13 replies to this topic

[Natalia]

Another HD ballet performance comes to DVD and Blu-Ray, the 'new' Grigorovich Sleeping Beauty that was telecast 'live in cinemas' last year. Zakharova and Hallberg star:

http://www.amazon.co...keywords=ballet

As with the new Mariinsky Nutcracker (Somova/Shklyarov), Amazon is offering a deep discount for pre-orders ($20.99 instead of $29.99 for the DVD).

[California]

Alas, this has not been released in the U.S. I hope it is!

[Natalia]

California, on 05 October 2012 - 12:04 PM, said:

Alas, this has not been released in the U.S. I hope it is!

My link is to the U.S. Amazon site, California. October 30th release.

[California]

Thank you! A word to the wise: I had tried just searching Amazon.com for: Sleeping Beauty Hallberg and nothing comes up. Maybe it's not yet in their database.

[Natalia]

Did you see the link above? Simply click on the link to take you to the DVD! No dbase needed.

[PeggyR]

No Blu Ray?

California, on 05 October 2012 - 12:20 PM, said:

Thank you! A word to the wise: I had tried just searching Amazon.com for: Sleeping Beauty Hallberg and nothing comes up. Maybe it's not yet in their database.

There weren't any tags, which is probably why you didn't find it.  Amazon allows customers to add tags, so I added these (note that everything seems to default to lower case):
sleeping beauty, hallberg, tchaikovsky, ballet, ballet and dance, zakharova, bolshoi ballet

Anyone with more information could add to the list.

[California]

I just got this -- it's worth getting! Hallberg is wonderful, as is Zakaharova. And such a lavish production. This was taped in performance in November 2011 -- why can't American companies be as generous with their DVD releases?

[abatt]

California, on 16 November 2012 - 01:39 PM, said:

-- why can't American companies be as generous with their DVD releases?

Unions?

[bingham]

abatt, on 16 November 2012 - 01:55 PM, said:

California, on 16 November 2012 - 01:39 PM, said:

-- why can't American companies be as generous with their DVD releases?

Unions?

Why would Unions affect release of videos?

[Helene]

Unless there is a union provision about Hallberg's participation in anything outside ABT, or reference to him as a member of ABT on the jacket cover, there should be no union issues affecting a US release of a Bolshoi video.

[abatt]

Helene, I thought the question at hand was why AMERICAN ballet companies do not release DVDs. Since most orchestras for the major US ballet companies are unionized in the US, whenever a ballet company in the US wants to release a DVD of a performance, it  would have to get concessions from the union regarding compensation with respect to the DVD.  This was an issue that Peter Gelb had to address when he first started the Live In HD opera series.  He had to negotiate with the musicians union regarding their share of compensation for these HD releases.  I assume this issue also arises in the context of ballet companies.

[California]

The entire entertainment industry is unionized, yet somehow Hollywood manages to sell DVDs of recent movies and TV series. I can understand why it's difficult to release videos of work performed before it occurred to anybody that there was a market for VHS/now DVD sales, because they have to go back and renegotiate for the new market. But there's no excuse for new performances now.

Everybody deserves fair compensation and that should be built into the price. But I wouldn't blame the lack of distribution by American companies on unions.

[abatt]

It's not really an issue of "blame" regarding unions.  I'm supportive of unions.   . Even the recent performances of NYCB that were filmed for Great Performances (Peter Martin's R&J a few years ago, the recent film of the Nutcracker w. DelLuz and Fairchild), which  had excellent video quality, were never released on DVD or BluRay.  I would imagine that there  would have been substantial contractual hurdles involved in a DVD release, and so the company did not pursue it.  Does anyone have first hand knowledge regarding why the recent NYCB Nutcracker film never made it to DVD?

[Helene]

Sorry, I misread the question as why a Bolshoi DVD wasn't released in America.

The standard answers to the question of why DVD's don't get recorded are: too expensive to record, they don't make any money and no one wants to distribute them, and too many unions with which to negotiate.  Obviously the first doesn't apply "Great Performances" or "Live from Lincoln Center" programs, but that adds in another entity -- the sponsoring station -- that also should expect compensation to recover their costs.  (Some "Dance in America" programs have been released, but the majority of them, not.).

A couple of companies have their own labels and distribute their own product. Companies like NYCB, ABT, and Dance Theatre of Harlem have managed to negotiate successfully with all of the unions to ensure VHS and /or DVD releases, so this is not impossible, and surely by now, unions and companies understand the importance of this technology and digital downloads in creating a global "brand."