from which the opera takes time to recover. Keith Warner's production updates it to the turn of the 20th century, and places telling emphasis on Shylock (Adrian Eröd) and Antonio (Christopher Ainslie) as outsiders in a prejudiced society who are nevertheless catastrophically unable to understand one other. The singing is variable. Magdalena Anna Hofmann is a superb Portia; Jason Bridges exudes charm as Lorenzo; Eröd and Ainslie are heartbreaking and unforgettable. --Guardian, 11\/12\/14\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":32643440509025,"sku":"0880242727046","price":8.58,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_398037_1845054_jpg.jpg?v=1777383966","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/0880242727046-merchant-of-venice-bregenz-festival-nielsen","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}