Opera Singers DVDs

Benjamin Britten : A Time There Was... A Profile

Review: This musical documentary profiles British composer/conductor Benjamin Britten. Directed by filmmaker Tony Palmer, who also documented opera legend Maria Callas, it mixes biography with excerpts from such famed operas as Death in Venice and Peter Grimes. A special segment shows archival footage of the maestro working his magic behind the scenes in rehearsal. Interviews include a moment with Leonard Bernstein, who touches on the genius and the pain of "a man at odds with the world." With a running time of 102 minutes, this award-winning video hits all the right notes for the classical aficionado.

Songlist: Leonard Bernstein & Cousin Elsie, Britton as Conductor & Pianist, The Sea & Lowestoft, Early Compositions, Music for Films, Journey To America, Peter Grimes, Aldeburgh, Phaedra and Rape of Lucretia, The Aldeburgh Festival - Beginnings, Writing to Commission, The Sea, Travel, The Maltings Concert Hal, The Public Figure, Death in Venice, An Excellent Patient, Last Visit to Venice, "What Will It Be Like - Death?", "I Was Lost on an Infinite Sea"

Benjamin Britten : in Rehearsal and Performance

Review: The acclaimed composer and conductor Benjamin Britten and the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra team up with tenor Peter Pears in a rehearsal and performance of Britten's own "Nocturne for Tenor, 7 Obbligato Instruments & Strings, Op. 60." Britten has been called "The Greatest Musician of the Century" by the New York Times. In Benjamin Britten: In Rehearsal and Performance With Peter Pears, the nocturne, based on works by English poets including Shakespeare, Keats, Wordsworth, and Owen is performed. In this collaboration, Britten and Pears give their musical interpretation of a collection of classic poems

Songlist: Below the Thunders of the Upper Deep, Encinctured With a Twine of Leaves, Midnight's Bell Goes Ting, Ting, Ting, But That Night When on My Bed I Lay, She Sleeps on Soft, Last Breaths, What Is More Gentle Than a Wind in Summe, When Most I Wink, Then Do Mine Eyes Best See, On a Poet's Lips I Slept, Below the Thunders of the Upper Deep, Encinctured With a Twine of Leaves, Midnight's Bell Goes Ting, Ting, Tin, But That Night When on My Bed I Lay, She Sleeps on Soft, Last Breaths, What Is More Gentle Than a Wind in Summer, When Most I Wink, Then Do Mine Eyes Best See, Benjamin Britten Interview

Luciano Pavarotti : A Song To Remember

Review: The performance film Luciano Pavarotti: A Song to Remember finds the celebrated Italian tenor delivering a live set at a concert hall in Barcelona, Spain. The 19 selections featured here include: O Sole Mio, Pioggia, Nebbie and A Vuchella.

Luciano Pavorotti : A Life in Seven Arias

Review: As produced for the BBC, this feature-length documentary charts the many aspects of tenor Luciano Pavarotti's (1935-2007) extraordinary life and career. In reflecting on this great man, the program intercuts archival footage of the opera singer in performance over the years and interviews with such notables as Joan Sutherland, Renata Scotto and Placido Domingo.

Songlist: Debut: La Boheme Che Gelida Manina, The Met Telecast 1977 With Renata Scotto, Caruso, Vesti La Giubba, La Fille Du Regiment Pour Mon åme, Juan Diego Florez Sings Pour Mon åme, Lucia Di Lammermoor Duet, L'elisir D'amore Una Furtiva Lagrima, Panis Angelicus, Singing With Father in Modena, Corale Rossini, Il Trovatore at Verona, Rigoletto Questa O Quella, Masterclass, The Three Tenors 'O Sole Mio, Turandot Nessun Dorma, The Handkerchief, Marechiare, Rosca E Lucevan Le Stelle, Tosca at the Met 1979, Last Performance at the Met, Verdi Requiem Ingemisco

Maria Callas : At Covent Garden 1962 & 1964

Review: This video captures a pair of performances from the revered opera diva Maria Callas. Her authoritative voice delivers work by beloved composers Verdi, Puccini, and Bizet, at Covent Gardens, one of the most famous opera venues in the world. The concerts date from 1962 and 1964.

