Rebelling against the increasingly formulaic operas of the time, Christoph Willibald Gluck's "reformist" opera Alceste (1767) was a successful attempt to return to a purer form of musical drama. It is highly appropriate that this 1999 production of the revised 1776 Paris version should ...

This unique play presents the afterlife as a steam bath, in which dead souls continue to obsess about the same petty concerns that obsessed them in their lives, until they are cast into a dark void by God, the Puerto Rican attendant (José Pérez). But new arrival Tandy (Bill Bixby) at first ...

Igor Stravinsky's The Rake's Progress occupies two worlds. The story, the ironically moralizing attitudes, and many musical and verbal details are inspired by the 18th century. But it is modern in rhythm and harmony and in its psychology--Freudianism and existentialism in a powdered wig...

Cirque du Soleil's Anniversary Collection 1984-2005 is a 12-disc retrospective of the Canadian troupe's distinctive brand of performance, involving the fantastic feats of acrobatics and athleticism, balance and contortion; the single-ring techno circus; the multicolored lights and costumes...

Lou Diamond Phillips leaves a haunting impression as the late 1950s pop idol Ritchie Valens, who made the Latino influence in rock & roll conspicuous through his hit songs. Filmmaker Luis Valdez (Zoot Suit) creates a nimble, exciting, and sympathetic portrait of the boy driven to rise abov...

Brazilian import, plays on all DVD players. Strangely enigmatic, charismatically compact, and always decked out in the most colorfully bizarre outfits, pop star Prince has an undeniable talent for both songwriting and performing. On SIGN O THE TIMES, he shows off the latter, giving a no-holds-bar...

A funny thing happened to Finian's Rainbow in between its debut as a Broadway musical in 1947 and its appearance as a film in 1968. After 21 years, its theme of racial tension in the American South was no longer cutting edge, and the fact that its heroes are a group of sharecroppers called...

Includes two rare early performances captured live in 1961-1962 Nina Simone has always been hard to classify. The "High Priestess of Soul" was trained as a classical pianist, but branched out early into pop, gospel, jazz and blues, playing and singing everyone's compositions and writing many of h...

HCD 4025 Michele Fertusi, Roberto Serville, Rockwell Blake, Orchestra & Chorus of the Teatro Regio di Parma, Ottavio Dantone, conductor. Live, 2002, 159 min., Color, Stereo, Subtitles in Italian, English, French, Spanish, All regions.

The Rolling Stones Just For The Record is a five-part documentary series commemorating the "Greatest Rock `n' Roll Band in the World." With hour-long segments chronicling each decade of their career, the Stones' legacy is presented in its entirety as never before.

Told by band member...