Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #12704 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-09-20
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Digital Sound, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

Amazon.com
Victor Borge was a master at combining two seemingly disparate elements: comedy and classical music. While the Dane's dapper dignity fit the image of "longhair" music, Borge undercut it with broad physical comedy, clever spoofs, and off-the-cuff wit. A pioneer in the field of live comedy recordings, Borge is nevertheless best appreciated on video, and The Best of Victor Borge Acts One and Two captures a 90-minute concert that includes many of his most famous routines. He chides late-arriving members of the Minneapolis audience ("I come from Copenhagen and was here before you!"), falls off the piano bench, and reads his sheet music upside down. There are a few unwitting guests: a stagehand drafted to turn Borge's pages, soprano Marylyn Mulvey who tries to sing a Verdi aria through Borge's teasing and scolding, and Sahan Arzruni as he and Borge play a two-piano Hungarian rhapsody on a single piano by climbing over and around each other. Borge also presents an opera "written by Mozart but credited to Salieri" ("so you can imagine what kind of opera it is") and proves that he's not merely a clown by skillfully performing a set of waltzes and lullabies. In addition, two of his best-loved sketches are nonmusical: Inflationary Language, in which numbers in language, like the economy, are increased ("I'll go back to Elevenessee.... Three-dleoo."), and Phonetic Punctuation, in which a period is read aloud to sound like fft and an exclamation point fsss fft. Like Anna Russell and PDQ Bach, Victor Borge helped make classical music accessible to a wide audience by showing that it could be laugh-out-loud funny. --David Horiuchi

Customer Reviews

The best of comedy in music with Victor Borge
Many years ago I saw a television special starring Victor Borge. At the time, I had little knowledge of classical music and I did not really find it interesting. Nowadays, however, I listen to classical music all the time and I am able to appreciate the jokes, so I recently watched this video of Borge in concert.

First off, Victor Borge is a very funny man. Not only are his facial expressions and body language humourous, but his witty remarks and plays on words show the true, spirited nature of his character. Secondly, he is a very talented pianist. This is especially apparent during the last 15 to 20 minutes of the video where he plays a series of waltzes and lullabies. It is easy to see why he was a top-notch performer back in the 1930s -- and he still is to this very day.

The live concert on this video contains many of his classic routines. Some of the musical comedies include the Salieri Opera (which I have also seen listed as A Mozart Opera -- same routine), the 2nd Rhapsody by "Fliszt", and his accompaniment to Marylyn Mulvey during an aria. Equally funny are some of his non-musical comedy routines, including Inflationary Language and Phonetic Punctuation [sput]. These acts are even funnier when viewed on video than when I first listened to them on CD. The video has enough routines to keep you in stitches for at least an hour after it's over.

Overall, I highly recommend this video to anyone who has and has not witnessed the comedy in music of Victor Borge. You will not be disappointed by this well-performed one-man show that has delighted viewers/listeners for over four decades.

Great routines, but truncated recording disappointing
Victor Borge is as funny as ever in this 90-minute live performance. He is thoroughly engaged, very lively, and manages to deliver even his most common routines with such energy and humor that you feel as if you're seeing them for the first time.

That said, the recording has some flaws. The first you will notice is that the video quality, though not distracting, is nevertheless poor. It's painfully obvious that this DVD was mde from a VHS cassette. The one that most disappointed me most, though, is that "The Best of Victor Borge Acts I and II" is just that--the best of them, not the whole thing. Seven years ago, I purchased a videocassette of this same concert. Since the tape has gotten worn to the point of being unusable, I purchased this DVD expecting to have all of Acts I and II. Sadly, several routines are fully removed, including Borge's birthday sketches and his performance of the Moonlight Sonata. His performance of "Clear the Saloon" and several other pieces have also been cut from the recording. For this reason, although I don't outright regret the purchase, I'm profoundly disappointed with it.

The Best of Victor Borge
Very good, but I would not say it is the Best of Victor Borge". I recall funnier moments. Also, the captured episodes are a little on the redundant side. But all in all it is very good.

Also, this DVD is 100% identical to "Victor Borge Act One and Two". Very disappointing if you are anticipating a new set of episodes - which one would when ordering a DVD by a new name.