'Just Dance the Steps' is a personal portrait of the Dutch choreographer Hans Van Manen in the run-up to his 90th birthday. For over five years director Willem Aerts followed and observed this internationally acclaimed master of contemporary ballet during his life and work at Dutch National Ballet in Amsterdam, in the studio of the Ballett am Rhein in Du¨sseldorf and at Nederlands Dans Theater in The Hague. This powerful tribute and inspirational portrayal looks back at van Manen's remarkable artistic legacy, and documents a life that remains inseparable from dance and choreography.
There's certainly no better motto than 'Happy Days are Here Again'! In July 2022, the "King of Waltz" and his beloved Johann Strauss Orchestra finally returned to the Vrijthof square in Maastricht to enchant an audience of 180.000 people from more than 100 countries for a record 15 concerts! No other artist can make an audience laugh, move them to tears and pull on their heartstrings quite like the King of Waltz.
A classic work of its genre and historical period, Artaserse was premièred in Venice in 1730 by the most famous singers of the day: Farinelli in the role of Arbace, Cuzzoni as Mandane and the castrato Nicolino as Artabano. It was a success for Hasse, who would, in 1740 and 1760, repropose the same work in two different versions. Our DVD features the Venetian version, in world première. The cast is extraordinary, with the countertenor Franco Fagioli giving a great performance of the role that was Farinelli's. Fagioli easily goes up and down the extension of more than three octaves, maintaining a uniform timbre and remarkable power and resonance. Also stunning, is the aria "Pallido sole" sung by Sonia Prina.
Video Format: NTSC Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Audio Format: PCM 2.0 Sung In: Italian Subtitles: Italian, English, French, German, Japanese, Korean Region Code: 0 (All Regions) Duration: 189 min.
Haydn’s oratorio ‘The Creation’ is one of the greatest masterpieces in the repertoire. Its libretto was constructed by Gottfried von Swieten who took texts from the Book of Genesis, the Psalms, and who employed his own original poetry. In this radical and compelling staging by the ground-breaking Catalan theatre collective, La Fura dels Baus, and internationally acclaimed stage director Carlus Padrissa, the oratorio is seen through the prism of a stream of refugees expelled from Paradise. Stunning light projections encapsulate the stage space and incorporated philosophical and scientific perspectives make this truly an oratorio for our time.
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REVIEW:
Many productions these days use video as part of the design but this is the first I can recall which is so wonderfully—often breathtakingly—effective.
William Steinberg conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra. This rare material, filmed in color, represents some of the earliest televised concerts with of Steinberg with the BSO, restored using the greatest care and state-of-the-art techniques.
Haydn: The Creation / Steinaecker, Musica Saeculorum
Fra Bernardo
DVD
$21.99Apr 21, 2017
The first edition of The Creation by Joseph Haydn from 1803 is not composed with the German version of the world premiere in 1797, but the English version of the text which served Baron Gottfried van Swieten as a master copy. The release features a concert by Musica Saeculorum under the direction of Philipp von Steinaecker in the Cathedral of Brixen who used this English version of The Creation.
The BYU Young Ambassadors’ new production, "Heartsongs: Melodies of Love," is a fast-paced musical revue created for family audiences. + "Heartsongs" features show tunes from award-winning Broadway musicals as well as popular international hits by the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Adele and Michael Jackson. + Since their premier performance at Expo ’70 in Osaka, Japan, the BYU Young Ambassadors have performed in over 67 countries and appeared before millions, including many government and arts leaders.
Opera star Arden Scott returns to her hometown to save the struggling company that launched her career. The opening night performance of the long-lost opera she discovered falls on the same night as the home team's first National Championship game (Go, Grizzlies!). The fate of the company hangs in the balance as Arden discovers that greatness is truly a matter of heart.
Henry IV is dead and Hal is king. With England in a state of unrest, he must leave his rebellious youth behind, striving to gain the respect of his nobility and people. Laying claim to parts of France and following an insult from the French Dauphin, Henry gathers his troops and prepares for a war that he hopes will unite his country.
Sound Format: 2.0LPCM, 5.1 DTS Subtitles: English Region Code: 0 (Worldwide)
Resonating powerfully with Hans Werner Henze’s pacifist perspective, Der Prinz von Homburg is based on a play by Heinrich von Kleist that opposes authority, celebrating a dreamer rather than a classical hero, and individualist freedom rather than militarist nationalism. Ingeborg Bachmann’s libretto heightens this message, and Henze’s chamber-music setting is at once powerful and unpredictable. This visually stunning production stretches from intimate transparency to dramatic heights, in a critically acclaimed staging by the award-winning director Stephan Kimmig.
