DVD Videos

Two illustrious Czech artists with unique musical connections to two of the composers on the program: Firkušný studied composition with Leoš Janácek, and Josef Suk is the great-grandson of Antonín Dvorák.

Color, stereo, 74 min.

Definitive interpretations of the Cello Concerto in B minor and the Piano Concerto in G minor, performed by acclaimed cellist Gustav Rivinius, and the legendary pianist Rudolf Firkušný. The Czech Philharmonic Orchestra is led by two of its most esteemed past music directors: Václav Neumann (director from 1968-1990) in the Cello Concerto and Jirí Belohlávek (director from 1990-1992) in the Piano Concerto. Color, stereo, 84 minutes. Playable in all regions.

One of the most important conductors of the twentieth century in two live performances from 1969. Stokowski leads the Orchestra Giovanile Internazionale — the International Youth Orchestra, St. Moritz — during its premiere season in a stirring performance of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony.

Black & White, 53 minutes.

Legendary dancers Ekaterina Maximova and Vladimir Vasiliev star in this powerful 1982 film adaptation of the ballet. Based on a story by Chekov, the beautiful score is by Valery Gavrilin, and the choreography is by Vasiliev himself.

A two-part tribute to a legendary pianist. The first part is a 1963 television recital of Rachmaninoff Preludes.

The second part of the DVD is a 2002 interview with Miss Slenczynska in which she recalls her studies with Josef Hofmann and her years as a child studying at Curtis Music Conservatory in Philadelphia.

Igor Stravinsky composed the score to Le Baiser de la Fée, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, “The Ice Maiden.” as an homage to Tchaikovsky. It was first produced in 1937, with choreography by George Balanchine. This 1990 film version was choreographed by Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasiliev, and stars the world-renowned dancer Vladimir Malakhov. Sergei Prokofiev composed the score of Lieutenant Kijé in 1933 for a film verion of Yuri Tinyanov’s 1927 novella. The ballet adaption seen here was choreographed by Alexander Lapauri and Olga Tarasova and first produced at the Bolshoi in 1963. The stellar cast for this 1969 production includes Raisa Struchkova and Vladimir Vasiliev. Bonus segments feature Raisa Struchkova and Boris Khokhlov in Pas de deux from Sleeping Beauty and Don Quixote.

Embedded subtitles in Japanese remain onscreen throughout, with additional options to view subtitles in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Region 0 encoding: playable worldwide. Black & white, 134 minutes.

Embedded subtitles in Japanese remain onscreen throughout, with additional options to view subtitles in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish. Color, all regions.

Bonus: 2007 interview with Scotto