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Can you advise me some DVDs of classical repertoire ballets?


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Hello,

I would like to know some DVD titles of repertoire ballets, since I started collecting them. What are the "essentials" to have? For now I own Swan Lake, Giselle, La Bayadère all danced by Svetlana Zakharova and Roberto Bolle, Giselle with Marianela Nuñez and Vadim Muntagirov and Raymonda with Olesya Novikova and Friedmann Vogel. Which others do you recommend? Thank you so much ❤️

Edited by Mariangela
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Just to clarify that the Bolshoi's Don Quixote with Osipova and Vasiliev is not available on (legit) DVD. A DVD from La Scala with Osipova and Sarafanov is available, but it is of Nureyev's peculiar production, and La Scala's company is far from the Bolshoi's standard. There are also a ton of horrid skycam shots.

I always recommend the Australian Ballet's Coppelia ca. 1990 with Lisa Pavane and Greg Horsman. Not HD video, but a beautiful production and very fine performance. 

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My favourite Don Q. is the one with Tatiana Terekhova and Farouk Ruzimatov, it even has Asylmuratova as the street dancer.

Agree 100% about the Australian Coppelia, a real must-have.  Recommending a Nutcracker isn't so easy with such a range of productions, but the Kirov version with Lezhina is worth getting.

 

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Mariangela.

I would also add the old recording of Napoli with Villumsen and Hindberg for the same reason. it is charming, danced idiomatically by all on stage and has not fallen victim to the current director's idea that anything that is old has to be made accessible to a modern audience by updating the setting and scenario. In this recording it is treasured for what it is a fascinating nineteenth century gem of a ballet with what the choreographer deemed to be the appropriate balance between mime and dance. In addition it was filmed sympathetically so that you see what you would want to look at in performance rather than being subjected to a recording which is more concerned with the cameraman's and director's  virtuosity than it is with the dancers. 

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Mariangela.

I forgot to say that if you could give people who post on this site  a clue about your specific areas of balletic interest we might be able to give you some  more specific suggestions about ballets which you might like. Here is a suggestion. ICA issued a DVD of Fokine's Les Sylphides in glorious black and white. The recording dates from the early 1950's and the cast includes Markova, Beriosova and Elvin. It is an extraordinary account of the ballet danced idiomatically by a cast who understood deep in their bones how the ballet should go and the performance is introduced by Karsavina. This recording,I think, make it clear just why someone like de Valois considered it  one of the great ballets of the twentieth century. There is a second recording  of the work made some ten years later this time with a Royal Ballet cast led by Fonteyn and Nureyev which makes a strong argument for it. It is to be found on a DVD called, I think, " An Evening with the Royal Ballet"  and is not to be sniffed at either.

Edited by Ashton Fan
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Giselle- ABT-Fracci/ Bruhn

Coppelia- AB-Pavane/Horsman

Raymonda- La Scala. Novikova

DQ- ABT-Baryshnikov

Sleeping Beauty- Royal- Durante/Solymosi

Nutcracker- Royal. Collier/ Dowell. 

Swan Lake. ABT. Murphy/ Corella

La Sylphide. POB. Thesmar/Denard

La Bayadere. Kirov. Komleva.

Le Corsair. Bolshoi. Zakharova/ Matvienko.

And bootlegs of Vikharev recons of Bayadere and Sleeping Beauty.

 

 

 

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7 hours ago, Ashton Fan said:

Mariangela.

I forgot to say that if you could give people who post on this site  a clue about your specific areas of balletic interest we might be able to give you some  more specific suggestions about ballets which you might like. Here is a suggestion. ICA issued a DVD of Fokine's Les Sylphides in glorious black and white. The recording dates from the early 1950's and the cast includes Markova, Beriosova and Elvin. It is an extraordinary account of the ballet danced idiomatically by a cast who understood deep in their bones how the ballet should go and the performance is introduced by Karsavina. This recording,I think, make it clear just why someone like de Valois considered it  one of the great ballets of the twentieth century. There is a second recording  of the work made some ten years later this time with a Royal Ballet cast led by Fonteyn and Nureyev which makes a strong argument for it. It is to be found on a DVD called, I think, " An Evening with the Royal Ballet"  and is not to be sniffed at either.

