DVD + Blu-Ray:
Henry Purcell: King Arthur at Staatsoper Berlin

Henry Purcell's “dramatick opera” King Arthur staged by Sven-Eric Bechtolf and performed by Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin under the baton of René Jacobs.

King Arthur or The British Worthy
Dramatick opera in five acts, Z. 628 (1691)
Performing edition by René Jacobs
Sung in English with German dialogue

The collaboration of the poet John Dryden and Henry Purcell marked a conspicuous leap forward for English opera. Their greatest project and Purcell’s biggest stage success, King Arthur, is a five-act “dramatick opera”, the text of which had its origins in a patriotic musical play Dryden had written in 1684 but which he radically overhauled. The result was a semi-opera that appealed to the audience’s enthusiasm for fine costumes, lavish sets, ingenious stage machinery and a cast of singers, dancers and instrumentalists, containing vocal show-stoppers such as the imperishable Fairest Isle and Frost Scene. This critically acclaimed staging uses a new performing edition by René Jacobs, and is sung in English with German dialogue.

ANETT FRITSCH, Soprano
ROBIN JOHANNSEN, Soprano
BENNO SCHACHTNER, Countertenor
JOHANNES WEISSER, Baritone

Arthur MICHAEL ROTSCHOPF
Emmeline / Mother MEIKE DROSTE
Merlin / Grandfather HANS-MICHAEL REHBERG

AKADEMIE FÜR ALTE MUSIK BERLIN
Conductor RENÉ JACOBS
Stage Directors SVEN-ERIC BECHTOLF & JULIAN CROUCH

Video Director ANDY SOMMER
Video Producer FRANÇOIS DUPLAT – BEL AIR MEDIA
Filmed on 19 and 21 January 2017 at the Staatsoper im Schiller Theater, Berlin, Germany

[2.110658 / NBD0109V]
Total playing time: 170 minutes
Language: English, German · Subtitles: English, German, French, Japanese, Korean
DVD: NTSC 16:9 · AC3 2.0 and AC3 Surround 5.1 · DVD 9
BD: HD 16:9 · PCM stereo and DTS-MA 5.1 · BD 50