Includes :- -This 2-DVD release is complemented by no less than two documentaries. The first is an 18 minute interview feature with Valery Gergiev, introducing the opera to first-time listeners. The second is a substantial, 55-minute documentary on the life and career of maestro Valery Gergiev, following his hectic life as he combines his role as music director of the Kirov Opera. Both documentaries are English-language films (without subtitles). The release is completed by a 20 minute show-reel, introducing over a dozen Decca and Philips DVDs. -Furthermore, this spectacular staging is presented in anamorphic widescreen, complete with a DTS 5.1 surround, as well as LPCM stereo. -Full subtitling in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Chinese. -Timing: 211 mins (opera) + 73 mins (documentaries) + 20 mins (show-reel) This is the first and only production of Glinka's masterpiece (staged uncut) Ruslan and Lyudmila to appear on DVD. Glinka's opera Ruslan and Lyudmila is regarded as the first truly Russian opera, and the work that established the tradition of Russian grand opera that embraces Moussorgsky's Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, Borodin's Prince Igor, Dargomishky's The Stone Guest, through to the operas of Tchaikovsky. Indeed, it was described by Tchaikovsky as the 'Tsar of Operas', and it has since occupied a special and beloved position in the hearts of Russian opera lovers. The libretto adapts Pushkin's comic-epic drama, a magical mix of sorcery, knight errantry and romance. The Kirov Opera staging (produced in association with the San Francisco Opera) is a meticulous recreation of an historic original, a spectacular piece of stagecraft from the height of Russia's pre-Revolutionary artistic 'golden age'. In addition to the brilliant cast of singers (including Gorchakova, Diadkova, Masurin, and the new young star Anna Netrebko) under the dynamic direction of Valery Gergiev, the opera also boasts an extensive ballet, featuring the original Fokine choreography and danced by the Kirov Ballet. Svetosar - Mikhail Kit Lyudmila - Anna Netrebko Ruslan - Vladimir Ognovienko Ratmir - Larissa Diadkova Farlaf - Gennady Bezzubenkov Gorislava - Galina Gorchakova Finn - Konstantin Pluzhnikov Naina - Irina Bogachova