The Best of Broadway Musicals - Classic Performances from The Ed Sullivan Show [VHS]

This is one of the Best and Original Broadway Musical Shows.

SOME OF THE CUSTOMER REVIEWS ABOUT THIS MUSIC [ SAMPLE ]

1) Great Broadway performances - I owned this on VHS and am pleased that it has made it to DVD. I hope it is the first of many releases of original Broadway performances of the 1950's and 1960's on DVD. Some performances are direct from their Broadway productions, while some are performed several years later. It runs about 56 minutes total and has extra features that provide background information on the musicals presented including creative credits, synospis, original cast, songs, Broadway production dates (including revivals), and when the film version was produced.

The performances are:

ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (1966)

"There's No Business Like Show Business" - Ethel Merman

OKLAHOMA! (1955)

"Oklahoma!" - John Raitt, Celeste Holm, Florence Henderson & Barbara Cook

"I Cain't Say No" - Celeste Holm

FLOWER DRUM SONG (1958)

"I Enjoy Being a Girl" - Pat Suzuki

GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1959)

"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" - Carol Channing

MY FAIR LADY (1961)

"Wouldn't It Be Loverly" - Julie Andrews

WEST SIDE STORY ( 1961)

"Tonight" - Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert

CAMELOT ( 1961)

"What Do the Simple Folk Do?" - Julie Andrews and Richard Burton

THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT, THE SMELL OF THE CROWD (1965)

"Who Can I Turn To?" - Anthony Newley

MAN OF LA MANCHA ( 1966)

"The Impossible Dream" - Richard Kiley

SWEET CHARITY (1966)

"I'm A Brass Band" - Gwen Verdon

HELLO, DOLLY! ( 1967)

"Before the Parade Passes By" - Pearl Bailey

This is a must-have for any fan of Broadway musicals. I must say that my favorites are Gwen Verdon's "I'm a Brass Band" and Pearl Bailey's "Before the Parade Passes By", both performed while they were still in the Broadway show and with the respective choreography of Bob Fosse and Gower Champion. Seeing Bailey & cast, one can see how "Dolly" was revitalized with an all-black cast taking the show back to sold-out status. These preserved performances give us a mere glimpse into what true Broadway stars were like. The end of the DVD promises that a Volume 2 is in the works. Let's hope there are more to come.

By A Customer on July 30, 2003

2) Invaluable - Pretty much without exception, the original cast performances in Broadway musicals are matchless. However, the ephemeral nature of theatre makes it impossible to relive these performances over and over as we do with film, and often Hollywood translations missed out by hiring "bankable" Hollywood names. How lucky that Ed Sullivan led the way in featuring many of the original Broadway greats on his show. Of course, there are MANY more of these segments which I'd like to see make their way to DVD, but the segments presented here are superlative. The running list follows... Almost every one presents a Broadway star who was replaced with an inferior (and dubbed) Hollywood name in the film adaptation.

1.ANNIE GET YOUR GUN (1966)

"There's No Business Like Show Business" - Ethel Merman

2.OKLAHOMA! (1955)

"Oklahoma!" - John Raitt, Celeste Holm, Florence Henderson & Barbara Cook

"I Cain't Say No" - Celeste Holm

3.FLOWER DRUM SONG (1958)

"I Enjoy Being a Girl" - Pat Suzuki

4.GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES (1959)

"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" - Carol Channing

5.MY FAIR LADY (1961)

"Wouldn't It Be Loverly" - Julie Andrews

5.WEST SIDE STORY ( 1961)

"Tonight" - Carol Lawrence and Larry Kert

6.CAMELOT ( 1961)

"What Do the Simple Folk Do?" - Julie Andrews and Richard Burton

7.THE ROAR OF THE GREASEPAINT, THE SMELL OF THE CROWD (1965)

"Who Can I Turn To?" - Anthony Newley

8.MAN OF LA MANCHA ( 1966)

"The Impossible Dream" - Richard Kiley

9.SWEET CHARITY (1966)

"I'm A Brass Band" - Gwen Verdon

10.HELLO, DOLLY! ( 1967)

"Before the Parade Passes By" - Pearl Bailey

By D. Fletcher on October 28, 2004

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Click –The Best of Broadway Musicals - Classic Performances from The Ed Sullivan Show [VHS]

Piano Legends: Chick Corea Host

The performers on this program constitute a virtual "Who's Who" of immortal keyboard players familiar to every jazz buff in the world. Some led bands; some established fame as soloists; some worked in small ensembles; and all left an indelible mark on this uniquely American art. Piano Legends explores the work of twenty-three renowned jazz pianists as filmed and videotaped over the last 60 years. These films are part of the private collection of David Chertok, known to jazz enthusiasts for his unique film archives of legendary jazz performers. This program covers every major period in the progressive development of jazz pianism from the rags and stomps of "Fats" Waller to the contemporary work of Cecil Taylor.

Musicians include:
Chick Corea (1986)
Willie "the Lion" Smith (1958)
Meade Lux Lewis (1961)
Earl "Fatha" Hines (1963)
Mary Lou Williams (1980)
Thomas "Fats" Waller (1941)
Art Tatum (1943)
Oscar Peterson (1963)
Marian McPartland (1960)
Teddy Wilson (1954)
Bud Powell (1962)
Thelonius Monk (1957)
Horace Silver (1960)
Mal Waldron (1983)
John Lewis (1968)
Lennie Tristano (1964)
Dave Brubeck (1963)
Duke Ellington (1966)
Count Basie (1963)
McCoy Tyner (1971)
Bill Evans (1969)
Keith Jarrett (1968)
Cecil Taylor (1981)

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Piano Legends: Chick Corea Host

Saint-Saens' Samson et Dalila - San Francisco Opera [VHS]

Placido Domingo and Shirley Verrett star in the title roles of this live recording from the San Francisco Opera of Saint-Saens' great three-act opera, which closely follow the biblical tale of the struggle between the Hebrews and the Philistines and the downfall of Samson in the hands of the temptress Dalila. The colorful and evocative sets and costumes reflect Saint-Saens' melodic and sensual score, beautifully conducted by Julius Rudel.