I like more romantic and lyrical ballets, as Giselle and Swan Lake, but I'm open to other suggestions to discover new ballets :) As example, now I'm intrigued by La Sylphide 😉

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Thanks to everyone for your answers! They were very helpful for me :) Now I have new questions: First; I have seen on Youtube some videos of Aurelie Dupont in the Sleeping Beauty and I liked much. In your opinion, is it worth to buy the DVD? What do you think of her interpretation of Aurora? Second; do you think is it worth to buy the DVDs box set The Art of Svetlana Zakharova at the Bolshoi? There are 4 DVDs of her performances in Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadère and The Pharaoh's Daughter.  Thanks again :) 


 
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1 hour ago, Mariangela said:

Thanks to everyone for your answers! They were very helpful for me :) Now I have new questions: First; I have seen on Youtube some videos of Aurelie Dupont in the Sleeping Beauty and I liked much. In your opinion, is it worth to buy the DVD? What do you think of her interpretation of Aurora? Second; do you think is it worth to buy the DVDs box set The Art of Svetlana Zakharova at the Bolshoi? There are 4 DVDs of her performances in Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadère and The Pharaoh's Daughter.  Thanks again :) 



 

Some performances, either live it on DVD are worth to go see not specifically for their dancers but for the production itself. Pharaoh's daughter is one of those. This is a recreation of one of Petipa's most successful ballets, and also a lavish production, so yes. As per Zakharova, I think you will find, at least on this forum, a general distaste for her technique. I myself don't care about her dancing, but who knows....maybe you will enjoy her.

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3 hours ago, Mariangela said:

First; I have seen on Youtube some videos of Aurelie Dupont in the Sleeping Beauty and I liked much. In your opinion, is it worth to buy the DVD? What do you think of her interpretation of Aurora?

Dupont's odd and unhappy relation with ballet classics makes her singularly unsuitable to introduce you to the treasures of classical dance. Unfortunately, her recordings are, literally, everywhere, as she was throughout her career a darling of Brigitte Lefèvre. For example, the only currently commercially available recording of the original Parisian La Sylphide features Dupont, in spite of the fact that it is the least desirable of all that you are likely to see in the internet. I strongly recommend the recording with Ghislaine Thesmar, it was issued on the VHS tape. Similarly, I strongly recommend the recording of the original Parisian Coppélia danced by Charline Giezendanner and other students of École de danse. I also recommend any recordings with Carla Fracci (especially her Giselle with Erik Bruhn). Be aware that only a small portion of commercially issued ballet DVDs are well filmed and have high artistic value. For recordings that do possess very high artistic value, one must turn to the internet. The difficult part for you will be how to identify them in the ocean of information noise.

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8 hours ago, cubanmiamiboy said:

Some performances, either live it on DVD are worth to go see not specifically for their dancers but for the production itself. Pharaoh's daughter is one of those. This is a recreation of one of Petipa's most successful ballets, and also a lavish production, so yes. As per Zakharova, I think you will find, at least on this forum, a general distaste for her technique. I myself don't care about her dancing, but who knows....maybe you will enjoy her.

Okay thanks 😊 Can I ask you why many on this forum have a distaste for her technique? I often read that her dancing is fantastic on technique but lacks on the interpretation... I personnally like her, she was the first Odette that I saw and there was something in her that I liked immediately... same for her Giselle. I'm the only there? 

  

Edited by Mariangela
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6 hours ago, Laurent said:

Dupont's odd and unhappy relation with ballet classics makes her singularly unsuitable to introduce you to the treasures of classical dance. Unfortunately, her recordings are, literally, everywhere, as she was throughout her career a darling of Brigitte Lefèvre. For example, the only currently commercially available recording of the original Parisian La Sylphide features Dupont, in spite of the fact that it is the least desirable of all that you are likely to see in the internet. I strongly recommend the recording with Ghislaine Thesmar, it was issued on the VHS tape. Similarly, I strongly recommend the recording of the original Parisian Coppélia danced by Charline Giezendanner and other students of École de danse. I also recommend any recordings with Carla Fracci (especially her Giselle with Erik Bruhn). Be aware that only a small portion of commercially issued ballet DVDs are well filmed and have high artistic value. For recordings that do possess very high artistic value, one must turn to the internet. The difficult part for you will be how to identify them in the ocean of information noise.

