Michael Tilson Thomas

A complete and unabridged translation of the fairy tale of a young girl gifted with an enchanted Nutcracker by her mysterious godfather Herr Drosselmeier; later, he relates The Tale of the Hard Nut to Marie, which explains how her Nutcracker came to be.

"This DVD investigates the arresting music that would either redeem Shostakovich or doom him. Did he dare hide a kernel of music criticism in what appears to be a paean to the motherland? Join Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony as they explore the hidden language of this masterwork. What Shostakovich has to say might depend on what you're brave enough to hear"-- Container.

San Francisco Symphony's music director, Michael Tilson Thomas, retraces Beethoven's steps through Vienna's aristocratic ballrooms and Austria's rustic villages, exploring how Beethoven channeled his fears of deafness, his admiration for Napoleon, and his obsession to prove himself the greatest composer of his time and to write the Eroica. Includes a live performance of Beethoven's Eroica by the San Franciso Symphony conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas....

" 'I feel, therefore I am.' For Hector Berlioz, and for the Romantic movement he personified, those were words to live by. But with the unprecedented outpouring of emotion in his Symphonie fantastique he almost overpowered Paris. This orchestral sonic spectacular, written to win the heart of a beautiful actress, demanded sacrifice from its author and his audience. From romantic daydreams to deadly displays of devotion, the symphony relates an 'episode...