The Makropulos Case Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Subtitled) (DVD)

Advantages: Stunning music with spine-chilling ending
Disadvantages: Might feel a bit long to Handel newcomers

..., which was first seen at Glyndebourne Festival Opera in 1996. Plot of Theodora: It's the 4th Century in Antioch, part of the Roman Empire. Christian virgin Theodora (sung by Dawn Upshaw, soprano) is in trouble with the President of Antioch - Valens - (Frode Olsen, bass) because she has refused to burn incense to the pagan Roman gods in celebration of the Emperor's birthday. Her fervent admirer, Roman soldier Didymus (David Daniels, counter-tenor) is sent with his centurion colleague Septimius (Richard Croft, tenor) to arrest her, and while they pursue the Christians, who are led by Irene - a character who also comments on the action throughout the oratorio (sung by mezzo Lorraine Hunt Lieberson), Septimius confides to Didymus that he has strong sympathies for their plight and is torn between his loyalty to his duties and his friend... Read review

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Advantages: Good and often outstanding performances, plus the sight of the English picnicking in dinner jackets and long dresses
Disadvantages: Getting there, unless you live near Brighton; getting a ticket - you need to be persistent

...Glyndebourne is a country house near Lewes in Sussex (not far from Brighton) with a full scale opera house attached. The Glyndebourne season (late May to early September) is world famous and runs (typically) six different fully produced operas in repertory. The unique (until recently, it has been copied!) formula is that the opera starts late afternoon and there is an 80-minute "dinner interval", when many people picnic in the beautiful gardens. The other unusual aspect is that nearly everyone "dresses" - black tie is encouraged. If you already like opera this is not to be missed as an experience. If you are new to opera some of the Glydebourne productions are a very good introduction, some of them a very bad introduction. There is little attempt at populism. So fight for a ticket for Falstaff or for most Mozart productions. Avoid... Read review

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Advantages: Fantastic writing, hilarious comedy
Disadvantages: None

...The Simpsons: Film Festival is a 'best of' collection of four episodes. One of my favourite things about The Simpsons is their memorable movie references, and these four episodes are four of the greatest examples of this. The episodes are "Beyond Blunderdome", "A Star is Burns", "22 Short Films About Springfield" and "The Itchy and Scratchy Movie". In "Beyond Blunderdome" Homer wins tickets to see Mel Gibson's new movie, a remake of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", and asked to review it, which he promptly berates for being boring. This bothers Mel so much he flies back to Springfield and asks for Homers help in order to re-edit the film. What results is a bloody tour de force that has Mel decapitating the President of the United States. The remake is so crazy that it could be true, and that's how they get the parody spot on, because... Read review

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