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I received an email from Dance Books, Ltd. in the UK, announcing that availability for the 2007 release of Nureyev's verison of Swan Lake by the Paris Opera Ballet, with Letestu, Martinez, Paquette as Odette/Odile, Siegfried, Tutor/von Rothbart.

Cost is 21.99 GBP plus shipping. The DVD is listed as uncoded (for worldwide distribution), but NTSC format, which is the standard format in North America. It's an Opus Arte release, which usually means good quality notes and pressings.

I haven't been able to find it on amazon.co.uk or amazon.com yet.

The page for the DVD on the Naxos site has a link to a preview of an excerpt from the last act. Even though I logged in and am a subscriber, I've been having a hard time getting it to stream properly, but that is probably a connectivity issue on my end.

The only "Buy Online" link directly from Naxos is for Europe, through JPC, which has versions in multiple languages, including English.

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Beware : the booklet that comes with the DVD contains mistakes in the names of the dancers featured. Mélanie Hurel was replaced by Dorothée Gilbert in the pas de trois (second variation), and consequently Fanny Fiat took Dorothée Gilbert's part in the Act III Czardas.

I cannot believe no one checked that - these replacements were known at least a week prior to the performances. And the credits at the end of the DVD don't even list the soloists. A shame.

Anyone has seen it ? I'm curious at to what people thought of the POB in Nureyev's Swan Lake.

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I've seen it, and overall I really think this dvd is worth having. The Parisian swans are absolutely beautiful. I really like Nureyev's production which unlike his film with Margot Fonteyn is essentially very traditional. He restores Odette's mime. Act4 is not cut to shreds, and the ending closely follows the original Petipa/Ivanov ending, which I found in the Nijinsky book: the Prince finds the Swan Queen at the lake, but since he broke his word she sails away doomed to remain a swan forever, and the Prince falls dead. I don't know if he was following Soviet tradition or not but the Black Swan pdd is a bit of a pas de trois with Rothbart. But overall, I really liked the production.

As for Letetsu and Martinez, Letetsu is more Ice Queen than Swan Queen. Not for a moment does she seem afraid of anyone. There's very little chemistry between her and Martinez, who in one closeup during the White Swan pdd is actually grinning. But still, the overall classical beauty of their dancing is awe-inspiring. If Lopatkina's Odette is all about beautiful posing, Letetsu's Odette shows off her classical technique. Some warmth and vulnerability would be welcome, though. Her Odile is effective, although she fails to imitate her Odette very effectively. Her fouettes are well-done, with some doubles thrown in, landing in perfect fourth position.

In Act4, there is no sign of forgiveness from Letetsu. Siegfried has betrayed her, and she is the most unforgiving Odette I've ever seen.

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The 74 second continuous interval given on the site shows some impressive geometry from Nureyev, but is fast cut into 17 segments by the editor. Perhaps this will be shown on MTV here. Or was this atypical of the dvd?

When will they ever learn...

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The 74 second continuous interval given on the site shows some impressive geometry from Nureyev, but is fast cut into 17 segments by the editor. Perhaps this will be shown on MTV here. Or was this atypical of the dvd?

When will they ever learn...

...never???

As the case of Ross McGibbon at the BBC amply demonstrates no amound of education and involvement in dance is guaranteed to produce a watchable video. The more cameras they have the more they feel the need to use them.

Perhaps the only possible solution is to have multiple angles in ballet dvds. That way the people who care about the dance will get the dance and everyone else will get their MTV.

Regarding this specific video while it's not one of the worst I'm afraid it's quite annoying. In just the first minute of the act II adagio there are 10 camera changes. There are even some very close shots (hands or pointe) which is really inexcusable. Some times though it not too bad - for example you can see the entrance of the swans from many cameras and the corps is excellent from each and every one of them.

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I've seen it, and overall I really think this dvd is worth having. The Parisian swans are absolutely beautiful. I really like Nureyev's production which unlike his film with Margot Fonteyn is essentially very traditional. He restores Odette's mime. Act4 is not cut to shreds, and the ending closely follows the original Petipa/Ivanov ending, which I found in the Nijinsky book: the Prince finds the Swan Queen at the lake, but since he broke his word she sails away doomed to remain a swan forever, and the Prince falls dead. I don't know if he was following Soviet tradition or not but the Black Swan pdd is a bit of a pas de trois with Rothbart. But overall, I really liked the production.

As for Letetsu and Martinez, Letetsu is more Ice Queen than Swan Queen. Not for a moment does she seem afraid of anyone. There's very little chemistry between her and Martinez, who in one closeup during the White Swan pdd is actually grinning. But still, the overall classical beauty of their dancing is awe-inspiring. If Lopatkina's Odette is all about beautiful posing, Letetsu's Odette shows off her classical technique. Some warmth and vulnerability would be welcome, though. Her Odile is effective, although she fails to imitate her Odette very effectively. Her fouettes are well-done, with some doubles thrown in, landing in perfect fourth position.

In Act4, there is no sign of forgiveness from Letetsu. Siegfried has betrayed her, and she is the most unforgiving Odette I've ever seen.

I've seen it too and I must say that overall it's really good! Agnes Letestu is amazing as Odette, she's one of the most beautiful ballerinas in the world. Her interpretation is rather cold but I think it works well with Nureyev's take on the ballet. Since act 2, 3 and 4 just takes place in the prince's mind, it makes sense.

