volcanohunter Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 A film of the English National Ballet's production of Le Corsaire is now available through the Digital Theatre platform. Anna-Marie Holmes' production, familiar to American audiences through Boston Ballet and ABT, stars Alina Cojocaru as Medora and Vadim Muntagirov as Conrad. The performance was filmed at the London Coliseum, and I must acknowledge that English National Ballet dances Le Corsaire more persuasively than the Royal Ballet does Don Quixote. As for the quality of the film, it isn't quite up to Royal Ballet standards. The sound of the orchestra is tinny, and the lighting in the first act in particular is very bright, so anyone in a spotlight looks overexposed. Of course I would much rather have a DVD of the Bolshoi production, but this performance is vastly preferable to Kader Belarbi's completely re-choreographed version, which is actually available on DVD. (Funny how that works.) The performance can be "rented" for 48 hours for $6 or purchased as a digital download in standard definition for $13 or high definition for $16. Incidentally, after I registered on the Digital Theatre site, I didn't rush out immediately to watch anything, and within a few days I received an offer of a 25% discount on my first purchase. So if you do decide to register, hold off with any purchases until Digital Theatre offers to sweeten the pot. http://www.digitaltheatre.com/production/details/english-national-ballet-le-corsaire Link to comment
sandik Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Good to know, and thanks for the strategy tip! I was thinking while I was watching the Bavarian Paquita that I don't have a complete Corsaire... Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 Yes, Digital Theatre seems quite willing to offer those 25% off discounts in exchange for only moderate patience. After downloading Le Corsaire, I subsequently received another discount offer, so I downloaded a play, and within a few days I received yet another discount offer. Link to comment
sandik Posted January 27, 2015 Share Posted January 27, 2015 ... within a few days I received yet another discount offer. Very sneaky marketing! Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 If you prefer a hard-copy version, the DVD and Blu-ray will be released by Opus Arte on April 28 in North America. It's available in the UK as of today. Link to comment
mussel Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 It's available for pre-order at Amazon now: http://www.amazon.com/Corsaire-English-National-Ballet/dp/B00U2MTKIO/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1427764331&sr=8-13&keywords=corsaire Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 Only use the Amazon search box below to give Ballet Alert a few pennies. ↓↓↓ Link to comment
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