Product Details

• Actors: Carlos Acosta, Alexander Volchkov, Nina Kaptsova, Maria Allash
• Directors: Ross MacGibbon
• Format: Classical, Color
• Language: English
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Decca
• DVD Release Date: November 18, 2008
• Run Time: 133 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001CZVVXM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #123,018 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

KHACHATURIAN:SPARTACUS - Blu-Ray Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars MacGibbon Sets Spartacus Free, November 22, 2008

By 

Joseph L. Ponessa (Glendive MT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bolshoi Ballet: Spartacus [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

When this disc arrived I saw Ross MacGibbon credited as the video producer, and cringed: Oh, no, not the man who demolished Swan Lake at the Mariinsky! My expectations rose a bit when I thought that Khachaturian's musical language and Grigorovich's dance language might lend itself to quick cutting better.

It turns out that MacGibbon clearly knows and loves the Spartacus ballet, and respects the flow of the music and dance. Ironically, his cutting is much more conservative with this modern piece. Still there are too many half shots, which are totally unnecessary when blu-ray lets the details be seen without close-up.

In a 2001 interview, MacGibbon insists that eight cameras are an absolute minimum for filming a ballet. (Having eight, of course, does not meaning having to use each of them all of the time.) Actually, if I may presume to differ, the absolute minimum is one camera. Wouldn't it be nice if a ballet disc used the "angle" feature and gave the option of viewing the entire stage through the whole program?

MacGibbon has filmed Carlos Acosta, the excellent visiting lead dancer, before, in the Nureyev production of Don Quixote at Covent Garden in 2001. The Russians principals and corps de ballet portray both slaves and patricians with just the right touch, but Acosta brings a different feel to the lead role. As a Cuban he brings out a different dimension of the tale and universalizes it. MacGibbon seems to understands what Acosta is aiming at and helps to liberate his concept.

Anyway, I am so glad that MacGibbon does not hate ballet after all. Maybe he just has no sympathy for swans.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable Performance by Carlos Acosta and the Bolshoi, November 19, 2008

By 

I. Martinez-Ybor "Ignacio Martínez-Ybor" (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Spartacus (DVD)

Carlos Acosta IS Spartacus. The identification of role and dancer is absolute and all encompassing. There is passion, power, subtlety, conviction unmatched elsewhere. A big dancer in dances that demand big ample movement, Mr. Acosta's every pore, every muscle convey the character's deep emotions and committment to great, sweeping ideals. The technique is phenomenal. Ironically, what one remembers as most riveting is the eyes. There lives Spartacus, fighter, hero and very much a lover. Given the arduous role, Russian ballet has cast it always from strength, even if in subtly different interpretations: Vassiliev and Mukhamedov come to mind. Carlos Acosta, Cuban born and trained, at the summit of his breathtaking powers, a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, achieves greatness guesting with the Bolshoi at the Palais Garnier in Paris; never have dancer and part seemed so intimately matched in this ballet. This dvd is worth acquiring for this performance alone if for nothing else.

The other roles are also well danced. Crassus, at one time memorably performed by a haughty Maris Liepa, is here also outstandingly danced by Alexander Volchkov, but with a different slant, more venal, corrupt, sensual, than fascist. Nina Kaptsova is superb: a lyrical, eloquent, vulnerable Phrygia. Maria Allash is a delicious Aegina, a knowing courtesan and virtuoso secure in her powers to seduce and dance. Alexei Ratmansky's Bolshoi shines. The company is young and vibrant, as we already knew from Shostakovich - Bolt.

Spartacus seems less heavy-handed than it did in Soviet days. It does not carry the propaganda baggage one could choose to read (or ignore) at that time. Other things one associates with this work remain as they have always been. The Aram Khachaturian music, in the main, still sounds mostly loud, uninteresting and banal, indeed, for me, awful. The Grigorovich choreography is also a mixed bag. Quite emotive and free-flowing at times, yet also at times uninspired and clumsy: when unable to develop a choreographic paragraph from a phrase (steps), his only solution seems to be to repeat the steps which usually are quite ordinary. In other words, when inspiration falters, just do more of the same. These shortcomings have been present in this Bolshoi staple since the Grigorovich version was first produced. To some, they could easily render Spartacus unwatchable (yet to many it is a wonderful, stirring piece!). In this case, however, they are not so much overcome as overwhelmed by the eloquence, power, and brilliance of Carlos Acosta's performance.

The 2 dvd set, a live performance at the Palais Garnier, Paris, on 22 January 2008, contains a series of interviews with dancers, Grigorovich, Ratmansky, et al., as well as an extended, illuminating conversation with Carlos Acosta. The reproduction and sound are excellent.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wish comes true, December 9, 2008

By 

A. Lupu "A. Lupu" (Rochester, MN USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bolshoi Ballet: Spartacus [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

In April 2007 I wrote a very short comment on the ArtHouse DVD recorded at the Bolshoi Theater on 1990. I was then hoping for a new version with surround sound and High Definition. This time I got my wish and much more. This BluRay Disc was recorded with the Bolshoi dancers and the Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta in Paris in 2008. The choreography and scenography are the same as the 1990 production but, new technology and the passionate dancing makes it this Disc a real work of art to be enjoyed by all. If you have seen any old and new versions of Spartacus films you will appreciate and enjoy this ballet even if you have never seen a ballet before.

This Grigorovich production is 40 years old. It was created under a totally different political oversight in the Soviet Union. Although the political landscape has changed, the same production is used today with the exceptional results you can see. This, may be, goes to show that art creation can not be subdued to one political will, even when the pressure is immense.

I strongly recommend this Disc to ballet connoisseurs and to first timers. The passion the dancers put into their dance and their acting is so strong, and the music so perfect and beautiful, you will be completely totally immersed in the performance.