volcanohunter

Strictly Bolshoi will re-air on Canadian Bravo on Monday, March 22, at 7:30 p.m. ET. http://www.bravo.ca/SCHEDULE/Default.aspx?date=3-22-2010

Well, I think it's horrid so I don't understand the repeat. But it would really make my day if, during the transmission, the people sitting in the box closest to stage left were to aim spitballs at the fussing "photographer" during the sextet.

Just out of curiosity, where do figure skaters find these muzak renditions of classical music: Mahler with tinkling piano ornamentation, Rossini with tambourine accents, and so forth? I hate to sound like such a snob, but it really bothers me.

Yes, and it's frustrating. Money permitting, Colorado Ballet could resolve some scheduling conflicts by hiring the Colorado Symphony to play for their performances. Where I live the symphony orchestra, the ballet and the opera company don't conflict because the same orchestra is playing at all the shows. Likewise, the local baroque orchestra is made up of members of the local symphony orchestra, so the former is scheduled around the latter. However, the ballet and the city's main modern dance presenter don't use the same venue and do program on top of each other, as happened tonight, and when touring artists are involved, all bets are off.

Joffrey and Boston Ballet perform it, don't they?

British Columbia's Knowledge Network will air the Royal Ballet's Swan Lake, with Marianela Nuñez and Thiago Soares, on Wednesday, February 24, at 9:00 p.m. PT, with a repeat broadcast at 1:00 a.m. PT. For satellite subscibers outside BC, Knowledge Network airs on ch. 268 on Bell and ch. 354 on Shaw Direct. http://www.knowledge...ogram/swan-lake

Years ago, when A&E still did arts programming, they broadcast highlights from the 1982 International Ballet Competition from Jackson. Commentary during the variations was provided by Dick Button and Jacques d'Amboise, who, along with Marge Champion, also did backstage interviews. Much like figure skating coverage, the program was edited to emphasize a "rivalry" between juniors Gigi Hyatt and Katherine Healy, who fell at one point, leading to lots of speculation about whether this had "cost" her the gold. There were also the obligatory parent reaction shots from Healy's mother. Quite a bit of film was dedicated to senior gold medalist Janie Parker, and both Button and d'Amboise were clearly taken with silver medalist Alexi Zubiria. A&E never did it again, so I'm guessing the program didn't go over all that well.

The video is available on demand at the Medici TV web site. It costs nothing to view, though you need to create and/or sign in to a user account.

The opera is also streaming live on the Paris Opera site. http://www.operadeparis.fr/cns11/live/onp/

Medici TV will be streaming Bellini's La sonnambula, starring Natalie Dessay, Javier Camarena and Michele Pertusi, live from the Opéra Bastille on Monday, February 15, at 19.30 Paris time/1:30 p.m. ET. I'm not sure whether the live feed requires a Medici account, but it's very easy to set up and costs nothing. http://www.medici.tv/#/a/520/la-sonnambula...5/br-the-opera/

Wayne McGregor's production of Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, performed by the combined forces of the Royal Opera and Royal Ballet, will air on BC's Knowledge Network on Wednesday, February 17, at 9:00 p.m. PT, with a repeat showing at 1:00 a.m. (Bell ch. 268, Shaw Direct ch. 354) The RB dancers featured are Olivia Cowley, Melissa Hamilton, Cindy Jourdain, Iohna Loots, Kristen McNally, Samantha Raine, Paul Kay, Brian Maloney, Steven McRae, Xander Parish, Liam Scarlett and Johannes Stepanek. http://www.knowledge.ca/program/dido-and-aeneas http://www.opusarte.com/pages/product.asp?ProductID=309

Radetsky hasn't completely severed his connection with the Dutch National Ballet. This month he's scheduled to dance three performances as Basilio in Alexei Ratmansky's new production of Don Quixote in Amsterdam.

PBS has posted an image gallery. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/dan...ge-gallery/926/

Opus Arte will soon be releasing a performance of MacMillan's Mayerling with the Royal Ballet taped in October 2009. The UK release date is March 1. The North American release typically follows two months later. Crown Prince Rudolf: Edward Watson Baroness Mary Vetsera: Mara Galeazzi Princess Stephanie: Iohna Loots Emperor Franz Josef: William Tuckett Empress Elisabeth: Cindy Jourdain Countess Marie Larisch: Sarah Lamb Baroness Helene Vetsera: Elizabeth McGorian DVD http://www.opusarte.com/pages/product.asp?ProductID=332 Blu-Ray http://www.opusarte.com/pages/product.asp?ProductID=333 Watson also appears in Wayne McGregor's production of Handel's Acis and Galatea with Lauren Cuthbertson, Steven McRae, Eric Underwood and Paul Kay, set for release the same day. http://www.opusarte.com/pages/product.asp?ProductID=330 http://www.opusarte.com/pages/product.asp?ProductID=331