Songlist: Tu che le vanita, Prelude, Habanera (Acte I), Entracte (Acte III), Seguedille (Acte I), Tosca (Atto II)

Maria Callas : Biography

Review: The documentary portrait Biography: Maria Callas travels into the stormy and colorful personal life of Callas, the woman regarded by many as the single most accomplished diva of the 20th century. From her birth in the United States to her adolescence in Greece and early professional accomplishments in Western Europe, Callas accomplished an overwhelming amount despite numerous personal hardships that included a tumultuous romance with (and divorce from) Aristotle Onassis, extensive vocal difficulties, and ongoing contractual disputes with the Metropolitan Opera. Nevertheless, her reputation persisted. This program draws from extensive archival footage and interviews to tell Callas's incredible story.

Maria Callas : The Eternal Maria Callas

Review: Within her lifetime and posthumously, opera diva Maria Callas's astonishing musical and cultural legacy far outstripped the woman herself; Callas transcended the elite appeal of her musical genre and inspired numerous motion pictures, a stage musical, and an opera based on her life - meanwhile obtaining a rare and unique degree of success that enabled her to dramatically expand the audience size (and demographics) of the opera fanbase. Callas also honed and sustained a reputation as one of the earliest harbingers of intense and histrionic dramatic portrayals on the opera stage. The classical compilation Eternal Maria Callas brings into one collection a series of Callas's most memorable and acclaimed performances, from such productions as Il Trovatore, Tosca and Manon, coupled with a documentary segment on her life, a gallery of Callas photographs, and a series of revealing interviews with Callas conducted by Lord Harewood.

Songlist: Vanne...lasciami, D'amor sull'ali rosee, Miserere d'un'alma gia vicina, Una voce poco fa from Il Barbiere di Siviglia,, Tu che le vanita, Oh! s'io potessi dissipar le nub, Pleurez, Mes Yeux, L'amour est un oiseau rebelle, Seguidille, O don fatale, Vissi d'arte' Narration/Interviews, Je ne suis que faiblesse....Adieu, notre petite table, Oh, se una volta sola ....Ah! non credea mirarti, O mio babbino caro (Lauretta), Maria Callas in conversation with Lord Harewood, Maria Callas in conversation with Bernard Gavoty, Retiring from the Concert Stage, Being an Artist

Various Artists : Countertenors

Review: An LWT South Bank Show, presented by Melvyn Bragg, exploring the phenomenon of countertenor singing With its unique, soaring beauty, the high male voice is today enjoying a huge resurgence in popularity. Heirs to the celebrated castrati of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, today's countertenors produce their voices by wholly natural means. In this program international stars Michael Chance, Andreas Scholl and James Bowman, as well as pop star Jimmy Somerville, shed light on the appeal of the male falsetto. Meanwhile, experts such as Michael White place today's countertenors in their historical context. What emerges is a compelling portrayal of an unmistakable vocal style, rooted in church and operatic tradition, yet completely up-to-date, resonating louder today than at any time in the last two hundred years. Following the South Bank Show is a 70-minute program of specially recorded performance material, showcasing the extraordinary talents of today's most popular countertenors.

Songlist: Never Weather-Beaten Saile, Sorrow Stay: Can She Excuse My Wrongs?, Flow My Tears, Since I First Saw Your Face, Sound The Trumpet; O Dive Custos, Strike the Viol; Evening Hymn, Ode on the Death of Henry Purcell, Cantata BWV 170, Cum Dederit, Stabat Mater, Ombra Mai Fu (Xerxes), Dove Sei; Civi Tiranno (Rodelinda), When I Was One-and-Twenty, Is My Team Ploughing?

