Tchaikovsky, Petipa - Swan Lake / Kirov Ballet, Yulia Makhalina, Igor Zelensky

This ballet is still available, and at a reasonable price through another vendor. Click here:...... Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake [DVD Video ].......Enjoy it. If you do not know Ananiashvili, by all means get to know her. If you are normal, you WILL fall in love with her, for sure. If you want to see her in a happier mood, get her and Fadeyechev in Don Quixote...... Léon Minkus: Don Quixote [DVD Video ].....(This is the later release of "DQ". An older release IS out of print and way overpriced.)I'll tell you just how common I am. I had to look up the spelling of common. Another thing is when I saw Nina's last name it looked a lot like the city I used to live in, Nashville, Tn. I thought to myself, now I should be able to remember her name, Ananiashvili sounds a lot like Nashville. Well anyway, it may surprise you to know that there are some Tennessee hillbillies who really do love classical music and do not care that much for the Grand Ole Opry style of music, not withstanding the fact that country and western music put "The Music City" on the map. I've just started my collection of classical ballet and cannot claim to be an expert but I'm learning. I now know how to pronounce fouette, and I think I know what they are. It's hard to believe just how beautiful they are when done by someone as good as Nina Ananiashvili. This DVD is filmed in front of an audience and it was plain to see there were no clips in the film to suggest that she might have had time to rest before she did them, or to do it over in case it wasn't quite right. I know that sort of thing takes place, because in "Don Quixote"  Minkus - Don Quixote / Ananiashvili, Fadeyechev  one can see that her fouettes were inserted later as there is no Don Quixote sitting in the chair behind her, as there should have been. The very next scene shows him seated in his chair with his sidekick Sancho. But no matter, she was just as beautiful in Don Quixote as she was in Swan Lake. When Nina is "in character", as when she is Odette, one can see that she is a very unhappy Swan-Maiden, and one can also see that she cannot lose that composure even when members of the audience are yelling and screaming their bravos. Except, that is, until she becomes Odile. Then there is a completely different Nina on the stage. A completely different personality. Saucy and mischievous and deliciously beautiful in her Black Swan outfit. Prince Siegfried isn't the only one who fell in love with her, I did too. Nina has the best balance when she is en pointe than any ballerina I have seen so far. I do not know what the pose is called (it's shown on the back cover of the keep case from Kultur). After she releases Fadeyechev's hand she holds her balance for an eternity before slowly slowly lowering her leg without a moment of imbalance until her foot is beside the other, (yes I meant to say slowly twice). I look at that over and over again, it's so remarkable. I lose my balance just trying to put my pants on unless I lean against something. Hey, I'm 77 years old. Even if this was a Japanese orchestra, it sounded very good to me, and it sounded just as good (to me) as the Kirov Theatre Orchestra, when they performed for their Swan Lake production with Yulia Makhalina and Igor Zelensky.  Tchaikovsky, Petipa - Swan Lake / Kirov Ballet, Yulia Makhalina, Igor Zelensky  Yulia is another gorgeous creature, by the way. You wont go wrong with owning both versions of Swan Lake, however both musical scores sounded identical (to me).You will also love to see her (Nina) kiss the little Japanese flower girl at the end when she is taking her bows. She is just wonderful.(Grand ole Opry is a registered trademark of WSM Radio) I think.