Here's a French television report about a Rwandan competitor at the Prix de Lausanne. http://culturebox.france3.fr/#/danse/19150...nse-de-lausanne

What does the back of the box say? If it's region-free and NTSC, it should play on any American or Japanese player. There was a time when Opus Arte produced separate PAL and NTSC versions for different markets, but the Region 0 NTSC format has become standard for them. I don't shop at Amazon.co.uk that often because the prices are generally much higher than they are in North America, but once in a while they do offer very deep discounts, and if you're ordering from North America, the VAT is deducted. I've found that if I order five items, the deducted VAT usually covers the shipping costs. If I order six items or more, the discount is even greater, so I end up paying less than the listed price. There's always a risk of getting zapped with customs fees on arrival, but it happens to me infrequently.

The opera is now available on the Arte site also, Emmanuelle Gaume's slightly giddy commentary included. http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Werther_a_l_Opera_Bastille/

Arte will be streaming the final of the Prix de Lausanne online on Sunday, January 31. The final is scheduled to begin at 15.00 CET (9:00 a.m. ET), so I'm not sure why the Arte timer is counting down to 23.05. http://liveweb.arte.tv/fr/video/Finale_du_...ix_de_Lausanne/

Knowledge Network, British Columbia's educational channel, will air the Royal Ballet's Giselle, starring Alina Cojocaru, Johan Kobborg, Marianela Nuñez and Martin Harvey, on Wednesday, February 3, at 9:00 p.m. PT, with a repeat broadcast at 1:00 a.m. PT. Additional Opus Arte titles are set to follow, including Swan Lake and Wayne McGregor's staging of Dido and Aeneas. Canada-wide, Knowledge Network airs on ch. 268 on Bell and ch. 354 on Shaw Direct. http://www.knowledge...program/giselle

The opera is now accessible on Medici TV. In order to watch it, you need to set up an account, which is free. http://www.medici.tv/#/performance/690/

Today, Tuesday, January 26, the Paris Opera will be streaming a live video feed of Massenet's Werther, with Jonas Kaufmann and Sophie Koch, starting at 20.35 Paris time (or 2:35 p.m. ET). Sorry for the short notice! http://www.operadeparis.fr

The set has probably been delayed rather than discontinued. It happens quite frequently with Bel Air and can be very frustrating when attempting to pre-order a DVD. I wouldn't be surprised if the set were to re-appear on Amazon in a week or two, though perhaps under a different catalogue number. A number of titles originally released by Image Entertainment have reappeared on Arthaus Musik. To illustrate with a non-balletic example: http://www.amazon.com/Puccini-Madama-Butte.../dp/B00005R5HG/ http://www.amazon.com/Madama-Butterfly-Yas.../dp/B000GNOTZI/ Arthaus Musik owns the European distribution rights to the Giselle, Le Corsaire and Sleeping Beauty you mentioned, and I wouldn't be surpised if eventually the company were to issue region-free versions of those ballets in North America. They do seem to be taking their time, though. About a year and a half ago Arthaus Musik purchased TDK Music DVD, which had been releasing lots of stuff from the POB and La Scala. Since then, TDK releases have been reduced to a trickle, which is unfortunate, and Arthaus has been re-issuing many TDK titles on the Arthaus label. Perhaps this is slowing down the re-issue of the old Image Entertainment titles. http://www.arthaus-musik.com/templates/tyC...n&limit=all

As far as I know, there isn't one available. Somewhere deep in the archives of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation there is a film from the mid-1970s of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet dancing it, with Violette Verdy as Louise, if I'm not mistaken. I doubt it was ever available commercially.

I'm very pleased to hear it. I thought he was wonderful, but his situation in Toronto was madness. He was already a principal in Warsaw, but the National Ballet of Canada hired him as a member of the corps de ballet. I remember watching him as Benvolio in Cranko's Romeo and Juliet and thinking: No, no, no, he should be dancing Romeo. He was by far the best male dancer on the stage.

I'm also very sorry to hear about Philips Neal's retirement. Not only did I never come away from his performances disappointed, I made a point of seeking them out whenever I returned to New York. I always found his dancing extremely satisfying and particularly admired how he combined the classic virtues of the American dancer with an Old World elegance. I wish him the best of luck in his next career.