Product Details

• Actors: Jussi Björling, Maria Callas, Enrico Caruso, Feodor Chaliapin Sr., Franco Corelli
• Directors: Donald Sturrock
• Producers: Marcus Klorman, Mark Pickering, Pierre-Olivier Bardet
• Format: Black & White, Classical, Color, DVD, Full Screen, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Subtitles: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Nvc Arts
• DVD Release Date: September 3, 2002
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00004UF02
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #66,618 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Art of Singing: Golden Voices of the Century" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must-Have for Opera Lovers, July 2, 2007

By 

Bruce Varner (Chicago area, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Art of Singing: Golden Voices of the Century (DVD)

This is an unbelievable collection of performance footage from some of the greatest singers of all time. I am very grateful to NVC Arts/Warner Music Vision for producing and distributing this DVD. Whether you are an opera singer or an opera lover (or both!), you will love this DVD. This DVD has rare footage that you are not likely to see anywhere else. I particularly recommend this DVD to opera students, as there is so much to be learned from watching and listening to these elite singers, not to mention the insightful commentary from Magda Olivero, Thomas Hampson, and others.

There are 28 artists featured here, and the DVD runs for almost 2 hours. Virtually everything in this DVD was enjoyable, so comments on each and every section would make this review very lengthy indeed. Thus, I'll stick to my favorite sections.

I loved the footage of Enrico Caruso from the early 20th century. It is entirely fitting to begin this DVD with opera's first true superstar. I really enjoyed the commentary of Magda Olivero in the features of Beniamino Gigli and Tito Schipa. She is incredibly charming and insightful. Of course, the peformance footage of these two phenomenal tenors is fantastic, with Gigli singing "Ombra mai fu" from Xerxes, and Schipa singing "M'appari" from Martha. There is the ONLY footage of legendary Luisa Tetrazzini. She is at a retirement party (age 61), and singing along to a recording of Caruso singing "M'appari". It is poignant.

There is rare footage of Rosa Ponselle. You get to see her MGM screen tests, singing "Chanson Boheme" and the "Habanera" from Carmen. She pulls off very committed performances, even though she was all alone in front of the camera. She was 21 at the time, beautiful, and in great voice. You get Kirsten Flagstad singing "Hojotoho!" from "Die Walkure" in a live performance from 1938 introduced by Bob Hope, and accompanied by the Met orchestra.

Being a big "La Boheme" fan, I was flabbergasted to see a live peformance of the final scene from Act I, sung by the dream team of Renata Tebaldi and Jussi Bjorling. It was a live broadcast in 1956, and they were both fabulous.

The DVD ends with some legendary Maria Callas performances. You get a clip of the duet "Parigi, o cara" from the famous 1958 Lisbon "La Traviata", sung with Alfredo Kraus. Then, you get the duet and "Vissi d'arte" from the equally famous 1964 Covent Garden performance of "Tosca" with Tito Gobbi. There is intermittent commentary from Nicola Rescigno. Callas was an amazing performer.

In addition to the above, there is some wonderful footage of Martinelli, de Luca, Tauber, Tibbett, Stevens, de Los Angeles, Sutherland, Price, Olivero, Corelli, Vickers, and more. This is a true cornucopia of operatic legends.

Highly recommended.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Opera lovers' Heaven, June 21, 2000

By 

albertatamazon (Atlanta, Georgia, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Art of Singing: Golden Voices of the Century [VHS] (VHS Tape)

The makers of the magnificent "The Art of Conducting" have done for opera what they previously did for symphonic music. "The Art of Singing" is an incredible collection of opera arias sung by virtually all of the opera greats of the twentieth century.Pavarotti and Domingo,however,are notably absent. Yes,Caruso is also included--an excerpt from a silent film in which he is seen (but not heard) singing his great "Pagliacci" aria "Vesti La Giubba" has been rather awkwardly synchronized with his early recording of that piece. The rest of the footage featured in this documentary is amazing. The home video viewer is allowed to see and hear greats that one never even hoped to see before the age of videocassette--Benjamino Gigli, Jussi Bjoerling,Renata Tebaldi, Tita Ruffo, Feodor Chaliapin, Rosa Ponselle, Ezio Pinza, Giuseppe di Stefano, Giovanni Martinelli,etc. as well as Renata Tebaldi, Maria Callas, and Leontyne Price, all singing the music that made them famous. They are seen in screen tests, rare film shorts that have not seen the light of day in more than fifty years,early television appearances,and even excerpts from full-length films like the 1933 Chaliapin "Don Quixote". Nothing is allowed to distract from the performances,although the quaintness of some of those early shorts,as well as the early makeup on some of the male singers, may make you laugh.The early television excerpts are presented on simple,uncluttered sets,and there are no attempts to "gimmick up" the presentations. Noted opera singers and music experts also put in appearances to comment on the art of such greats as Maria Callas (shown singing excerpts from "Tosca" and "La Traviata",her greatest roles). Actors Charles Laughton and Jose Ferrer turn up in rare TV appearances to introduce segments featuring Jussi Bjoerling and Boris Christoff,respectively. And a fascinating silent segment featuring singers obviously lip-synching to an old recording of the sextet from "Lucia de Lammermoor" is amazingly,through the use of digital synchronization, perfectly matched up to the sound of that old recording.

No opera lover who is seriously interested in familiarizing himself with the great singers of yesterday can afford to pass this one up. Younger opera fans whose knowledge of opera is limited to Pavarotti on PBS,will encounter artists who can easily match,as well as surpass, today's opera stars.

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, October 5, 2005

By 

Fritz Lincoln (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Art of Singing: Golden Voices of the Century (DVD)

Quality rare footage of Great Singers. Excellent commentary by Thomas Hampson and Jerome Hines. Watching the likes of Wunderlich, Bjorling, Callas, Tebaldi, and more...amazing.