As the strains of Schreker's sumptuous prelude crept in, I was already in 5-star mood. This is a beautiful work from 1918, of which I've already had the Decca CD set for some ten years, (same orchestra as the DVD, under conductor Lothar Zagrosek), along with some other Schreker operas, and as is happening more and more at present one is so grateful for the 'goodies' that are appearing on DVD. By the end of the 12 minute prelude I was down to 4 stars. Alviano, the main protagonist of this fascinating opera, is alone on stage for the 12 minutes, making himself up and wearing woman's clothes, (close-up, wide shot, close-up, wide shot....), but at least the music didn't drag! (Nagano, as on his recent 'Le Coq d'Or' DVD, on terrific form). Comparing timings for several identical sections on the CD and DVD, Nagano is quite 'spacious', but comparing the total timing, I found that the Decca CD set has 25 minutes more music, - (The Act I Prelude for example: Nagano 12 minutes, Zagrosek 10), so the actual cuts may total 30 minutes or more, given the latter's generally faster speeds. Also the complete 'pantomime' section in Act III is cut....come on Salzburg, you can afford it!