The latest Music DVDs are reviewed

VARIOUS*****
Great Stars of Opera - Telecasts from the Bell Telephone Hour 1959-1967
Video Artists International

The singers here are the stuff of legend and, in many instances, these are the best and/or only video reminders of their art. Virtually all the great singers of the period are represented here: Tebaldi, Corelli, Price, Nilsson, De Los Angeles, di Stefano, Sutherland, etc. The major omissions would seem to be Callas, Schwarzkopf and Tito Gobbi. The Bell Telephone Hour was an institution in the early days of American television and had the prestige to attract the leading singers of the day. While the staging is stiff and formal (as was the fashion in that period) there is some glorious singing here. Many of the performers are quite large and dramatically immobile by the standards of today, but by heavens could they sing! Lovers of great singing will find much to enjoy in these scenes from a bygone age. www.vaimusic.com  Colman Morrissey

VARIOUS ****
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey
Momentum

It hasn't gone away and it seems as if it never will; shunned, by and large, by the mainstream and viewed by most people over 35 as a continuing series of aberrant behaviorial systems, metal music thrives, sustained by a neverending stream of new young fans who latch onto its outsider brotherhood/tribal status. Film-maker and metal fan Sam Dunn set out to document all aspects of the metal phenomenon, and does just that with a remarkably insightful movie that lets the fans (from 13-year old former Little Princesses to crusty, tattooed veterans) let rip, and the stars (Ronnie Dio, Bruce Dickinson, Lemmy, Alice Cooper, Slipknot and Dee Snider) talk most eloquently about the topic (well, perhaps not Lemmy). Subjects covered include origins of the music, metal through the decades, culture, offshoots, gender, sexuality and censorship. The DVD comes packaged in a metal case. Of course. www.metalhistory.com Tony Clayton-Lea