volcanohunter

Perhaps the time has come for a museum company, which could stage the "reference" versions of classics and historically important ballets, and perform them in ways that would both enlighten AND entertain a modern audience.

The American release date is November 18. Amazon's product code for the DVD is B001F5IO5M.

Not available just yet, but Amazon.com lists the release date as November 18.

ASIN: B001F5IO4S

Mid-day tv interviews are certainly classier in Paris than in my neck of the woods!

The Paris Opera has posted a couple of excerpts from the ballet featuring Isabelle Ciaravola as Garance and Mathieu Ganio as Baptiste.

http://www.operadeparis.fr/Saison-2008-200...723&IdS=546

By then it will have been available on DVD for several days, but on Saturday, November 1, at 1:00 p.m. local time the Royal Ballet's Giselle with Alina Cojocaru, Johan Kobborg, Marianela Nuñez and Martin Harvey will be screened at Canadian cinemas.

Personally I'll vouch for the value of watching ballet on the big screen. The sense of kinetic energy lost when dance is filmed is largely restored when dancers are magnified many times over. I don't like Peter Wright's production, but I'll go see it for Cojocaru.

Here's a trailer: http://centralsystem.digiscreen.ca/ShowPag...resentation=230

Most screenings will take place at Empire Theatres.

www.empiretheatres.com/opusArte

Participating cities: St. John's, Halifax, Sydney, Fredericton, Saint John, Moncton, Charlottetown, St. Catharines, North York, Mississauga, Ottawa, London, Kitchener, Kingston, Richmond Hill, Burlington, Bolton, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, North Vancouver and Victoria.

The ballet will also be screened at the Ex-Centris Theatre in Montreal: www.ex-centris.com

and Ridge Theatre in Vancouver: www.festivalcinemas.ca (10:00 a.m. PT)

For Francophones: José Martinez discusses his new ballet adaptation of Marcel Carné's film Les Enfants du paradis on the October 22 edition of France 2 midday news. Skip ahead to 34 mintues past the hour. The clip should be available for the next week.

http://jt.france2.fr/13h/

It should also be accessible here.

Probably the last program produced by the defunct performing arts unit of the CBC (which isn't fit to be called a public broadcaster any more given that it's dedicated mostly to UK imports and Hockey Night in Canada), The Secret of the Nutcracker is primarily a drama, but features some dancing from the Alberta Ballet in choreography by Jean Grand-Maître. Starring Brian Cox as Drosselmeyer, the plot concerns a young Canadian girl anxious about her father, who is fighting overseas during WWII. The CBC web site doesn't have anything posted yet, but Alberta Ballet's site says the film will air on December 19.

http://www.albertaballet.com/performances/...-the-nutcracker

http://www.joemedia.tv/index.php?option=co...&Itemid=221

In Canada, at least, the film will also be available on DVD.

http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B001EX9YOU

Coming soon to DVD: La Scala's 2007 New Year's Eve gala featuring excerpts from Swan Lake (Bourmeister), The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker (Bart), with Roberto Bolle, Marta Romagna, Polina Semionova, Nadja Saidakova and Ronald Savkovic. (This gala took place in Milan?) Apparently it's the third act of Swan Lake with the Rose Adagio, Bluebirds and Nutcracker pas de deux thrown in.

Sort of a ballet equivalent of the New Year's version of Act II of Die Fledermaus!

The release date is November 11.

Amazon codes: B001CCHQQG & B001FRNOUU (Blu-Ray)

http://www.teatroallascala.org/en/stagioni...1_cnt_2374.html

The San Francisco Ballet's Nutcracker, which will be airing on PBS starting December 17, can now be pre-ordered at Amazon. The release date is November 18. Product code: B001HBX918.

