Product Details

• Format: NTSC
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 0615229492
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #443,931 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

The fascinating story of the oldest amateur musical group in America. For over a century the Club was the most prestigious private society in New York, and the inspiration for the glee club movement across the nation. Pages from the history of the Club are mixed with lively rehearsals and performances as today's resolutely amateur gentlemen continue the tradiiton of "brothers in harmony".

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2.0 out of 5 stars NOT much "music" here., February 19, 2011

By 

Donald Waits "Mad Dog" (New Orleans, La. USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Mendelssohn Glee Club "Men Who Sing" (DVD)

If you love choral music or have ever been part of a "glee club", you will be disappointed in this DVD. While it is an rather interesting "documentary", it is extremely short on performance. The sound is awful. The few performances are not well recorded or filmed. The impression this reviewer has is that The Mendelssohn Glee Club is a group of amateurs who like to get together and sing. That is laudable, but not worth the hype of this DVD. The very association with the name, Mendelssohn, is most misleading. That the group has been in existence for over 150 years is not brought out by the examples presented. At the very beginning of the disc, when you are given the "menu", the Broadway show type of singing is a real off-putting introduction. Personally, I can't stand that kind of sound. It is unfortunate that this group was not given the exposure they (perhaps) deserve. The few very short examples of real singing are interrupted by unnecessary conversation or commentary by individuals that have little to say of value, other than declaring their enjoyment in being part of the "club". Basically, I would not want to fault the organization, which, I suspect, is a fine one, but this DVD certainly does NOT do them justice. This is a "vanity" production, similar to books of bad poetry and boring memoirs.

5.0 out of 5 stars Still going strong, February 19, 2009

By 

Picker (Manhattan) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Mendelssohn Glee Club "Men Who Sing" (DVD)

This documentary just won't let you go. The human interest is interesting and the music is lovely -- but what a knockout historical punch! The Mendelssohn was the first of all glee clubs in America and for over a century the hottest ticket in town. Few people today realize what it was like back when when amateur performances not only dominated social life, but the amateur musicians had to be good. Thus the material from the Club's archives is quite eye-opening, and the disc comes with a very readable historical brochure as well (does anyone know that in 1912 the club gave the first transcontinental telephone concert?). The amateur spirit lives on - the good-natured, comradely atmosphere in which the members rehearse and perform is such a contrast with the high pressure in "popular" (professional) music that you just want to go down to the church bazement and hang out with the guys on rehearsal nights. This DVD is both entertaining, with good music, and highly informative about musical history in America.