18 replies to this topic

[balletstar811]

Are there any videos of the Paris Opera Ballet?

[Giannina]

Yes!

Six Ballets
Seven Ballets
Nureyev's Cinderella
Nutcracker
Romeo and Juliet

rg might have more.

Giannina

[balletstar811]

Thanks!  Do you know how recent these are?

[rg]

PARIS DANCES DIAGHILEV
so far as i can recall:
nureyev's paris productions of LA BAYADERE, and ROMEO AND JULIET are available on PAL video & DVD i think. perhaps also his SLEEPING BEAUTY.
others will perhaps have better memories and/or records to call on.
Japanese television has shown LE PARC and a bill with: L'ARLESIENNE, SOIR DE FETE, & SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE.

[Giannina]

I think Romeo and Juliet is the newest.  You can check/buy at Amazon; access it at the top right hand corner of this page so that Ballet Alert! gets a small percentage of whatever you buy.

Giannina

[Marc Haegeman]

Most recently, two more DVD's of the POB were released: Nureyev's "Don Quixote" (Dupont/Legris) and the school performance of "Coppelia" (with Lacotte in the role of Coppelius).

There also used to be a tape/Laserdisc of Bourmeister's "Swan Lake" with Pietragalla and Dupond, although I haven't seen it on DVD yet.

As rg mentioned there are (at least out here in Europe) DVDs of Nureyev's versions of "Romeo and Juliet" (Loudières/Legris), "La Bayadère" (Guérin/Hilaire/Platel), "The Sleeping Beauty" (Dupont/Legris). "The Nutcracker" (Maurin/Hilaire) is yet only on VHS.

Haven't seen the "Cinderella" (Guillem) nor the "Paris Dances Diaghilev" and Petit's "Notre-Dame de Paris" in any recent releases.

All in all not so bad for a choice

[su-lian]

Yes, there is on video quite a bit of Nureyev:
-Cinderella with Guillem, Jude, Nureyev, Loudières, Guérin and others (the date is 1989 I think, or not too far from it),
-Romeo and Juliet with Loudières, Legris, Delanoe, Romoli, Averty and others (1995) and it is on DVD,
-La Bayadère with Guérin, Platel, Hilaire, Delanoe and others (1994,+DVD),
-Don Quichotte with Dupont, Legris, Gillot, Bart, Moussin, Osta(2002, +DVD),
-Sleeping Beauty with Dupont, Legris, Gillot, Bart, Pech, Moussin (1999, +DVD),
-Nutcracker with Hilaire, Maurin (1988/1989),
but no Raymonda or Swan Lake by him.
-Swan Lake by Bourmeister with Pietragalla and Dupond also exists, I think, around 1994, but I'm not sure
-the one with Soir de fête and L'Arlésienne is from 1997.
-Paris dances Diaghilev is not that recent, maybe 1992, I really don't know
-Le Parc has been filmed with Hilaire and Guérin in 1999 and got the Grand Prix International de Vidéo Danse, but I don't know if it is sold to the public
-I think Hurlevent has also been filmed last year, but I don't think it's for sale for the moment
-Clavigo has been filmed with Leriche, Osta, Bridard, Gillot in 1999, but once again, I don't think it's available
-Air by Teshigawara and Appartement by Ek has been filmed this year, it's not for sale (probably in a few years)
-I haven't heard of Notre-Dame-de Paris or Symphonie Fantastique on video
-Last year's Spectacle de L'Ecole de Danse (Coppélia) has been filmed and is on video and DVD
That' all I know about and remember for the moment.
Su-lian.

[balletstar811]

The problem is, I try typing in Romeo and Juliet in amazon and nothing too much comes up.  There are several Swan Lake videos, mostly by the Kirov.  Should I try to type in "Paris Opera Ballet"?

[rg]

i suspect the ROMEO & JULIET, BAYADERE and other recently released videos are mostly (or ONLY) available in PAL format for Europe, so our amazon would not likely carry these.
have you tried dancebooks in england? if you are able to watch PAL dvds (or videos) you might find these titles at dancebooks: www.dancebooks.co.uk
each site is different but i should think typing in the title: i.e. ROMEO AND JULIET and limiting your search to videos or dvds should let you know if the site has this tape. etc.
hope this helps.

[balletstar811]

Wow, this site certainly offers many more ballet movies than amazon does!!  What exactly is "PAL" format?  I have never heard of it before (probably because it is European ;) ).  What would hinder me fom being able to watch a DVD in this format?  A movie is a movie, right?

[rg]

alas no, where video/dvd recording is concerned a movie is a format. and you special equipment to play and view these different forms. the US and other places has NTSC vhs, europe has, among other formatS! PAL, it's different and needs a different tv even, i think. so the short of this is, if you don't know what it is, you don't have the capability and thus should not buy anything but NTSC vhs or dvd.
which in the case of paris opera video recordings is limited.
sorry.

[Mel Johnson]

But all TV sets are not created equal.  The European standard scans many more lines per inch than US sets.

[colwill]

On my English TV I can play US NTSC videos, infact I have several posted to me from the USA. Check the specifications in the vidoe handbook where it will also state the systems played. I think that most videos play the two systems.

[balletstar811]

I will have to check, thank you!

[su-lian]

I've just been to the opera, and they don't have anything else that I haven't mentionned, except documentaries with extracts of ballets, rehearsals...but that wouldn't be interesting if you can't understand them (that's why I didn't mention them earlier. However, if you are still interested, I could give you the details).
Good luck sorting out these format problems!
Su-lian.