Have you ever taken a group of students to the opera for the
first time and watched as their eyes widened, their jaws dropped, and suddenly
they got it? Suddenly this art form that has captured
imaginations for centuries has enchanted even more, and you wished that somehow
you could bring this experience back to the classroom?
And what about the ballet?
Students can hear the music easily enough, but how often do they have
the opportunity to see how it interacts with the movement of masterful dancers
as they glide gracefully about a carefully lit and designed stage? That breath that catches in the throat as the
ballerina nails a massive grand jeté right at the peak of the
music’s crescendo—how often do your students get to experience that?
How often do you wish that your students could be in the
midst of the great orchestras of the world just to observe their tremendous
technique and inspiring virtuosity in action and up close? Do they get to watch the most skilled conductors
at work to pick up valuable insight that they can then apply to their own
conducting?
Believe it or not, all of this and more is available through
Naxos Video Library (contact us!), which features over 1,675 full-length videos for streaming on
demand as of this writing. This ever-expanding
database possesses a wonderfully diverse range of content, including:
Opera – Currently there are over 285 full-length operas
available to watch, with libretti and subtitles in up to five languages for
most. The great opera composers are all
represented, including Donizetti, Handel, Monteverdi, Mozart, Puccini, Rossini,
Verdi, and Wagner (including a number of Bayreuth Festival performances!). Many of the classic operas are presented
multiple times, allowing for comparison of productions.
Ballet – Not only are a wide variety of ballets available in
full (including performances of all three Tchaikovsky classics by the Royal
Ballet), but a number of films highlight specific dance groups and pay tribute
to famous individuals.
Orchestra and chamber ensembles – Over 380 full-length
videos portray performances by orchestras, chamber groups, choirs, and
soloists. Highlights include three
cycles of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, cycles of Beethoven’s symphonies by
Abbado and Karajan, and Bernstein’s Mahler symphony cycle.
Documentaries – A considerable assortment of feature-length documentary
films profile composers, conductors, performers, and dancers. Others highlight moments in music history or
inspiring music education stories of today, while still more go behind the
scenes of opera productions. There is
something for everyone here.
Educational – Along with a couple series of films dedicated
to discussing individual symphonic works, Naxos Video Library includes a number
of videos that explore periods of art history and many of the geographic and
historic wonders of the world. Also
featured are the A Musical Journey
series, which combines video tours of locations around Europe and Asia with
classical music characteristic of those places, and a selection of complete stage
productions from Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.
