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Leonard Bernstein earned glory as a composer, conductor, and pianist(classical and jazz), but nothing gave him more pleasure than the joy of teaching.He presented the unique blend of spoken words and music known as the "Young People's Concerts" throughout his tenure as music director of the New York Philharmonic and for several years after. His enjoyment, and his audience's, can be seen vividly captured by the video cameras. He is an intensely interactive teacher, getting his audience to sing, springing a quiz full of trick questions, and singing a Beatles song to demonstrate a point.

Bernstein is completely at ease talking to his audience. He can takethe most abstruse subject - the meaning and function of intervals,tonality and atonality, the links between Gustav Mahler's troubled life and his music - and present them to a young audience with clarity,without condescension, and with a clear sense of the material'svalue. His subject-matter is enormously varied. For IgorStravinsky's 80th birthday, he simply tells his audience thestory of Petrouchka while conducting a dazzlingperformance of the colorful ballet. For a program on "FolkMusic in the Concert Hall," he plays some of Canteloube'sfolk song arrangements and the boisterous finale of Ives'sSymphony No. 2, full of borrowed pop and folk melodies.The influence of folk music is shown in folk song imitations byMozart and Carlos Chavez.

The sound and images, taped over a 15-year span when theart of recording was rapidly advancing, are varied in quality;the series begins in black-and-white and ends in vivid color. Not all of the programs are equally compelling, but all areworth close and repeated attention. --Joe McLellan ... Read more

Description

The Doris Day Collection features six new-to-DVD titles -- Young Man With a Horn, Lullaby of Broadway, Love Me or Leave Me, Billy Rose's "Jumbo", Please Don't Eat the Daisies, The Glass Bottom Boat -- along with two of Ms. Day's all-time favorite musicals, Calamity Jane and Pajama Game which have been repackaged for the Collection. All DVDs are packed with bonus features including vintage shorts and featurettes, cartoons, trailers and more.

Young Man with a Horn (1950)
With a second-hand trumpet and the loving guidance of a brilliant bluesman, a lonely boy grows into manhood as a superb musician whose talent carries him from honky-tonks to posh supper clubs. But his desperate search for the elusive high note, trapped in his mind but impossible to play, starts him on a boozy downward slide. Charged with dynamic performances by Kirk Douglas (the title role), Doris Day, Lauren Bacall and Hoagy Carmichael and pitch-perfect direction by Michael Curtiz, the film is a feast of hot, cool, moody jazz. Legendary Harry James dubbed Douglas' horn work.

Lullaby of Broadway (1951)
Day danced divinely and sang in this musical delight about a singer newly arrived in New York and destined for Great White Way fame in the capable company of co-stars Gene Nelson, S.Z. Sakall, Billy DeWolfe, Gladys George and Florence Bates. Highlights are the inclusion of the OscarR -winning title tune, Cole Porter's "Just One of Those Things", "Somebody Loves Me" and six more songs.

Love Me or Leave Me (1955)
Laced with Doris Day's vibrant performances of songs from the era, this 1955 Academy AwardR winner (Best Motion Picture Story) is the tough-minded true tale of Ruth Etting's life with the man who boosted her career with strong-arm tactics yet smothered her in an obsessive grip she escaped at great peril. As Martin "The Gimp" Snyder, James Cagney earned one of the film's six OscarR nominations. Ms. Day's Etting was a career-best dramatic performance, bringing acclaim from critics and protest letters from fans unprepared for the departure from her traditionally sunny roles.DVD special features include: Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, Three vintage shorts, the first two with Ruth Etting (A Modern Cinderella, Roseland, A Salute to the Theatres)

Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962)
Radiant Doris Day sings beloved Rodgers and Hart tunes and does her own horseback riding tricks in this razzle-dazzle musical based on Billy Rose's stage spectacular and featuring circus sequences directed by Busby Berkeley. The story revolves around a circus owner (Jimmy Durante, star of the 1935 Broadway original) with only two real attractions: his daughter (Day) and popular pachyderm Jumbo. Three-ring pandemonium breaks out when a handsome rival (Stephen Boyd) infiltrates the circus, and father, daughter and Dad's wisecracking fiancie (Martha Raye) are suddenly at risk of losing the greatest show on earth. o DVD Special Features include: Soundtrack remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1, Musical short Yours Sincerely, Tom and Jerry cartoon Jerry and Jumbo, Original overture rejoined to the film for the first time in more than 40 years.

Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1962)
o Ms. Day brings her trademark radiance to this jovial comedy from the bestseller by playwright Jean Kerr. With Janis Paige, Spring Byington and Richard Haydn on hand for snappy comic support, Please Don't Eat the Daisies is breezy family fun with popular songs "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" and "Anyway the Wind Blows."

The Glass Bottom Boat (1966)
Doris Day entered her eighth consecutive year as a Top-10 Box-Office Star when she boarded The Glass Bottom Boat, a blending of romantic comedy and the era's burgeoning spy-movie genre. Frank Tashlin directs with a cartoonist's sensibility, embracing everything from spy guises to push-button chaos in a futuristic kitchen. The film also stars top comedians Arthur Godfrey, Paul Lynde, Edward Andrews, John McGiver, Dom DeLuise and Dick Martin. o DVD special features include: Three vintage featurettes (Catalina Island, Every Girl's Dream, NASA), Oscar-winning cartoon The Dot and the Line. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

A BRILLIANT DAWN OF A BRILLIANT DAY
Doris! The perky big band singer of whom Oscar Levant once quipped "I knew Doris Day before she was a virgin." I thought back to my visit to Carmel, California, a few years ago, where I dropped by the golf course to glimpse her house ... briefly visible from hole three. (Listen real carefully and you can hear her dogs barking.) I thought back to my beloved Great Dane, she with the baby blue eyes --- was named in honor of Doris, though Dory (for short) was actually named by the breeder from whom I purchased the 186-pound beauty.
And I thought back to the first (and only time) I had chatted with Doris Day. It was the January 28, 1986 --- the day the Challenger had exploded, killing her seven crew members (including Sharon Christa McAuliffe, America's first teacher in space), 73 seconds after launch.
I called Doris at her Carmel, California, home, and was in tears.
"Can you believe what happened," she asked her voice muffled and mournful. "I am so shocked. Those poor men and women. Their families ... the children ..." The tears flowed freely for several minutes. She cried. I cried. We both cried. This, I thought between tears, is going to be some challenge.
After a few minutes, she sniffled one last time. And so we began to chat about her life and loves and long career --- Doris was starting a new talk show, and Rock Hudson --- then so deadly sick with the AIDS virus --- was the first guest), her films, her music and of course, her animals. She told me how she cooked her own dog food, steaming rice and boiling chopped beef, then skimming off the fat, before blending in freshly cooked vegetables and a hint of spice. At the end of the conversation, I was salivating and ready to drop to all fours and beg for a taste.
As luck would have it, I am not the only one thinking about Doris Day these days. Paramount Home Video has just released Teacher's Pet, the 1958 comedy in which Clark Gable stars as a hard-nosed newspaperman who's smitten with journalism teacher DD. Not a great film --- gee, did Gable really so badly? --- though the title song is super, as is Mamie van Doren, as Gable's galpal who sings "The Girl Who Invented Rock and Roll." A better flick is Day's last one: With Six You Get Eggroll, also from Paramount Home Video,the 1968 blended family comedy, with Day solidly supported by the Cape's own Pat Carroll, as well as Alice Ghostley, George Carlin, Barbara Hershey, Jamie Farr and the once-hot rock group, The Grass Roots.
Warner Home Video has just released the box set, Doris Day Collection, a slipcased collectible featuring six new-to-DVD titles: Young Man With a Horn (1950), Lullaby of Broadway (1951), Please Don't Eat the Daisies (1962), The Glass Bottom Boat (1966) and newly restored versions of Love Me Or Leave Me (1955) and Billy Rose's Jumbo (1962)--- both of which feature new Dolby Digital soundtracks making Doris seem as fresh as, well, a new Day; along with Calamity Jane (1953) and The Pajama Game (1957), both of which have been repackaged for this collection. All the discs are packed with bonus features, including vintage shorts (including two starring Ruth Etting, whom Day portrays in Love Me or Leave Me), featurettes, cartoons and trailers.
But the best is saved for last. On June 28, MPI Media Group unveils the long-awaited The Doris Day Show: Season 1, the heart-warming comedy series that ran on CBS from 1968-1973. This was Day's TV series debut, and she proved that her big-screen likeability transferred, quite well thank you, to the small screen ... even if some of closer-ups seem a bit too gauzy for our tastes. Day played Doris Martin, a widowed mother who leaves the city to raise her two young sons on the Mill Valley, California farm of her father Buck, played by Dukes of Hazzard icon Denver Pyle. The four-disc box set includes all 28 original episodes from the show's first season, as well as never-before-seen bonus material.The bonuses offer additional insight into Day's warm, off-screen persona: there are TV promos and messages to network affiliates, as well as her two appearances as the "mystery guest" on What's My Line --- the first spot, from 1954, marked Day's TV debut, and her attempts to disguise her voice through a series of hi-pitched squeaks is a sheer delight.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!I MISS DORIS DAY!!!!!!!!!!!
Part one of my review(I looked at the moviesin order of the oldest date on the back).....Looked at Young man with a Horn(B&W)...if for anything get this movie for the spectacular shots of New York City....with the (trains running above ground)...but this was my first timeseeing this movie & it's a great script...not a big fan of Douglas but he was great in this part......and Doris can't do no wrong in any part....here she plays a very good friend of Douglas & gets to sing about three songs...great movie & you get Lauren Bacall thrown in as the viper
......then I looked at Lullaby of Broadway.i had seen this before but on my new flat screen TV...it's so amazing.love it