Ondine – Miyako Yoshida Palemon – Edward Watson Berta – Genesia Rosato Tirrenio – Ricardo Cervera A Hermit – Gary Avis
Royal Ballet Royal Opera House Orchestra Barry Wordsworth, conductor
Frederick Ashton, choreographer
Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, June 2009.
Bonus: - Illustrated synopsis - Cast gallery - The Making of Ondine – an interview with Hans Werner Henze
Picture format: 16:9 Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1 Region code: 0 (worldwide) Menu language: English Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish (bonus only) Running time: 114 mins No. of Discs: 1
Miyako Yoshida dances the title role originally created for Margot Fonteyn in the hauntingly beautiful underwater world of Ondine, vividly brought to life by The Royal Ballet. Frederick Ashton’s shimmering choreography, Lila de Nobili’s impressionistic designs and Hans Werner Henze’s specially commissioned, vibrant and inventive score, memorably combine to evoke the many moods and colours of the sea. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true surround sound.
Japanese television captures Herbert Von Karajan as he leads the Berlin Philharmonic in his first Japanese concert performed at the NHK Hall, Tokyo on November 3rd 1957. In November 1957, while the Berliner Philharmoniker were on tour in Japan, Karajan proposed some of the best works in his repertoire, starting with the Prelude to Die Meistersinger by Wagner and continuing with Richard Strauss' Don Juan and Beethoven's Fifth Symphony - the "symphony" par excellence which he had on November 1954 for EMI with the Philharmonia Orchestra. The pieces include: Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, Act I: Prelude, Don Juan, Op. 20, TrV 156 and Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67. Starring Herbert von Karajan. Language: English
Herbert von Karajan broke boundaries in many aspects of conducting, among those being that he was the first conductor to become interested in filming his performances to preserve his cultural heritage. This exceptional documentary begins with his first concert productions, taken in Japan in 1957. Following those first recordings is his cooperation with director Henri-Georges Clouzot, then Karajan’s own film company Telemondial. Karajan’s language for orchestral film productions is seen here through all of its stages. This documentary also includes interviews with Karajan and his collaborators.
Herold: La Fille Mal Gardee / Nadia Nerina, David Blair, Stanley Holden
ICA Classics
DVD
$26.99Nov 13, 2012
HÉROLD-HAYDN-MARTINI-ROSSINI-DONIZETTI-HERTEL La fille mal gardée (arr. Lanchbery with additional music) • John Lanchbery, cond; Nadia Nerina, David Blair, Stanley Holden, Alexander Grant, Leslie Edwards (dancers); Royal Ballet Covent Garden O • ICA CLASSICS 5088, mono (90:37)
This is not an actual performance of La fille mal gardée but a film version made for the BBC between September 7 and 9 of 1962. The images are sepia and white, and at times the old style TV cameras can scarcely keep up with the speed of the dancers’ feet, but one thing that shines through like a beacon in this, as in so many ballets under the direct supervision of Frederick Ashton, is its marvelous combination of characterization and humor. I’ve long felt that Ashton always wanted to present characters up there on stage, not just decorous dancers showing off their techniques, and he was capable of slipping some humor into even the most serious works. In this piece of fluff, he was in his element, and as much as one can do so on a ballet stage, he created a silent film combining love story with comedy.
Although this derives from one of the oldest surviving ballets—its premiere was in 1789 at Bordeaux—both the choreography and the music morphed considerably through the next century and a half. The first step towards confusion occurred at the 1828 Paris revival, where Hérold was asked to adapt his score to include themes from other composers’ operas—among them Haydn, Martini, and Donizetti. In 1837 Paris Opéra ballerina Fanny Elssler insisted on a new tailored version of the pas de deux using her favorite melodies from Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore (specifically, the tune of the finale and the middle portion of “Udite, o rustici”). Somewhere along the line, the opening scene music of Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia crept in as the introductory music to Lise and Colas in act I, while in Berlin in 1864, a completely new score by Peter Ludwig Hertel appeared. Ashton, being a bit confused as to which form of the music to use, was partly guided in this respect by Tamara Karsavina, who had danced Lise at the Mariinsky Theatre. She suggested a return, more or less, to the 1837 version (which he found in the library) but using musical inserts of his own choice. Since Ashton created Widow Simone’s clog dance, he incorporated a piece of folk music into the score. Originally he was aided in the project by noted composer Malcolm Arnold, but for some reason Arnold quit, so Ashton turned to his conductor, John Lanchbery, to piece the music together. The two of them worked together for two months, meeting at least three times a week to match music to action. Lanchbery would play some of the music to get Ashton’s feedback. This eventually led to his writing interpolated passages to blend Hérold’s, Donizetti’s, Rossini’s, and Hertel’s music together, as well as composing Leitmotifs for Widow Simone and Colas and the “disaster” music in the last act.
