Composers' Special DVDs

Each of the six one hour inventive films in this collection tells the story of a child's relationship with one of the world's great composers. Historically inspired yet dealing with contemporary social values, this unique "visual music" series makes classical music appealing to a "visually oriented" family audience.

DVDs $19.98 Your Price $17.98
(Order individually below)

Set of all six $89.98
(individual information below)

The Composers' Specials
Teacher's Guide

$19.95 Your Price $17.96

Listening guides, discussion topics and cross curricular activities for all six Composer Special DVDs in one book.

Bach's Fight for Freedom

DVD $19.98 Your Price $17.98

Set in 1717, Bach's Fight for Freedom is a story about the positive power of ambition. It focuses on a temperamental, demanding composer and a free-thinking servant boy, both of whom feel like prisoners of circumstance. The last thing Frederick (Kyle Labine) wants to be when he grows up is a servant like his mother and father, who meekly labour for the duke at his castle in Weimar. Frederick aspires to be a stonemason. Meanwhile, Johann Sebastian Bach (Ted Dykstra) is terribly frustrated by being pigeonholed as the court organist. He wants to be allowed to compose the glorious music that springs forth irrepressibly in his mind. After Frederick is ordered to become Bach's assistant, Bach is jailed for insubordination. Both of their futures seem bleak indeed. Eventually, though, they come to understand the essence of genius - when opportunity knocks, follow your dream with persistence and fortitude and you will triumph.

Featuring music from the well-loved Brandenburg Concertos, and other selections including Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring

Bizet's Dream

DVD $19.98 Your Price $17.98

Set in 1875 Bizet's Dream tells the compelling and bittersweet story of the friendship shared by a young Parisian girl named Michelle Marin, and the great composer Georges Bizet, who teaches her piano. Michelle (Brittany Madgett) is a talented twelve year old whose intelligence and resourcefulness are matched only by her extremely active imagination. Bizet (Maurice Godin) is a man of many passions - for his family, his artistic friends and, most of all, for his music. But each of them is prey to doubts. Michelle wonders if her soldier father will ever return from Spain. Bizet hopes he can rise to the challenge of finishing Carmen, the opera that haunts him. Together, Michelle and Bizet learn that dreams come true only when the time is right and even then in the most surprising ways.

Featuring music from Bizet's Carmen suites, L'Arlésienne and The Pearl Divers

Handel's Last Chance

DVD $19.98 Your Price $17.98

In 1742, James (Tod Fennell), a Dublin street kid, is enrolled by his desperate mother (Seana McKenna) in an upper crust school. James feels like an outsider, but things begin to improve when he is selected as a principal choirboy for Handel's oratorio "The Messiah". In the course of events, James is befriended by the renowned composer, who suffers from a temporary lack of self-esteem. When the boy is falsely accused of wrongdoing, Handel (Leon Pownall) comes to his rescue. The Messiah's premiere brings Handel glory and restores him to his rightful place in the musical world.

Featuring music from The Messiah and selections from The Royal Fireworks Music and Water Music

Liszt's Rhapsody

DVD $19.98 Your Price $17.98

Set in 1846, Liszt's Rhapsody celebrates the inextinguishable flame of genuine talent, seen here in the guise of a free-spirited Gypsy boy who inspires a frustrated composer to reach his own true potential. Franz Liszt (Geordie Johnson) is the 19th-century equivalent of a rock star - handsome, rich and famous beyond his dreams. But the Hungarian-born Liszt wants to be more than simply Europe's most celebrated pianist; he wants to compose great music - not just play it. Josy (Drew Jurecka) is a young virtuoso who's perfectly happy playing his violin in the streets. Liszt only needs to hear Josy play once to know that the Gypsy boy could achieve true greatness - with a bit of formal training - so he arranges for Josy to come live with him and take lessons. Little does Liszt know that his own creativity will be transformed by the experience.

Featuring music from The Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2, Carnival in Pest and The Mephisto Waltz

Rossini's Ghost

DVD $19.98 Your Price $17.98

In a kitchen in Italy in 1862, little Reliana (Melissa Pirrera) helps her grandmother Rosalie make pasta sauce. As steam swirls magically through the kitchen, Rosalie argues with her oldest friend Martina and tells the story of an opera composer they once both knew. Soon, Reliana finds herself transported through time back to a theatre in Rome nearly 50 years earlier. She is invisible to everyone but the composer, Signor Rossini (Joseph DiMambro). She watches in alarm as one of the singers puts a curse on the production and everything begins to go wrong. Set in 1816, the year "The Barber of Seville" had its disastrous premiere, Rossini's Ghost is the story of three women who learn that friendship, like opera - or great pasta sauce - requires nurturing, patience, and time.

Featuring music from William Tell, The Barber of Seville and The Thieving Magpie

Strauss: The King of Three-Quarter Time

DVD $19.98 Your Price $17.98

The year is 1868, the city - Vienna, the music - exhilarating, yet all is not well with Johann Strauss, Jr., the darling of waltzing Vienna. Haunted by the constant pressure to outdo himself with each new composition, Strauss meets Nicholas, a humble stable boy who fears his brutal stepfather. To their surprise, the composer and they boy find in one another a piece of life's emotional puzzle, discovering the healing bond of trust and embarking on a collaboration that will be music to the world's ears.