....then i looked at Calamity...I have over the years seen bits & pieces of this movie..I sat & watched it in it's entierty.....Doris is SO amazing in this role

got Love me or leave me in the DVD player now(but have seen this one....it's one of my favorite Dorismovies

I lived long enough to see these movies..I guess i was very young to actually see them in the movie(the earlier ones)...but you look at Doris Day & she's utterly amazing in her talent.she dances, she sings,she acts......but she can do just one ofthose things andshe would be a star..but that voice of hers is heavenly!!!!!

Top Notch Set
I can only rave about the care taken by WB Home Video to ensure that this set had wonderful picture and sound quality. The newly restored "Love Me Or Leave Me", and "Jumbo" not only have spotless picture quality with stunning colors but also have restored sound that will have you thinking you are watching a current movie rather than films made so many years ago. "Lullabye of Broadway" and "Young Man With A Horn" are excellent as well (but don't have the full fidelity sound of the other two). "Please Don't Eat the Daisies" and "Glass Bottom Boat" are gorgeous on the screen (and we project an eight foot picture!). "Calamity Jane" and "Pajama Game" are identical to the previous releases of these titles. They are very, very good if a tad lesser in picture quality. I had hoped that they would have received the first rate sound restoration of the first two mentioned above, but this would have required more expense and I feel this set is a bargain. There are many nice extras, too. Here's hoping other musical stars...like Mario Lanza...will receive this top notch treatment in DVD releases from WB.

HAPPY "DAYS" ARE HERE AGAIN
If there is any question in anyone's mind as to why Doris Day is ranked by the distinguished annual Quigley Poll of top ten box-office stars, as the number one female star of all time, it will be put to rest by this great collection.
There is something for everyone contained in this beautiful set, complete with a nice array of extras.
Contained herein are films produced over a 16 year period and clearly showing that Miss Day could do it all - sing, dance, act in dramas or show a comic skill that few if any have come close to rivaling.
"Young Man With a Horn" featuring Kirk Douglas and Lauren Bacall gives Miss Day a great chance to emote skillfully and to render perfect renditions of several great band tunes. It's a well-made drama and her first film to play New York's famous Radio City Music Hall. In "Lullaby of Broadway" she sings, dances and dazzles as only Doris can with a wonderful cast of great character performers. She also gives the best rendition of the title tune ever recorded.
"Calamity Jane" allows Miss Day to let loose with a brilliantly executed performance as the famed woman of the wild west. She makes it her own, singing the Oscar winning "Secret Love" as well as delivering a powerhouse portrayal in a near perfect film co-starring Howard Keel, on loan from MGM. It's as good as anything Metro put out during their "Golden Age".
"Love Me or Leave Me", opposite James Cagney, is one of the most raw, real and no-holds barred biographical films ever turned out. Miss Day should have not only been nominated for an Oscar for her unforgettable performance as 20's singer Ruth Etting but should have won the prize. Her first film at MGM enabled her to dazzle the critics and the public with a first-rate acting job by any standard as well as rendering more than a dozen songs as only she can.
"The Pajama Game" is a near perfect screen version of a Broadway hit and Miss Day and much of the original Broadway cast perform at a breathless rate, breathing new life into some well-loved tunes. A great couple of hours of sheer entertainment.
Direct from her Oscar-nominated turn in "Pillow Talk", Miss Day played a mother of 4 in the screen version of Jean Kerr's hit, "Please Don't Eat the Daisies". How many other actresses of the time at the peak of their game would have played a mother role times 4? Miss Day and co-star David Niven are completely believable in this delightful, heartwarming and completing winning romp. "Billy Rose's Jumbo" took 27 years to reach the screen but it was worth the wait.The 1962 musical featuring some of Rodgers and Hart's best tunes is given the lavish MGM treatment. Miss Day, Stephen Boyd, Jimmy Durante and Martha Raye etch memorable performances in one of the last of the great MGM musicals. Finally, Miss Day had one of her biggest hits with the 1966 "Glass Bottom Boat". It's a wonderful slapstick comedy featuring an amazing cast of actors and comics, all set aside the background of California's Catalina Island. There are non-stop laughs and Miss Day secures her place as one of the funniest lady in film history, all the while maintaining her femininity and the endearing qualitiea that have made her an American Icon. "The Doris Day Collection" is a value at any price. It'll make your "Day"!

NOW - Now That's Entertainment
Wow this is great.Thanks for the release, but why has it been so long in coming?AND where are the others, On Moolnight Bay, I'll See you in My Dreams, just to name a few. There is and will never be another Doris, what an actress, singer and comedian she is.Thank you Doris for bringing joy, smiles and laughter into this world.You cannot go wrong with this set.Buy this and show the kids today what they missed by not growing up in the innocent times of the 50's and 60's.These are classics in every sense of the word. This will keep me entertained for days, weeks and years to come.And thank you Amazon. ... Read more

Amazon.com

Like its fellow PBS series Ken Burns' Jazz, Broadway: The American Musical is an ambitious and absorbing exploration of a unique American art form that has always been best experienced in live performance. Hosted and narrated by Julie Andrews, the six-part, six-hour documentary traces the history of musical theater from its roots in vaudeville, operetta, and minstrel shows, to the dawn of what would become the modern American musical, Show Boat, and on through many changes that seemed to reflect those in American culture itself.Significant creators discussed include Florenz Ziegfeld, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Bob Fosse, and David Merrick, and notable shows (Oklahoma!, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Company, Cats, and recent hit Wicked, among others) are analyzed through performance clips and interviews with songwriters, stars, directors, producers, critics, and historians.

The series' most obvious weakness is its use of only brief excerpts of the performances--no song is heard in full. The sheer scope of the series no doubt played a part in that, as well as complicated rights issues, but the core problem is that musical theater has always been a live medium, rarely documented and even more rarely released to the general public.The documentary's producers make do with audio recordings, still photographs, and bits of footage, often in grainy black and white.Thankfully, they resist over-relying on feature-film musicals--which look much better and are sometimes excellent (but more often mediocre) translations--and when used such footage is clearly identified.That makes it all the more frustrating, however, that almost all of the other footage is not identified, because that is what fans are less familiar with and would be most interested in.The 1950s footage looks to be mostly from TV programs such as The Ed Sullivan Show; by the 1960s we have live footage from the Tony Awards (easily identifiable by the backdrops); and the newest shows might have been shot on stage.But early Ethel Merman and other random clips are mysteries, perhaps even to the producers themselves.

Because the series is designed to appeal to a general audience (again like Jazz), a lot of the information won't be new to diehard Broadway fans, but they should be especially pleased by the DVDs' bonus features, which include additional performances and about four more hours of interviews.Stephen Sondheim fans should be fascinated by footage of the composer-lyricist discussing "Someone in a Tree" at the piano, and then running through the song with original cast members of Pacific Overtures, as well as interviews of him talking about his own shows and songs (e.g., listing the songwriters he pastiched in Follies) and reminiscing about mentor Oscar Hammerstein II.Other bonus performances include vaudeville films from the Library of Congress, original-cast television performances of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "If I Loved You" (from Carousel, unfolding over 12 minutes) and "Some Enchanted Evening" (the reprise version from South Pacific), Rent's Jonathan Larson spoofing Sondheim, and two behind-the-scenes looks at Wicked. --David Horiuchi ... Read more

Reviews (43)

Worth buying and worth experiencing
To buy or not to buy Der Ring des Nibelungen, and which one to buy: Met or Bayreuth? The Ring des Nibelungen is arguably the greatest work of art ever created by a single individual. If you know about and love music enough to be reading this, then you have no choice but to buy one. Like other reviewers, I recommend the Met version to start, because it is most faithful to Wagner's stage directions, so you get a better idea about the work's original conceptualization. However, I would expect that you would want to follow up later with the purchase of the Bayreuth Chéreau Ring :o) I own and have listened to both many times.

