Sleeping Beauty - Tchaikovsky [1989]

Customer Reviews:

A very enjoyable version by Grigorovich.......2006-10-01

Choreography by Grigorovich is traditional and classical, and is very pleasing. However, it is rather different from the versions currently performed by various leading ballet companies such as the Kirov Ballet and the Royal Ballet.

Staging is also traditional and beautiful. Nina Semizorova (Aurora), a slim and attractive ballerina, shows delicacy and lightness required for the role. She is fleet in her footwork.

Dancing by Alexei Fadeyechev (Prince Desire), a danseur noble, has rare nobility as well as technical command. The supporting soloists, notably Nina Speranskaya (Lilac Fairy), and the corps de ballet show impeccable Russian training. The camera work is very good.

Excellent traditional Sleeping Beauty by the Bolshoi.......2006-04-15

This Sleeping Beauty was filmed at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow in 1989 and is a re-release of the Japan-produced "Bolshoi at the Bolshoi" series previously available on VHS. The films were shot without an audience, but are presented with overdubbed applause.

The Bolshoi dances Tchaikovsky's second and grandest ballet in the traditional staging completed in 1973 by then director Yuri Grigorovich, after Marius Petipa and with sets by Simon Virsaladze. At the time Grigorovich's staging was much closer to the original Petipa than the Kirov's own production (available on DVD with Kolpakova/Berezhnoi or Lezhnina/Ruzimatov). This production is still performed by the Bolshoi today.

The DVD features some of the foremost principal dancers of the day: Nina Semizorova as Princess Aurora, Nina Speranskaya as the Lilac Fairy, and Alexei Fadeyechev - easily one of the finest male dancers of the Moscow School from the 1980-90's and a danseur noble if ever there was one - as Prince Désiré. Yuri Vetrov appears as Carabosse, while Maria Bylova and Alexander Vetrov dance the Blue Bird pas de deux. The Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra is conducted by Alexander Kopylov.

As with all titles in this series, this disc is obviously a video transfer, leaving some of the movements blurred. The sound is offered in simple stereo.

The DVD release doesn't include any bonus material, but comes with a handsome three-language 20-page booklet, introducing and situating the work and the artists. An effort like this needs to saluted, however it will take a bit more accuracy than the Arthaus Musik writers are able to provide at this stage. For example, Kirov dancer, choreographer and artistic director Konstantin Sergeyev is not a son of Nikolai Sergeyev, as the booklet claims. Konstantin Sergeyev staged The Sleeping Beauty for the Kirov Ballet in 1952, but it is of course Nikolai, not Konstantin, who staged it for London's Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1939 and 1946.

Yet, to see the outstanding dancers of the Bolshoi, ballet enthusiasts needn't hesitate.

Stunning.......2006-01-28

The Sleeping Beauty was considered by Tchaikovsky to be one of his most important works. Both musically and theatrically it is one of his best compositions. This performance by the Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra creates a world of timeless beauty and is a masterpiece. The dancing, the choreography, the scenery, the music and entire production is superb.

The Bolshoi Ballet - Romeo & Juliet/Nutcracker/Sleeping Beauty/Swan Lake [1989]

Average customer rating:

video transfers will never be perfect
A wasted opportunity

The Bolshoi Ballet - Romeo & Juliet/Nutcracker/Sleeping Beauty/Swan Lake [1989]
Tchaikovsky , and Bolshoi Ballet
Manufacturer: Arthaus Musik
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Ballet & Dance | Musicals & Classical | Categories | DVD | Video

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ASIN: B000PA9NX0
Release Date: 2007-05-07

Customer Reviews:

video transfers will never be perfect.......2008-02-01

Watching these DVDs gave me a headache. Both from the crackly soundtrack, which frequently made jarring screeches, and my eyes straining to focus on the full-stage shots. No matter how hard I stared at the screen, the dancers were still blurred, and it was difficult to see the subtleties of the performance. On the plus side, from what I could see, they are all well performed.

There are far better ballet DVDs out there. I think it is unfair to sell this product without making it very clear that these are old video transfers.

A wasted opportunity.......2007-06-18

This set contains excellent "5 star" performances of four of the most popular ballets but I can only award it three stars as the picture quality is far from perfect and the way in which the presentation is only worth 1 star. This is because the set is just a box containing separately packaged DVDs just as they were released previously and so there is a lot of wasted materials. Each disc comes with its own separate original booklet none of which contain a synopsis of the story of the ballet and as there no captions on the screen either the novice viewer is left entirely in the dark as to what the plot is or what the various scenes are supposed to represent. Even the not so novice viewer as myself will find that the way in which the scenes flow can be very different from that in UK versions of the ballets and there are extra (rather unfathomable) characters . To be fair there are a lot of tracks on all discs and these are listed in the booklets which also contain articles which will be of most value to those with a fair degree of prior knowledge. However, in the case of Swan Lake, the track details is just the technical name for the dance so it is in French only. As this set is NOT being released at bargain price what I would have expected would be for it to be issued in a new slim line box with one meaty booklet with full details of the stories - and something about the Bolshoi at the end of the Soviet period when the ballets were filmed.

Although filmed in 1989 the picture quality if reminiscent of something from 10 years earlier. There are many instances of blurred images (which I thought could be improved given current technologies) and a lot of difficulty in seeing what is going on in the background -presumably caused by very dark stage lighting being used but again this can be corrected now. To be fair the colours are generally good and for me the balance between close ups and the wider scene is about right - although bear in mind that the Bolshoi stage is vast so you are really going to need a big screen tv.

Another very frustrating aspect of the set is the sound - in all of these works the orchestra pulls out all the stops and in the case of Sleeping Beauty give the most passionate account of the score I have ever heard. Yet with the exception of The Nutcracker the sound is only in PCM. Other companies seem to be able to release recordings from this period and even earlier with a choice of sound formats so why not Arthaus?

It is a great shame that Arthaus has not released these recordings in a way which befits their status as important cultural artefacts. Such a collector's item showing how things were done at the end of the Soviet era could have been a best seller. As it is I can only hope that the copyright will be sold onto another firm who will make more of these treasures.

Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty -- Kirov Ballet [1989]

Average customer rating:

Mixed
Larissa

Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty -- Kirov Ballet [1989]
Starring: Innokenti Smoktunovsky , Antonina Shuranova , Kirill Lavrov , Vladislav Strzhelchik , and Evgeni Leonov
Director: Igor Talankin
Manufacturer: Arthaus Musik
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00008JL75
Release Date: 2003-03-31

Customer Reviews:

Mixed.......2006-11-16

On the good side this is an excellent classical version of Sleeping Beauty and Larrisa Lezhina ia an excellent youthful Princess as she still is youthfull looking and a world class ballerina. (She positively dazles in the pas de deux before the Waltz of the Snow Flakes in the Nutcracker, my favourite pas de deux of all ballet I have ever seen. Available from Amazon as well). However this version is spoiled by the bad camera work which has too many distant shots for my liking and spoils the enjoyment of it. I feel the director did not make as much effort as he should have. Thats putting it nicely. I do not watch it as much as I would for this reason.

Larissa.......2004-02-17

What can I say? Larissa, is such a beautiful dancer. She truly shines on stage. I'm So Happy she's now with the Dutch National Ballet.

Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty (The Kirov Ballet) [1989] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

Average customer rating:

Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty (The Kirov Ballet) [1989] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
Starring: Innokenti Smoktunovsky , Antonina Shuranova , Kirill Lavrov , Vladislav Strzhelchik , and Evgeni Leonov
Director: Igor Talankin
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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