For the legendary comic actor Groucho Marx, playing the role of Ko-Ko in the Mikado "fulfilled a lifelong ambition." the Mikado was Groucho's favorite among the works of his beloved Gilbert and Sullivan, and the 1960 Bell Telephone Hour production was adapted for television and directed by Martyn Green, a man Groucho revered as an authority on interpreting the role of Ko-Ko. The strong supporting cast features distinguished veterans like Helen Traubel, Stanley Holloway, Robert Rounseville, and Dennis King, as well as young artists like the lovely soprano Barbara Meister as Yum-Yum and Groucho's 13-year-old daughter, Melinda, as Peep-Bo. Special features [46 minutes] include audio interviews with Dick Cavett, Melinda Marx, and Barbara Meister; Martyn Green in excerpts from H.M.S. Pinafore (Bell Telephone Hour, 1963, in color), cast bios, the commercials from the original telecast, and more!

With Montreal Symphony Orchestra/Charles Dutoit. Mussourgsky: "Songs and Dances of Death", arias by Verdi, Rossini. 1998 concert.

This concert includes Anna Russell's uproarious analysis of Wagner's "Ring" Cycle as well as lectures on "How to Become a Singer," "Wind Instruments I Have Known," a hilarious parody on Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and more!

Moscow Chamber Orchestra & Various choirs/Constantine Orbelian are featured.

SONG TO REMEMBER

After it's first performance in Vienna, the operetta Die Fledermaus set out to conquer the world. It is one of the few operettas which are regularly staged by the great opera houses of the world such as the New York Metropolitan Opera, the Milan Scala, The

Fanny Mendelssohn -"Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn" - Felix Mendelssohn's Wedding March is probably the single most popular classical composition of all time. But Felix was not the only genius in the family; meet his brilliant sister Fanny, whose unknown Easter Sonata surfaced in 1972. In "Fanny: The Other Mendelssohn," director Sheila Hayman reveals the extraordinary life of a composer long neglected by the guardians of classical music and goes on a quest to prove that this lost masterpiece attributed to Felix was actually composed by Fanny. Piano prodigy Isata Kanneh-Mason brings the beauty of Fanny's music to life in this story of a very modern woman who happened to live 200 years ago. Blu-ray/DVD set in Softpak

Legendary Opera stars from the Golden Age of Television. Many performances released for the first time. All newly remastered from Voice of Firestone telecasts, 1949-1963, and issued for the first time with English subtitles. Arias from Aida, Semiramide, Faust, Don Pasquale, Barber of Seville, etc., sung by Leontyne Price, Joan Sutherland, Jussi Bjoerling, Richard Tucker, Hilde Gueden, Cesare Siepi, Leonard Warren, Jan Peerce, Rise Stevens, Jean Madeira, Eugene Conley, Patrice Munsel, Anna Moffo, Renata Tebaldi, Franco Corelli, Eleanor Steber, Bidu Sayao, and Mildred Miller. Black & White, Mono, NTSC (Playable all regions), 4:3, 94 minutes.

Filmed at the Teatro del Silenzio (Theatre of Silence) in Lajatico over 3 nights in 2024 and marking his 30th year as an artist, this once-in-a-lifetime event sees classical star Andrea Bocelli appear in his home of Tuscany with a star-studded lineup of special guests performing songs that have been the pillars of his career. This 2-disc Blu-ray package features two shows - "The Celebration" and "30 Years of Musical Inspiration" and over 4 and a half hours of performances. With incredible staging, including a stunning sundial centerpiece in the middle of a lake, and 500 drones which lift into the sky in 3 breathtaking moments, Bocelli is joined by an 80-piece orchestra, a cast of over 200 musicians and family and friends including Ed Sheeran, Jon Batiste, Shania Twain, Brian May and more. It's a night that transforms both the landscape and beautiful Tuscan sky into something totally spectacular. The result: a mesmerizing and truly unforgettable concert. Digipak with 20-page booklet.

Filmed at the Teatro del Silenzio (Theatre of Silence) in Lajatico over 3 nights in 2024 and marking his 30th year as an artist, this once-in-a-lifetime event sees classical star Andrea Bocelli appear in his home of Tuscany with a star-studded lineup of special guests performing songs that have been the pillars of his career. This 2-disc Blu-ray package features two shows - "The Celebration" and "30 Years of Musical Inspiration" and over 4 and a half hours of performances. With incredible staging, including a stunning sundial centerpiece in the middle of a lake, and 500 drones which lift into the sky in 3 breathtaking moments, Bocelli is joined by an 80-piece orchestra, a cast of over 200 musicians and family and friends including Ed Sheeran, Jon Batiste, Shania Twain, Brian May and more. It's a night that transforms both the landscape and beautiful Tuscan sky into something totally spectacular. The result: a mesmerizing and truly unforgettable concert. Digipak with 20-page booklet.

Explore distant galaxies with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra. These legendary film soundtracks from the world of science fiction will transport you to the infinite vastness of space with epic sounds and powerful choirs. Experience the music from Dune, Star Wars, Star Trek, and many other masterpieces: enjoy stirring solo passages and majestic themes with outstanding soloists Sinne Eeg, Isabel Schwartzbach, David Bateson, and Kristoffer Appel.