Uncle Drosselmeyer: Damian Smith

Clara: Elizabeth Powell

Dream Clara: Maria Kochetkova

The Nutcracker Prince: Davit Karapetyan

Mouse King: David Arce

Snow Queen: Yuan Yuan Tan

Snow King: Pierre-François Vilanoba

Sugar Plum Fairy: Vanessa Zahorian

Genie: Sarah Van Patten

Chinese: Nicolas Blanc

Russian lead: Pascal Molat

San Francisco Ballet

San Francisco Ballet Orchestra

Conductor: Martin West

Choreographer: Helgi Tomasson

http://www.opusarte.com/pages/product.asp?ProductID=265

Here's the information sheet from the Decca web site. Perhaps sharper eyes than mine can find the release date.

http://www.deccaclassics.com/music/dvd/0743303.htm

I can't say I agree with this:

...this is the first major DVD/video of Spartacus since the Bolshoi's own performances from the 70s.

What about the two films with Irek Mukhamedov?

Although it's already available on DVD, the National Ballet of Cuba's production of Don Quixote will be shown at Canadian cinemas on Saturday, October 4 at 1:00 p.m. local time.

http://centralsystem.digiscreen.ca/ShowPag...resentation=228

Most screenings will take place at Empire Theatres.

www.empiretheatres.com/opusArte

Participating cities: St. John's, Halifax, Sydney, Fredericton, Saint John, Moncton, Charlottetown, St. Catharines, North York, Mississauga, Ottawa, London, Kitchener, Kingston, Richmond Hill, Burlington, Bolton, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver (October 12 at 1:00 p.m.), North Vancouver and Victoria.

Also showing at the Princess Twin in Waterloo: www.princesscinemas.com

and the Ridge Theatre in Vancouver: www.festivalcinemas.ca (October 18 & 19 at 10:30 am PT)

For what it's worth, here's the discussion about last year's screening:

http://ballettalk.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=26200

Opus Arte will be releasing the ballet on DVD. I would hope that in this case Opus Arte's usual two-month U.S. release delay would be scrapped.

http://www.opusarte.com/pages/product.asp?ProductID=265

You'll notice that the Opus Arte site neglects to mention Kochetkova.

According to Amazon.com, the American release date is October 28.

I thought the Russian Prince had rolled his hat and cloak over a pile of grey-colored chicken feathers

I have a basic question: I can tell from the costumes which of the four princes is the Spanish Prince and which is the Indian Prince, but I can't tell from the costume who is the Russian and who is the French Prince. The program booklet and the credits list the French Prince first (Gary Avis) and the Russian Prince (David Makhateli) last, but from digging around on the Internet, the prince who did most of the extensive partnering looks more like Avis than Makhateli, even though he generally was the fourth Prince to partner Cojocaru But that Prince reminds me a bit of Olymic champion figure skater Anton Sikharulidze, which could mean Makhateli, who also hails from Georgia. If' someone knows for sure, I'd appreciate if they could post.

I agree with you that there isn't much particularly "Russian" about Makhateli's costume, apart from the fact that his hat and cloak are trimmed with fur. The difference between them seems to be that Avis' "French" prince wears the biggest feather on his hat and heeled shoes, while Makhateli's "Russian" prince wears boots, like the remaining two princes.

Which reminds me: it's a pity that the Royal Opera House's revamped web site no longer has a section dedicated to the ballet company (or the orchestra, or the chorus), at least none that I can find. The "who's who" section lists the members of the administration and technical crews, but none of the resident performing artists. You'll pardon me for thinking that conductors, repetiteurs, dancers, choristers and instrumentalists are ultimately more important in the functioning of an opera house, so I hope the ROH web masters will give them their due.

Before it comes to DVD, the POB's Cinderella will be shown at Canadian cinemas on Saturday, September 13, at 1:00 p.m. local time.

