Neumeier's Illusions Like Swan Lake DVD available

[kbarber]

John Neumeier's rethinking of Swan Lake, which combines the traditional story with that of "Mad" King Ludwig II of Bavaria (in a brilliant and dramatically compelling way, in my opinion), is now available on DVD. This is a reissuing of a 2001 Hamburg Ballet production, with the following cast:

The King: Jiri Bubenicek

The Man in Shadows: Carsten Jung

Natalia, the King's fiancee: Elizabeth Loscavio

Alexander, friend of the King: Alexandre Riabko

Claire, his fiancee: Silvia Azzoni

A Ballerina as Odette: Anna Polikarpova

Siegfried, her partner: Jacek Bres

The Queen Mother: Anna Grabka

Prince Leopold: Lloyd Riggins

Sets and costumes (gorgeous!) by Jurgen Rose

The DVD does not seem to be available in North America, but I ordered mine from French amazon:

http://www.amazon.fr/Tchaïkovski-Illusions-cygnes-Chorégraphie-Neumeier/dp/B00O3MZTES/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418072475&sr=8-1&keywords=illusions+comme+le+lac+des+cygnes

It arrived in Toronto 11 days after I ordered it, and cost about 25 euros (approx $36 Cdn), taxes and shipping included. Although the DVD says it is a PAL version, and amazon says it may not work outside of Europe, it works on both my laptop and my portable DVD player.

[volcanohunter]

The initial DVD release on EMI was also a region-free PAL disc, and it wouldn't play on all machines. I'm mystified as to why this wasn't changed for this release. Laziness? But yes, I've noticed that such discs will usually play on computers and portable DVD players because NTSC TV sets are not involved.

John Neumeier's rethinking of Swan Lake, which combines the traditional story with that of "Mad" King Ludwig II of Bavaria (in a brilliant and dramatically compelling way, in my opinion), is now available on DVD.

Ironically, for a revisionist production, it's also got the most "authentic" rendition of Ivanov's second act of any production performed today, with the huntsmen, mime and adage as pas de trois all intact.

[Helene]

Many thanks for posting this. I loved Elizabbeth Loscavio's dancing at SFB when I did a lot of work travel to the Bay area. Many will recognize her as SFB's representative for the 1993 Balanchine Celebration, performing "My One and Only" and "I Got Rhythm" from "Who Cares?"

[kbarber]

I've noticed that such discs will usually play on computers and portable DVD players because NTSC TV sets are not involved.

I've found it unpredictable. I can't get my Birmingham Royal Ballet Hobson's Choice DVD to play on anything. My Royal Academy of Dance "Mime Matters" DVD will play on my portable player but not my laptop or my player hooked up to my TV. But I decided to take a chance with the Swan Lake because I love it so much.

[volcanohunter]

The Arthaus Musik DVD of Hobson's Choice is designed to play only in regions 2 & 5 (Europe, Africa, western Asia, Japan), so that's an additional obstacle a computer set up for region 1 (North America) can't overcome.

The easiest solution is to acquire a player that has been hacked to remove regional restrictions. Supposedly, you can hack your own, and the relevant instructions for your model can be found online. I've never had the courage to try it myself and have always relied on companies that specialize in selling "region-free" players. I haven't owned a regular DVD player in more than a decade, and it gives me the freedom to watch any DVD or Blu-ray from anywhere. Of course, nowadays we also need to subscribe to a VPN service that can circumvent those pesky internet geo-blocks. Personally, I think it's worth the investment.