Also available on Blu-ray

Adam’s Passion is the moving first collaboration between two “masters of slow motion who harmonize perfectly with each other” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung). In the spectacular setting of a former submarine factory, American director and universal artist Robert Wilson creates a poetic visual world in which the mystical musical language of the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt can cast its meditative spell. Three of Pärt’s major works – Adam’s Lament, Tabula rasa, and Miserere, as well as Sequentia, a new work composed especially for this production – are brought together here using light, space, and movement to create a tightly-woven Gesamtkunstwerk in which the artistic visions of these two great artists mirror each other.

Arvo Pärt
ADAM’S PASSION

Lucinda Childs
Michael Theophanous
Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir
Tallinn Chamber Orchestra
Tõnu Kaljuste, conductor

Robert Wilson, stage director, set and lighting designer

Recorded from Noblessner Foundry, Tallinn, 12 May 2015

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Latin, Russian (orig. sung languages), German, English, French, Korean, Japanese
Running time: 94 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

Also available on Blu-ray

Johann Sebastian Bach
ST MATTHEW PASSION, BWV 244

Christina Landshamer, soprano
Stefan Kahle, alto
Wolfram Lattke, tenor
Martin Lattke, tenor
Klaus Mertens, bass
Gotthold Schwarz, bass

Leipzig St Thomas Boys Choir
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Georg Christophe Biller, conductor

Recorded live from the St Thomas Church, Leipzig, 5 and 6 April 2012

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: German, English, French, Korean
Running time: 164 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Classical Music

Cecilia Bartoli Sings Mozart & Haydn (Ntsc)

VARIOUS The King's Singers. LIVE AT THE BBC PROMSTracks: Chansons Francaises; Scenes in America Deserta; Dessus le marched'Aeeas; Il est bel et bon; Toutes les nuitz; La Guerre; Hears not my Phyllis; Phillis is my only joy; The Little Green Lane; The Goslings; Greensleeves; Blow Away the Morning Dew; The Turtle Dove; Widdicombe Fair; The Long Day Closes.

I usually find such choral works low on my interest scale, but in this case I situated myself and listened really closely, enjoying the intricate play of voices and instruments that were so cleanly placed in space around me. (Audiophile Audition)

Also available on Blu-ray

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Requiem in D minor, K. 626
(Sanctus completed by Robert Levin. All other movements completed by Franz X. Sussmayr, edited by Franz Beyer.)

Anna Prohaska, soprano
Sara Mingardo, alto
Maximilian Schmitt, tenor
Rene Pape, bass

Bavarian Radio Chorus
Swedish Radio Chorus
(chorus master: Peter Dijkstra)
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Claudio Abbado, conductor

Recorded live at the Concert Hall of the Culture and Convention Center, Lucerne, 8 and 10 August 2012

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: Latin, English, Japanese
Running time: 60 mins
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

In the finale to series one of the Sacred Music programme, Simon Russell Beale presents a special concert for Easter from LSO St Luke's Church, London, performed by the award-winning choir The Sixteen, conducted by founder Harry Christophers. The music takes us on a journey of over six hundred years, from haunting plainchant through to the celebrated music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Highlights include Palestrina's motet Assumpta Est Maria, and Allegri's Miserere. (See overleaf for full concert programme) Plus Bonus Features include: · Sacred Music Series One Preview · Exclusive Interview with Harry Christophers · Song Selection with Introductions from Harry Christophers (Audio Option) · Related Recordings by The Sixteen · Artist Biographies and Images · Downloadable Screensavers

VERDI; GIORDANO; MEYERBEER; PUCCINI; MASSENET; DI CAPUA; CARILLO; DE CURTIS; TOSTI: Franco Corelli, tenor; NHK Orchestra/Alberto Ventura; Live: Tokyo, August 11, 1971NTSC All Region; Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS; PCM Stereo 2.0; Color; 16:9; Aprox. 60 mins; Subtitled in Italian, English, French, Germa FRANCO CORELLI - THE 1971 TOKYO CONCERT.

Modest Mussorgsky’s music drama Boris Godunov was premiered in front of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia, the same location where this 2014 performance takes place. Conceived by Plamen Kartaloff, director of the Sofia Opera, this production took place 90 years after the building’s consecreation, and was dedicated to the centennial anniversary of the birth of Boris Christoff and the 85th anniversary of the birth of Nicolai Ghiaurov, two vocalists who became famous for their performances as Boris. For this performance, the role of Boris is sung by Martin Tsonev.

Picture Format: 16:9
Sound Format: PCM 2.0
Region Code: 0 (Worldwide)

Starring Alfredo Kraus.

ANTONIO VIVALDI: "I Solisti Veneti"/Claudio Scimone; Wiener Singakademie Choir; Adriana Damato, soprano; Laur Brioli, mezzo. ANTONIO VIVALDI - GLORIA AND OTHER SACRED WORKS: Gloria RV 589; Concerto in D major RV581; Falve Regina RV 616: Ad Te suspiramus;Sonata Al Santo Sepolcro RV 130; Stabat Mater RV 621: Stabat Mater, O quam tristis, Fac ut ardeat cor meum, Amen; Dal Gloria RV 588: Qui sedes ad desteram; Concerto in D major RV 562: Allegro.

Classical Music

ROSSINIAURELIANO IN PALMIRAMIHAI; FAGIOLI; ALEIDA MIHAI; FAGIOLI; ALEIDA; ORCH. INTERNAZIONALE D'ITALIA AURELIANO IN PALMIRA