The principal dancers—Nerina as Lise, Blair as Colas, Holden as Widow Simone and Grant as the “rich dweeb” Alain—were undoubtedly the cream of his then-current crop. By comparison with today’s dancers, only Blair suffers ever so slightly. He can do tremendous jetées and his elevation is superb, but he only occasionally creates the same kind of continuous flow with his motions that the amazing Carlos Acosta can achieve nowadays. Otherwise, however, this is the superior production. Pride of place goes to Nerina, whose series of rapid entrechats in the pas de deux have the rapidity and pointed grace of a cat; moreover, in all of her dancing one continually gets the impression that she’s having a ball, even though it must have been extremely demanding work. See my review elsewhere of An Evening with the Royal Ballet, and you will note my disappointment in the technically fine but somewhat staid dancing of the same scene by Marianela Nuñez.
I was also very impressed by the dancing of the two comic roles. Holden certainly can’t hold a patch technically on William Tuckett, who does the clog dance in the later video, but he doesn’t have to. His highly practiced “stumbling” looks more real, as if he’s about to trip over his own ankles and fall on the floor. Indeed, while watching him perform this dance I couldn’t help thinking that Ashton may have gotten the idea for some of these steps from watching Ray Bolger as the scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz, so similar were his motions. Alexander Grant, playing the role of the dim-witted Alain, conversely put me in mind of someone who came much later—Martin Short as Ed Grimley. Several of the steps Short used in doing his Grimley character were right there onscreen, being danced by Grant…not to mention a cowlick (but in the back rather than the front). I wonder if Short ever saw a production of this ballet?
I was particularly impressed by several of the little touches that Ashton put into certain scenes, for instance the intricacy of the dance in which Cola and Lise form a cat’s cradle out of her ribbon while dancing, or the maypole dance for the corps in which they twisted and untwisted the ribbons with deceptively simple but actually quite complex movements. And then there were the scenes involving Alain, of which I will give you two: During his first scene he inadvertently opens his umbrella and falls to the ground behind it. Colas and Lise push it aside to find him, but he has slid between the legs of his father and pops up behind him! Also, in the act I finale, a sudden thunderstorm, Alain and the Widow swerve back and forth across the stage—umbrella opened—as if they were actually being windswept, and do so in a really funny, skewered way.
If anything, act II is even funnier, more clever and well staged than the first, particularly in the modified morris dance for the male corps (no bells on their shins but they did dance with sticks held at shoulder height). Their dancing in this scene is simply spectacular. There’s also a marvelous scene where Colas (Blair) lifts Lise (Nerina) at the top of a double-door to give her a kiss, and she literally seems to be floating up to him; but this is one of Nerina’s special qualities, the ability to appear as if she is floating. Once again in this act, her work on pointe appears completely effortless—you never once see or sense the physical tension that goes into these moves.
Lise hides Colas in her bedroom before Mom (Widow Simone) comes back, but shortly after her return Thomas, the notary, the notary’s assistant, and Alain return to have her sign the marriage contract and wed her daughter to the dimwit. When Alain goes to open Lise’s bedroom door and finds her in her wedding dress, kissing Colas, he falls backwards down the stairs and everyone is in a tizzy, but Lise explains everything and begs forgiveness. Happily, even the notary realizes that they are a better match and encourages Simone to forgive Lise and accept Colas as a son-in-law, following which the latter celebrates his good luck with a series of excellent fast turns. Only Thomas seems to be taking it badly as he ushers his son out. And there are two surprise postludes: first, when Alain returns to the now-empty farmhouse and furtively moves around…until he retrieves his beloved umbrella, and the second when everyone is walking down the country path. Thomas makes a move to “come on,” which you assume is a gesture to Alain, but instead it’s the chickens who follow him first—trailed, finally and inevitably, by Alain.
