Pavarotti

The plots of the great operas haven't stood the test of time, especially those of the Italian masters. Most of them are off-the-charts sexist and racist, and even if you overlook those things, the stories are just plain ridiculous. So, why does classical opera still appeal?

Because the arias are absolutely amazing. They swell with passion, they stir our senses and they break our hearts. They rouse us to an ovation, and they bring us to tears, even when we have no idea what the characters are singing about – probably mostly when we have no idea what the characters are singing about.

In the late part of the 20th Century, Luciano Pavarotti became a opera pop star and a platinum record seller, topping the charts and appearing on the best selling classical album of all time, and he did it by taking opera out of the opera house an into the stadium, away from the elite and down to the people.

Beloved director Ron Howard weaves remarkable performances with never-before-seen footage from the Pavarotti family estate and archives – adding personal interviews with the great tenor's loved ones, his ex-lovers, his ex-wife and the children he humiliated in the tabloids, as well as his celebrity friends, like Bono.

This film won't blow you away with its tell-all celebrity story, its revealing historic information or compelling character insights. Pavarotti was just a man who achieved tremendous fame, had a few affairs and became a great philanthropist. But it may surprise you how one man took something that has become esoteric and made it mainstream.

The doc culminates in Pavarotti singing the aria "Nessun dorma" from Puccini's "Turandot." The actual opera features a cast full of Asian stereotypes, with names like Pang, Ping and Pong, and it tells the story of a man who falls in love with a sadistic princess and then tries to force her to marry him.

On the surface it's absurd. But in Pavarotti's hands, this song is transcendent – the cry of an obsessed man hopelessly crying "I will win." It's music so pathological, so broken that it becomes timeless.

This Blu-ray combo pack includes three very short features, each about 2 minutes long. They highlight his friends, his stage presence and the director's take on the film.

"Pavarotti"
Blu-ray Combo Pack $19.97
www.cbsfilms.com/