Cinderella: Agnès Letestu

Film Star: José Martinez

Stepsisters: Laëtitia Pujol & Stéphanie Romberg

Stepmother: Stéphane Phavorin

Father: Cyril Fleury

Producer: Wilfried Romoli

Director: Richard Wilk

His Assistant: Fabien Roques

Dance Teacher: Christophe Duquenne

The Prisoner: Mathias Heymann

Spring: Mélanie Hurel

Summer: Dorothée Gilbert

Autumn: Nolwenn Daniel

Winter: Emilie Cozette

Here's the trailer: http://centralsystem.digiscreen.ca/ShowPag...resentation=225

Most screenings will take place at Empire Theatres.

www.empiretheatres.com/opusArte

Participating cities: St. John's, Halifax, Sydney, Fredericton, Saint John, Moncton, Charlottetown, St. Catharines, North York, Mississauga, Ottawa, London, Kitchener, Kingston, Richmond Hill, Burlington, Bolton, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver, North Vancouver and Victoria.

The ballet will also be screened at the Ex-Centris Theatre in Montreal: www.ex-centris.com

Princess Twin in Waterloo: www.princesscinemas.com

and Ridge Theatre in Vancouver: www.festivalcinemas.ca (10:00 a.m. PT)

If I remember well, there is only one claimant, not that young, living in Switzerland. I don't know what's her mind on the subject.

Although I don't know for certain, I suspect his widow wouldn't throw up too many barriers to performance. A few years ago she began donating a number of his personal effects to the Theatre Museum in Kiev, and I suspect she hoped that the troupe of the National Opera there would begin performing his works. However, it sticks to full-length warhorses and rarely presents mixed bills. They did perform his staging of Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet, but I don't think that there have been any further acquisitions. The National Opera of Ukraine contents itself with an annual competition/festival that bears his name and coincides with his birthday in April, but which doesn't actually involve the performance of his ballets.

The DVD is available for pre-order on British Amazon, so keep the product number for future reference.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adam-Giselle-Cojoc...n/dp/B001E08TDA

I'm torn: to shell out the extra pounds or to wait two months for the American release...

Such a shame the 1980s Cinderella VHS (featuring Sylvie Guillem and Nureyev himself as the producer) wasn't released instead...

Yes, definitely. It wasn't just Guillem that was marvellous. I remember the vivid spitefulness of Isabelle Guérin's stepsister most of all.

Hmm, this is interesting. Opus Arte has elected to release the POB's production of Nureyev's Cinderella ahead of the Royal Ballet's telecast with Alina Cojocaru and Johan Kobborg. It will be available in the UK on October 1.

http://www.opusarte.com/pages/product.asp?ProductID=259

Cinderella: Agnès Letestu

Film Star: José Martinez

Stepsisters: Laëtitia Pujol & Stéphanie Romberg

Stepmother: Stéphane Phavorin

Father: Cyril Fleury

Producer: Wilfried Romoli

Director: Richard Wilk

His Assistant: Fabien Roques

Dance Teacher: Christophe Duquenne

The Prisoner: Mathias Heymann

Spring: Mélanie Hurel

Summer: Dorothée Gilbert

Autumn: Nolwenn Daniel

Winter: Emilie Cozette

Opus Arte will be releasing the Royal Ballet's 2007 telecast of Tales of Beatrix Potter on DVD in the UK on October 1. The North American release should follow a couple of months later.

http://www.opusarte.com/pages/product.asp?ProductID=261

It's a pity that the BBC elected not to film Les Patineurs, which appeared on the same program.

Amazon has a listing for a DVD titled Together: Cynthia Gregory & Fernando Bujones (product code: B001E1DJ3Y) to be released on September 9. The VAI Music site doesn't have anything about it yet. Any ideas about what could be on the DVD? Being a huge Bujones fan, I'm hoping for some previously unreleased stuff.

Just curious... do you like Khachaturian's music? My guess is that you may not. What I have often wondered about is is it possible really enjoy a ballet if you don't love the music.

His ballet music? No. I only ever enjoyed it when it was used for parody in the Coen Brothers' The Hudsucker Proxy. I don't have anything against his Violin Concerto, for example.

I love La Bayadere, even though I don't love or even like the music.

The DVD will be released in North America on September 9. Type B0018KW3XS into the Amazon search box.

There's another, less expensive, Don Q DVD with product code B001DXCFVU, but I don't know whether it's the same performance. The run time is the same.