Lloyd Schwartz

The introduction of sound to movies left audiences hungry for "talkies" and paved the way for the early operettas of German-born Jewish film director Ernst Lubitsch. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews a new DVD collection of Lubitsch's early works.

In 1971, critics hailed soprano Patricia Brooks' recital debut as groundbreaking. A new CD release provides a rare document of a performer who demonstrated a rare mix of talents.

Fresh Air's classical music critic takes a look at the career of opera legend Maria Callas — because the recording industry can't seem to resist her. EMI has just released a 70-disc collection called Maria Callas: The Complete Studio Recordings, and there's a new DVD compilation of the soprano's work, called The Eternal Callas.

The Threepenny Opera revolutionized musical theater. Playwright and lyricist Bertolt Brecht, composer Kurt Weill and actress Lotte Lenya created a sensation when their show opened in Berlin in 1928.

Two years later, the great German director G.W. Pabst turned it into a movie, and it's just been released as a Criterion Collection DVD.

Fresh Air's classical music critic reviews several vintage Hollywood musicals that have recently been released on DVD.

Titles include The Pirate, Words and Music, Royal Wedding and The Gang's All Here.

Beverly Sills, the Brooklyn-born opera star with the charming smile and the clean, silvery coloratura, died Monday at the age of 78. Fresh Air's classical music critic pays tribute.

Lloyd Schwartz discusses Ruby Elzy.

A new box-set DVD collection of early musicals starring Hollywood's favorite wholesome blonde includes Romance on the High Seas, My Dream Is Yours, On Moonlight Bay, I'll See You in My Dreams, By the Light of the Silvery Moon and Lucky Me. Lloyd Schwartz has a review.

A new Criterion four-DVD box set — Paul Robeson: Portraits of the Artist features several of Robeson's films and an abundance of documentary material.

Actress Betty Hutton died last weekend at the age of 86. Hutton was a singer and actress who starred in classic musicals and comedies of the 1940s and 1950s.