The introduction of sound to cinema in the 1930s turned great tenors such as Beniamino Gigli, Richard Tauber and Lauritz Melchior into movie stars. Countless “singer movies” were made, but great vocal performances were also captured in numerous documentaries and privatelymade movies. Using a wealth of rare and restored material the award-winning Belcanto presents the great tenors from Enrico Caruso to Jussi Bjorling, and includes interviews with their contemporaries and descendants. Updated and freshly remastered to 16/9 HD format, this acclaimed collection offers comprehensive insights into the art of bel canto that were regarded as 'black-and-white jewels from the golden era of singing – fascinating!' by El Pais.

Picture format: 1080i NTSC 16:9

NTSC 4:3

Sound format: PCM Stereo

Subtitles: EN, FR, DE, IT, ES, JP, KR

Region code: A, B, C

No. of disc/s: 2 BD50, 1 DVD5, 2 CDs

Contents

BLU-RAY 1 – PART I

Enrico Caruso (1873–1921), John McCormack (1884–1945), Leo Slezak (1873–1946), Tito Schipa (1889–1965), Richard Tauber (1891–1948), Dialogue with Eternity

BLU-RAY 2 – PART II

Lauritz Melchior (1890–1973), Beniamino Gigli (1890–1957), Georges Thill (1897–1984), Helge Rosv?nge (1897–1972), Ivan Kozlovsky (1900–1993), Joseph Schmidt (1904–1942), Jussi Bjorling (1911–1960)

DVD Video

Six films featuring archival material with Tito Schipa, Richard Tauber and Ivan Kozlovsky singing arias and songs, movie trailers with Joseph Schmidt, and interviews with John Steane and Stefan Zucker.

CDs 1–2

The soundtrack to the series contains many previously unreleased recordings highlighting the history of tenor singing in the first half of the 20th century as well as recordings of the last castrato from the Sistine Chapel, Alessandro Moreschi, and the most significant bel canto singer of the 19th century, Fernando de Lucia.

BOOK I and II

Two comprehensive books with essays about the history, technique and aesthetic of singing by Georg-Albrecht Eckle, Marietta Amstad, Herman Klein, Stefan Zucker, Christoph Schluren, Peter Feuchtwanger, Jurgen Kesting and Wolf Rosenberg.