16 replies to this topic

[sandik]

I got a notice today from Amazon UK about a collection from the POB -- it looks like they've bundled some current DVDs, but I was wondering whose Romeo and Juliet they were performing.  I can't find much information on the Amazon site (I have a feeling I just don't know where to click...)

http://www.amazon.co...28310101_snp_dp

[Helene]

If this is a (much) cheaper package of pre-existing recordings, all three full-lengths are attributed to Nureyev.  The "Romeo and Juliet from 2000 stars Monique Lourdieres and Manuel Legris\.
http://www.amazon.co...t/dp/B00004RJEE

The Bayadere from 1999 features Isabelle Guerain, Laurent Hilaire, and Elisabeth Platel:
http://www.amazon.co...26695055&sr=1-1

The Sleeping Beauty from 2001 features Aurelie Dupont and Manuel Legris.  Legris gets first billing, even though she has the title role, although Nureyev usually pumped up the male roles in his versions:
http://www.amazon.co...26695138&sr=1-1

Picasso and Dance is Le Train Bleu and Le Tricorne.  No mention of Nureyev anywhere I can find.

[MakarovaFan]

It's very frustrating that Raymonda remains unreleased.

[Birdsall]

MakarovaFan, on 16 January 2012 - 03:25 AM, said:

It's very frustrating that Raymonda remains unreleased.

I totally agree! Very frustrating! Must be some sort of problem! Maybe they are waiting till 2013 (20 year anniversary of his death) to release it. That's the only thing I can think of why it has not been released yet.

[MakarovaFan]

Bart Birdsall, on 16 January 2012 - 11:48 AM, said:

MakarovaFan, on 16 January 2012 - 03:25 AM, said:

It's very frustrating that Raymonda remains unreleased.

I totally agree! Very frustrating! Must be some sort of problem! Maybe they are waiting till 2013 (20 year anniversary of his death) to release it. That's the only thing I can think of why it has not been released yet.

I hope you're right.  Have any complete performances been filmed?  I seem to recall that a year ago Marie Agnes Gillot starred in a tv broadcast of Raymonda in Europe.  She's far from my first choice to dance Ray, but I'll take anything at this point.

[Birdsall]

MakarovaFan, on 16 January 2012 - 12:01 PM, said:

Bart Birdsall, on 16 January 2012 - 11:48 AM, said:

MakarovaFan, on 16 January 2012 - 03:25 AM, said:

It's very frustrating that Raymonda remains unreleased.

I totally agree! Very frustrating! Must be some sort of problem! Maybe they are waiting till 2013 (20 year anniversary of his death) to release it. That's the only thing I can think of why it has not been released yet.

I hope you're right, Bart.  Have any complete performances been filmed?  I seem to recall that a year ago Marie Agnes Gillot starred in a tv broadcast of Raymonda in Europe.  She's far from my first choice to dance Ray, but I'll take anything at this point.

Yes, I feel the same way. From the Alexandrova YouTube clips either you or someone posted to this forum, I would rather have her in the dvd, but if you google Gillot, in Wikipedia her Raymonda dvd is listed as "in preparation" (in French). Apparently, they were planning to release the telecast as a dvd, but for some reason they have not yet. I have seen her clips and don't think she was bad at all, but her presence is not really what most people have in mind for a Raymonda. I would just like to see a commercial version (clear) of Nureyev's Raymonda come out for compare and contrast with other versions, since his is a famous production.

Maybe they were never planning to release it on dvd, and it is just our wishful thinking, although, like I said, in the Wikipedia entry for Gillot it is listed as a forthcoming dvd. Same with Dorothee Gilbert's fan page. They have said things like, "No word on the Raymonda dvd yet...." Dorothee Gilbert is amazing as Raymonda's friend Henriette (or Clemence.....not sure) judging from YouTube clips. I actually wish SHE were the Raymonda, although I love her Henriette variations so much that I want to have a commercial version of that.

It does seem strange how some things come out on dvd 6 months after they happen and other things do not come out for years. I wonder why.

[Birdsall]

Is this lovely or what????

[cinnamonswirl]

Gilbert is wonderful as Henriette. (Emilie Cozette danced Clémence in the recording.) I especially like Gilberts third act variation - the one with the Italian changements. Gilbert did dance Raymonda during the same run, and got the best reviews, but she was the newest étoile at the time and evidently they wanted the recording to go to someone more senior. Here is Gilbert's Claque variation, danced at a gala in Vietnam this fall:


As for the DVD release, it was originally announced the the Robbins bill, taped the season before Raymonda, wouldn't be released on DVD (despite being broadcast on TV). But after several years in limbo, Bel Air Classiques brought it out this past summer. So perhaps there's hope for the Gillot Raymonda yet.

