This Is It (Sony) wasn’t planned as a memorial to Michael Jackson, but when the singer died this past summer, the rehearsal footage from his comeback concerts slated for London that had already been shot in Los Angeles became the focus of the film. (Of course, that it only came into being after his death caused many to label it a money-grab by Sony.) Be that as it may, the movie—directed by choreographer Kenny Ortega—shows off the enormous talent that Jackson was while in his element onstage: the moves, the music and the charismatic presence are all present in spades. The movie also gives us backstage glimpses, which are especially interesting when Jackson and his cohorts are shown creating new choreographed movements. For the rabid fans, a big draw is definitely the more than an hour’s worth of extra material, including more behind-the-scenes material.

The Met’s newest production of Rossini’s opera La Cenerentola showcases a wonderfully comic portrayal of Cinderella by Latvian mezzo Elina Garanča (Deutsche Grammophon) (lone extra: intermission interviews); Schumann’s lone—and rarely-staged—opera Genoveva (Arthaus Musik Blu-ray), produced in Zurich in 2008, is given an estimable HD treatment; the valuable four-disc set Leonard Bernstein: Omnibus (E1) collects several of the then-New York Philharmonic conductor’s breezy and informative classical-music tutorials that were originally broadcast on television in the 1950s; The Merry Widow (Virgin), Franz Lehar’s most popular operetta, stars elegant French soprano Veronique Gens in an attractive Lyon staging in 2007; I never warmed to Stew’s Tony-winning musical, Passing Strange (IFC), and seeing it again in Spike Lee’s filmed record of its final Broadway performance, I still lament the second-rate lyrics and third-rate music at the service of a fourth-rate story—the exuberant performers are its most notable asset (best extra: cast interviews); the first-rate French soprano Natalie Dessay is the main reason to watch Pelleas et Melisande (Virgin) in a decent new Vienna production of Debussy’s classic opera; Das Rheingold and Die Walkure (Unitel Classics Blu-rays), the first two operas in Wagner’s Ring cycle, are recorded for HD posterity in new productions from Valencia, Spain, conducted by veteran Zubin Mehta (lone extras: behind-the-scenes featurettes); Renée Fleming, the reigning American opera queen, dazzles as Massenet’s tragic heroine Thaïs in this colorful Met Opera staging from last season (Deutsche Grammophon) (lone extra: intermission interviews).