The perfect combination: Avril Lavigne and Mozart.

TONY PALMER

The Salzburg Festival

ORF Digital Classics

Salzburg is Mozart's birthplace, and the Salzburg Festival is possibly the most famous opera event of all. It was founded by Max Rheinhardt in 1920, and this fascinating three-hour DVD has some historic clips.

The festival was founded on idealistic principles in the aftermath of the first World War, but acquired political overtones with the rise of the Nazis.

After the second World War 2, native son Herbert Von Karajan later came to dominate the festival until his death in 1989. While there were some fabulous productions during his tenure, many felt that it had become elitist.

All these contradictions are highlighted here, together with wonderful performance footage .

www.digitalclassics.com

COLMAN MORRISSEY

AVRIL LAVIGNE

The Best Damn Tour Live in Toronto

Sony BMG

The pint-sized Canadian punk-pop singer (and Juno Award winner) is one of rock's more baffling success stories: how does someone with the talent quotient of an amoeba sell so many records?

The Joan Jett of the Tiny Tots generation is, it seems, driven by a desire to break as many chart records as possible, and judging by this live show (shot at Toronto's Air Canada Centre) she just might succeed.

The musical blueprint is a diluted mixture of 1977/78- era punk rock and a knowing take on the commercial needs of the kind of tweenies and young teenagers who haven't yet discovered Trivium or My Chemical Romance.

In fairness, Lavigne gives it socks, and some of her songs ( Complicated, Ska8er Boi) are actually quite decent. But overall it's style over substance. And who thought it was a good idea to have the punk moppet play a drum solo?. No extras (phew!).

www.avrillavigne.com

TONY CLAYTON-LEA