MakarovaFan

Is the Kirov Sleeping Beauty with Asylmuratova/Zaklinsky in the lead roles available on video?

Thanks in advance!

I've bought DVDs from him several times and he's a legitimate seller. I've been very happy with what I've purchased.

Thanks Solnishka!

Have any of our Ballet Talk members ever purchased DVD's from a site called www.russianballetvidoes.com? Last week someone posted here a segment of "Ivan the Terrible" starring Vladimir Vasiliev from that site which was fantastic. I've reached out to the owner of the site to purchase a copy but he hasn't responded yet. I just want to make sure I'm dealing with a reputable DVD seller.

Thanks in advance!

See NY Times link below:

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/paris-opera-ballet-is-headed-to-new-york/?ref=arts

I'm looking forward to Giselle and the mixed bill. Pina Bausch, not so much.

Too bad they're not doing Nureyev's Raymonda.

The Bolshoi DVD is one of my favorite ones. Bessmertnova has that "grandeur" that makes her completely believable in her princess role, and her footwork is precious. The only problem with her is that, just as with many other cases of star ballerinas, she totally opaques younger Vasyuchenko. On the other hand, Taranda is just MAGNIFICENT as Abderrakhan.

I wholeheartedly agree with all you say, Cristian. My favorite Bessmertnova moment is her exquisite interpretation of the scarf solo. Great chemistry with Taranda too.

My husband and I plan to visit St. Petersburg in 2014 or 2015. What time of year should we go to see the Maryiinsky Ballet season and how do we secure tickets?

Thank you, innopac. Has any dancer ever risen from a throne with such dramatic impact? Or climbed back to the throne, at the end of his solo, so monstrously. "Mesmerising" is an overused word -- but it applies to Vasiliev in this.

The Bolshoi brought this to the Met in the early 1970s. Vasiliev, whom I saw at that time, was actually second cast at the Met. That little bit of unbelievable information is something I've never forgotten, though I don't recall the name of the dancer who got the NYC premiere.

Many of us in the theater had seen or at least knew about the Eisenstein film. In ballet form, the story was overpowering -- not as dramatically accessible as the simpler and less detailed Spartacus -- but filled with images and feelings that I could not shake for days afterwards. The clip brought much of those old feelings back.

In an earlier post, Mel makes a wonderful point:

Ivan is a peculiar figure in Russian history, being regarded with both love and dread. He was an anti-hero and a hero simultaneously.

Vasiliev, as I recall, was able to exptress this complexity and turn the tortured contradictions into something believable and moving. I wonder how many other dancers would be able to do this.

bart, I think the first cast of "Ivan" at the Met in the '70's would have been Yuri Vladimirov in the title role. To the best of my knowledge the Vasiliev-Grigorovich relationship was deteriorating at that time so Grigorovich made "Ivan" on 2 principal dancers, Vasiliev and Vladimirov. Perhaps another Ballet Talk member can clarify this.

OMG, I can't believe this footage exists!! Since becoming a fanatical Vasiliev fan 10+ years ago I've prayed that film of him dancing Ivan would be found buried in the Bolshoi archives or somewhere else. Now my prayers are answered

Now if only the complete ballet could be found with VV.

innopac for posting this.

Osipova & Hallberg in Romeo

Osipova and Cojacaru in Bayadere (Nikiya)

Cojacaru in Raymonda -- she would be glorious!

Regarding Friday night's Part/Stearns Swan Lake I very much agree with the earlier poster who wrote: "I fail to see why a Swan Queen of her stature has to have a novice Prince."

