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RENT: Director Christopher Columbus (MRS. DOUBTFIRE, HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER S STONE) adapts the hit Broadway musical of the same name to the big screen in RENT. A modern spin on the opera LA BOHEME, RENT tells the story of eight friends dealing with life and love in Manhattan`s Alphabet City in 1989. Wannabe filmmaker Mark (Anthony Rapp) and singer/songwriter Roger (Adam Pascal) are facing eviction at the hands of their former roommate and current landlord, Benny (Taye Diggs). Benny has married rich, moved out of the neighborhood, and wants to build a state-of-the-art studio where the local tent city stands. Their downstairs neighbor, vivacious Mimi (Rosario Dawson), who strips at a local club to feed her heroin habit, takes a shine to Roger, a self-imposed recluse and former junkie whose last girlfriend died of AIDS. Their friend, Collins (Jesse L. Martin), returns to town and quickly falls for Angel (Wilson Jermaine Heredia), a glamorous, gracious, HIV positive transvestite. Finally, there is Maureen (Idina Menzel), a spitfire and performance artist who is planning a protest against Benny s plans and has dumped Mark for cerebral Joanne (Tracie Thoms), a lawyer.Over the course of a year, the friends face poverty, drug addiction, break-ups, reconciliations, eviction, and AIDS. Despite these challenges, they find support, hope, and acceptance in each other, all the while embracing the bohemian lifestyle that was so much a part of the Lower East Side. Newcomers Dawson and Thoms mix seamlessly with the original cast members, and Columbus introduces some interesting staging locations. With a concept, music, and lyrics by the late Jonathan Larson, RENT is an exuberant rock-&-roll musical with the underlying message that love can prevail despite all odds and that, ultimately, there really is no day but today. TOMMY: Director Ken Russell`s vibrant, hyperactive version of the Who`s classic rock opera tells the story of a boy (Roger Daltrey) rendered d
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One of the most respected contemporary jazz guitarists, John Scofield is often grouped with Bill Frisell and Pat Methany as one of the most influential players of the `90s. Scofield has played on records with Miles Davis and Charles Mingus, among others, as well as prolifically releasing his own jazz-laced, improv-heavy albums, the most recent of which, ENROUTE, featured drummer Bill Stewart and bassist Steve Swallow. In this instructional program, Scofield shares his extensive insider`s knowledge with students of jazz guitar, concentrating on improvisational techniques and the development of a personal sound.

Carmine Galone directed this 1947 performance of Verdi's opera RIGOLETTO, which features a classic performances in the lead roles by Tito Gobbi and Tullio Serafin. Interestingly enough, the role of the virginal Gilda was played on-screen by Marcella Govoni yet sung by Lina Pagliughi.DVD Features:Region 1Keep CaseFull Frame - 1:33Interactive Features: Interactive Menus Scene Access

A German soprano who delighted opera fans across the globe, Lotte Lehmann began her professional career at the Vienna Opera. As well as some glittering performances, most notably in Richard Strauss`s ARIADNE AUF NAXOS, INTERMEZZO, and ARABELLA, Lehmann presented a number of television shows in the early 1950s. Aimed at teaching viewers how to sing in
Lieder
(which is a traditional German way of singing), this program includes Lotte`s versions of songs by Schumann and others.

Israeli-American actor Mike Burstyn won an Israeli Academy Award for the title role in the musical drama HERSHELE. Hershele is an educated European immigrant who lives in a poor rural neighborhood in Israel. He has been classically trained as a musician, and in an effort to connect with the townspeople he gives music lessons to the local children. They rapidly develop into a talented orchestra, but living in a poor neighborhood, they are unable to draw the same attention as children's groups in other places. Now Hershele and his musician students must find a way to force the rest of the country to take notice. HERSHELE is an Israeli MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS, a film that dramatizes the power of music and the student-teacher relationship.

Legendary performer Josephine Baker makes her feature film debut in this silent film from 1927. Filmed around the time that Baker was becoming famous in Paris as a Folies Bergre star, SIREN OF THE TROPICS
tells the story of Papitou (Baker), a young native girl who falls for a refined young gentleman named Andre, who unbeknownst to her, has a wife back home. When Papitou learns this, she nonetheless travels to where Andre is in Paris, where she finds her true calling as a music hall performer. Baker's role as the na've girl from the tropics who must grow accustomed to the ways of civilization bears much resemblance to her later roles in films such as ZOU ZOU (1934) and PRINCESS TAM-TAM (1935). Available here in its entirety for the first time, SIREN OF THE TROPICS makes an entertaining vehicle through which Baker displays her on-screen allure, and her skills as a dancer (best expressed here through her rendition of the Charleston).

This compilation of appearances by Renata Tebaldi help form a great overview of her career. The footage is culled from various BELL TELEPHONE HOUR appearances between 1956 and 1967, and includes highlights from such lauded works as: MADAME BUTTERFLY; LA GIOCONDA; TOSCA; and many others.

Hungarian pianist Lili Kraus performs a selection of works by Bach, Mozart, and Schubert on IN RECITAL. Culled from vintage television performances, this release is an invaluable document of Kraus`s talents.