The American Ballet Theater version of the Tchaikovsky classic, a 1977 studio rendition directed by Tony Charmoli, has become a holiday perennial on PBS stations and home video. It's a favorite of parents who want to give their kids the gift of culture--and with good reason. There's a loose fairy tale plot to keep dance neophytes interested, and Boris Aronson's eye-candy production design is a ...

Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Starring: Mikhail Baryshnikov, Gelsey Kirkland, Alexander Minz, Victor Barbee, Warren Conover
Directed By: Tony Charmoli

This is the most popular opera production so far on DVD, surpassing even Franco Zeffirelli's lavish, symbol-laden La Traviata. It is an exciting Carmen, with a young-looking Placido Domingo in top form for a role he has sung hundreds of times. For Julia Migenes, it was her first performance in a role she would have trouble performing in an opera house. Her voice does not fit ...

Manufacturer: RCA/Columbia
Starring: Julia Migenes, Plácido Domingo, Ruggero Raimondi, Faith Esham, François Le Roux
Directed By: Francesco Rosi

Manufacturer: MGM (Warner)
Starring: Jeanette MacDonald, Nelson Eddy, Mary Boland, George Zucco, H.B. Warner
Directed By: Robert Z. Leonard, W.S. Van Dyke

Manufacturer: MGM (Warner)
Starring: Mario Lanza, Ann Blyth, Dorothy Kirsten, Jarmila Novotna, Richard Hageman
Directed By: Richard Thorpe

Manufacturer: Kultur Video
Starring: Teresa Stratas, Robert Sapolsky, Giorgio Tozzi, Willard White, Nico Castel
Directed By: Arnin Brown

Manufacturer: MGM (Warner)
Starring: Luise Rainer, Fernand Gravey, Miliza Korjus, Hugh Herbert, Lionel Atwill
Directed By: Victor Fleming, Josef von Sternberg, Julien Duvivier

Manufacturer: Mca
Starring: Teresa Stratas, Plácido Domingo, Cornell MacNeil, Allan Monk, Pina Cei
Directed By: Franco Zeffirelli

The first recording of Puccini's La Bohème to be issued on DVD is the best visual treatment of this opera that anyone's ever likely to see. Director Franco Zeffirelli always seems to have television in mind when he directs an opera production, and his orientation toward visual impact and acting skills comes across effectively. Teresa Stratas (Zeffirelli's soprano of choice in one ...

Manufacturer: Paramount
Starring: Richard Stilwell, Jose Carreras, James Morris, Allan Monk, Italo Tajo

Manufacturer: Atlantic / Wea
Starring: Josep Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Zubin Mehta, Lalo Schifrin
Directed By: William Cosel

Manufacturer: Miramar
Starring: Jean-Marie Messier, Franco Corelli, Nicolai Gedda, Les Petits Chanteurs, Susanne Danco