Overall, the Met Ring is very satisfying. The first two acts of Die Walküre were the least effective of the entire set of four operas, in my opinion. I did not feel the chemistry that must occur between Siegmund and Sieglinde, although Jessye Norman sang beautifully. For me, these two acts in the Chéreau production (including Gwyneth Jones' Brünhilde) are worth the price of the entire Bayreuth set. However, the poignant and powerful third act farewell scene between Wotan and Brünhilde in the Met production make it easy to overlook the first two acts. Also notably powerful in the Met performance (besides Matti Salminen's astounding Hagen) was the scene of the swearing of the oath on the spear by Brünhilde and Siegfried in Götterdamerung, which Behrens (as a relatively light and clear voiced Brünhilde) sings with great power and dramatic intensity.

To those of you who are uncertain if you want to invest the time, money, and emotional energy in exploring this work through the available DVDs, I agree with many of the harshest critical reviews, at a technical level. However, DO NOT let any reported shortcomings of either set stop you from purchasing one or the other! The tone of most of these criticisms suggests that they come from people who are passionate about the Ring, but for whom the reality of the performances captured on DVD simply do not measure up to the Ring they have idealized. The point is this: the Ring is worth learning about and experiencing, but there will never be a flawless live performance of a complete cycle, and individuals will never agree on the impact and quality of any given performance. Both the Met and Bayreuth sets have strengths that can overwhelm and weaknesses that can be overlooked. This is because flawed performances, however objectively or subjectively perceived and evaluated, are simply all that can be expected from flawed human beings striving toward an ideal. "True Wagnerites" :) should appreciate this point as one the Ring itself makes overwhelmingly.

In short, I would purchase the Met Ring for starters, but I would first read the Thomas & Kane or Russell et al. comic book version to understand the basic story. I would then listen to the Met Opera CD set of four lectures, Talking About the Ring, to understand how the story is represented musically. Finally, I would read through Bryan Magee's, The Tristan Chord: Wagner and Philosophy, to understand WHY the story is what it is, and something about why it has such power to move us. After experiencing the Met Ring, I would purchase the Bayreuth Chéreau Ring, if for no other reason, but to experience Jeanine Altmeyer and Peter Hoffman as Sieglinde and Siegmund in Walküre.

The Greatest Work of Art
"The greatest work of art of Western Civilization," is what George Bernard Shaw said of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen. This DVD set is the best introduction yet to this great work of art.

Avoiding a director's natural tendency to become a bit of a prima donna by trying to put one's own stamp on a production, James Levine rises higher, and presents a faithful, authentic production of the Ring. As most folks eventually come to learn, there are invariably compromises in any production. One has better staging, one has better singing, better acting, better lighting, and so forth. This MET production has pretty high scores in all areas.

One of the more outstanding aspects of operatic works on dvd is the added dimension afforded by subtitles. The English subtitles help viewers get so much more out of the Ring, and for those with some understanding of German, switching to German subtitles will help them understand more of the precise meanings of this musical dramatic representation.

James Morris,exhibiting grace and majesty as well as excellent singing, may well be the Wotan of the century. Hildegard Behrens dispels the "fat lady" stereotype of a Valkry, as she portrays a young, energetic, warrior-daughter of Wotan. Heinz Zednik is a splendid Loge, who seems to inquire of the audience if they can see the implications which present actions will have on future situations. Matti Salminen is the ultimate Hagen, exuding evil from his singing and his cold-blooded stares. I do find I must agree with other reviewers who have suggested that Jessye Norman and Gary Lakes do not make a credible pair of young Walsung twins, even for those who are adept at "suspension of disbelief."

Levine and the MET orchestra play superbly. Staging and scenery are traditional and very well-done. Gil Wechsler deserves all his acclaim for his brillance in lighting direction: who can forget Wotan's aria, "Diesen Augen, leuchtendes paar...?"

It would be easy to watch "The Ring," again and again, learning more about it, and about life, with each viewing.

All in all, people who like opera, especially opera with a storyline, grand drama, and an invitation to think philosophically about the meaning of life--such individuals will likely find this Metropolitan Opera performance of Wagner's Ring, a delightful addition to their lives.

Dull and rigid
After watching this set of dvds, I can only say that I'm bored by most of it. The staging and direction is often dull and the acting is mostly rigid. The singing is mediocre, and Hildegard Behrens well past her prime. The saving grace is the excellent performance of the Met orchestra under Levine. But the odds still win the day at the end.

Ah Jeez!--more typical snobby classical music reviewers!
I'm not going to write my usual verbose review here. Suffice it to say that some of the unfavorable reviews here are nothing more than the haughty opinions of typical classical music snobs--you know, the kind of people who do more than anything else to discourage more people from becoming interested in "classical" (or in this case Late Romantic) music? Like every opera recording/performance--esp. one as monumental as "The Ring" cycle--this set may have its flaws, but most of the quibbles that some reviewers have with this cycle are nothing more than nitpicking. At least some negative reviewers are honest enough to admit that maybe Wagner is just "not their cup of tea" (it is certainly understandable that his grandiose gestures are not for everybody).

Let me put it this way, when one considers all the elements that it takes to bring off a successful realization of Wagner's massive conception--and to do it in the original Romantic spirit that Wagner intended (not some space age reinterpretation)--there has never been a better version of the Ring on "video" (or DVD, in this case)...nor is their likely to be, anytime soon. I would normally give this set four-and-a-half stars, but I am giving it five stars to "bring up the average" a little, since a three-and-a-half star average review is simply not acceptable--or accurate--imho.

Spoilt by inadequate casting
The chief glory of this Ring, in my view, is the performance of the orchestra of the Met. However, Levine's conducting is at times lethargic.

The cast is wildly uneven. The major blot on the set is Hildegard Behrens's unstable and weak Brunnhilde. Some of the cast members are also past their prime. The acting is unremarkable and the production, though loyal to most of Wagner's original instructions, is uninteresting. ... Read more

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Always absorbing and frequently brilliant, Leonard Bernstein's TheUnanswered Question is a very lucid and convincing discussion of music'shistory and forms, with particular emphasis on modern music. It addresses theaverage intelligent listener who is not musically trained but wants to know whatmakes music work--what is meant, for example, by "tonal" and "atonal." Itrequires some concentration, but Bernstein, a superb teacher, keeps technicaljargon to a minimum, illustrates what he means with musical examples andgraphics, and repeats key points.

Delivered in 1973, the talks were transcribed for a book, but in it Bernstein insists"The pages that follow were written not to be read, but listened to," really anendorsement of the video edition. The talks are, in fact, performances.Television was always kind to Bernstein; he had magnetism and knew how to useit. To illustrate various points in his analyses, he plays the piano frequently,sings occasionally, and conducts significant works of key composers: Mozart,Beethoven, Berlioz, Wagner, Ravel, Debussy, Ives, Mahler, and Stravinsky.

Bernstein traces the development of music from its origins to the 20th-centurystruggle between tonality (championed notably by Stravinsky) and atonalism(represented mainly by Schoenberg). The last two talks, devoted to thesecomposers, are particularly enlightening, but all six are outstanding. He arguespersuasively that humans are born with an ability to grasp musical forms, andthat rules of musical syntax are rooted in nature--in mathematically measurablerelations between tones and overtones.

These talks are a key document. They coincide chronologically, as cause and/orsymptom, with the movement of America's leading composers back fromSchoenbergian forms toward a tonal orientation. Bernstein predicts and promotesthis movement, which is still in progress. He is clearly an advocate oftonality, but he discusses atonal music with sympathy and understanding. --Joe McLellan ... Read more

Reviews (9)

I'm glued to the screen
All technical and musical matters have been discussed by other reviewers, so I'm just going to say that this collection of lectures is a delight to watch and listen. Some of them run nearly 3 hours, but I never become bored of them. Bernstein, with his contageous energy, enthusiasm and excellent communication skills, shares his views and thoughts with such pleasant ways; it is just irresistible. Just to prove my point, my husband, who has no musical background and had no idea what the maestro was talking about when he watched the first lecture with me, gave a delightful cry of amazement each time Bernstein demonstrated on the piano. Needless to say, he was glued to the screen and watched it till the end without a hint of boredom.
The lectures are highly intellectual, and to understand what he's talking about, you need musical background, but even if you don't understand at all, it is still very enjoyable.
Humphrey Burton writes in his Bernstein's biography that Bernstein was having such good time being with young people at Harvard, he kept on delaying and delaying to complete these lectures. You can see that the maestro enjoys so much sharing what he knows with not only Harvard students but with all the world. His theme is universality of music and brotherhood of human kind through music. Some of his thoughts and ideas are so very unique and different; they amuse me at the same time make me think.