[Birdsall]

Thanks, Cinnamonswirl!!! I think Gilbert's balance is amazing in whatever she does, but her claps in this version are like sleepy claps! Like she's so tired she doesn't have the energy to clap! LOL I've never seen the move of putting the hand to the forehead like Raymonda has a headache or is swooning around the 1:19 mark (she does this 3 times). I'm not talking about putting the hand to the back of the head and tilting back like you think you're all that. That is part of this variation, but I have never seen the hand placed on the forehead! This is like Raymonda jet lagged! LOL I normally love Gilbert but I find these little details unusual in her interpretation.

[Helene]

Here are Gilbert's three variations as Henriette:

Gilbert as Henriette, Act I Variation

Gilbert as Henriette, Act II Variation

Gilbert as Henriette, Act III Variation

I wish this would be released:
Pontois, Raymonda Act III Variation

[cinnamonswirl]

She does have sleepy claps! She also lacks the sharpness of attack that Pontois and Guillem had (and Gillot to a lesser extent), which is what makes the variation so interesting -- the contrast between the soft, floating bourrées and the crisp, snapping hand movements. This was a one-off gala performance and since I wasn't lucky enough to see her as Raymonda, I don't know if it is representative of what her performances were like during the full POB run when she would have be getting coaching and notes.

As for the "headache" hand movements, Nureyev must have choreographed them because Pontois, Guillem and Gillot do them too. They don't leave their left hands up to the forehead for quite as long as Gilbert, so the movement is more transitory and less "J'ai mal à la tête."

There are so many great Raymondas who deserve DVD releases - Pontois, Guillem, Lopatkina.

[Helene]

My favorite from the "Dancer's Dream -- Raymonda" DVD is Claude de Vulpian, she of the exquisite feet.  Alas, I can find no clips of her Raymonda on YouTube, although there's a Le Spectre de la rose with Manuel Legris and in a work called L'ephemere.

[sandik]

Helene, on 15 January 2012 - 10:36 PM, said:

If this is a (much) cheaper package of pre-existing recordings, all three full-lengths are attributed to Nureyev.  The "Romeo and Juliet from 2000 stars Monique Lourdieres and Manuel Legris\.
http://www.amazon.co...t/dp/B00004RJEE

The Bayadere from 1999 features Isabelle Guerain, Laurent Hilaire, and Elisabeth Platel:
http://www.amazon.co...26695055&sr=1-1

The Sleeping Beauty from 2001 features Aurelie Dupont and Manuel Legris.  Legris gets first billing, even though she has the title role, although Nureyev usually pumped up the male roles in his versions:
http://www.amazon.co...26695138&sr=1-1

Picasso and Dance is Le Train Bleu and Le Tricorne.  No mention of Nureyev anywhere I can find.

Thank you for the list -- the Picasso DVD I have, but the others I don't -- this looks like an excellent price.

[Birdsall]

Helene, on 16 January 2012 - 08:30 PM, said:

Here are Gilbert's three variations as Henriette:

Gilbert as Henriette, Act I Variation

Gilbert as Henriette, Act II Variation

Gilbert as Henriette, Act III Variation

I wish this would be released:
Pontois, Raymonda Act III Variation

OH, YES!!! No, that (Pontois) is how a Raymonda commands the clapping Hungarian variation! Pontois'  persona is all command! Gorgeous!

I love Gilbert as Henriette, but am a surprised I don't like her Raymonda. Maybe as she dances it more often she will iron out the interpretation.

[Birdsall]

cinnamonswirl, on 16 January 2012 - 08:40 PM, said:

She does have sleepy claps! She also lacks the sharpness of attack that Pontois and Guillem had (and Gillot to a lesser extent), which is what makes the variation so interesting -- the contrast between the soft, floating bourrées and the crisp, snapping hand movements. This was a one-off gala performance and since I wasn't lucky enough to see her as Raymonda, I don't know if it is representative of what her performances were like during the full POB run when she would have be getting coaching and notes.

As for the "headache" hand movements, Nureyev must have choreographed them because Pontois, Guillem and Gillot do them too. They don't leave their left hands up to the forehead for quite as long as Gilbert, so the movement is more transitory and less "J'ai mal à la tête."

There are so many great Raymondas who deserve DVD releases - Pontois, Guillem, Lopatkina.

I love Lopatkina's Raymonda. I think she is the reason I fell in love with the ballet Raymonda. But Helene is right about Pointois. I think she is amazing in the clapping variation.