Product Details

• Actors: Chopin, Schmidtsdorff, Neumeier, Letestu
• Directors: Grimm
• Format: Classical, Color, DTS Surround Sound, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: Italian (Dolby Digital 5.1)
• Subtitles: Dutch, English, French, Italian, Spanish
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 2
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Bbc / Opus
• DVD Release Date: June 30, 2009
• Run Time: 191 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0025XW95E
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #32,808 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

CHOPIN:LA DAME AUX CAMELIAS - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treasure to keep, March 29, 2010

By 

Jose Brito (Estoril,Portugal) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chopin: La Dame aux Camelias (DVD)

Acclaimed John Neumeier had created this ballet (premiered in November 1978)for the Stuttgarter Ballet and his friend Marcia Haydée who danced the first Margerite. He followed Dumas'novel closely and chose Chopin's music as score to his choreography (one of the two composers suggested by conductor Gerhard Markson - either Chopin or Berlioz, or both). In fact, Chopin's music proved to be essential to the drama, the polish composer having been a contemporary of Dumas Fils and Marie(Alphonsine)Duplessis whose real three-year love affair the writer himself immortalised first in a novel(1848)and later in a play (1852).Curiously, Chopin had also died of tuberculosis, like Marie - Marguerite Gautier in the novel.Chopin's exalted music thus underlines truthfully the whole ballet contributing to its great romantic dimention.Neumeier chose to paralell the story of Armand and Marguerite to Abbé's Des Grieux and Manon whose passion also meets death in the end.The ominous performance of Manon Lescault in the theater where they first meet will follow their own destinies,Neumeir ingeniously creating a drama within a drama.
Étoiles José Martinez and Delphine Moussin are Des Grieux and Manon:they dance beautifully, bestowing their solid technique as well as Dorothée Gilbert(Prudence Duvernoy) and Karl Paquette(Gaston Rieux).A chance to watch again Michaël Denard(a retired étoile who dances, along with Nureyev and Thesmar,Lacotte's Marco Spada - Rome,1982 - on a DVD released last year)playing Armand Duval's father.
What about Marguerite er Armand? In fact, in my humble opinion, Agnès Letestu is undoubtedly unforgettable as a dancer and as an actress.Her beauty and her superior technique have the companionship of her acting which overwhelms you.If the close-up reveals not a 23 year-old Marguerite but a mature woman, on the other side it gives the viewer the chance to feel Letestu's immense, pathetic sadness (Marguerite knows death is approaching), her eyes filled with passion and despair, each gesture crying out her misery.Stéphane Bouillon(certainly a future étoile) offers a passionate Armand, executing Neumeier's difficult steps with brilliance,responding accurately to Letestu's chemistry.A special reference to the pianists(F.Vaysse-Knitter and E.Strosser)who play Chopin's music warmly.The costumes are superb(Jürgen Rose), Schmidtsdorf's conducting excellent.Absolutely not to loose.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Common Man's Point of View., January 1, 2012

By 

Richard Rawls "Richard Ardle Rawls" (Dublin Ga USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chopin: La Dame aux Camelias (DVD)

At first I did not much like Agnes Letestu as a ballerina. I thought her stage presents was a bit standoffish. She did not seem to like the parts she was playing. On the other hand I think she is a beautiful technician. I have now changed my mind based on this ballet, "La Dame aux Camellias", and "Paquita", another ballet she is exceptional in.

To even bring this story to the stage in the form of a ballet, and tell it as well as Neumeier did, was a feat in itself, and even though some people did not like the choice of music, I thought it fit the scenes perfectly. In some places Chopin's music was simply dripping with pathos. If anything, Agnes looked a little old for this part, because Marie (her real name) was only 23 years old and considered one of the most beautiful women in Paris when she died, but Agnes played the part of a woman dying of tuberculosis brilliantly. Have you read the novel "La Dame aux Camellias? If not, I can tell you it is a very touching love story. It's a story about a prostitute, pure and simple, but told in such a way that by the end of the novel you may believe this prostitute was a virgin, the way the author toys with your sympathies. Agnes may have you believing the same thing; her portrayal of the poor beauty is so good.