Even though the questions are not all answered (the more he talks, the more questions arise, I have to admit), his spirit is well delivered, and that alone makes this DVD a treasure worth having.

The theory of everything
Its quite interesting that in the late 20th century, there was a progresive tendency to look for a number of grand schemes, many of which would be familiar to you guys, perhaps some of which would not be. One obvious example is that tremendous effort to find an underlying theory of physics which would combine relativity and quantum mechanics - another are more obscure attempts to reconcile set theory with certain models within category theory which had been giving trouble to a certain set of number theoretians - etc, etc.

But the human dimension to this appeared, almost as one man in the form of Chomsky. His book, "Aspects of the theory of Syntax" was the tip of the iceberg of a huge number of papers published on the deep structure of language while he was working at MIT. This appeared to offer clues as to aspects of the structure of ANY human language, an utterly amazing claim. Some of his later works give clues to the possible existence of a universal paradigm for language which has massive implications for people in so many disciplines, I couldn't begin to enumerate.

This all started, by the way, on the route to attempting the final cataloguing of the North American indian languages, some of which had only one remaining speaker. The task was huge and unapproachable until Chomsky evolved a system for abbreviating certain grammatic structures, which, to his surprise, evolved into a powerful predictive theory.

Anyone exposed to this at the time would have been impressed, but what was to follow was even more amazing. Chomsky's ideas swiftly melded with other theories of semantics and syntax transformations in different fields, and became de-rigeour for many PhDs in computer science and anthropology, uniting what was up until that time two very, very different disciplines. Citations to his work began to appear everywhere, and in the most amazing places.

An illustration of what was to follow THAT is basically contained here. no less, a unified theory of language and music!

[You ought to get this - it is undoubtedly a brilliant scholarly work in any case, even if you don't concur with Bernstein on all points - and few would exactly agree with him on all, nor, importantly, would you need to, to benefit from this.]

The argument presented is quite intuitive, but is nontheless compelling. Music is shown as being a byproduct of our humanity, extended from need in whatever form, as an infant, or an adult, from utility into sophisticaion, and finally inspiration. Bernstein makes sure the listener is in no doubt that there is something way, way beyond necessity in our provision for the experience of music. His explanation of the physics of music is flawless, and ... awe inspiring. And, watching the man traverse this enormous gap between logic, physics, liguistics, and the unnameable majesty of Beethoven and Debussy (both of which he performs as a conductor, and is moved greatly and visibly) is utterly breathtaking. I would doubt that anyone watching his exposition of the 6th would be any less moved in this way.

Apart from any of this, Bernstein entertains enormously. There are parts of his explantions that truly defy you not to laugh. He has an honesty and self effacement that is quite unusual, this comes out particularly in his efforts to sing, which he pokes quite a bit of fun at. It's obvious how passionately his audience is involved. (He describes at length a discussion with a student after one lecture in the next one - and its clear that both student and teacher really have learned quite a bit but have obviously been a little combatative, at least, at first)

From there on, you might care to differ a bit. The history of the 20th Century is described rather neatly as the showdown between Schoenburg and Stravinsky, two schools of thought, two very different philosophies. He enters this very complex consideration fairly gently. I agree with his approach - and understanding of the environment of the early 20th century is essential if one is to understand its music - and so he described Debussy, who is ... sort of.. at the end of the Waagnerian era, stretching ambiguity and tonal resources to the uttermost. Can one go further? Yes indeed, and here we have the entry of the Viennese school of 12 tone technique, illustrated with Schoenburgs six little piano pieces. But oddly enough, Bernstein shows very clearly that the appearance of 12 tone technique is not unequivically Schoenburgs' alone, but appears in the guise of mists and mirages in Chopin, Wagner, even Beethoven, but grasped once and for all by Schoenburg.

Given another five or so lectures, one might imagine that one could explore the use of bitonality, not just in the context of the Rite of Spring (which is most EXCELLENTLY explained), but the mid century English composers, who use this technique. Such people as Holst, Grainger, Williams, Strauss, and of course, Britten. But there isn't time. The end point of these complications is the resolution into a robust defence of neo-classicism, such as the ebony concerto, and of course, Oedipux Rex. But I think that this is a sad way to end - Rex is a sombre, hard work, and doesn't quite illustrate the end that either Schoenburg or Stravinsky seem to have unknowingly appointed for that part of the 20th century. In this, Bernstein may have overlooked that really recent developoments in Europe, that of an emerging new impressionism (even, perhaps, Romanticism), exemplified by Xenakis, Maderna, Berio, and others, who in some sense share some parts of both ends of the bipolar world which was the basis for all this in the middle part of that century.

All this is debatable. For instance, not a mention is given to either those very radical spirits like Varese, who seemed to eschew both ends equaly - or those, like Sibelius, Delius or Neilson, who didn't seem to mind either way, and continued to write what is now known as the mid century symphonic repertoire.

That is a long, long story, and could form the basis of a lot of commentary. Where, for instance, is Shostakovich in all this? Or Bartok, for that matter? I think this is all dealt with elsewhere, but I would have given a great deal to have seen these composers discussed at length.

But this set of lectures is so valuable as a signpost, I would never do anything other than highly, highly recommend it.It's absolutely magnificent.

In some ways brilliant, yet the sum isn't up to the parts
This series of talks presented by Leonard Bernstein at Harvard in 1973 has many fascinating components, but the overall thesis seems like an argument in search of a point. Bernstein is always interesting and enthusiastic in these sorts of things, but he also tends to ramble and drag in everything but the kitchen sink in order to buttress his points. He attempts to connect his musical theory of "innateness" to the development of speech patterns--unnecessarily in my view, and the connection is never really fully explained. In the end he concludes the 20th century characteristics in art--of irony, existentialism, and self-reference--are a result of the horrors of modern times, of the Holocaust, the two world wars, and the nuclear age. It's a premise put forth in his "Age of Anxiety" Symphony and I didn't buy it then either. Never does he explain *why* one leads to the other, he just seems to assume the relationship is evident. And, I hate to appear to be upstaging Bernstein, but I think I have a simpler and easier-to-defend thesis (and it's not my original idea, either).

I agree the modern artistic age is characterized by irony, references (self and other) and a revisiting of the old in new clothes. However, I don't see any link to the "horrors of the 20th century" as to why we can't directly say "I love you" when we mean "I love you." Rather, I think the reason irony and assorted deconstructionist techniques sprang up in the 20th century is because we finally had the history and the heritage for them to exist and make sense. Musical language was direct in Mozart's time, in Bach's time, in Beethoven's time, because they were inventing it. By the time we reach Mahler, it is fully developed and we find ourselves in the process of "deconstructing" it (or he did). Before that time, there wasn't the heritage and history *to* deconstruct. To make my point, jazz, despite coming of age in the ashes of World War I, didn't become ironic and deconstructionist through the first half of the 20th century, until the 1950s. Its deconstruction was borne not from any of the horrors of the Holocaust or the atom bomb, but from its own accumulation of tradition and technique. Ditto the cinema. In short, you can't deconstruct until the construction is complete.

So Bernstein's argument, in my view, doesn't hold water, but is the very sort of Romantic and poetic vision that appeals to him. (On another documentary I have, he waxes poetic on the anguish and turmoil trapped in the person of Gustav Mahler while never bothing to back up his thesis with a shred of documentary evidence.) However, while I don't agree with his conclusion, the journey he takes to get there is fascinating, filled with analyses of such landmark works as Mozart's Symphony No. 40, Beethoven's Pastorale Symphony, Wagner's Tristan and Isolde, Berg's Violin Concerto, and Stravinsky's Le Sacre, just to name a few. Also, his discussions of tonality, the "Circle of Fifths" and the evolution of Western harmony are fascinating. There's a certain amount of annoying preening--there are times when he's really milking his little Harvard audience for applause, and you'd think that by that point in his career he wouldn't need it--but this is easy to overlook. The video is clean and the audio is quite good for the time. Overall this is a set worth getting, despite my reservations about Bernstein's overall argument and his attempts to strengthen it by linking it to linguistics, a melding I think is artificial and unnecessary. (It reminds me of early jazz scholars trying to make their work appear more solid by forcing analogies between jazz and classical music.) I do recommend this set, but beware Lenny's excessive Romanticisms!

This is awesome...
This lecture series is great for all levels of music lovers, from the beginner to the expert, because of the broadness of material covered. Bernstein is captivating, the lectures are wonderful. It is a delight. You will want to have been there, that is for sure. Recommended highly.