Georg Frideric Handel : 3 Steps to Sing Handel Messiah - Alto

Review: Here is a practical learning tool for church and community orchestras who want to streamline the rehearsal process for preparing Handel's Messiah. New choristers will appreciate the opportunity to learn at their own pace and veteran singers will enjoy an easily accessed refresher course! - Visual Learning DVD - A voice part recorded by professional singer (Soprano, Alto, Tenor or Bass). The notes and words are displayed on the screen and change color in time with the music - all you have to do is join in as if singing a duet to learn your part. - Voice Part Rehearsal Audio CD - In this second step a narrator guides you, telling you when to sing and calling out where you are so that you don't get lost. Rehearse using your vocal score (available separately) and you will soon know the words and be singing the right notes. - Chorus Backing Track CD - Put what you've learned into practice with the third step, the Chorus Backing Track CD. Listen for your part and sing along with the choir and background music - it's like singing with a real choir.

Voicing: Alto

Georg Frideric Handel : 3 Steps to Sing Handel Messiah - Bass

Review: Here is a practical learning tool for church and community orchestras who want to streamline the rehearsal process for preparing Handel's Messiah. New choristers will appreciate the opportunity to learn at their own pace and veteran singers will enjoy an easily accessed refresher course! - Visual Learning DVD - A voice part recorded by professional singer (Soprano, Alto, Tenor or Bass). The notes and words are displayed on the screen and change color in time with the music - all you have to do is join in as if singing a duet to learn your part. - Voice Part Rehearsal Audio CD - In this second step a narrator guides you, telling you when to sing and calling out where you are so that you don't get lost. Rehearse using your vocal score (available separately) and you will soon know the words and be singing the right notes. - Chorus Backing Track CD - Put what you've learned into practice with the third step, the Chorus Backing Track CD. Listen for your part and sing along with the choir and background music - it's like singing with a real choir.

Voicing: Bass

Georg Frideric Handel : 3 Steps to Sing Handel Messiah - Soprano

Review: Here is a practical learning tool for church and community orchestras who want to streamline the rehearsal process for preparing Handel's Messiah. New choristers will appreciate the opportunity to learn at their own pace and veteran singers will enjoy an easily accessed refresher course! - Visual Learning DVD - A voice part recorded by professional singer (Soprano, Alto, Tenor or Bass). The notes and words are displayed on the screen and change color in time with the music - all you have to do is join in as if singing a duet to learn your part. - Voice Part Rehearsal Audio CD - In this second step a narrator guides you, telling you when to sing and calling out where you are so that you don't get lost. Rehearse using your vocal score (available separately) and you will soon know the words and be singing the right notes. - Chorus Backing Track CD - Put what you've learned into practice with the third step, the Chorus Backing Track CD. Listen for your part and sing along with the choir and background music - it's like singing with a real choir.

Voicing: Soprano

Georg Frideric Handel : 3 Steps to Sing Handel Messiah - Tenor

Review: Here is a practical learning tool for church and community orchestras who want to streamline the rehearsal process for preparing Handel's Messiah. New choristers will appreciate the opportunity to learn at their own pace and veteran singers will enjoy an easily accessed refresher course! - Visual Learning DVD - A voice part recorded by professional singer (Soprano, Alto, Tenor or Bass). The notes and words are displayed on the screen and change color in time with the music - all you have to do is join in as if singing a duet to learn your part. - Voice Part Rehearsal Audio CD - In this second step a narrator guides you, telling you when to sing and calling out where you are so that you don't get lost. Rehearse using your vocal score (available separately) and you will soon know the words and be singing the right notes. - Chorus Backing Track CD - Put what you've learned into practice with the third step, the Chorus Backing Track CD. Listen for your part and sing along with the choir and background music - it's like singing with a real choir.

Voicing: Tenor