The only complaint I have of this DVD is that the numbering sequence of the various “chapters” is off by one, because the booklet lists an “Introduction to the ICA Classics Series” as No. 1, but you only get this if you select “play all.” Otherwise, if you choose to select chapters of the ballet, you will be off by one number—in other words, the act I pas de deux is actually chapter 16, not 17 as listed in the booklet. But this is an absolutely delightful ballet and a classic performance. Despite the sepia-and-white print, I would even recommend this to young girls who are interested in ballet. It’s a funny enough story and has an excellent level of difficulty in it that will captivate and delight them. As for anyone else who enjoys ballet, this is a must.
FANFARE: Lynn René Bayley
Ferdinand Herold LA FILLE MAL GARDÉE
Lise – Nadia Nerina Colas – David Blair Widow Simone – Stanley Holden Alain – Alexander Grant Thomas – Leslie Edwards A Notary – Franklin White
The Royal Ballet Covent Garden Orchestra John Lanchbery, conductor
Frederick Ashton, choreographer Osbert Lancaster, designer
Recorded at BBC Studio, London, 7–9 September 1962
Picture format: NTSC 4:3 Sound format: Enhanced Mono Region code: 0 (worldwide) Menu language: English Booklet notes: English, French, German Running time: 90 mins No. of DVDs: 1
Colas – Carlos Acosta Lise – Marianela Nuñez Simone – William Tuckett Alain – Jonathan Howells
The Royal Ballet The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Anthony Twiner, conductor
Frederick Ashton, choreographer Osbert Lancaster, set design
Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 2 February 2005.
Bonus: Cast gallery and illustrated synopsis
Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic Sound format: LPCM Stereo / 5.1 Surround sound Region code: 0 (All regions) Menu language: English Running time: 112 mins
R E V I E W:
A delightful production … considerable charm and appeal.
Choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton was born in September 1904, so it was always likely that the Royal Ballet – of which he was Director for most of the 1960s – would take the opportunity to celebrate his centenary with revivals of some of his best works.
My colleague Ian Lace has already given a very warm welcome to Opus Arte’s DVD of the 2005 revival of Ashton’s 1952 production of Delibes’s Sylvia (see review). Now this new release, from the same television/DVD producers, is likely to offer just as much – if not more – pleasure to admirers of both the choreographer and several of the Royal Ballet’s most accomplished artistes.
The origins of the score are somewhat obscure. The earliest music – dating from 1789 - was cobbled together by an unknown hand from a variety of popular melodies. But by 1828 it was considered sufficiently dated for Ferdinand Hérold to be commissioned to rearrange and supplement it, using not just his own material but also unauthorized extracts from pieces by Donizetti, Rossini and others.
Hérold’s score held the field for less than 40 years, though, before it in turn was considered so old-fashioned that it was superseded by one penned by Peter Ludwig Hertel. Thus, from the 1860s onwards, it was Hertel’s music – at various times added to substantially by Drigo, Pugni, Minkus and Delibes, not to mention Anton Rubinstein and a certain Johann Armsheimer – that was associated with the La fille mal gardée story.
Had Ashton had a grander conception for his planned 1960 Covent Garden production, he might well have used the by now traditional Hertel score. But instead he envisaged a simple, pastoral, light-hearted and pastel-shaded interpretation of the old story – Watteau rather than Winterhalter. Thus, having retrieved Hérold’s long-neglected music from the archives, he asked John Lanchbery to edit and re-orchestrate it. [Ironically enough, a single bit of Hertel did eventually find its way into the new version and, as the theme of the famous clog dance, can be heard in one of the ballet’s best loved episodes!]
La fille mal gardée – yet another story of young lovers thwarting an ambitious parent’s plan to marry off one of them to a far wealthier suitor - is now considered the quintessential Ashton ballet and is certainly the best loved. The choreography’s apparent - but not actual! - simplicity and its sheer joie de vivre work in perfect harmony with the undemanding light-hearted story and the tuneful 1828 score to ensure that audiences invariably leave the theatre with faces wreathed in smiles. That would certainly have been so as patrons left the Royal Opera House on 2 February 2005 – and thankfully the BBC’s cameras were there to record the occasion.