Wow.
I originally viewed these lectures on vhs, and found the content very interesting, and the resolution adequate, but the dvd version is very crisp, visually.

Content - 5
Video/Audio - 5 ... Read more

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This lavish set contains film versions of the five major works byRichard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, who helped define the American musicallandscape and rewrite the direction of musical theater. After enjoying extremelysuccessful careers working with others, Rodgers and Hammerstein first teamed upin 1943 for the prairie tale Oklahoma!, with songs including "Oh, What aBeautiful Mornin'" and "People Will Say We're in Love." The subsequent 1955 filmstarred Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones, who teamed up again for 1956'sCarousel. While that film's dark nature made it less popular than itspredecessor, the score ("If I Loved You," "You'll Never Walk Alone") wasRodgers's favorite. The King and I (also 1956) featured stage star YulBrynner as the King of Siam and Deborah Kerr as schoolteacher Anna Leonowens,who must learn Asian customs even as she tries to instill some of her Westernones. The somewhat bloated version of South Pacific (1958) follows twocouples during World War II and features standards such as "Some EnchantedEvening" and "I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair" from stars MitziGaynor and Rossano Brazzi. The last film, The Sound of Music (1965),proved to be the most popular, with Julie Andrews winning the hearts of sevenchildren and their father with her blissful songs. And if the perhaps saccharinemusic and plot may test the patience of some, there's no doubt that songs suchas "My Favorite Things" and "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" have charmed audiences aroundthe world for decades.

Accompanying the Big 5 in this set is the relatively minor State Fairfrom 1945 (though it does have "It Might as Well Be Spring" and "It's a GrandNight for Singing"). Some may prefer other entries in the R&H canon such asFlower Drum Song or the television production Cinderella, butthose were produced by different studios.Five of these films(all exceptSound of Music) were released in 1999 in sumptuous remasterings thatallow their scores and locales to truly shine. The remasterings ensure goodsound and picture quality throughout this historic collection. --DavidHoriuchi ... Read more

Reviews (7)

Great to share with your kids
I received this set of movie musicals as a gift last year and I have really enjoyed sharing these classic movie musicals with my kids. We've also purchased the sound track for The Sound of Music and at once point we rounded up theater tickets to a live performance of The Sound of Music -- something the kids really enjoyed. So don't assume that these classic movie musicals aren't going to have any appeal for today's generation of kids. They've certainly been a hit with mine.

Classic Musicals
Growing up in the 50s and 60s Rogers and Hammerstein musicals were the highlight of a trip to the theatre or the movies. Now they still provide great music and, even if the style of the drama seems a little outdated, a wonderful glimpse of the simpler genre that we had then. It seems that recent musicals such as Moulin Rouge and Chigago have taken many of the best features of the old R & H musicals and given them a new high-tech flair. It will be interesting to see if these modern productions are still as loved in forty or fifty years.
This boxed set gives a good balance of the R & H musicals and shows the creativity and flexibility that this duo added to theatre in their day.
Students of modern music and drama could do well to have these assigned as compulsory viewing.

Bravo for Rogers and Hammerstein!
The wonders of Rogers and Hammerstein are displayed beautifully in this DVD set. Sound quality and picture quality are excellent; I've even got my two young sons interested in musicals. I had seen all of the movies before except for Carousel, so I was very pleased with "Oklahoma!", "Sound of Music", "South Pacific" and "The King and I"; but my family and I didn't enjoy "Carousel" as much as we had hoped. While I read that it was Rogers' favorite, I found it dull and tedious. The songs were much too long, and the story moves on quite slowly. At a backwards glance, I may have saved money by purchasing the movies I liked separately.

Greatest Musical Collection of Movies, Poorest Presentation
This review is about the DVD presentation only. The movies are ALL CLASSICS and worth the price of admission. But I must caution the investor of the this Box Set.

THE GOOD NEWS: These are the greatest Rodgers & Hammerstien II musicals now in a Box set. They have all been digitally remastered both picture & sound. The colors, picture quality excellent and the sound crystal clear. THE BAD NEWS: All this work but "State Fair" is lost in the WideScreen aspect ratio presentation.

Qualifying Statement: I am a Home Theatre, HDTV - 55" x 16:9 WidesScreen, Progressive Scan DVD, Dolby Prologic Sound System owner. I have over 400 DVD movies ,mostly remastered, WideScreen (preserved in the original theatrical aspect ratio), Anamorphic or enhanced for 16:9 TV's.

NOTE: Full Screen - 4:3 (1:33 to 1 ratio) made for TV or film before 1953. WideScreen - 4:3 letterbox (horizontal top & bottom black bars adjusted for any aspect ratio 165/185/225 to 1 etc. It is still letterbox) are movies made after 1953. (to compete with the popularity of Television) ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN IS THE ONLY TRUE HDTV 16:9 PRESENTATION. This format automatically adjusts to the Television being used. To get the High Definition picture the DVD MUST BE ANAMORPHIC & ENHANCED FOR 16:9 TELEVISIONS!!!!!!

Now in SUMMARY: STATE FAIR Full Screen Technicolor is the best presentation and the movie. Oklahoma, Carousal, The King & I and South Pacific are WideScreen (4:3 Letterbox - small picture horizontal & vertical black bars) great color, music but small picture very disappointing. Finally the Sound of Music was adjusted to an Anamorphic WideScreen but was not enhanced for the HDTV 16:9 format. The results is a very grainy picture.

Bottomline - Now that the Home Theatre environment is becoming more common it is time to sort the GOOD from the BAD DVD's. This is only from a dedicated videophile of old classic movies who enjoys the total viewing & listening Home Theatre experience. The movies themselves are the main ingredient but unfortunately Film Studios don't always give us what we think we are getting. (Quality vs Quantity) Another words they are already re-releasing DVD movies with these mentioned enhancements & special features for WideScreen TV's etc SO WE NEED TO BUY RIGHT THE FIRST TIME & not repeat buying on the same movie as we upgrade our Televisions & Home Theatres. REMEMBER - ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN & ENHANCED FOR 16:9 TELEVISIONS adjusts automatically to any size aspect ratio television!!!!! ENJOY.

It's Some Enchanted Evening
The collaboration of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein 2nd was for the 20th century what the genius of William Shakespeare was in the Bard's time. As the two songwriters moved from other collaborators to create what became "Oklahoma!" they took theater to a new height, by turning the musical play into the most effective, persuasive form of entertainment conceivable. (That is until the death of Hammerstein, and the inability of today's craftsmen of musicals to really understand the revolutionary nature of Rodgers and Hammerstein, the evolution of song styles, and the inability of the musical of today to associate itself with the popular music of our time.) These are the film versions of their major plays, and the 1945 version of "State Fair." For the most part, these are very good adaptations of the stage works, finally presented in their widescreen format so the viewer can see what it was that awed the audience of the 1950s. "Oklahoma!" is the Todd-AO version which, until now, had never been presented outside its initial 1955 theatrical release in specially-equipped theaters. "South Pacific," which like "Oklahoma!" Rodgers and Hammerstein produced themselves, finally gives the viewer the spectacular view of the Hawaiian scenery that supports the film. And, perhaps because it is widescreen (or perhaps because the 2001 remake stunk so bad), the film really seems finally to work for the home viewer, colored filters and all. In fact, the widescreen ratio of the film seems to make the colored filters of "South Pacific" less jarring. Some of the DVD's in this collection contain the original theatrical trailers, while others do not. "The Sound of Music" is a two-disc set which has more than enough supplemental material to please anyone. The problem is, "The Sound of Music," with all its niceness, has given Rodgers and Hammerstein a bad rap. All of their major works deal with political strife, murder,racism, war, death, or culture clashes. When Hammerstein's book and lyrics are coupled with Rodgers' music, they're able to present the most-effective indictments of whatever cause they're taking on. Rodgers and Hammerstein is not all bright copper kettles. The plays are about the dark side of humanity, and about that dark side eventually losing because of the basic human spirit. Characters in these plays and films are transformed much the way Prince Hal is transformed into King Henry. Any student of drama, music, literature, theater, or political science would be well-advised to study these films, learn from them, and then master their craft. ... Read more

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The six-disc Stephen Sondheim DVD Collection is pure Broadway gold, encompassing three original Broadway cast performances and three all-star concerts celebrating the work of musical theater's most important composer over the last half of the 20th century. Into the Woods is Sondheim's most popular show, an amalgam of fractured fairy tales and what happens after "happily ever after."Bernadette Peters heads the cast, joined by Tony winner Joanna Gleason and Chip Zein.Sunday in the Park with George was Sondheim's immediately preceding work, also a collaboration with writer-director James Lapine and also starring Bernadette Peters.She plays Dot, the mistress of brilliant French pointillist painter Georges Seurat (Mandy Patinkin), in a powerful work about the nature of art and the artist that gains substantially when you can see the staging elements.The third Broadway cast performance is Passion, which was shot on stage though not before a live audience.It's a story of obsessive love in which the romance between Giorgio (Jere Shea) and Clara (Marin Mazzie) is disrupted by a strange woman named Signora Fosca (Tony winner Donna Murphy).

