CARMEN is the classic tale of forbidden passion between a young man and a spoken-for woman, Carmen. From ORF and TDK Music, this release features a live performance of Georges Bizet's 19th century operatic masterwork Carmen. Directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli, the production was shot on December 9, 1978, at the Wiener Straatsoper. Starring Elena Obraztsova in the titular role, the orchestra is conducted by Carlos Kleiber.

Verdi’s admiration for Shakespeare led to such masterpieces as Othello and Falstaff, and if the earlier Macbeth isn’t on their exalted level it’s still a powerfully dramatic opera that hews closely to the original’s story line. The MET’s production retains the dark aura of the opera while updating it to a vaguely post-modern context. So the witches are bag ladies in various stages of decrepitude, with children in tow. The Banquet Scene features lowered chandeliers, a plethora of chairs, and a slew of extras dressed in tuxedos and party gowns. Macbeth sports a leather coat, the soldiers are in drab brown uniforms and seem to have fingers on their triggers even when they’re supposed to be in non-threatening situations. Director Adrian Noble also has Lady Macbeth do an inordinate amount of writhing around and singing from a lying-down position, adding to the feeling that a less interventionist directorial hand might have generated more impact.

Kiss Unplugged is a Kiss album featuring the group performance in MTV Unplugged. On August 9, 1995, hard rock band Kiss performed on MTV Unplugged in what fans consider the beginning of the eventual Kiss Reunion Tour. Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons contacted former members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley and invited them to participate in the event. Fan reaction to Criss and Frehley at the Unplugged show was so positive that, in 1996, the original lineup of Kiss reunited, with all four original members together for the first time since 1980. It also marked the only time the original lineup performed live without their trademark makeup, other than at Ace Frehley's wedding, and was also the only time Frehley and Criss shared a stage with Eric Singer and Bruce Kulick. Further, it was the first time Eric Singer had part of a lead vocal (shared with Peter Criss on Nothin' To Lose).

The story of the making of this remarkable album is told here via exclusive interviews with band members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Jason Newsted, archive footage and performance, and contributions from producer Bob Rock. We revisit the original multi-tracks of the album, as well as listen to previously unheard demo recordings. Featuring the five singles from the album, Enter Sandman, Sad But True, "The Unforgiven", "Wherever I May Roam" and "Nothing Else Matters", this is the compelling story of one of the biggest selling albums of all time, a true Classic Album.

Live concert from the "Wherever We May Roam Tour" tour. Recorded at the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California, on January 13 and 14, 1992.

In August of 1996, Oasis, riding high from the overwhelming success of their first two albums Definitely Maybe and (What's the Story) Morning Glory?, were to perform on the hit MTV series Unplugged. However (as was often the case), problems arose within the band, namely between the most well known members of the group, Noel and Liam Gallagher. An argument began between the two brothers, ultimately ending with Liam bowing out of the concert. The idea of postponing, or cancelling the show outright, was discussed, but thankfully, Noel decided to go ahead and sing lead vocals. What some initially thought of as a potential disaster ended up as a brilliant performance from Oasis sans Liam, and for the first time, gave the entire world a good look at what Noel could do.

A musical drama based on Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto.

A masterpiece of bel canto at the Teatro Real in Madrid: conductor José Miguel Pérez-Sierra and director David McVicar take on Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, with Lisette Oropesa in the title role.

Elara, a young violinist, is madly in love with Lucio, a Sicilian student. Their love blossoms, but suddenly Lucio must return to Italy to care for his sick niece. Elara struggles with loneliness and sadness, until she finds new inspiration in a dream.

Recorded at Bray Studios, England before a small audience for the MTV Unplugged series, Eric Clapton performed a live acoustic set which included his successful 1991 single “Tears in Heaven” and an acoustic version of “Layla”. The accompanying album became the most successful live album ever released.

Slow Southern Steel is a film about heavy music in the modern American South, as told by the very people who have created this music during the last two decades. Shot in back alleys, parking lots, and the seedy green rooms of the dirtiest clubs that the Bible Belt failed to snuff out, these diehard musicians discuss their love of music and the south, as well as the difficulties, contradictions, and insanity that haunt every southern artist. There are no illusions here, no apologies, no distractions - only the straight truth as told by those who would know the difference. Narrated by the notorious Dixie Dave Collins (Weedeater, Buzzov-en, Bongzilla), Slow Southern Steel is an authentic and honest and thorough look at one of the most remarkable music communities ever spawned on the continent.

Can the darkest moments of life also lift our souls? Drawing on his own experience in a Siberian prison in the company of misfits, murderers and theives, Dostoevsky was inspired to write his novel Notes from a Dead House, telling his brother at the time: ‘Believe me, there were among them deep, strong, beautiful natures, and it often gave me great joy to find gold under a rough exterior.’ In Janáček’s hands, Dostoevsky’s inspiration and the raw material drawn from an appalling world of incarceration find an even more powerful form of expression in his last opera, From the House of the Dead. Unfettered by conventional story-telling, Janáček wrote his own libretto, freely weaving together a series of stories of everyday prison life and of the fates of individual convicts.