I look forward to seeing Veronika in Swan Lake every year and this performance was such a disappointment to me. Veronika can be so heartbreaking in this role, but it really felt like she was ill at ease and holding back on Friday and I attribute this mostly to the deficiencies of Corey in partnering her. Veronika usually makes such beautiful use of her expressive Vaganova back, particularly when she dances Odette, and on Friday she was uncharacteristically stiff throughout the performance. Her performance seemed frozen emotionally as well, and I didn't feel any connection or trust between her and Corey. They didn't seem like people who wanted to be on the same stage, let alone die for their love of one another. I think ABT needs to give up on trying to make this partnership happen. Over the years I've spent watching Veronika I've noticed that her relationship with her partner seems to affect her own, individual performance more strongly than for many of the other ABT ballerinas: when she isn't totally confident in her partner she can come across as tense, restrained, and simply uncomfortable, as she did on Friday night. But with a partner like Marcelo, she can outshine any other ballerina in the company in Swan Lake. I hope that ABT gives her the chance to shine in this role again next season.

Despite my disappointment in Veronika and Corey's partnership, the evening had bright spots. Veronika's performance was only lackluster by the (very high) standards her past Odette/Odile's have set. In a pleasant surprise, her fouettes were the strongest I've seen from her. While Corey was bland dramatically and lacked stage presence and connection with his partner, at least his solos were well-executed and engaging.

Jared Matthews and Hee Seo were both truly excellent (and Melanie Hamrick solid if not as exciting) in the peasant pas de trois. Hee Seo has become one of the highlights of this ABT season for me; I'm consistently impressed and excited by her performances. I hope to catch her Lilac Fairy this season, but next year I hope we can see her as Aurora.

Thanks, OneSwan, for basically agreeing with me about Part/Stearns. I'm still sad about it.

I saw the Part-Stearns performance last night as well. I agree with abatt on many points. Stearns has room for improvement in his technique, line and partnering skills. Still what sticks out in my mind is that when he supported Part in her pirouettes she was off center and slow in turning. I think pairing up these 2 dancers was a poor decision. Part especially didn't look at ease with Stearns so no chemistry developed.

I went into this performance with high hopes about Part's Odette-Odile thinking her naturally majestic stage presence would make her a no-brainer in the ballet. But I was sorely let down. She started off beautifully with her first entrance jump onstage in Act II. But the Russian Back abatt referred to was nowhere to be seen. I expected supple arms but Part hardly tried to appear swan-like. Her upper body was stiff and not nearly as expressive as it should have been. In Act II her approach to Odette was as a severe, grave creature resigned to her fate. Siegfried's presence didn't comfort or give her any sense of hope in his vow of love. There was little sense of Odette's vulnerability and pathos so it was hard to sympathize with Part's interpretation.

Things didn't improve in Act III. Part looked gorgeous in her black tutu but, again, Part seemed miscast as Odile. She smiled and looked beautiful, but one didn't feel her embodying the role as Odette's alter ego, as a symbol of evil, treachery and sexual power. I hate to say it but Part is miscast in SL.

My vote goes to the absent Peter Martins

I second atm711's vote wholeheartedly! I've despised Martins almost since he took over as sole Artistic Director of NYCB in 1990. Watching him dismantle the work of genius Balanchine created has been a show of horrors.

On abt.org the Swan Lake running time is listed as 2 hours 25 minutes. Does that include 2 intermissions or not?

Thanks in advance!

I understand the mixed feelings. Day-Lewis, IMO, will be a brilliant Lincoln. If any actor working today can bring out the profound complexity of the man, it's DDL. Sally Field as Mary is problematic. I don't think she can come close to matching DDL's charisma and screen presence. And can she convincingly portray Mary Lincoln's mental illness? It's doubtful. No disrepect to Field, but she's not in the same league as DDL. I would have cast Jennifer Jason Leigh as Mary. She's a far better actress and would have had interesting chemistry with DDL.

Anyway, I can't wait to see the film and what should be another magnificent piece of work by DDL.

The Vishneva-Gomes Giselle was wonderful. Their potent chemistry was obvious from their first moments onstage. Vishneva was good in Act One and I agree with canbelto about the nice touch of her letting her hair down before she breaks apart Albrecht and Bathilde.

