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!

The pianist performs works by Rachmaninoff and Schumann/Liszt in these 1958 and 1972 live performances at the Big Hall of the Moscow Conservatory with the Moscow Philharmonic conducted by Kyrill Kondrashin. B&W.

Caball, Cossotto, and Carreras perform in this 1976 performance of the Cilea opera with Masini conducting the NHK Symphony Orchestra.

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

The 1912 original version of Richard Strauss' opera faeatures Beverly Sills, Claire Watson, others; Boston Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eric Leinsdorf.

Montserrat Caballe, Jon Vickers and Josephine Veasey are the featured singers in Bellini's masterpiece. Giuseppe Patane conducts the orchestra of Teatro Regio di Torino.

Karen Kain and Frank Augystyn are the featured dancers with the National Ballet of Canada in Adam's reknown ballet.

BALANCHINE: NEW YORK CITY BALLET IN MONTREAL 4

Rudolph Nureyev and Veronica Tennant are the feature dancers with the National Ballet of Canada in Tchaikovsky's immortal ballet.

Prokofiev's great ballet features Margot Fonteyn, Michael Somes, Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillian, Sadler's Wells Ballet (Royal Ballet). Choreography by Frederick Ashton. Conducted by Robert Irving from a TV Broadcast of April 29, 1957.

The master of musical parody, Professor Peter Schickele, brings US a complete opera by P.D.Q. Bach, a man who has been called a "pimple on the face of music", "the worst musician ever to have trod organ pedals", and "the most dangerous musician since Nero".

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.

The pianist performs works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Chopin, and Liszt live in 1962 at the Big Hall of the Moscow Conservatory with the Moscow Philharmonic conducted by Kyrill Kondrashin. B&W.

The legendary soprano Anna Moffo stars in this expansive 1971 film of the opera, directed by Mario Lanfranchi, and lavishly filmed in authentic locales and castles.

150 minute DVD starring Joan Sutherland and Tatiana Troyanos in a complete live 1981 performance of Bellini's "bel canto" masterpiece.

Ekaterina Maximova and Vladimir Vasiliev perform with the Bolshoi Ballet in this Prokofiev ballet conducted by Algis Zhuraitis live at the Bolshoi Theatre, 1974.

This performance was captured live in 1976 as part of the Wolf Trap Festival and includes the cast Henry Price and Richard Fredricks. Conducted by Julius Rudel.

Rounding out this trio of November releases is the famed 1977 Grigorovich setting of Spartacus starring Vladimir Vasiliev as the heroic slave who leads the unsuccessful revolt against the Romans. Again, from the New York Times chief dance critic.

Mario Del Monaco, Gabriella Tucci, and Tito Gobbi, star in the Verdi opera with Alberto Erde conducting the NHK Symphony Orchestra, live Feb. 4, 1959.

In this 1975 production from the Wolf Trap Festival, Beverly Sills is joined by John Alexander, Susanne Marsee, and Richard Fredericks in a stunning live performance.

Larisa Tuisova and Alexander Rumiantsev star in the Latvian State Opera & Ballet Theatre production of the Khachaturian ballet. Bonus: Gayne: Act 4 (Timofeeva, Zhdanov), Spartacus:"Adagio" from Act 2. (Liepa, Plisetskaya), Gayne: "Adagio".

LIVE IN JAPAN

Anna Moffo, Franco Bonisolli, Gino Bechi are featured soloists in Verdi's great opera. Giuseppe Patane conducts the Rome Opera House Orchestra.

Nelson Eddy, Gale Sherwood, John Conte, Otto Kruger. A wonderfully-done adaptation of Romberg's famous operetta as it was performed live for a 1955 TV telecast. Unlike earlier film versions, the live performance now captured on film illuminates the story in a much truer format to Romberg's original. 1955/b&w/76 min/NR/fullscreen.