volcanohunter Posted August 29, 2014 Author Share Posted August 29, 2014 Don't lose hope. Until then, I'm looking forward to seeing a Four Temperaments from that period. The revival of the 1970s is burned so strongly into my mind. Link to comment
DanielBenton Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 rg, thanks for the correction on Faun. I too would relish a Liebeslieder. Link to comment
pherank Posted August 29, 2014 Share Posted August 29, 2014 Nice. Seeing early versions of Ivesiana and The 4 T's will definitely be exciting. Liebeslieder may still appear in a Vol. 5. I myself wish there had been a broadcast of Episodes... Link to comment
sandik Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 I too would relish a Liebeslieder. I think we all would! Link to comment
emilienne Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 Nice. Seeing early versions of Ivesiana and The 4 T's will definitely be exciting. Liebeslieder may still appear in a Vol. 5. I myself wish there had been a broadcast of Episodes... I updated my list today. Aside from Liebeslieder, there is still an unreleased color program (Apollo/Concerto Barocco/Glinkiana) plus a bunch of smaller things over the years, including a Chaconne and a Who Cares? with the original cast. Based on stuff people have mentioned over the years with regard to other Balanchine recordings, I'm wondering whether the more recent recordings may be held up as VAI negotiate with the performers still living for its inclusion. Overall, CBC seems to have been better about retaining its tapes than the BBC, but who knows what they still have left. Then again, someone did find a uncut copy of The Passion of Joan Arc in an insane asylum, so we can hope... PS: There is a German recording of Episodes. Movements 3 (w Kent) and 4 (w Estopinal) was up on Youtube for a while, but the camera angles made it as unwatchable as I remembered. Link to comment
DanielBenton Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 Episodes Movement 3 and Movement 4 (Bach Ricercata) are on YouTube. In spite of the poor video quality, Kent and Cook in Movement 3 are astonishing to watch. Here are the links: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNv7d3fBj70 Link to comment
sandik Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 PS: There is a German recording of Episodes. Movements 3 (w Kent) and 4 (w Estopinal) was up on Youtube for a while, but the camera angles made it as unwatchable as I remembered. I've seen it recently -- it's not unwatchable so much as the camera angles and the editing turn it into a different ballet. Fascinating, but not CB as we know it. Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted August 30, 2014 Author Share Posted August 30, 2014 I updated my list today. Thank you for keeping track of the progress being made. Link to comment
pherank Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 Episodes Movement 3 and Movement 4 (Bach Ricercata) are on YouTube. In spite of the poor video quality, Kent and Cook in Movement 3 are astonishing to watch. Here are the links: Thanks for the links DB - it's a shame the video quality is so bad (perhaps beyond digitial cleanup capabilities). But it is still fun to watch. For those who still haven't seen it: the Suzanne Farrell Ballet does a couple of excerpts form Episodes (in HD) and the video stream is still available online: http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=M5627 [starts at about the 10:00 mark] Looking at the YouTube video now, I'm realizing this is from that same German TV series that had Concerto Barocco, and I believe other works (?), so there must be a better copy in the hands of the German broadcast company. To quote RG on this forum: some 15 ballets were filmed by a german tv team in '73 in berlin, the problem, as it's now told by b.horgan, balanchine's assistant, was that balanchine wasn't allowed to direct or have any special say about the filming, so the results are overall a mess of busy cuts and odd angles. apparently g.b. hated the results and wanted nearly none of the results shown. the SYM IN C was shown a few times as was LIEBESLIEDER WALZER & STARS AND STRIPES. european tv has shown the BAISER, LA VALSE, DUO CONCERTANTE, SERENADE, TARANTELLA, EPISODES, CONCERTO BAROCCO and perhaps a few more. (european readers will be able to say more.) i suppose someday, b/c the films document balanchine's late company of dancers these films might be unearthed for historical purposes, tho' not likely, it would seem, while the current powers-that-be are in charge of the balanchine trust, etc. Link to comment
Jack Reed Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 ... For those who still haven't seen it: the Suzanne Farrell Ballet does a couple of excerpts form Episodes (in HD) and the video stream is still available online: http://www.kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=M5627 [starts at about the 10:00 mark] For those whose main interest in the series of videos we're talking about is in seeing authentic performances of Balanchine's ballets, pherank's link is particularly apt. Having watched hundreds of performances of NYCB in the last decade of Balanchine's supervision of it, along with others I recognize in TSFB's performances virtues of authentic qualities in Balanchine performance which are harder and harder to find on stage. For those of us whose taste runs in this direction, then, these videos - the VAI DVD series and the Millennium Stage archived previews - are really something. Link to comment
DanielBenton Posted August 31, 2014 Share Posted August 31, 2014 Jack, can you elaborate somewhat on what those authentic qualities are that I might be able to distinguish from other companies' performances? Thanks in advance! Link to comment
Helene Posted September 4, 2014 Share Posted September 4, 2014 Volume 4 is now available for pre-order on amazon.com. Release date is scheduled for 23 September. Link to comment
DanielBenton Posted September 15, 2014 Share Posted September 15, 2014 I received Vol.4 today. The video quality for the Nov.1, 1964 performances (The Four Temperaments and Ivesiana) is very good, including some nifty camera-work. The video quality for the 1955 Afternoon of a Faun is not so good. In addition to getting to see some great dancers there is a 3 minute introduction to the 1964 performance in which Mr. B. introduces his dancers and does a little moving himself. Seeing Ivesiana makes me wonder if there is a video out there of the Schoenberg Op.34, also choreographed in 1954? Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted November 7, 2014 Author Share Posted November 7, 2014 Amazon has a listing for volume 5, to be released on December 16, but I can't yet find any description of the contents. Link to comment
emilienne Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Seeing Ivesiana makes me wonder if there is a video out there of the Schoenberg Op.34, also choreographed in 1954? Looks like not. Balanchine Foundation's catalogue entry lists no other companies that have staged this work, nor any recordings of it by the company. Jennifer Dunning's NYT article for the Balanchine Celebration (dated 1992) notes that it was lost without any motions at revival. Barbara Millberg's recent biography talks about it in some detail (which makes me wonder if she still remembers the choreography), but as of now there is no video record of it. Link to comment
DanielBenton Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Volcanohunter, can you show the link for Vol.5? Thanks! Link to comment
Dale Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Here it is: http://www.amazon.com/New-York-City-Ballet-Montreal/dp/B00P8RUSIE/ref=sr_1_11?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1415367429&sr=1-11 Link to comment
meunier fan Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Amazon has a listing for volume 5, to be released on December 16, but I can't yet find any description of the contents. Not particularly helpful for sales I should think. Oh, perhaps now I will buy that box in the corner .... Link to comment
PeggyR Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 VAI isn't showing it yet. Link to comment
sandik Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 I have a feeling that they're assuming the target audience for this series doesn't really need much prompting -- it's not being aimed at people who don't already know what's going on... Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted November 7, 2014 Author Share Posted November 7, 2014 Yes, I suspect the people who have been purchasing these DVDs would probably keep buying them without much hesitation. (But may I repeat my fervent request for Liebeslieder?) Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted November 7, 2014 Author Share Posted November 7, 2014 Aha. Judging by VAI's Facebook banner, it is Apollo (don't know which one) and Bugaku. Link to comment
pherank Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Aha. Judging by VAI's Facebook banner, it is Apollo (don't know which one) and Bugaku. Now Bugaku I would like to see. But most of us have already seen the Montreal CBS broadcast film of Apollo (many, many times). Link to comment
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