I have watched many live and video performances of this ballet and this is the one version I find myself returning to time and time again. There is something so dramatically compelling about the way Makarova and Dowell interpret their roles that my attention is held in a way that perhaps more technically proficient renderings of the roles could not. Makarova and Dowell in the leads are ultimately the most satisfying interpretations I have yet witnessed.Makarova's dancing is a wonder to behold; her magisterial, liquid adagio dancing in the Act II grand pas deux was of course, a given. Makarova's dancing was possessed of a unique physicality, a way of moving that made it seem as though her arms and legs were radiating a plush and limitless stretch. One could almost see an energy field originating from the centre of her body and pulsing out through her arms and legs and emanating far beyond her head, hands and feet. There seemed to be a mysterious and boundless stretch to Makarova. Baryshnikov too, had this "mysterious stretch" in his dancing. And Makarova's hands, what magical and bewitching worlds can be conjured from a pair expressive arms and hands! Watch, at the coda of Act II when Makarova's Odette runs towards Dowell's Siegfried, and is caught in his arms and lifted high above his head. With a ripple of her arms, the well-timed arch of her back, neck and head, one could almost believe Odette would take flight right then. The moment is breathtaking and for that moment, time might as well have stopped.What has continued to surprise me is Makarova's Odile. In this act Makarova, physically, becomes a whole other creature. The same lambent grace is still there, the same palpable and mysterious stretch, but now her edges have sharpened and her dancing has taken on a hard, cold, obdurate quality. I will never forget her baleful expression when she first turns towards Prince Siegfried to present her hand for the very first time. This moment marks the beginning of the Act III "Black Swan" grand pas de deux, and what a spellbinding moment it is. The whole ballroom now shines with a hectic glitter and now begins the ultimate dance of deception.Unshakable bravura was never a hallmark of Makarova's dancing and I could quibble about her indifferent fouettes. I prefer instead to revel in the splendour of her dramatic interpretation. From start to finish, Makarova's Odile is a textbook example of how to enchant a Prince and an audience into believing completely, an evil magician's deception. Even as Makarova negotiates Odile's treacherous choreography, her conviction and her hold on her dramatic portrayal is so unwavering that by the end, the Prince is utterly destroyed. Makarova's Odile is so convincing that at the end of the pas de deux, the audience finds itself on its feet applauding not a ballerina, but for the total triumph of von Rothbart's diabolical creation. As an aside, Makarova's pique/chaine turns at the end of her solo are so fleet and so delicious that I never again want to see another dancer stumping her way through this same variation.I make special mention of Sir Fredrick Ashton's choreography in Act IV. There's a particularly lovely and effective sequence where in small groups, Odette ushers away her swan sisters and returns to a kneeling Siegfried, bends down slowly and deeply into an arabesque penche and bestows her forgiveness for Siegfried's unwitting betrayal. Almost no one does this "forgiveness and reconciliation" scene anymore.The overall production values of the Royal Ballet's "Swan Lake" are somewhat inconsistent, the stage sets and costumes look like they were taken out of cold storage and the dancing of the corps de ballet could benefit from a more pliant use of the back and arms.Natalia Makarova and Anthony Dowell's dancing are of a kind that informs an age. I search in vain for a young Makarova or a young Baryshnikov that would bring the same magic and transcendent artistry from which their legends were made.

Ballet lovers will appreciate this performance by a famous Ballerina.

This performance shows the highest standard of Principal Dancers, Character Artists and Corps de Ballet. The sets and filming were so perfect for this way of viewing, both for full stage and close-up scenes. I particularly loved how the dance, lighting and facial expressions were so befitting the scenes, be it swans who remain serene but for the wicked smiling one summoned by the magician or dancers at Royal events in the castle ballroom scenes. All round superb version that will please all, be they dancers themselves or those who simply love ballet at its finest !

E' la migliore edizione,di quante ne ho viste,del lago dei cigni.I ballerini sono magnifici attori,specialmente la HART.La struttura cromatica é caratterizzata da una splendida dominante celeste che rende lo spettacolo avvincente,da sogno.Consiglio questa edizione a tutti coloro che riescono ad astrarsi dalla realtà fino a sognare ad occhi aperti.

Precisamente este producto lo poseo en grabación en formato BETA de una emisión de TVE de 1984, y al hallar el DVD he mejorado mi videoteca.Muchas gracias

Habe mir die DVD gekauft, weil ich keine Möglichkeit hatte die Show im Original zu sehen. Das Thema ist ja eigentlich super, nur die Umsetzung auf der DVD alles andere als das "Gelbe vom Ei", denn die Qualität kann man nur als miserabel bezeichnen. Da wurde eine Live-Aufnahme der Show mit einer einzige Kamera gemacht, die bei gleichem Standpunkt zwischen drei Einstellungen (Totale, Halbtotale und Nahe) ziemlich unmotiviert wechselt. Der Originalton (z.B. Beifall) wurde radikal entfernt, und die Musik vermutlich nachträglich wieder neu unterlegt. Dadurch ergeben sich manchmal Tonlöcher, die einen instinktiv nach der Fernbedienung greifen lassen. Die Farben sind geradezu scheußlich, besonders dann, wenn die Szenen mit Schwarzlicht ausgeleuchtet wurden.Hinzu kommt der typische "Humor", der wohl nur von Chinesen verstanden wird, und durch den einige sensible Szenen mit clownesken Einlagen verhunzt werden.

I may not be an expert on Ballet, but I have quite a large collection of DVD's curtesy of Amazon, This Ballet is enchanting, The dancing is very well done and the stars make you feel their sincerety,All the swans gave good performances. The whole cast contributed to a well turned out show.You don't always want a technically danced perfect demonstration. Look at the faces of the dancers, I felt it was a good interpretation of a wonderful story.