I simply loved Letestu's Odile. Her smiles behind the Siegfried's back and her glanses, I loved it! That's the best Odile right now!

Jose Martinez as Prince Siegfried is also a joy to watch. Wonderful dancing and a pretty convincing portayal.

I also enjoyed Karl Paquette as von Rothbart.

The only things witch I was a little dissapointed was the Pas de trois in the first act. I thought it could have been a bit faster, though it was really nicely danced. The other thing was the Queen Mother. I think she was just bland, and I feel she has to be a very strong character.

The Paris Opera corp de ballet is just wonderful from every direction. I think the DVD was beautifuly directed and I liked all the different camera angles.

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I'm watching this right now (a birthday gift to myself for making it to the age of 50- ha ha) and am enjoying it immensely. There are a number of wacky camera angles and edits, but some very beautiful ones as well (all the over head shots of the swan corps.) Letestu isn't warm by an means, but I like that and her strength and technique are a marvel.

More later!

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How much is different from the Vienna production? Does Letestu perform Nureyev's Odile variation (as performed by Fonteyn on the 1966 film)? And is the wonderful S-shape of swans in Act IV still there as well? I'm seriously tempted to buy this DVD...

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It's very very different musically. The pas de trois is back, the mime for Odette is restored, Act II has a very brief solo for Siegfried but otherwise follows the "traditional" choreography. In Act III the "traditional" Black Swan pdd music is restored, coda and everything. The finale is different too. Siegfried doesn't drown --he and Odette simply have a painful parting. She returns to the lake, he falls dead, and Rothbart ascends to the heavens, triumphant.

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I finally saw this twice this weekend and overall was impressed. The lighting, sets, and costumes were lovely. The camera angles were very good, especially the wide and overhead shots that allowed me to admire the corps in Act 1 and the swans in Acts 2 and 4; only the extreme closeups of the hands were annoying and, IMO, unnecessary. The Paris Opera Orchestra, conducted by Vello Pahn, was magnificent. Nureyev's choreography was very good; I noticed that some dances were unchanged from his first staging for the Vienna Opera Ballet (the prince's solos in Acts 1 and 2, the dance of the swans and adagio in Act 4), and some others had a mix of old and new steps (act 1 waltz, the finale).

Last time Siegfried died in a flood, this time he perished at the hands of Rothbart...in a dream. Having the story be turned into a dream (I got the impression everything was unreal, even Siegfried's birthday celebration) was very interesting, I'm still not sure just what I think about it. And making Wolfgang and Rothbart a duel role was also puzzling (though not as disturbing as Nureyev's Nutcracker when Clara dreamed her prince was really Drosselmeier :sweatingbullets: ). Did Siegfried just randomly choose his tutor to be his enemy? Or was there more to it?

The dancing: the POB has beautiful beautiful footwork. The corps de ballet was excellent in Act 1 (the waltz gave me goosebumps), and the international dances of Act 3 were impressive (Carborne in Czardas and Ould-Braham and Belingard in Neapolitan stood out). The Parisian swans were gorgeous, very graceful. They tie with the Russians for being my favorite swans. The Act 1 pas de trois was well danced by Emmanuel Thibault, Nolwenn Daniel, and Dorothée Gilber.

Karl Paquette as Wolfgang/Rothbart was very good, dancing and acting. He was a constant lurking, orchestrating presence as he whispered in Siegfried's ear and gave instructions to the corps in the first act and later to Odile at the ball. What was this tutor's motive?

The leading roles are my main issue with this version. Agnès Letestu and José Martinez are pleasing to watch with very good clean dancing. But I could not connect with their characters and there was little chemistry between the two. Letestu's Odette was very cold, more fitting for the Ice Princess Turandot than the vulnerable Swan Queen. She feared nothing: not Siegfried at their first meeting, nor even really Rothbart. In Act 4 she was very unconvincing when she forgave Siegfried. As a dazzling Odile Letestu was more effective, though she hardly imitated Odette to deceive Siegfried. Martinez's acting was disappointing. His facial expressions hardly changed throughout the ballet. In the closeups he looked only slightly interested in the action he observed or took part in. Only at the end of Act 3 when he realized he had betrayed Odette did Martinez, for a moment, appear to be Siegfried instead of playing the role.

Some last thoughts: I always like it when Siegfried is on stage with Odette during her solo in Act 2. I can't place my finger on it, but when he is there watching her, it adds a little something to the whole dance for me. I was pleased that was the case in this version.

In Act 3, Siegfried told his mother he wanted to marry Odile. There were no big smiles, vigorous nodding, or huge sighs of relief that the prince would marry and continue the royal succession. This queen didn't immediately agree. She just stood there looking at him. He knelt and clasped her hands, begging. Still the queen seemed unsure. I'd never seen any queen do that before and found it very intriguing. And when she started asking Siegfried if he loved Odile, she looked far from pleased when Rothbart cut in and asked it.

During the finale close to the end, at one point Rothbart and Siegfried were performing the same steps, at the same time and a moment after the other. It reminded me of the Bolshoi Bessmertnova/Bogatyrev Swan Lake in which Rothbart often mirrored Siegfried's movements.

Overall, this is a Swan Lake worth seeing.

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