Pavarotti in Central Park

On Sept. 28, 1998, some of the greatest divas in musical theater -- including Marin Mazzie, Judy Kuhn and Audra McDonald -- took the stage at New York City's Carnegie Hall to belt out songs that made them famous. Julie Andrews hosted the event. Showstoppers include Liza Minnelli performing "Some People"; Andrea McArdle singing "Look for the Silver Lining" and "Tomorrow"; and Bebe Neuwirth and Karen Ziemba teaming for "Nowadays/Hot Honey Rag." Originally broadcast on PBS's "Great Performances" (season 28, episode 4).

The fun begins when Baby Bear goes to hear the Boston Pops Orchestra play the musical story of Prokofiev's "Peter and the Wolf." He imagines Elmo, Big Bird, Oscar and the rest of his Sesame Street friends as characters who help bring the story to life.

It's not opera; it's not a pop concert; it's not Broadway. It's all of these and none of them. Once you accept the fact that this sequel to the original blockbuster concert recording is less about music and more about entertainment and the power of musical personalities, you can appreciate what you're hearing as an event--phenomenal and bizarre, momentous and frivolous. This is an occasion to celebrate the voices and egos of three huge superstars, and to have fun listening as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and Jose Carreras interact, bouncing lines off each other and playing to the overwhelmingly enthusiastic audience.

In celebration of the 150th anniversary of Mahler’s birth and just one month short of his own 85th birthday, composer-conductor Pierre Boulez marked his forty-five-year collaboration with the Cleveland Orchestra by directing this very special Mahler-only concert at Ohio’s splendid Severance Hall. Following the Adagio from the unfinished Tenth Symphony, he presented Twelve Songs from Des Knaben Wunderhorn with soloists Magdalena Kožená and Christian Gerhaher, both much-sought-after opera and concert singers on the world’s leading stages.