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 privately-made movies. Using a wealth of rare and restored material the award-winning Belcanto presents the great tenors from Enrico Caruso to Jussi Björling, 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.

This opulent documentary series on the ‘The Tenors of the 78 Era’ was originally broadcast in 1996, and has since received much acclaim. The crew visited the singers’ descendants in Ireland, Russia, Argentina, the United States and many other countries, where they discovered previously-unknown material and interviewed contemporaries who have since passed away. The historical films were digitized and adjusted to the correct running time and pitch. Since they were first produced, these treasures have never been seen in this form. The original version of Belcanto was broadcast in twenty-five countries and gained numerous awards, being honoured at the Columbus International Film Festival and by Classique en Images in Cannes.

Contents:

DVD 1: Part 1
- Enrico Caruso
- John McCormack
- Leo Slezak
- Tito Schipa
- Richard Tauber
- Dialogue with Eternity

DVD 2: Part 2
- Lauritz Melchior
- Beniamino Gigli
- Georges Thill
- Helge Rosvaenge
- Ivan Kozlovsky
- Joseph Schmidt
- Jussi Bjorling

Bonus DVD
Six films featuring archive 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, Hermann Klein, Stefan Zucker, Christoph Schluren, Peter Feuchtwanger, Jurgen Kesting and Wolf Rosenberg.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 • NTSC 4:3
Sound format: PCM Stereo • AC3 Stereo
Subtitles: EN, FR, DE, IT, ES, JP, KR
Region code: 0 (worldwide)