La Gazza Ladra

The narration of the encounter of Antonio Vivaldi, George Friedrich Haendel and Domenico Scarlatti during the 1709 Venetian Carnival.

"Butoh: Body on the Edge of Crisis" is a visually striking film portrait shot on location in Japan with the participation of the major Butoh choreographers and their companies. Although Butoh is often viewed as Japan's equivalent of modern dance, in actuality it has little to do with the rational principles of modernism. Butoh is a theater of improvisation which places the personal experiences of the dancer on center-stage. By reestablishing the ancient Japanese connection of dance, music, and masks, and by recalling the Buddhist death dances of rural Japan, Butoh incorporates much traditional theater. At the same time, it is a movement of resistance against the abandonment of traditional culture to a highly organized consumer-oriented society.

The genius Spanish painter Salvador Dalí undertakes an amazing journey through the unknown mental territories of Upper Mongolia in search of a giant hallucinogenic mushroom while paying an experimental tribute to the French poet Raymond Roussel (1877-1933), a visionary and eccentric writer, precursor of the surrealists and much admired by them.

A look at the life and work of composer Nino Rota.

American composers have long struggled against the momentum of the Western European classical tradition and the prestige it has held in America's cultural life. "I did not want to have any stricture at all, I wanted to be completely free." So spoke Harry Partch, describing not only his own path, but also that of two other influential American composers: Lou Harrison and Terry Riley. They were attracted to musical ideas and sounds outside of the surrounding classical mainstream. Together they offer a deeper understanding of what those alternatives are and how they have affected American culture.

An odyssey through Beethoven’s lasting presence and influence in our modern world – viewed through the eyes of the composer himself.

Sir Neville Marriner conducts the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields chamber orchestra and Sheldon Schwartz dances the title role in this 1980 production of Stravinski's one-act ballet, choreographed by Heinz Spoerli. The story centers on Naples man-about-town Pulcinella (Schwartz), who woos all the local maidens and fakes his own death to escape an army of angry suitors. This production also stars dancers Amanda Bennett and Loya Molloy.

German-Brazilian production on the life of Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos.

A group of song-and-dance performers put on an evening of vaudeville, ragtime and blues in a 1926 New Orleans club.