Sweeney Todd is generally considered Sondheim's best work, and it's well performed by Patti LuPone and George Hearn (reprising his role as the demonic barber almost 20 years after he played it opposite Angela Lansbury in a 1982 video recording).Follies in Concert was an attempt to right a wrong created by a truncated original cast recording, so it's ironic that roughly half the program is backstage material combined with only 47 minutes of concert footage.There are some brilliant moments, though, from such performers as Barbara Cook, Hearn, Patinkin, and Lee Remick.A Celebration at Carnegie Hall is another all-star cast performance of both Broadway stars and operatic voices peppered with comedy from Bill Irwin.Highlights include the ensemble numbers, Daisy Egan's "Broadway Baby," and Patrick Cassidy and Victor Garber's "The Ballad of Booth," which is about as close as you'll get to an original cast performance of Assassins.All in all, this invaluable set preserves and celebrates an important body of work that may never again be documented this well.--David Horiuchi ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Whoo buddy! This collection may be pricey, but its worth it.
I couldn't decide whether I should round down or round up. This set is a great one. The only thing I would have asked for is some extra DVD that was only in this set to make it more than just a bargain for 6 DVDs.

As it is, the set is fantastic. However, to start: Follies in Concert isn't the best of DVDs. It has very little replay value for me, but it was really interesting on the first view. And chances are good if you are interested in this set as a whole, then you'll be interested in watching the rehearsal process which is what this DVD is. 3 stars for this disc alone.

The exciting inclusions on this set are the 3 original cast recordings.

Into the Woods was the first to be released on DVD and it shows. There are no extra features at all. It just plays when you pop it in, and you can access a chapter menu when the show ends (or by pressing menu on the remote). Johanna Gleason is gold. She is reason enough to watch this disc. But she's not the only one; the entire show is great fun. 4 ½ stars to this disc.

The gem of Sunday in the Park with George is Bernadette Peters. I wasn't too keen on her in Into the Woods, but she's phenomenal here. This show benefited from multiple viewings. The first time I saw it, I was confused. I still am. Just less so. Mandy Patinkin is good. And I really dig Mr. and Mrs., the southern Americans. Sure they are a bit of low comedy, but I like 'em. This DVD offers a commentary (whee!), which is exciting, if a little hard to hear. However, as reviewers of this specific DVD have mentioned, Patinkin dominates the conversation, and as Sondheim said (I think he said it, at least) it sounds a lot like a big back-patting meeting. But that's almost to be expected. It's fun to hear from these people who truly loved the work on which they commented. And they offer some fun insights to the show. 4 ¾ stars.

Passion gives us probably the most feature-packed DVD of the set. And it's jolly. The commentary is a lot better. I can hear it, and they don't have any silent moments (the silent moments on Sunday... made me antsy, for what it's worth). The bulk of the commentary seems to be about how the show didn't do too well, but it's still informative. Passion isn't my favorite show of the set, but it's a good production. I need to watch it some more times to solidify my reaction, but from the initial viewing, I wasn't so keen on Fosca. She seemed a bit too devious for me. I didn't sympathize with her nearly as much as I wanted to. 4 stars.

Sweeney is probably the brightest gem of this set. It is perhaps my favorite Sondheim musical, and it's the greatest production on video. I am not a member of the Patti LuPone fan club, but I thought she was a great Mrs. Lovett. She was good enough to not make me want Angela Lansbury. George Hearn is fantastic, as is the entire cast. Tim Nolan really creeps me out. And the massive orchestra is really great. You don't get to hear this music played my so many instruments that often, so it's super exciting when you do. This is one DVD that I really would like some commentary on. Ah well. It includes a small "Making of..." featurette. 5 stars.

The Sondheim at Carnegie DVD is another sparkly gem of this set. There are a couple of off moments, but overall, the concert is great, giving the owner of this set more exposure to more of Sondheim's canon. Most of the performances are really great. 5 stars.

Overall, the set is a great one. If you have a passing fondness for musical theatre, you probably shouldn't invest in this set (really, if you only have a passing fondness for musical theatre, you probably aren't reading this review). If you like musical theatre, you'll dig this set. If you like Sondheim, you'll wet yourself when it comes in the mail. Start pinching your pennies and get this collection.

5 stars seem not enough
Happy Christmas! Wow. Somebody loves me. What a spectaular gift. Each of these shows is a gem. The concert offers Madeline Kahn singing "Getting Married Today" (I just adored her). The Sondheim/Lapine shows are three of the masters best efforts - "Sunday in the Park," "Into the Woods" and "Passion." Great performances on each of these discs - Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin, Donna Murphy, Marin Mazzie, Glenn Close, Comedn and Green, Elaine Stritch and Barbara Cook - and many more. Anyone who loves the musical theatre would be thrilled and delighted to have this collection.

BROADWAY MAGIC from a BROADWAY LEGEND
Stephen Sondheim. A legend of the musical theater. A hero to many. A talent for the ages.

Any who have not already fallen in love with this man and his magnificent work are missing out on a cultural and musical splendor. Ever since his first work, writing the lyrics for "West Side Story" and "Gypsy," he has proven to the world that he is indeed the greatest Broadway composer/lyricist of the late 20th century, arguably of all-time.

These six works, though far from his complete works which also include, to name a few, "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum", "Company", "A Little Night Music" and the controversial "Assasians."

Let me first say that those who tend to loathe musical theater (may God bless your soul), will not find these DVD's very enjoyable. But to those whom condider themselves (begin humming tune from "Oliver!") musical-theater junkies, like me, will savor every moment.

"Into the Woods" presents many popular fairy tales, such as Little Red Ridinghood and Cinderella. Only... with very different, and sometimes dark, twists in them. The show is superb. A sure-fire hit ever since it opened on Broadway, it has become Sondheim's most-performed show. The original cast is incredible with Chip Zein, JoannaGleason and Bernadette Peters leading the way. Gleason and Peters are both so magnificent. Two great actresses performing in a show for the ages. Though both deserved the Best Actress Tony, the honour went to Gleason. "Into the Woods" is sure to become a favourite of yours.

"Sunday in the Park with George" is a harder sell than "Woods". It's plot is more dramatic and the songs are not as memorable. That said the show is still great, with Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters amazing performances. Though the show did not win the Best Musical Tony, it did win the Pulitzer Prize, rare for a musical. Not one of my favourites like "Into the Woods", but still great.

"Follies" was not an outrageously sucessful show when it first opened on Broadway. The book was not very well written, which weighed down Sondheim's MAGNIFICENT songs. This show includes some of his best work, clearly shown in this extermely sucessful concert version of "Follies". The songs are so great, but what most stands out are the mournful "Losing My Mind and the hopeful "Broadway Baby". Both are legendary songs that show why Sondheim is the legend he is today.

"Passion"-This portion of review currently unavailable.

"Sweeney Todd" is arguably, though not as popular as some of his other shows, Sondheim's masterpiece. It was a true landmark in musical theater. The score and the book blended so effortlessly, it was hard to tell when the book ended and the score began. It was more opera than traditional musical. This concert version shows its' greatness. It would have been magnificent if Angela Lansbury and Len Cariou, who originated the roles, had done it. However, George Hearn and Patti Lupone are wonderful as the title character and Mrs. Lovett. (In fact Hearn's Sweeney is thought by many to be the definitive interpretation of the character.) I have never been a big fan of Lupone's. She is unmistakenably gifted with that magnificent voice, however, and she sings this role beutifully. Kudos to Hearn to, who does the show well. The plot is intricate and would take very long to explain. Just take my word for it. If you like musical theater, you will love this concert of "Sweeney Todd"

The highlight of this collection, for me, is the "Celebration at Carnegie Hall". This star-studded event, including Bernadette Peters, Patti Lupone, the late Dorothy Loudon, Liza Minelli, Betty Buckely, Victor Garber and Glenn Close, is one for the ages. Triumphantly displaying the best of Sondheim's work. This is one of the most enjoyable shows I have ever seen. BROADWAY MAGIC!!! The stars beautifully perform the legendary songs of this magnificent man. A MUST HAVE for any collection.

The only bad thing about this collection is that it doesn't include two things: the DVD showing the recording of Sondheim's "company"- a fascinating documentary and the movie of Sondheim's "A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum" starring Zero Mostel. Both great fun. Other than that, this collection is flawless!

