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Has anyone else seen this DVD? I just received it and as i started it up, i noticed a couple of quite interesting items in this DVD:

1. It has DD5.1 (which is not unusual), but it has >2< separate settings: 1 for Concert Hall mode and 1 for the "Conductor's position". That's quite interesting.

2. It has a DD2.0 which has John Neumeier's running commentary on the ballet. I've only listened to some of it, but it is quite interesting and a very cool extra to have.

-goro-

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I have the first pressing of the DVD released by EMI Classics. Assuming you have the newer edition, it would seem that both version have the same options. Does your DVD also include Neumeier's English and German introductions? The background on how the ballet came to be is very interesting and basically tells you everything you need to know about the production. If anyone's unfamiliar with the staging I'd suggest watching it first.

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I have the first pressing of the DVD released by EMI Classics. Assuming you have the newer edition, it would seem that both version have the same options. Does your DVD also include Neumeier's English and German introductions? The background on how the ballet came to be is very interesting and basically tells you everything you need to know about the production. If anyone's unfamiliar with the staging I'd suggest watching it first.

Mine is the R0 ZYX edition and it does contain the english and german intros.

thx

-goro-

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I notice that this DVD is available on the American market with the double-decker title Illusionen wie Schwanensee - Illusions like Swan Lake. (I'd thought it was available only in Europe.) Like the European pressing, the box features a generic Swan Lake photograph, which does not come from the Neumeier production.

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I agree with annamicro. It is a revision, which is why Neumeier doesn't call the ballet simply Swan Lake, but unlike Bourne's, it's a sensible and justifiable one. Tchaikovsky and Ludwig II of Bavaria were contemporaries; Ludwig, via Lohengrin, had something of a swan fixation; both Swan Lake and Ludwig's life end with death by drowning; there's the issue of Tchaikovsky's and Ludwig's sexuality, which resulted in aborted attempts at marriage. There is nothing cynical, arch or deliberately sensationalistic in the ballet.

Neumeier leaves Act 2 and the third-act pas de deux intact. He's said that Ivanov's great lakeside scene is the ballet's reason for being, and if anything the version in his production, staged by Alexandra Danilova, is more 'authentic' than most, complete with huntsmen, Odette's mime and a pas de trois in the adagio.

Mind you, the ballet was filmed 25 years after the production was first staged, so while I'm certain that Neumeier's choreography is performed exactly as he would wish, it's difficult to say how closely Act 2 adheres to Danilova's instructions. But as annamicro noted, the dancing of the leads--and, as in most Neumeier ballets, there are a lot of them--is universally excellent.

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Since I last posted the above. Amazon has sent me 2 copies of the DVD--and both did not play on my equipment. I tried the 2nd copy on my computer and it played. Both DVDs were ZYX. The first DVD had a label that s aid 'disc made in Germany'---when I returned it; it was replaced with one that had a label on the front with a large 0. I have watched the first two acts and really enjoying Neumeier's concept--but it needs the large screen TV. I will reluctantly return it (but only after watching the rest of the DVD)) :excl:

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Since I last posted the above. Amazon has sent me 2 copies of the DVD--and both did not play on my equipment. I tried the 2nd copy on my computer and it played. Both DVDs were ZYX. The first DVD had a label that s aid 'disc made in Germany'---when I returned it; it was replaced with one that had a label on the front with a large 0. I have watched the first two acts and really enjoying Neumeier's concept--but it needs the large screen TV. I will reluctantly return it (but only after watching the rest of the DVD)) :excl:

Then I suspect that like the original release, this is a "region-free" PAL disc. Most performing arts DVDs these days are region-free NTSC discs so that they can be viewed readily in North America and Japan, as well as Europe. But in this case, I guess you need an all-region player or TV, a computer monitor, or a portable DVD player. which would have a really small screen! It's a pity this release hasn't been properly adapted to the international market.

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Thanks for your reply. The whole episode gets more puzzling---Amazon lists the DVD as NTSC all regions. However,on the box there is no mention of NTSC.

As to Danilova's influence on Act 2. I believe it is still there. At the time Danilova was performing Swan Lake the Ballet Russe production was the only one I saw with Benno helping out in the adagio. Ballet Theatre, at the time, also had a few huntsmen open the 2nd act.

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After reading the positive comments on this thread about Neumeier's production and concept, I ordered a copy of the DVD from Amazon. It's a fascinating adaptation that will reward re-watching, I think. And what wonderful dancers and actors the Hamburg Ballet are!

I have a couple questions that Ballet Talkers will probably be able to answer. In Act II, during the corps' Tempo di Valse, I noticed some unusual arm movements, like brushing away tears, similar to Odette's mime. I'd never seen that movement before from the corps de ballet, or at least hadn't noticed it, so I pulled out my Kirov video with Makhalina, and the recent DVDS of the Paris Opera, Royal Ballet, and Royal Swedish Ballet, and while the corps did a kind of variation of the movement- pulling their arms down through fifth, it's not quite the same. Is the tear-gesture one of Danilova's contriubtions? It's very poignant and makes the swan maidens' plight more tangible somehow.

My next question is about music. Neumeier interpolates two pieces of Tchaikovsky's music into his version to create pas de deux for the King and Princess Natalia. In Act I, I'm pretty sure it's Souvenir d'un lieu cher for violin and orchestra. But what is the music for the pas de deux in Act IV, after the King has been locked up and Natalia makes one last attempt to get through to him?

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Neumeier interpolates two pieces of Tchaikovsky's music into his version to create pas de deux for the King and Princess Natalia. In Act I, I'm pretty sure it's Souvenir d'un lieu cher for violin and orchestra. But what is the music for the pas de deux in Act IV, after the King has been locked up and Natalia makes one last attempt to get through to him?

Like you, I don't recognize the second piece. I dug out my old programs for the ballet (which are in German and French, so it took me a while to skim through them), and the piece isn't identified there either. But you're right that the first pas de deux is set to the "Méditation" from Souvenir d'un lieu cher.

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