Marc Haegeman

Canbelto, we are only considering the Kirov Ballet here, and the way the company dances these ballets is different from others. But no need to get offended, my point is that if you see only one cast, you can hardly be expected to know what others might make of it. A fine looking performance might suddenly become less interesting when compared with other casts. And that’s basically what’s frustrating about this release. Other casts revealed a whole lot more of the roles than the ones now featured on this DVD. Natalia gave some examples. I could add Asylmuratova, Lopatkina or Nioradze as Zobeide, and Tsiskaridze as the Golden Slave, or again Asylmuratova or Nioradze in the Firebird. It’s great to have the Mariinsky on film finally after ten years, but it’s nonetheless a shame we’re stuck with mainly the wrong people.

What other Kirov dancers have you seen in these productions, canbelto?

The (mis)casting on this DVD (as Natalia also pointed out) becomes an issue as soon as you have seen several different performers in these Kirov productions before. When this is your first glance of these productions, it won't matter that much.

BalletNut, this programme was filmed in Paris on a tour in 2002 and one gets well filmed and well-sounding (even though it is Mikhail Agrest who conducts) performances of the Fokine ballets, even if I find most of them miscast. Also "Scheherazade" is not complete - the whole orchestral ouverture has sadly been edited... But since there is not much choice when it comes to recent Kirov Ballet on dvd, you might still consider buying it.

You can also copy the music of that lovely VHS tape, or rip it from the DVD.

Just to mention a few Russians: Maria Alexandrova from the Bolshoi, Yuri Soloviev, Igor Zelensky, Andrei Batalov from the Kirov.

Many thanks for those impressions Herman! It's sad to hear that the Mariinsky still hasn't been able to come to terms with "Les Noces". When they first performed it in 2003 everybody thought it was underrehearsed then and the only plaudits went to the musicians. Doesn't sound that things have changed much. When you mention that something seems badly wrong with this company, I guess we need to pull out the usual excuses: too hectic touring schedule, not enough rehearsal time, the blind quest for the "new" without the proper time to digest it all etc.

I reviewed it some weeks ago for Danceview Times, Sandik: A tribute to Diaghilev...

Funny thing is that in the Kirov version some Firebirds re-appear at the end, while others just don't. It really depends of the cast. When you talk about "non-kinetic", sandik, you really ought to see the new version of the Dutch National Ballet. I'm sure glebb will also share us his impressions about that one. Don't miss it glebb!

Sorry to hear about this poor non-spectacular show. Sadly, and not that it makes it less worse, but this kind of misconceived, slapdash gala programs have been most commonplace with the Kirov in the last ten years of my ballet-going here in Europe. Apparently the name is supposed to justify everything.

She isn't, cygnet. Slight injury. Tough luck.

It is official, Mireille, in the way that the information was given by the Mariinsky press office. Which is not to say, of course, that it won't change anymore

They usually plant the foot first and then point as to finish the movement. The foot is pointed in the final position. And yes, ideally, the fifth positions in the promenades are still there.

Well, Natalia, it depends of what you call "keeping in the repertoire". The POB hasn't danced the Bourmeister "Swan Lake" in the last 12 or 13 years.

atm711, the Paris Opera still dances Nureyev's version of "Swan Lake", not Patrice Bart's. As far as I know the latter is only danced by the Staatsoper in Berlin.

G.O.K. :rolleyes:

Natalia, it's supposed to be a new ballet by David Dawson. I posted more details on http://www.for-ballet-lovers-only.com/Burning3.html

Just found on the Net, the official website of Svetlana Zakharova. Well, it was about time . Happy New Year!

This concurs with the information on Pavlenko's website. She is bound to dance La Valse. Daria Pavlenko

Baden Baden is a smallish city in Southern Germany, on the border of the Black Forest, famous for its healthy waters and its rich people. Your question is not dumb, Joseph. The Mariinsky has been guesting there for several years. The local theatre (the Festspielhaus, in fact a rebuilding of the old railway station) is one of the biggest venues in all western Europe. Baden Baden

On December 17th the apartment of Russian ballet legend Galina Ulanova in Moscow will be opened as a museum. Among the collections there is a library with some 2.400 books and an archive of over 10.000 documents. Some more info on Galina Ulanova Foundation.

As Kirov watchers should know, what's being announced in big or small fonts on cast lists of foreign theatres doesn't necessarily reflect what's actually going to happen. No matter what the Kennedy Center might have been saying, there was never any question that Pavlenko would be dancing in Washington.... but who knows, everything is still possible....

nysusan, Daria Pavlenko is busy in St. Petersburg. Until further notice she is bound to dance her debut in "Manon" on January 9 (which was in fact already supposed to happen a couple of months back, but just didn't because of lack of rehearsal time). She never danced "Cinderella", only rehearsed it. For the remainder, who will dance what and when... well, keep in mind, until the curtain raises, you're never sure .

Atm711, unfortunately, there is no recording of the original Minkus score of "La Bayadère" yet. The autograph score was recently discovered by the Mariinsky (and they use it in their new/old version), but so far no commercial recording exists and I haven’t heard of any plans in that direction. As for the Spassov "Bayadère/Paquita" CD you mention, I find it preferable because he doesn’t use one of these fearful re-orchestrations. His text is much closer to the ones used by the Russian companies Mariinsky and Bolshoi, with a charming, but rather simple and straightforward orchestration. In spite of that this CD doesn’t really do it for me. The problem lies mainly with Spassov whose sluggish conducting makes the music sound extremely dull (especially the fragments from "La Bayadère") – which I don’t think it is. The music falls apart with lapses of tension in almost every section and I don’t think this CD does Minkus any favors. The digital recording isn’t much to write home about either – one of those typical brittle, metallic sounding things with very little definition and color. Considering the rarity of Minkus on disc, however, this CD could be a start to explore some of his most famous music, but a lot better can be done.

Dale, the pas de trois on the POB-DVD is danced by Mélanie Hurel (1st variation), Nolwenn Daniel and Emmanuel Thibault.