MND

[jimmattimore]

Is there a version of "Midsummer's Night Dream?"

How about with Suzanne?

JIM

Thanks

[rg]

balanchine's MISUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM has been released on DVD w/ pacific northwest ballet, it was filmed by the BBC on tour in england.

the 'oberon productions' film w/ farrell/villella/mitchell etc. was released briefly, in the UK i think, on videocassette, but is no longer on the market anywhere that i know of.

the PBS telecast with calegari & andersen was not released commercially.

[carbro]

Pacific Northwest Ballet released a video of the Balanchine with Patricia Barker as Titania.

[bart]

I know we've had this discussion (about the near unavailability of Balanchine/NYCB performances on film) before. But can anyone rationally explain why THIS one, which -- one would think -- would have a larger than normal potential audience (including schools) has been allowed to drop out of sight?

Given the recent flurry of videos from Paris Opera -- and the Royals' new equipment to film live performance at Covent Garden -- you'd think NYCB would also move in this direction.

[jimmattimore]

balanchine's MISUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM has been released on DVD w/ pacific northwest ballet, it was filmed by the BBC on tour in england.

the 'oberon productions' film w/ farrell/villella/mitchell etc. was released briefly, in the UK i think,  on videocassette, but is no longer on the market anywhere that i know of.

the PBS telecast with calegari & andersen was not released commercially.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

RG: Thanks. JIM

[Herman Stevens]

I know we've had this discussion (about the near unavailability of Balanchine/NYCB performances on film) before. But can anyone rationally explain why THIS one, which -- one would think -- would have a larger than normal potential audience (including schools) has been allowed to drop out of sight?

Given the recent flurry of videos from Paris Opera -- and the Royals' new equipment to film live performance at Covent Garden -- you'd think NYCB would also move in this direction.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the reason is not the cost of transferring the material from one medium to the other, but apparently the inability or unwillingness of the artists' agents and their unions to allow this priceless material to become available - and this includes the orchestra. It's a fees and royalties thing.

European companies have unions just like US artists do; they are just not that crazy. This is why most ballet dvd's these days are produced by European companies, and I suspect the fact that this PNB dvd was shot in London is because of some legal loophole.

Classical music shows the same picture. American orchestras used to be fantastically prolific up to the seventies. The last twenty years very few US orchestras have produced more than a trickle of cd's, and the reason why is these orchestras have become prohibitively expensive.

I may very well be wrong in some way, since ABT seems to be able to produce dvd's. I wonder how come.

Of course the whole financial structure of these European ballet companies is different. They are largely state funded. Also, these dvd's are often partly underwritten by the various arts TV channels in Britain, France, Switzerland, Germany and what have you - and those are partly state funded, too.

[doug]

PNB's Midsummer was shot in London because Ross MacGibbon wanted to direct it for the BBC. I don't remember this having to do with union issues in the States, but I agree with you that the film probably would not have been made in the States.