DVD + Blu-Ray:
Britten: Death in Venice / Teatro Real

The stylised production of Benjamin Britten’s last opera Death in Venice staged at the Teatro Real by the successful German theatre director Willy Decker.

Opera in two acts (1973)

Adapted from Thomas Mann’s 1912 novella, Death in Venice was Benjamin Britten’s last opera, the composer insisting on its completion while delaying badly needed heart surgery. The starkly simple narrative of a famous but failing novelist is given a chamber-like precision and clarity through Britten’s score, becoming a haunting drama filled with musical symbols, disquieting mystery and richly evocative atmospheres of Venice and its strange characters.

The stylised production by the prominent director Willy Decker, renowned for the Salzburg Festival staging of La Traviata with Anna Netrebko, features one of the Europe’s most versatile tenors John Daszak in his critically acclaimed performance in the role of Gustav von Aschenbach. The Teatro Real Orchestra performs under the baton of Alejo Pérez, one of the most promising conductors of the younger generation.

Gustav von Aschenbach JOHN DASZAK Tenor
Traveller / Elderly Fop / Old Gondolier etc. LEIGH MELROSE Baritone
Tadzio TOMASZ BORCZYK
Voice of Apollo ANTHONY ROTH COSTANZO Countertenor
English Clerk / Venice Guide DUNCAN ROCK Baritone

TEATRO REAL CHORUS and ORCHESTRA
Conductor ALEJO PÉREZ

Stage Director WILLY DECKER
Dramaturge KLAUS BERTISCH

Film Director FRANÇOIS ROUSSILLON
Filmed on 17 and 19 December 2014 at the Teatro Real, Madrid, Spain

Total playing time: 152 minutes
Language: English · Subtitles: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean
DVD: NTSC 16:9 · Dolby 2.0 and DTS 5.0 · DVD 9 · Region: 0 (Worldwide)
BD: HD 16:9 · PCM 2.0 and DTS-HD 5.0 · BD 50 · Region: A, B, C