In This Moment Beautiful Tragedy

One of the last great representatives of romanticism in Russian classical music, Rachmaninoff was also one of the leading pianists and conductors of his day; few composers have come close to his striking gift for melody and for exploring the expressive possibilities of the piano.
This box contains all the published works written by Rachmaninov, plus some bonus cd's with historical performances by artists like Horowitz and Rachmaninov himself.
The bonus CD-ROM that accompanies this great big box contains an essay by Julian Haylock entitled "The Lonely Romantic," which puts all this rapturously beautiful music into context.

The majestic music and fascinating life of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky are evocatively presented in this Academy Award-nominated film by writer/director Igor Talankin and celebrated composer Dimitri Tiomkin. Tchaikovsky demonstrates the inseparability of the composer's music from his life, as each moment of happiness and tragedy is expressed through the magnificent ballets, operas, symphonies and love songs that flow from his pen. These masterpieces become an integral part of the film, given cinematic expression through Talankin's sure-handed direction and the lavish resources afforded him by Mosfilm Studios.

Six superlative works from the internationally acclaimed Polish filmmaker Krzysztof Kieslowski. Includes Kieslowski's narrative debut, The Scar (1976), a dramatic film about an earnest Communist Party member who's thrown into the center of a complicated political battle. Jerzy Stuhr stars in Camera Buff (1979), a biting political satire about a factory worker's fascination with an 8mm movie camera. The man's curious obsession leads to consequences both comedic and tragic. No End (1985) is a sublime blend of thematic elements both political and spiritual. The film tells the story of a young widow who expresses her love for her dead husband by taking up the cause of striking workers. Blind Chance (1987) is a narrative essay on chance and destiny about a middle-aged man who's allowed to sample three distinct outcomes that hinge upon whether he catches or misses a speeding train. A Short Film About Killing (1988) and A Short Film About Love (1988) are masterful feature-length spin-offs of episodes from The Decalogue. The former won the European Film Academy Award for "Best European Film" in 1988.

India's greatest director, Bengalese Satyajit Ray was recipient of numerous awards in his career. Typical of the styling of cinema he created, he kept them unceremoniously out of view under his bed, aware of the lavish presentation they would make displayed out in the more public rooms of his Calcutta home. This noble air of subtlety is also apparent in his film-making with Jalsaghar (The Music Room) being a perfect example.
The film's major character is Huzur Biswambhar Roy who is a zemindar (the now ancient concept of an aristocratic landlord). He is shown as a tragic figure who is both a victim of his selfish pride and superfluous belief in his own nobility.
Ray has made a profound and magnificent exploration of one man's obsolescence in a modern developing society in 1920's India.

Apocalypse Now is one of the great films. Photography, score, acting and direction are without flaw. Coppola never scaled such heights subsequently. It seems the sheer effort to produce such a work extinguished much of his creative spark. Stravinsky frightened himself with the awesome force of his Sacre Du Printemps, and changed directions after, never to match this achievement; Richard Strauss fled into Neo-romanticism after writing the disturbing Elektra and Salome, unable to equal their innovation and power. But these seminal works (Le Sacre, Salome, Elektra, Apocalypse Now) remain as peaks of Art. Like the great classics of literature, each viewing of this film reveals deeper levels of meaning. It's stupid to even apply an arbitrary rating to this work. It would be like writing, "Brothers Karamazov gets 5 out of 5." It cannot be rated.