Buy it, and dive in to the magical world of Sondheim. ... Read more

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In an era when we have an unprecedented number of movies and other diversions at our fingertips, is there still a need for a clip show like That's Entertainment?Certainly, because the film series, beginning in 1974, was an unabashed peddler of glorious nostalgia, not only collecting many of the most memorable moments in the magical history of the MGM musical--and therefore in the history of film--but bringing in many of the original stars to introduce them decades later.And another few decades after the series was released, the nostalgia is that much greater since many of those stars are now gone.In addition, the sheer number and variety of clips (though they're often too short) would be hard to match in any collection or in the span of an evening's viewing.Where else could you enjoy Gene Kelly singin' in the rain and also James Stewart crooning "Easy to Love"?Or follow fun trends like the Mickey Rooney-Judy Garland "let's put on a show" pictures, of which Rooney says "only our names seemed to change"?Following the surprising box-office success of the initial film, Part 2 was released in 1976 and it still had plenty of famous and obscure clips (remember Bobby Van?), and even a nod to the nonmusical films of the era such as the Hepburn-Tracy pictures.It topped everything off with the irresistible pairing of hosts Kelly and Fred Astaire, who share a dance--for only the second time in their careers--at the ages of 64 and 77, respectively (and a more graceful 77-year-old you never will see!). The third film wasn't made until in 1994 (host Kelly is strikingly older), but it offered more of the usual fare plus a variety of cut numbers by such stars as Judy Garland, Lena Horne, and Debbie Reynolds. A half-century later, Hollywood's valentine to the movie musical was still shining strong.

The DVD trilogy set offers all three films with the choice of widescreen anamorphic or full-screen formats (don't worry, the clips are in their original aspect ratio).There's also a two-sided fourth disc with supplemental material, most interestingly the "musical outtakes jukebox," a 16-song, 49-minute collection of numbers that were cut from musicals of the era.None of the selections are Great Songs, but it's hard to discount any musical number from the MGM vaults, for example, three selections by Garland and two by Horne (only one of which, Garland's "Mr. Monotony," appears in TE3, and there in a slightly shorter form). The rest of the content is behind-the-scenes documentaries, the most significant being "That's Entertainment: The Masters Behind the Musical" (37 minutes, profiling the talent behind the films such as Arthur Freed and Michael Kidd), "That's Entertainment III: Behind the Screen" (1994, 53 minutes), and vintage black-and-white footage of MGM's 25th anniversary celebration (10 minutes). Not included in the set: the 1985 compilation That's Dancing, which is also deserving of a DVD release.--David Horiuchi ... Read more

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The Master Collection includes 10 Gilbert and Sullivan operettas produced for British television. The Opera World series (1982) is the only comprehensive Gilbert and Sullivan series on video. It comprises 12 G&S works (if you cheat and count Cox and Box, written by Sullivan without Gilbert), including, for some titles, the only available version. (Cox and Box and the one-act farce Trial by Jury, their first collaboration, are not part of this set.) In terms of quality, the series is uneven. There are some treasures, but some productions have a disconsolate penny-pinching look, and a few need more rehearsal. The casts are a blend of Broadway singers, British and American comedians, and D'Oyly Carte veterans, with stars including Vincent Price (Ruddigore), Joel Grey (The Yeomen of the Guard), and singer-songwriter Peter Allen (The Pirates of Penzance). Frequent standout performers include Keith Michell, Clive Revill, Kate Flowers, and Anne Collins, who shines as a procession of unloved older women.

Of the series, the standouts are Ruddigore, a trifle of a ghost story set to gorgeous music, and The Sorcerer, a buoyant tale of a magic potion that causes a whole village to fall in love with the wrong people; Iolanthe (a House of Lords satire mixed with ethereal fantasy), The Gondoliers (with Sullivan's Italianate, most radiant score), and Princess Ida (a satire of higher education for women set in an Arthurian kingdom) are also well worth seeing. The others--The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore, Patience, and The Yeomen of the Guard--are less satisfying. --David Olivenbaum ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Badly Distorted Sound
I screened the VHS tapes a few years ago.
I trashed the entire set because the sound recording was badly distorted. Apperently the transfer to USA format was made at too high a sound level resulting in completely unacceptable distortion. I don't know if the DVDs are any better. I hope another reviewer who has screened the DVD version will address this issue.

They could have been worse...
...but they definitely could have been better!

It's beyond me why they kept those Douglas Fairbanks Jr. commentaries during the transfer to DVD. Ugh! Useless comments, laughing at his own (lack of) humour, etc.. Thankfully, they can be skipped.

My comments for the most part parallel the previous poster's. I feel the productions showcase the wrong set of people attempting something they really shouldn't have. There are a few (few being the operative word) decent performances. But for the most part, there's an annoying quality about each opera that leaves one feeling less than satisfied.

If the aim was to preserve these operas on film, why couldn't they film them either as a movie (like "Pirates" with Kevin Kline...though possibly not quite so elaborate) or as a stage production (like the grand operas are filmed)? These come off as a cheap rendition of the operas because they are something in between. "Outside" areas look very inside...because they are. At least if you know you'll be seeing a staging, your expectations are geared that way.

I wonder why an opera company with a decent budget couldn't restage these properly and re-film them starting now over a few years. This set is from 1982 and the quality of filming (including special effects [such as those in "Ruddigore"...not sure I liked those]) has improved greatly since then.

On the plus side, the operas are for the most part complete and it's nice to be able to watch the whole production.

Of the batch, "Pinafore" is definitely the worst! I'm not sure what would be the best.

Less than hoped for
For many (most?) of us, this set provides the first chance to see as well as hear all of the principal G & S operas except "Trial by Jury," in all their "innocent merriment." That said, I have to observe that the set is not a source of "unalloyed pleasure." The individual productions range from very good to unmitigated disasters. At the same time, I must acknowledge that it is something of a miracle that any of them are even acceptable because they were produced under conditions that virtually guaranteed that excellence was impossible: the principals apparently worked under the handicap of singing to pre-recorded accompaniment, allowing them no flexibility of phrasing for expression. In addition, each production was rehearsed for only a week and then taped in a week. All are plagued by generally poor diction, especially from the chorus, and by lots of busy, pointless moving around, especially by the chorus. When the chorus has to brandish swords, staffs, lilies, etc., the members rarely are together. Dancing, choreographed by Terry Gilbert (no relation, I'm sure!), is at best passable. Finally, the scenery and costumes mostly look low budget.

Casting is odd. The producers apparently didn't trust the material, so they brought in a "name" performer or two to "star" in each production whether or not they could contribute anything but their names. Some of them are very good, others are disasters. Clive Revill gives excellent performances as John Wellington Wells ("Patience") and Ko-Ko ("Mikado"), and Joel Grey is a wonderful Jack Point ("Yeomen"). Peter Allen brings nothing special to the Pirate King, but he does not disgrace himself or spoil the production. William Conrad as the Mikado can't sing, and he delivers his lines in a strange, falsetto-like voice at odds with the character. Vincent Price can't really sing, either, but he manages to bring off Despard ("Ruddigore") with credit through canny professionalism. Frank Gorshin brings nothing but monotony to King Gama ("Princess Ida").

Peter Marshall and Frankie Howerd combine to utterly destroy "Pinafore." By his own account, Marshall decided to play Captain Corcoran as a song-and-dance man, which has no connection with the character created by Gilbert & Sullivan. Howerd included bits of his standard comic shtick, even though they are totally unrelated to the character of Sir Joseph. Gilbert would have keel-hauled both of them, along with staging director Michael Geliot for letting them get away with it.

"Princess Ida" is staged as a kind of charade or show at some posh estate. This conceit makes the piece mostly unintelligible.

Several distinguished opera singers make substantial contributions in the roles they play. Derek Hammond-Stroud is a superb Bunthorne ("Patience"), but his Lord Chancellor ("Iolanthe") is vitiated by David Pountney's staging, which puts most of the action in the House of Lords, contrary to the libretto; the recognition scene with Iolanthe goes for nothing, when it should be touching. Anne Collins gives enjoyable performances as Jane ("Patience"), the Queen of the Fairies ("Iolanthe"; also compromised by the staging), Lady Blanche ("Princess Ida"), Katisha ("Mikado"), and the Duchess of Plaza-Toro ("Gondoliers"). Elizabeth Bainbridge is a solid Dame Carruthers ("Yeomen"). Stafford Dean is a decent Pooh-Bah ("Mikado"). Richard Van Allan sings Private Willis ("Iolanthe") strongly, but his impact is diminished by Pountney's staging.