SOME OF THE CUSTOMER REVIEWS ABOUT THIS MUSIC [ SAMPLE ]

1) The best version thus far... - Here is a wonderful performance of Samson. It was filmed in London not more than a year after the rival dvd from Sanfransisco. The production by Elijah Moshinsky is marvelous in it's subtle details which bring the story to life. The sets & costumes by Sir Sidney Nolan are a beautiful fusion of African and Far Eastern art notwithstanding some bizzarely expressionistic front curtains before each act. Don' be put off by them. The cast is uniformly excellent. Verrett, one of the most dramatically beautiful women to ever walk the stage is a supreme Delilah. Her singing is ravishing and she infuses the character with so many subtle touches that show she has really thought out the role. She must have worked very well with the director because it is all the small touches that bring her performance to life. For example, I love the way she conveys a woman voicing her thoughts out loud and discovering her feelings at the same time during the Act 2 duet with the High Priest. Verrett is also in the SanFransico dvd but she is that much more engaged with her role in this performance. She is also more flatterinlgy costumed in this version. Vickers is somewhat les of an actor than Verrett but Samson was one of his finest roles and his sheer force of nature tone and personality are more suited to the role of Samson than the otherwise wonderful Domingo in both other versions on dvd. Jonathan Summers is, I think, the more convincing of the High Priest's than either Wolfgang Brendl or Sergei Leiferkus although to be fair Leiferkus makes the High Preist seem more spooky. Summers' singing is marvellously firm in what is one of those baritone shouting roles like Don Pizzaro in Fidelio. Gwynne Howell is also the better of the singers portraying the Old Hebrew. He looks more convincing as an old man and he has the most velvety sounding voice of the three competing singers. My only reservation about this performance is the staging and setting for the Final scene. The Bacchanale is staged quite wonderfully as an outdoor fertility ritual involving blood sacrifice. Very well done and very convincing. In the rival SanFransisco version the ballet is staged as a wonderful temple orgy in a truly magnificent, steamy looking, pagan temple. The taunting of Samson in the temple is truly scary in it's brutality in the London version but it is negated by the unconvincing destruction of the temple by Samson. It mostly doesn't work because of the outdoor setting that the director & designer decided on so that when the collumns collapse It is unlikely that anyone would get hurt. In the rival Sanfransisco version we are treated to the most gloriously cinematic staging of the destruction of the temple. It still sends shivers down my spine 20 odd years later. That alone is worth the price of that dvd. The Covent Garden Orchestra and Chorus respond excellently to Davis's masterly acount of the score somewhat surpassing the SanFransisco group under Rudel. The picture and sound of this dvd are as good as one could expect from a television recording that is over 25 years old. All in all, if you can afford only one dvd of Samson this really is the one to have.

By J. M. Parr on January 21, 2006

2) Vickers' godlike presence - I've never thought that I could witness such a powerful and commanding performance till the day I've watched this dvd. I must admit that I've ordered this dvd for Verrett because I wasn't expecting Vickers to sound as powerful as in his thrilling 1963 samson recording with rita gorr on emi. but I was so wrong!

He's singing here with a terrifying power and in a complete trance that makes you think that he's truly a demi-god like samson. Even Madame Verrett who in san francisco production had dominated the stage in every scene she was in, is a bit shadowed by Vickers' divine aura. And I didn't like her short hair either. She was much more vibrant, agresive, glamorous in san francisco and so was the production. the rest of the covent garden cast isn't very strong. especially Summers' voice compared to brendel at san fran. is quite weak.

the recent met production (from dg) has only one advantage, better sound and picture quality. but these two other versions are fairly well presented as well.

in short, if you like to watch a legendary samson accompanied by a legendary dalila and a great orchestra (davis surpasses levine and rudel)
buy this one. If you want a glamourous hollywood like production dominated by Verrett's unsurpassed Dalila and a great but not legendary samson (domingo) with superb cast and choir and orchestra buy the san fran. version.

By Maurice D'Archonnoir on March 7, 2008

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Saint-Saens' Samson et Dalila - San Francisco Opera [VHS]

Baryshnikov: The Dancer and the Dance

A documentary about renowned ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov. Mikhail Nikolaevich Baryshnikov (Russian: Михаи́л Никола́евич Бары́шников; born January 27, 1948),[1] nicknamed "Misha" (Russian diminutive of the name "Mikhail"), is a Russian dancer, choreographer, and actor, often cited alongside Vaslav Nijinsky and Rudolf Nureyev as one of the greatest ballet dancers in history. After a promising start in the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, he defected to Canada in 1974 for more opportunities in western dance. After freelancing with many companies, he joined the New York City Ballet as a principal dancer to learn George Balanchine's style of movement. He then danced with the American Ballet Theatre, where he later became artistic director. Baryshnikov has spearheaded many of his own artistic projects and has been associated in particular with promoting modern dance, premiering dozens of new works, including many of his own. His success as a dramatic actor on stage, cinema and television has helped him become probably the most widely recognized contemporary ballet dancer. In 1977, he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe nomination for his work as "Yuri Kopeikine" in the film The Turning Point. Also, he was in the last season of Sex and the City.

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Baryshnikov: The Dancer and the Dance [VHS]