This story is very close to the story of Manon Lescaut by Abbe Prevost. In fact a portion of Manon Lescaut is danced in this ballet, portraying Manon and Marie (her real name) as alter egos of the same woman. Neumeier weaves the two stories together brilliantly. It is known that Marie Duplessis owned a copy of Manon Lescaut, and that fact bears on the telling of her story. There are a few things told in the novel that could not be brought out in the ballet, but the same is true in the telling of the story in the opera "La Traviata" by Verdi.

This ballet is available in DVD and BluRay formats, wide screen, very good sound, and since it was taped in hi-definition, even a standard DVD is very good quality, as mine is a standard DVD. I think you will like this ballet.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dama das Camélias, November 13, 2009

By 

Ali Hassan AYACHE (São Paulo, Brasil.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Chopin: La Dame aux Camelias (DVD)

O Balé da Ópera de Paris quer exibir seu lado moderno em La Dame aux Camélias. Cansaram da Giselle e do Lago dos Cisnes. A trupe quer se mostrar antenada com a atualidade. Fazer coisas diferentes, fugir do clássico. Para isso, não precisou cair na dança abstrata, onde o público assiste a tudo e não entende nada. Acharam um grande compositor (Chopin) e tentaram casar sua música com uma conhecida história (A Dama das Camélias) . O resultado é um balé desigual, com momentos mágicos e algumas futilidades. Produziram um balé novo, moderno. Saíram da mesmice. A história ficou popular com o sucesso do livro homônino e com a ópera La Traviata, de Verdi. Os parisienses resolveram fazer dessa afamada história um balé: pegaram várias músicas de Chopin, principalmente de piano e tentaram adaptá-las, fazê-las ficarem dançantes e o principal, se encaixarem na história da cortesã. O resultado é estranho, algumas vezes interessante , outras cafona e de gosto duvidoso.
A qualidade da dança do balé da Ópera de Paris é inquestionável: 300 anos de história fazem seus bailarinos estarem em alto nível. Agnés Letestu é bailarina étoile (grau máximo do balé francês), de grande técnica, dramaticidade plena e forte carisma. Conheci seus passos no Lago dos Cisnes, de Tchaikovsky, me apaixonei pela guria. Não é raquítica, tem muita bailarina anoréxica por aí, parecendo doente de tão magra. Dança com a leveza inerente às bailarinas francesas. Faz uma Violeta (no vídeo eles mudam os nomes dos personagens, sei lá por que) frágil e apaixonada. Brilha nos pas de deux com seu par romântico Stéphane Bullion, (esse é premier danseur, um nível abaixo de étoile), longos , cansativos (para os bailarinos), sensuais, apaixonantes. São o ponto alto do espetáculo. Demonstram toda a técnica dos bailarinos, uma aula de balé.
John Neumeier transita entre o clássico e o moderno em sua coreografia. Criativo, mistura passos simples com outros de alta dificuldade técnica. O palco cênico carece de cenários, conta sua história apenas pela dança. Obriga os bailarinos a atuarem, embute no meio da história trechos do balé Manon Lescaut, entrelaçando a vida das duas personagens. Idéia criativa. Temos nessa hora um par de grandes dançarinos: Delphine Moussin (étoile) e José Martinez (étoile) arrasam nesse pequeno papel. Mostram as facetas desesperadas de seus personagens.
Tudo é passado em La Dame aux Camélias, a história é contada pela memória dos que a vivenciaram. Violeta está morta, todos tem lembranças dela e vão contando sua versão. A coreografia peca nas danças rápidas. A música escolhida fica superficial, sem profundidade.Piano nem sempre combina com dança. Os cenários são quase inexistentes, o palco limpo se alia a figurinos sóbrios, de época, que transmitem a idéia de século XIX.
O DVD possuí um longo documentário, com entrevistas legendadas dos bailarinos e produtores. A imagem é de excelente qualidade. A direção de vídeo capta com destreza os momentos cruciais da obra, e, com recursos atuais, poderiam ser mais ousados, aproximar mais o espectador do palco.
O balé da Ópera de Paris prova que é possível fazer balé moderno contando grandes histórias. Não é necessário abrir mão da técnica, da dança, da beleza e da magia do balé para tal feito. Não caem na tentação de fazer coreografias sem nexo, muitas vezes de técnica capenga, para se mostrarem modernos ou descolados. La Dame aux Camélias é um balé moderno com elementos clássicos em sua concepção; pode ter momentos decepcionantes, mas no geral sua coreografia é de bom nível. Que isso sirva de exemplo para outras companhias do mundo.
Ali Hassan Ayache