One puzzle of the casting is why only two D'Oyly Carte veterans were used. Donald Adams shows his clear mastery of the style in "The Sorcerer" (Sir Marmaduke), "Patience" (Col. Calverly), and "Ruddigore" (Sir Roderic), as does Gillian Knight (Ruth) in "The Pirates of Penzance." Both have exemplary diction and project the characters they are playing while they sing and move. They would have been welcome in many more roles, along with other members of the company.

Each act of each opera is introduced by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., in stilted, uncomfortable fashion; your DVD player will let you skip him. The booklets with each set have cast lists (including a few errors and omissions) and texts of the musical numbers. Some familiarity with the librettos is certainly useful. In this connection, the ideal companion would be Ian Bradley's "Annotated Gilbert and Sullivan" (Oxford University Press).

In spite of the problems and disappointments, we're not apt to have any alternative to these productions if we want the G & S canon for our home screens. Acquisition of this set should certainly be supplemented by the 1939 film of "The Mikado." It has some peculiarities as a production, but it also has the matchless Ko-Ko of Martyn Green and the first-class Pooh-Bah of Sydney Granville, plus a surprisingly winning Nanki-Poo from Kenny Baker.

Where's Trial by Jury?
This is the "Brent Walker" series, noticeably missing from home video for some time. The set makes up the bulk of the G&S popular canon. Recorded but missing are "Trial by Jury" and "Cox & Box" (more on that in a minute).

I saw the series on PBS when it was originally aired about twenty years ago and enjoyed it very much. Bootleg off-air copies and a short-lived VHS release of the series have been all that's available of the Brent/George Walker set until now. I hear that copyright fights over the videos have resulted in years of delays. There must still be a problem with what would be the 11th DVD in the set: "Trial by Jury", coupled with "Cox & Box", which had been released on the the VHS tapes. Perhaps someone else has the facts about this omission.

Over the years aficionados have argued the videos' production values which seem to vary somewhat from opera to opera. However, the use of close-ups and conventional television effects make for good television, and these are definitely not videos of live stage performances and should not be judged as such.

-True, it's not D'Oyly Carte.
-True, each opera has had some trimming - lines of dialog here and there, a dropped verse or even a song now and then, but they still flow nicely over all.
-True, the choice of comic and romantic lead singers seem strange at times (William Conrad as "The Mikado"!).
-True, these DVDs do have the annoying introduction and intermission lectures by Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. which no one I know has ever thought necessary.
-True, optional subtitles might have been nice to have, especially for the some of the rapidunintelligiblepatter songs.

BUT - This is probably the best we're going to get of (almost) everything under one roof. ... Read more

Reviews (195)

Here Come THE JETS!
WEST SIDE STORY remains unique...to the point of astounding...in status among most accomplished classics in cinema history. Legendary director Robert Wise[whose eclectic mastery of film ranges from "lost" mythology epic, HELEN OF TROY to sci-fi milestones-THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL and STAR TREK:The Movie]perfectly renders a film of passion;tragedy;humor and ultimate celebration of youthful humanity. Leonard Bernstein's score is peerless Americana: classic ART and popular entertainment.Jerome Robbins'choreography is electrifying;Steven Sondheim's "libretto lyrics" are ensconded in popular music immortality.

West Side Story's ensemble cast is likewise peerless.
Natalie Wood is superb as American JULIET, Maria. Richard Beymer's Tony/Romeo charcterization wonderfuly combines heroic "tough guy" with star-crossed lover. George Chakris(Bernardo)and Russ Tamblyn (Riff)jive; fight and dance their rival gangs into legend. My favorite is Rita Moreno.Her performance as earth mother/eternal woman figure, ANITA is remarkable. Her ferocious sexual brio;lioness-Queen humor("if you can fight in/for AMERICA!");home girl insouciance, and passionate GRACE are archetypal.WEST SIDE STORY thematically equals--if not surpasses--its SHAKESPEAREAN progenitor.It is America's SOUND OF MUSIC.The ten Academy Awards could be justly re-awarded.

[When I learned "my" homies back in Massachusetts'Pelham Regional High School...citadel/incubator of so-called 5-college professoriate and University of Mass'PC satrapy centered in Amherst...BANNED WEST SIDE STORY as Racist(this year the school is featuring VAGINA MONOLOGUES)I wondered: "WHERE ARE THE JETS when you need them?"]...

Certainly WSS was never conceived--as Mel Gibsons's THE PASSION OF CHRIST--to stir Culture War and rally believers. WEST SIDE STORY is,"unsimply",American film making at its finest and cinema art of world class caliber. It is movie ICON,which,as The JETS challenge, remains at-the-ready: "to beat every last f.....'gang on the whole f.....'street!"(10 Stars)

powerful,realistic , the finest musical drama I have seen
This ia a very intense, fast moving story in which many of the scenes easily could have happened in real life in New York at that time.

The quality of the music and lyrics blends beautifully with the action, and the choreographed dances are breathtaking.The actors fit their parts to such perfection that I could not imagine anyone else than Natalie Wood playing Maria, or George Chakiris as Bernardo, and on and on for the rest of the Jets and Sharks. My favorite musicals are those from 1950-1970 and of all the great ones like Oklahoma, South Pacific, and the Sound of Music, West Side Story impresses me as the most exciting dramatic musical of all time. It is hard to find a boring moment in this movie. When I think about this movie, the ballet numbers, choreography, and excitement stand out the most in my mind. For a fast moving drama this is a classic against which to compare other musical drama. Who would have thought that a mere conflict between two gangs could have been portrayed into such a dynamic movie. The producers certainly succeeded in bringing up to date the Romeo and Juliet saga. The romance and tragedy of Tony and Maria will always be indelibly impressed in my mind.

Magnificent adaptation of Romeo & Juliet!
Robert Wise made his masterpiece with this film mixing the essential spirit of the shakesperian mood , recreating it in the modern times as a racial conflict.
Wise mixed the drama with a credible plot . The coreography is towering and the music ( Oh what kind of inspiration was in the mind of Leonard Bernstein , acquire buy also the soundtrack; Maria became a classic ), Rita Moreno won a deserved Academy Award and this became a personal triumph for Natalie Wood one of the most beautiful faces ever seen in the cinema story .
The sequence fights between the bunchs is perfect articulated , there is a fine balance between drama and music.
Enjoyable film and of course for all a generation of teenagers in that age , who actaully are grandparents , still remember with nosthalgie that unforgettable jewel picture .

The Best Musical
West Side Story is one of my favorite musicals. The music and the choreography is incredible. Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer make a perfect Maria and Tony. Now that it is on the 2 Disc Special Limited Edition, it is even better. You can have the original intermission music if you wish and there is a great documentary called West Side Memories which shows how this amazing musical was made. Along with the special edition you get a book that contains the original screenplay, a timeline of the show from when the idea was first thought of and to when it came to the screen, a pamphlet you could of bought in the theaters when it first opened in 1961, and newspaper clippings of what critics thought of the show. Even if you didn't get the special edition this show is still worth owning. The songs are incredible. My favorites are "Maria", "America", and "I Feel So Pretty" which a ninety minute instrumental version is used for the intermission.

Best movie Ever
This movie is a must anyone who loves musicals, it's a total classic. If you thought you knew a lot about the movie, think again, because with all the extra fetures will provide you with more knowledge that you than think about.

The movie has definatley got some of the best dance seguences ever made for a musical. ... Read more

Amazon.com

The Cole Porter Collection provides an overview of the swellegant songwriter's witty lyrics and well-known melodies through five MGM musicals. The black-and-white Broadway Melody of 1940 features the brilliant dancing of Fred Astaire (in his MGM debut) and Eleanor Powell (in her fourth Broadway Melody picture).By the 1950s, we recognize the splashy colors that would become MGM's distinctive style in four pictures inspired by familiar sources.Kiss Me Kate (1953) is the adaptation of the Broadway musical, starring Howard Keel and Kathryn Grayson as the couple whose offstage feud mirrors their roles in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew.The best of the batch, High Society (1956), stars Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, and Frank Sinatra in a musical update of The Philadelphia Story, while the 1957 films Les Girls (with Gene Kelly, Kay Kendall, Tania Elg, and Mitzi Gaynor) and Silk Stockings (with Astaire and Cyd Charisse) retell Rashomon and Ninotchka, respectively. Favorite songs in the set include "Begin the Beguine," "I Concentrate on You," "Wunderbar," "So in Love," "Brush Up Your Shakespeare," "Well, Did You Evah?", "You're Sensational," and "All of You."The films boast sharp transfers, making-of segments hosted by legends such as Cyd Charisse and Ann Miller, vintage shorts and cartoons, and Dolby Digital 5.1 sound (except Broadway Melody, which is in s