Opus Arte: History

“highly experienced”

Opus Arte was established by Managing Director Hans Petri and Television Director Dirk Jan Bijker in 1999. They had an excellent track record in Television production and entertainment and a number of large-scale multimedia projects, such as Bach’s St Matthew Passion and Handel’s Messiah. These programmes have been broadcast in over 60 countries and have won many Awards.

The company releases around thirty DVDs per year, many of which are produced by Opus Arte, into an innovative and rapidly growing market. The management has many years of experience in the industry and has established an excellent relationship with one of the leading organisations in the broadcast and music industry, the BBC.

Opus Arte: High Definition

“leading the way”

Opus Arte has been recording in High Definition for over seven years and has amassed a substantial catalogue of outstanding productions from around the world. Opus Arte led the way by being the first company to release a Classical HD DVD, and also the first to release a Classical Blu-ray disc into the world market. Our Blu-ray catalogue continues to grow rapidly, and 2009 will see our first simultaneous standard-definition and high-definition releases.
 

Opus Arte: Partnerships

“working with the best”

The aim of Opus Arte has always been to work with the best possible partners in all areas of business – from broadcasters to producers; from opera houses to directors.

Working closely with organisations such as the BBC, Bayerische Rundfunk (Germany), TVE (Spain) and NPS (Holland) has meant that a large number of people can share the magic of seeing an opera or ballet live, whereas partnerships with opera houses around the world (Glyndebourne, Teatro Real (Madrid), Royal Opera House (London), Liceu (Barcelona), Opera de Paris, and Het Muziektheater (Amsterdam)) has enabled Opus Arte to capture some magnificent productions on DVD for people to enjoy over again.

Opus Arte: Philosophy

“a crown of jewels”

The theme and content of each Opus Arte title is created as a crown of jewels, which make the discs ‘cultural treasures’ with a limitless life. All our discs allow the viewer/listener to explore a subject from several angles in an individual and exciting way. Our philosophy is that experiencing our DVDs should satisfy the eye, ear, mind and heart in equal measure.

A good example of the quality and range of the products of Opus Arte is the Carmen opera production from Glyndebourne. The double DVD consists of the gripping performance of the opera, starring Anne Sofie von Otter, an illustrated synopsis, a feature on the choreography of Carmen and how to stage a fight scene, a complete overview of the cast and their characters, a costume gallery, a fascinating documentary feature on the gardens of Glyndebourne plus a comprehensive full colour booklet with a modern re-working of Bizet's story by Jeanette Winterson.

As Managing Director Hans Petri states - "this is just like a digital coffee table book – beautiful to look at, and you can dip in and out at your leisure...”