DVD Videos

Anna Moffo (1932-2006) was one of the most beloved American sopranos of her time, acclaimed for a voice and style which combined beauty and glamour with compelling emotional expression. This DVD compilation includes her complete operatic performances on the Bell Telephone Hour plus excerpts from two of her operatic films, La Traviata and Lucia. She is joined in the Bell Telephone Hour selections by Richard Tucker, Nicolai Gedda, George London, and Sándor Kónya. 82 minutes, color/black&white

53 minutes, black & white.

These productions of Mozart’s The Impresario (1961) and scenes from Act I of the same composer’s Così fan tutte (1956) are precious mementos of an era when Opera in English opened a new frontier for American opera companies. In New York, the Metropolitan Opera increased their audience for classic operas, the New York City Opera took the lead in presenting American works, while the New York-based NBC Opera television series presented English-language productions of both old and new works from the international repertoire. Those three companies were the training-ground for the performers on this DVD, who uniformly exhibit a firm understanding of opera as theater.

The two best-known singers of the group are the esteemed American sopranos Eleanor Steber and Phyllis Curtin. Both sopranos favored a tightly focused vocal production which facilitated clear diction and dramatic thrust. Each was closely associated with and premiered works by important contemporary composers, most notably Samuel Barber (for Steber) and Carlisle Floyd (for Curtin). And they both sang Fiordiligi in the Metropolitan Opera’s landmark English-language production of Così fan tutte: Steber in the production’s premiere in 1951, and Curtin ten years later, making her company debut.

Original telecast March 5, 1964. Black & white, 58 minutes. Playable worldwide.

Live performance from the Miami International Piano Festival, 2006. Color, stereo, 81 minutes. Playable worldwide.

Bonus interview with Ida Haendel. Color, digital stereo, 85 minutes. Playable worldwide.

CBC telecast from 23rd June, 1965. 60 minutes, Canada, 1965, black & white.

A lyric tenor in a class of his own, Alfredo Kraus (1927-1999) was acclaimed for the beauty, elegance and passion of his singing.

Includes English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish subtitles; color, stereo, 83 minutes, Playable in all regions.

Includes English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish subtitles; color, stereo, 83 minutes, Playable in all regions.

This historic concert of December 14, 1989, given in support of the “Velvet Revolution” in Czechoslovakia, was attended by many prominent personalities, including Václav Havel, just weeks before he became the President of Czechoslovakia (later, the Czech Republic). Color, stereo, 75 min. Playable in all regions.