Her solos were beautiful but I've seen better Mad Scenes. Makarova's, in my opinion, is the gold standard in its power, creepiness and poignancy.

Act Two was glorious. Veronika Part's Myrtha was ruthless and her naturally majestic stage presence was amplified in the role. She was one scary Willi Queen! Part should go down in ballet history as one of the best Myrthas of all time along with Martine Van Hamel and Gillian Murphy. Vishneva was spot on perfect. A wild newly born Willi and angelic at the same time. She danced with exquisite lyricism and abandon in her solos and with Gomes. Giselle's initiation scene was an OMG moment -- the way she exploded into those turns was amazing. Vishneva moves around the stage with an unearthly weightlessness especially with Gomes. One got the impression that Albrecht was lifting a spirit. And their respective series of entrechats! I've never seen a ballerina ever get the height out of entrechats that Vishneva did. And Gomes's series of entrechats moving upstage were stunning. It was an Act Two filled with drama and poetry. Now I know why Vishneva's Giselle is so renowned.

At the curtain calls it was obvious that Vishneva and Gomes have formed a close bond. A great partnership has been born.

After seeing a clip on youtube of Suzanne Farrell and Jorge Donn in Bejart's "Romeo & Juliet" I became determined to get a dvd copy of it. I bought it from an Italian video company called Hoepli. It cost 63,77 Euros to send to me in America but was so worth it. Here is the link to the website:

http://www.hoepli.it/libro/romeo-e-giulietta/8018783040245.asp

I'm not a fan of Bejart by any means and this piece is filled with lots of annoying Bejart-isms, but the choreography he does for Farrell and Donn as soloists and in their PDD's is beautiful. Farrell is a revelation. Her lyricism matched with superb technique, tremendous musicality and compelling acting. She looks like a liberated artist at the peak of her career and makes Bejart's choreography look as much her own as Balanchine's, though some may disagree with me. Donn was a very fine dancer -- though the Wolfman sideburns and mane of hair is a tad distracting -- and is a lovely partner for Farrell.

Given the sad fact that there is hardly any video of Farrell for the public to purchase, I'm thrilled that this "Romeo" is available.

A word of warning if you decide to purchase the DVD. Hoepli will send it to an American address via DHL. DHL requires for customs reasons that the buyer verify their identity by supplying their Social Security Number in document form -- either a email of your scanned SS card or Federal Tax 1040 form with the financial info deleted. It's very inconvenient but that's how they operate. I did as they asked and got my DVD promptly.

It's a great dvd and Farrell is a goddess!

I found the book, "The Art of Alla Shelest" on Marc Haegeman's wonderful site, For Ballet Lovers Only. Does anyone know where I can buy it and if it's in English or only Russian.

Thank you!

FYI, single tickets for the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Joyce Theater go on sale May 23.

I found a recording with Radu Lupu and Kyung Wha Chung. Can I go wrong with this performance? I admire them both.

I'm looking for a recording of Franck's Violin Sonata. Can anyone recommend a particularly beautiful performance. I'm especially in love with the first movement. Thanks!

Does anyone know the running time of ABT's Giselle? I'm trying to determine what time I should make a dinner reservation post-performance.

Thanks!

Congratulations Ms. Farrell!

Does anyone know if the 1983 Der Rosenkavalier with Suzanne Farrell is available for viewing at the NY Public Library at Lincoln Center?

And just in general, is there a way to access their video database without going there?

Stephanie Saland does Der Rosenkavalier on the Balanchine Celebration tape.

Oh this is so disappointing . I recall the 1983 Farrell/Luders "Der Rosenkavelier" on PBS and got confused on the year. How magical she was in it!

I found Balanchine Celebration VHS tapes (Part 1 & 2) from 1996 on Amazon. Am I right in thinking that this is the performance that includes Suzanne Farrell in "Der Rosenkavalier"?