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List Price: $11.98 | | Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Salesrank: 120389
Released: December 11, 2001 |
| Our Price: $49.00 |
| Used Price: $2.51 |
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MPAA Rating: NR (Not Rated) Media: DVD |
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| Features:
Classical Color DVD NTSC | |
Editorial Review:
A DVD sampler that showcases no less than 21 top artists from Universal Classics' unique heritage. Tracks: Pres des remparts de Seville from "Carmen" (Bizet) - Baltsa & Carreras; Non piu andrai from "Le Nozze di Figaro" (Mozart) - Terfel; Di quella pira from "Il Trovatore" (Verdi) - Pavarotti; Ich lade gern from "Die Fledermaus" (Strauss) - Brendel, Fassbaender, Perry, Steinbeisser & Wechter; Mir ist die Ehre widerfahren from "Der Rosenkavalier" Op. 59 (Strauss) - Bonney & von Otter; Se quel guerrier io fossi... Celeste Aida from "Aida" (Verdi) - Domingo; Die Strahlen der Sonne from "Die Zauberflote" (Mozart) - Moll; Violin and Piano Sonata No. 5 in F major Op. 24 "Spring" (Beethoven) - Mutter & Orkis; Radetzky March Op. 228 (Strauss) - Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; Lacrymosa from "Requiem Mass in D" (Verdi) - Cossotto, Ghiaurov, Pavarotti & Price; Tonight from "West Side Story" (Bernstein) - Carreras, Ollmann, Te Kanawa & Troyanos; O Sole Mio (Di Capua) - Carreras, Domingo & Pavarotti; Nel volto estatico from "La Cenerentola" (Rossini) - Bartoli, Corbelli, Dara, Gimenez & Pertusi; Bella figlia dell'amore from "Rigoletto" (Verdi) - Gruberova, Pavarotti, Vergara & Wixell; Ancora un passo or via from "Madama Butterfly" (Puccini) - Domingo, Freni & Kerns; Libiamo ne lieti calici from "La Traviata" (Verdi) - Gheorghiu & Lopardo; Mehr gabst du, Wunderfrau from "Gotterdammerung" (Wagner) - Jones & Jung; Dance of the Mirlitons from "The Nutcracker" Op. 71 (Tchaikovsky) - Chmil, Miltseva & Pykhachev; Act II - Pas de deux from "Giselle" (Adam) - Bruhn & Fracci; Act IV - Pas de deux from "Swan Lake" Op. 20 (Tchaikovsky) - Fonteyn & Nureyev; Panis Angelicus (Franck) - Bocelli. 86 minutes.
See How Great They Sound - The Universal Classics DVD Sampler Reviews:
Seriously Disappointed 
2006-03-01 - I couldn't be more disappointed in this DVD. After receiving it I noticed that it was only in stereo (not even the center channel is used). The video quality is OK, but most of the plays sound like the mic is about 20 ft away from the stage so most tracks sound like you are far away from the stage.
Lastly I was disappointed in the camera work. While the mic is fixed, the camera follows the action. So even though the sound is moving from right to left (in stereo), the actor always appear in the center of your screen.
Ups and Downs 
2003-03-31 - This was a highly enjoyable sampler with a few flaws.
The first flaw is that you need a Doctorate to figure out how to work the tracks. This is overcomable though so I will not retract for poor production.
I own most of these dvd's and the sound quality is better on this sampler and is really quite excellent!
The performances are up and down. All three tenors are shown here in the twilight of theiir abilities on stage. Pavatotti looks kind of weird with blond hair and looks very old and immovable during a transposed "Di Quella Pira" (Which is too heavy for his voice anyway.) Carreras is pushing in the Carmen but Baltsa is not and sounds fabulous.
The other downer is including Panis Angelicus to this DVD which seems very out of place!
The best performance is given by Bryn Terfel in Non Piu Andrai. His interpretation is precious and you will watch it again and again. Domingo also shows up for buisness in the Celeste Aida despite looking a tad bit long in the tooth for the young Ramades. Also check out the Lacrymosa from Verdi's reqem to see a beardless Pavarotti!
The decca section presents treats like the famous O Sole Mio encore from the Three tenors and bella Figlia Dell Amore(but if you dont own those Dvd's already youre crazy!)
Overall this is a fun yet hard to use collection of favorites.
For the price: A great sampler! 
2002-12-31 - This disc has a great variety of classical music: opera, concerts, sonatas and ballet: i.e. something for everyone and every taste.
It features excerpts from many international stars such as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, Bryn Terfel, Cecelia Bartoli, Leontyne Price, Anne Sophie Mutter, Rudolph Nureyev just to mention a few. Some of the composers and their (works) are Mozart (Le Nozze Di Figaro and Die Zauberflote), Bizet (Carmen), Tchaikovsky (Swan Lake and the Nutcracker) and Verdi (La Traviata, Rigoletto and Il Trovatore ).
All the selections are short and show just enough of a scene to give a hint as to what is to follow.
All in all, an enjoyable DVD. Probably an ideal starting point for anyone looking to get into classical music or ballet
Look's Great, Sounds Great. 
2002-09-17 - What can I say; Excellent selection of Singers; Excellent selection of songs; and the DVD look's and sounds Great.
Rich Content but Complicated to Use 
2002-04-03 - A pity. Lots of good presentations but the CD is complicated to use. Moving from one title to other is a headache. Perhaps, the problem is because my DVD equipment is 3 years old. If so lucky ones with new equipment if not then revise the new DVD version.