Andre Rieu - Tuscany - Region 1 DVD

The music is basic classical top-40, with an emphasis on opera and a lot of Italian music, including "The Carnival of Venice" and the Grand March from Aida. The performances are full of energy and technically skilled. Rieu conducts, plays his violin, and generously shares the spotlight, notably with soprano Carmen Monarca, mezzo-soprano Carla Malfioletti, and several singing and dancing young ladies who might have stepped out of a Botticelli painting. Visuals include, besides the concert, a charming Tuscan landscape and a ride in a Venetian gondola. --Joe McLellan