San Antonio College Library

To comprehend the holy and inspire the believer, the world's religions have always incorporated music as a form of prayer. This award-winning documentary takes an ecumenical look at a diverse selection of these traditions as performed at the Festival of World Sacred Music held in Fez, Morocco. Along with commentary from festival director Dr. Faouzi Skali and music anthropologist David Lynch, the program features dynamic performances from the Christian,...

Clear, systematic presentation of the evolution of musical style from Gregorian Chant (a.d. 700) to mid-twentieth century atonal music. Excellent volume for music students, scholars, layman emphasizes the continuity of basic musical principles with detailed coverage of major period styles, composers. Over 140 musical examples.

Jordi Savall brings this production to life on the stage of Barcelona's Gran Teatre del Liceu. Monteverdi's favola in musica, based on a libretto by Alessandro Striggio, is considered to be the first opera in history. In this exceptional performance, Furio Zanasi takes the lead role with Arianna Savall starring as his Euridice.

The Romanian soprano Angela Gheorghiu is now regarded as one of the most exciting and charismatic of the new generation of singers and is welcomed here by the Royal Opera House in a concert performance of some of opera's greatest arias and recitatives. Repertoire includes Mozart's "Porgi Amor" (Le Nozze di Figaro), Bellini's "Casta Diva" (Norma), Puccini's "O Mio Babbino Caro" (Gianni Schicchi), and My Fair Lady's "I Could Have Danced All Night."

The 1965 Decca recording of Wagner's entire Ring Cycle set new standards in performance and recorded sound, and is now remastered for reissue. This massive project, for which both Solti and Decca demanded the best, took seven years to complete. BBC cameras were behind the scenes to witness the Vienna recording of Götterdämmerung.

Re-opening its doors in December 1999, the Royal Opera House assembled the brightest stars of opera and ballet in a dazzling evening of dance and music. The program includes the overture to Weber's Oberon, written for Covent Garden in 1826; the great love duet of Siegmund and Sieglinde from Die Walküre; and the final scene of Fidelio, plus extracts from ballets The Sleeping Beauty, La Fille Mal Gardee, Le Corsaire, La Bayadere, Romeo and Juliet,...

Brian Kay introduces a concert of Russian and Finnish music in St. David's Hall, Cardiff, with the BBC Welsh Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis. Including Borodin's Polovtsian Dances, Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No 2, and Sibelius' Symphony No 2.

The rousing Movement III - Scherzo, according to Dvorák, was inspired by his encounters with Native American music and dancing. Calming sections that actually contain imitations of birdcalls follow this boisterous musical expression before Dvorák finally returns to the pounding, forceful rhythms that began the movement.

In June 1999, the Kirov Opera and Orchestra were on their maiden visit to Ireland. On their one free day, Maestro Valery Gergiev took the 40-strong Kirov Chorus to Omagh, the scene of Northern Ireland's worst terrorist explosion one year earlier. In a unique and moving memorial, they sing Rachmaninov's Vespers and other Russian a capella pieces, while in a rare interview, Gergiev explains how he too has lost many friends through civil strife in his...