While not having any great emotional depths to plumb in their roles, attractive and charismatic soloists Marianela Nuñez and Carlos Acosta are utterly convincing as youthful lovers. She is an exceptionally pretty girl, whereas he is the epitome of a virile and handsome young swain. Moreover, unlike many ballet productions, this is one case where the protagonists look genuinely and appropriately young. In fact, Nuñez was, at the time, just 23 and the Royal Ballet’s youngest Principal – though mere youth was clearly no handicap as she received, that same year, the Best Female Dancer accolade in the Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards. Acosta, though actually nine years older, makes an ideal visual match – as his many admirers will certainly testify.
The pair are also very well matched as dancers and offer well-nigh perfect interpretations and performances. Ashton’s choreography may not offer too much in the way of flashy opportunities to bring down the house, but it is sufficiently taxing to require the dancers to demonstrate complete concentration and immaculate technique. Both are in clear evidence here.
As Widow Simone, the domineering mother determined to engineer an advantageous – if loveless – marriage for her daughter, William Tuckett plays the role for laughs. In full pantomime dame mode and equipped with a range of wonderfully exaggerated facial expressions, he certainly succeeds. He can, though, dance too – although I would have liked to have heard the clack-clack of his clogs more clearly over the orchestra, so as to emphasize his skillful footwork in the famous highlight solo.
Jonathan Howells’s interpretation of Alain, Widow Simone’s preferred rich-but-dim suitor for her daughter, is again strong on comedy but he also conveys an air of pathos that adds considerably to the role and was clearly appreciated by the Covent Garden audience.
The production keeps the corps de ballet especially busy portraying various types of cheerful, good natured country folk. These are remarkably sophisticated rustics, however – at least when it comes to their ability to interpret Ashton’s intricate, fluid patterns on stage. The maypole dance preceding the storm that brings the first act to a close - itself a striking coup de théâtre - offers an excellent example of the company’s strength in full ensemble, as does the exuberant finale to the whole ballet.
Meanwhile, conductor Anthony Twiner directs an appropriately jaunty and light-hearted account of the score and the Covent Garden orchestra responds with aplomb throughout.
The set is from designs by Osbert Lancaster who was, at that time well-known as a professional cartoonist for the Daily Express. Its simple, cartoon-like qualities and the exaggeratedly clichéd French peasant costumes also fit the mood of this delightful production perfectly and add measurably to its already considerable charm and appeal.
Holst: The Planets; Strauss: Also sprach Zarathustra [Space Spectacular] / Litton, Dallas SO
Delos
DVD
$21.99Jan 01, 1998
Experience an exhilarating live performance of Holst's "The Planets" and Strauss' "Also sprach Zarathustra" with Andrew Litton and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. This 2-for-1 priced 2-disc set offers a virtual reality recording, bringing you close to the music like never before. Recorded in the acoustically-perfect McDermott Hall in Dallas, Texas.
The conductor and composer Bo Holten has long been fascinated by Carlo Gesualdo – an Italian prince and one of the most extreme composers of the Late Renaissance, whose dramatic life and bitter fate make up the plot in Holten’s and librettist Eva Sommestad Holten’s ‘modern baroque opera’ Gesualdo – Shadows. Reflecting our own time, this is a drama of a great artist lost between outward duties and inner fragility: from a passionate youth to an old age of mysticism, violence and melancholy. Gesualdo’s own madrigals, fused into the score, contribute to a thrilling universe of pain and beauty. Gesualdo Shadows takes place in three acts, each depicting a different state in Gesualdo’s life, taking place in three different locations.
When lockdown was imposed in 2020 many artists began streaming performances from their own homes. In response, pianist Francesco Piemontesi and director Jan Schmidt-Garre launched a concert series to showcase artists living in Berlin, given in the renowned Schinkel Pavillon with an expert technical team assembled at short notice. Fourteen concerts were held, without audiences, under the name Home Music Berlin featuring some of the world’s leading instrumentalists and singers. In addition, a documentary film captured rehearsals and private backstage scenes. This collection of performances is a testament to the resilience and solidarity of these artists during the pandemic.
Kahil El'Zabar, drums, earth drums, kalimba; Corey Wilkes, trumpet, flugelhorn, percussion; Ernest Dawkins, alto and tenor saxophone, percussion; Fareed Haque, electric and acoustic guitar. In a Down Beat review of their previous Delmark album, Freedom Jazz Dance (517) Paul de Barros wrote "The forms being advanced here-or at least merged in a creative, new way are African-American syncopation (Funk, Jazz) and the vertically integrated multiple parts of African drum ensemble music." DVD also contains audio interview special feature. NTSC all region.
