American Ballet Theater's production of Swan Lake is beautifully mounted & performed. Gillian Murphy in the famous Odette/Odile role is spectacular. This is classical ballet -- full on tutus & fairytale motifs & old-fashioned mime acting;but a masterpiece in this genre. Great price.
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Arguably the best production of Swan Lake available on film. The performances are off the charts, the costumes and sets stunning, and the interviews in the intermission really informative and delightful. Pick it up while you can!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
Habe mir zusammen mit meiner ballettbegeisterten Tochter viel Schwanenseeproduktionen auf youtube angesehen, inzwischen bin ich auch ein regelrechter Fan geworden, - diese hat uns am besten gefallen und ich glaube, wir haben sie schon an die 50x gesehen. Und: Wir werden immer wieder in den Bann insbesondere dieser besonderen Show gezogen! Absolut sehenswert! Gerne würde ich auch die DVD der Aufführung des Berlineer Staatsballetts in der Choreographie und Inszenierung von Patrice Bart nach Petipa und Iwanow mit Polina Semionova als Odette/Odile, Vladimir Malakhov als Sigfried empfehlen können, aber es gibt sie leider nicht. Wenn man den kurzen Zusammenschnitt auf youtube sieht, weiß man aber, worum es dem Ballett-Regisseur in „The Black Swan“ geht: Die Semionova wäre seine Wahl gewesen, aber Gillian Murphy ist auch hinreißend. Das ganze Ensemble des American Ballet Theatre ist einfach schlicht und ergreifend toll, die Musiker, die Kostüme, Licht und alles stimmt einfach! Lieferung aus USA bemerkenswert schnell! Danke!Read full review
This ballet rates a better score in excellence than the one indicated. Why people cannot be fair in their reviews is beyond me. Whoever bought and did not receive their DVD has a gripe with the dealer and should not give the product a poor rating. This is an excellent ballet performed by the under-rated American Ballet Co. The sets and costumes in this production were absolutely stunning. The colors in the first and third acts were very beautiful. Of course the color in the lake-side scenes is always subdued, being night time, and moon-lit. The moon actually "sets" in this production, a remarkable staging feature. The story is well told in the prelude showing the maiden being abducted and changed into a swan by a cruel sorcerer, who in this production is able to transform himself from a devilish monster into a suave and sophisticated Baron Rothbart. There is a considerable amount of mime used in this production also, and is used to good effect to help tell the story. By contrast there is almost NO mime used in the Russian versions of any ballet. This is not the happy ending version so prominent in the Russian versions, and of course, is not how the original story was told. The politics of the Russian authorities must have demanded that no poor Russian should go home with tears in his eyes. I have five versions of Swan Lake only two versions have the sad ending. However, it is the sad ending that is the best because it stirs up more emotional impact. Besides, it is obvious that love wins out in the end, and all those beautiful Swan-maidens are released from the curse of Rothbart. The dancing by Gillian Murphy (Odette/Odile) and Angle Corella (Siegfried) is superb, and their acting is very good also. The running time for this ballet is 113 minutes, which is about average for most Swan Lakes. I have one, however, that has a run time of 131 minutes and 30 minutes of bonus material. It is the Royal Swedish Ballet version by Sir Peter Wright. This version has a shortened 4th act, a real shame, since some very beautiful music is missing, as well as the poignant scene of Siegfried searching for Odette amongst the other swan-maidens. This ballet is well worth owning, and I am glad I am one of it's owners. If you are interested in knowing more about this ballet, its history and origins, you can find out about it by visiting Google and typing in the title and the word history or synopsis and you will be taken to several sites for the information. That's how I found out that Tchaikovsky once said that he was ashamed of the music he wrote for Swan Lake, after hearing Leo Delibes music for "Sylvia", saying that if he had heard Delibes' music before he wrote "Swan Lake" he would not have written "Swan Lake". We can all be thankful that Tchaikovsky did not hear the music for "Sylvia" first, because we would not now have the most beloved of all the romantic ballets.Read full review
I really liked this rendition of Swan Lake from the ABT company. I found it interesting both for its dancing as well as the 'theatrics'. I saw more facial expression and 'miming' then in some of the other productions I've seen for this ballet. Some may find the costumes (in particular, Rothbart's) to be a bit over the top, but I didn't mind--all in all, it was very entertaining!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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