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The fifth sublime teaming of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, SWING TIME is regarded by many as their finest film. The tenuous plot, which mainly serves to connect the brilliant dance numbers, concerns John Lucky Garnett (Astaire), a gambler and professional dancer. When Garnett arrives late to his wedding, his prospective father-in-law implements a punishment, insisting that Garnett raise $25,000 before he can marry Margaret Watson (Betty Furness). Still in tails, he hops a freight for New York, where he gets involved in a scrape with dance instructor Penny Carrol (Rogers). After following her to the dance studio, Lucky poses as a neophyte in need of training. Penny's boss Gordon (Eric Blore), happens to witness Lucky's incompetence, in the Pick Yourself Up number and is about to fire the young woman for nonperformance when Lucky launches into a dazzling display of terpsichorean skill. Impressed, the studio owner offers to get them an audition at the famed Silver Sandal nightclub. Arguably the peak of the Astaire-Rogers partnership, the dancers' nearly perfect blending of song, dance, wit, and decor only improves with time. Especially memorable
are the subtly erotic tempo shifts of Never Gonna Dance and the coruscating technical command of Bojangles of Harlem, a tribute to the great African-American tap dancer.
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The striking Romanian beauty Angela Gheorghiu is one of the most talented opera sopranos in the world. With her dramatic presence and breathtaking vocal range and tone, the singer has taken the classical world by storm time and time again. This performance, LIVE FROM CONVENT GARDEN, features Gheorghiu doing stunning renditions of a variety of classic opera works, including Casta Diva from Bellini's NORMA. She is backed by Covent Garden's Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra as conducted by Ion Marin.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseFull Frame - 1.33Additional Release Material: Production Interview Music VideoText/Photo Galleries: Stills/Photos
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Exhumed from the vaults, this 1959 black-and-white performance of Rossini`s THE BARBER OF SEVILLE was originally recorded for television, and was presumed lost for many years. Fritz Wunderlich stars as Count Almaviva, while Herman Prey performs as Figaro.
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Kenneth MacMillan's spectacular work for the Royal Ballet, Manon tells the tragic story of a young student who falls under the spell of a beautiful, but immoral woman. Performed in 1982 at London's Royal Opera House Convent Garden, Jennifer Penney dances beautifully in the title role.DVD Features:Region [unknown]Keep CaseFull Frame - 1:33Interactive Features: Interactive Menus Scene Access
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LA PLATEE is a
French Baroque opera, often called a ballet bouffant, that challenges all preconceived notions of opera in a delightfully irreverent, anachronistic manner. The story revolves around a scheme devised by the gods to punish the ceaselessly jealous Juno by creating the illusion of an affair between her husband, Jupiter, and Platea, an ugly little frog who fruitlessly attempts to seduce anyone she encounters. Cruelly convinced by the gods that she has finally found true love, Platea and Jupiter go through the motions of a mock courtship and wedding, only for Juno to raise her veil and recognize the joke; poor Platea becomes the laughingstock of the country. This production by the Paris Opera proves an engaging romp, with a spectacular amalgam of styles ranging from hip hop to West Side StoryDVD Features:Region (unknown)Keep CaseFull Frame - 1.33
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