As an endless source of inspiration, Ovid's Metamorphoses have left a lasting mark on our culture for over two thousand years. Combining some of it's episodes with music by Antonio Vivaldi, Stage Director Barrie Kosky creates a pasticcio for our times, a fascinating new work of rich imagination and breathless narratives. With a leading cast of singers assembled by Cecilia Bartoli, and with the participation of actor Angela Winkler, Hotel Metamorphosis stands out as 'a panopticon of human emotions'. Vivaldi expert Gianluca Capuano conducts Les Musiciens du Prince - Monaco, presenting a unique variety of Vivaldi's arias, ensembles and choruses, music with a particularly powerful emotional charge. 'What a brilliant evening of theatre.' (BR Klassik) / 'Checking into this hotel guarantees a luxury stay.' (Kurier) / 'the musical Champions League.' (Deutschlandfunk Kultur)
Humperdinck: Hansel & Gretel / Davis, Damrau, Allen, Silja
Opus Arte
DVD
$39.99Jul 28, 2009
Diana Damrau and Angelika Kirchschlager star in the acclaimed 2008 production of Humperdinck’s famous fairytale opera, in the company of two of Britain’s most revered musical figures: Thomas Allen, playing the role of the Father, and the legendary conductor Colin Davis. Directors Patrice Caurier and Moshe Leiser combine their characteristic wit and a dash of deliciously dark comedy with the opera’s fairytale charm. Humperdinck’s music mixes catchy folk-like songs with sumptuous instrumental colour, making the result as tunefully approachable, musically memorable and visually delightful as opera gets. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in full Surround Sound.
Hansel: Angelika Kirchschlager Gretel: Diana Damrau Gertrud: Elizabeth Connell Peter: Thomas Allen Witch: Anja Silja Sand man: Pumeza Matshikiza Dew Fairy: Anita Watson
Tiffin Boys’ Choir and Children’s Chorus The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Conductor: Colin Davis Stage Directors: Moshe Leiser & Patrice Caurier
Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, on 12th and 16th December 2008.
Plus Illustrated synopsis & animated cast gallery. Interview with Colin Davis. Fairytales feature. Cinema trailer.
Reviews ‘Angelika Kirchschlager’s tousled, boyish Hänsel and Diana Damrau’s Gretel are dramatically convincing and vocally superb, while their parents, excellently sung and played by Elizabeth Connell and Thomas Allen, earn our sympathy as well as our censure. Pumeza Matshikiza’s goblin-like Sandman is truly magical and Anita Watson’s feather-dusting Dew Fairy another amusing creation. Colin Davis, unafraid to relish the icing on the cake, draws a warm, effulgent sound from the orchestra.’ Evening Standard
REGIONS: All Regions PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9 LENGTH: 138 Mins SOUND: 5.1 DTS SURROUND / PCM STEREO SUBTITLES: ENGLISH/FRENCH/GERMAN/SPANIS/ITALIAN LANGUAGE: German NO OF DISCS: 2
In 1951, film actress Lucille Ball and her musician husband Desi Arnaz spent $5,000 to produce a TV sitcom pilot about a Cuban-born bandleader named Ricky Ricardo, his zany, starstruck wife Lucy, and their madcap life in a Manhattan apartment. The result was the decade's biggest show and a landmark in TV history that ran until 1957. William Frawley and Vivian Vance co-star as the Ricardos' best friends and neighbors, Fred and Ethel Mertz. Includes seasons one through six of "I Love Lucy" and the three-season run of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour. " 193 episodes on 33 discs. 90 hrs. Standard; Soundtracks: English Dolby Digital mono, Spanish Dolby Digital mono; Subtitles: Spanish; bonus footage.
The 70 dancers of the Igor Moiseyev Ballet take us on a journey around the world and through the regions of the former Soviet Union, revealing an incredible multitude of folklores, including Moldovan, Belarusian, Ukrainian, Nanai, Kalmyk, Tatar, Adjaran and Caucasian.
“Breathtaking” – “Impressive” – “Exceptionally fine” – “Outstanding” THE NEW YORK TIMES
“Finesse, speed and virtuosity” THE WASHINGTON POST
Director: Andy Sommer Length: 107 min - Image: Color, 16/9, NTSC Audio: PCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Zones: All Zones
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