Thanks a lot 😊❤ So, can you advise me a good DVD of The Sleeping Beauty?

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1 hour ago, Mariangela said:

Okay thanks 😊 Can I ask you why many on this forum have a distaste for her technique? I often read that her dancing is fantastic on technique but lacks on the interpretation... I personnally like her, she was the first Odette that I saw and there was something in her that I liked immediately... same for her Giselle. I'm the only there? 

  

One question that gets raised about Zakharova's technique is that her very hyper-extended limbs do not express the aesthetics of classical ballet--which are not "about" flexibility, even if a dancer's disciplined flexibility can be effective. That is, people find that there can be something gymnastic about her quality of movement.  Perhaps this objection was raised more when Zakharova was younger than it is now, though. And, in any case, Zakharova has many fans and admirers all over the world.

(I personally have had mixed reactions to her dancing both live and on tape; but her performance in the HD broadcast of Dame Aux Camelias seemed quite wonderful to me. Have you seen that? if you wanted to see a 20th-century narrative work--somewhat melodramatic, but also moving--I would recommend it, though it probably doesn't count as "essential.")

I don't know how long you have been collecting DVDS, but you must have noticed a huge variety of judgments and opinions coming from many different people with many different backgrounds about pretty much every single well-known dancer/production you can name... It's not that I believe all judgments/opinions about dancers and productions are "equal" exactly: there are standards in classical ballet--perhaps coming differently into play for different traditions or choreographers, but still they are standards one can define and discuss and debate.  I appreciate it when someone can give me very concrete reasons for what they admire and what they dislike and I learn from such discussions. But no critic seems to me simply to have the last word on such things either.

Oh and, for a great Aurora I recommend the Royal Ballet's DVD of Sleeping Beauty with Alina Cojocaru. Among other classics on DVD, I recommend the Bolshoi Nutcracker with Vladimir Vasiliev and Ekaterina Maximova.

Edited by Drew
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On 7/10/2018 at 3:11 AM, Drew said:

Among other classics on DVD, I recommend the Bolshoi Nutcracker with Vladimir Vasiliev and Ekaterina Maximova.

Agreeing to disagreeing here, dear Drew. Grigorovich treatment of the Nutcracker looks like an abomination to me. It is a shame that Russia has successfully got ridden of anything that resembles the original production. I can't stand the Mariinsky Vainonen's either.

Sir Wright's Royal Ballet-( Collier/ Dowell-)- por a comprehensive link to the original libretto and the glorious original Pas de deux. A bootleg of Berlin's Medvedev/Burlaka for more Imperial "Petpaesque" feeling re libretto, costumes and scenery.

Edited by cubanmiamiboy
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I would also second Cojocaru as Aurora, and her Giselle with Nunez as Myrta is gut-wrenching. I also love Le Corsair with Altynai Asylmuratova From 1989  (former Kirov Ballet, with Galina Pankova as Gulnara) as that is what I grew up with and she is an absolute delight. 

 

For better Ted or worse, McMillan’s Romeo and Juliet (I love the one with 19 year old Allasandra Feri) is worth adding mainly for the Pas de Deux sections. For overall performance Lavrovsky’s choreography is just beautiful.

 

Bolshoi’s production of Coppelia is brilliant! Costumes, choreography, and technique is incredible. Osipova is my favorite but Alexandrova also gave a very funny performance as well.

 

Flames of Paris is also wonderful!

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, CharlieH said:

I believe that Cubanmiamiboy meant to say “Berlin” instead of “Zurich” for the Medvedev/Burlaka Nutcracker  that recreates the original Imperial Mariinsky designs (& some dances). No need for a bootleg, as it is commercially available, starring Iana Salenko.

https://www.amazon.com/Tchaikovsky-Soloists-Ballet-Staatsballett-Berlin/dp/B015HNXSOO

I did, Charlie. I was thinking of their Swan Lake while writing about Berlin's Nut. I didn't know it was commercially released! I own a good bootleg but it's time to change then. Thanks for the update!🤗

Edited by cubanmiamiboy
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