Musicals on DVD - Discounted Musical DVDs

Studio: Kultur Release Date: 11/13/2001 Run time: 780 minutes

Leonard Bernstein's Young People's Concerts with the New York Philharmonic stand among his greatest achievements. These televised programs introduced an entire generation to the joys of classical music. Bernstein conducted his first Young People's Concert on January 18, 1958, just two weeks after becoming Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. Such programs were already a Philharmonic tradition when Bernstein arrived, but he made them a centerpiece of his work, part of what he described as his "educational mission." Looking back on the concerts years later, he referred to them as being "among my favorite, most highly prized activities of my life." When he took a sabbatical season from the orchestra in 1964-65, he still came back to lead the Young People's Concerts. He continued to lead these programs until 1972, even though he had stepped down as director of the Philharmonic in 1969. Bernstein led a total of fifty-three Young People's Concerts during those fourteen years, and covered a broad range of subjects. The works of the great composers were explored, including tributes to modern masters such as Dmitri Shostakovich, Paul Hindemith, Gustav Holst, Aaron Copland and Charles Ives. Bernstein discussed "Jazz in the Concert Hall," "Folk Music in the Concert Hall," and "The Latin-American Spirit." He explained the intricacies of Music Theory in programs such as "Musical Atoms: A Study of Intervals" and "What is a Mode?" He broached complex aesthetic issues such as "What Does Music Mean?" (his first program) with clarity and without condescension. Bernstein also used the Young People's Concerts to introduce young performers to the musical world. The sixteen year-old pianist André Watts made his debut in the concert of January 15, 1963. Originally broadcast on Saturday mornings, the programs were considered so important that for three glorious years CBS presented them at 7:30 p.m. (prime time for television viewing). Eventually the programs were moved to Sunday afternoons. The concerts were translated into other languages and syndicated to forty countries.

WHAT THE UNIVERSE TELLS ME:UNRAVELING THE MYSTERIES OF MAHLER'S THIRD SYMPHONY is a documentary that explores how philosophy, mythology and music combine in Mahler's Third Symphony to create an all-encompassing panoramic experience. From the volcanoes of the South Pacific to the Alpine peaks and meadows where Mahler composed, in WHAT THE UNIVERSE TELLS ME dramatic images from the natural world give shape to the Symphony's evolutionary saga. Performances combine with illustrative artwork, computer animation, historical film clips and the insights of world-renowned historians, philosophers and biographers. Thinkers such as Howard Gardner, Stan Brakhage and Catherine Keller join Mahler experts Henry Louis de La Grange, Donald Mitchell, Peter Franklin and Morten Solvik to introduce this masterpiece to new audiences and to celebrate the 100th anniversary of its premiere.

The eminent Finnish composer and conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen became the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic in 1992. Under his dynamic leadership, the orchestra is recognized as one of the world's most outstanding, and the exciting partnership Salonen has established with his musicians has been widely acclaimed in the international press. The conductor's efficiency and lack of pretension have promoted a relaxed cooperation between himself and the orchestra, which is particularly evident in the rehearsal process. This program gives a fascinating insight into Esa-Pekka Salonen's rapport with the orchestra and Debussy's Impressionistic masterpiece, "La Mer."

No doubt, Sir Georg Solti was one of the most auratic maestros of the past century. Being a real master of the orchestra he inevitably impressed his great visions of sound and interpretation upon the musicians and the audience. These rare black and white documentations produced in 1966 and 1968 show how Solti’s amiable insistence in rehearsal with the Süddeutsche Rundfunk Sinfonie Orchester Stuttgart turns Wagner’s Tannhäuser Overture and Berlioz’ Hungarian March into sharpened and haunting performances.

Valery Gergiev is the Principal Conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and has almost single-handedly made St. Petersburg's Kirov Opera a household name. In this thrilling performance, The Rotterdam Philharmonic showcases four stirring works: Stravinsky's "Fireworks" and "Piano Concerto," Debussy's "Le Martyre De Saint Sebastien" and Prokofiev's "Scythian Suite." This special release also features the intimately filmed documentary "Valery Gergiev: In Rehearsal," which captures the fascinating dynamics between the galvanic conductor and his orchestra as they rehearse "The Scythian Suite." 116 minutes.

Sir John Eliot Gardiner is one of the most versatile and exciting conductors of our time. Acknowledged as a key figure in the revival of early music, his concert performances and recordings are unmistakable for their zest and technical mastery. This fascinating film of Bach's "Cantata No. 63" in rehearsal at London's Abbey Road Studios is intercut with comments from the singers and an interview with Gardiner, giving a deeper appreciation of this festive work lavishly celebrating Christ's birth.

A highly acclaimed conductor, Christoph Von Dohnanyi, joins one of the world's great orchestras, the Philharmonia, for a performance of Haydn's "Symphony No. 88 in G." This "In Rehearsal" program allows cameras to witness the process of development of a new relationship between an orchestra and its Music Director.

Pierre Boulez is a seminal figure in 20th century music--composer, conductor, teacher and experimenter, passionate in his advocacy of modern music. Since the 1940s he has been at the center of the French musical avant-garde. For this "In Rehearsal" program, Boulez is filmed working with the Vienna Philharmonic on Alban Berg's "Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6," and his own composition "Notations I-IV," while giving insights into the demanding role of the conductor.