Customer Reviews

Coppelia

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The BBC televised and videotaped February 2000 performance of Ninette de Valois' Coppelia by the Royal Ballet is stunning. Osbert Lancaster's set and costume designs add to the visual appeal of this production. The principal dancers are outstanding, particularly Leanne Benjamin as Swanilda. She is a very fine technician; her footwork, leaps, and turns appear effortless and fluid. In Act I, she executes big kicks with flair, showing marvelous extension and height. Donning a mantilla near the end of Act II, she gives us a splashy bolero that culminates in a flurry of chaine turns; she then changes gears with fancy footwork in a Scottish jig. Ms. Benjamin is also an excellent dramatic mime: one moment pouty, the next jealous. Especially amusing in Act II, she mocks and teases old Dr. Coppelius as she pretends to be his creation, the beautiful Coppelia. Luke Heydon, Coppelius, demonstrates throughout how great a comic actor/dancer he is, but also arouses pathos in us when he falls under the spell of his gorgeous live-size mechanical doll he thinks he has brought to life. Franz, Carlos Acosta, partners Benjamin's Swanilda in the first two acts and solos only in Act III. There, he spins and jumps with seamless precision and grace. The corps de ballet, the folk dancers, and Swanilda's girlfriends all dance with verve and elegance. The mazurka and czardas are very pleasing to the eye. Delibes' luscious score, ably performed by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House under the direction of Nicolae Moldoveanu, has one captivating melody after another full of passion and poignancy. The DVD's superior picture quality brings out the vibrant colors of the costumes and set designs. The camera angles and editing are first rate. This DVD is superbly entertaining. It will please the sophisticated balletomane as well as the novice.

Having played the parts of both Coppelia and Swanilda, I wish to express HOW GREAT THIS BALLET IS!!! I think that this is the funniest and best version of Coppelia I have ever seen. Leanne Benjamin, Carlos Acosta, and Luke Heydon all deserved that long curtain call at the end. The orchestra, the dancing, the costumes were all beautiful. Also, the synopsis at the beginning of each Act made it easier to understand the storyline for even the youngest of my sisters. The only thing that made this 4 instead of 5 stars was the signs that they used to express their words. I knew what they meant because I have seen this ballet many times, but I know that a stranger to the story would NOT understand it at all.

Before I begin I should in all fairness say that I am not a ballet expert. I purchased this DVD after getting to know some of Délibes' music on the Naxos CDs "Best of French Ballet" and "Invitation to the Dance". I enjoyed the music so much that I wanted to see the stage production as a whole. And that is what I got: This original BBC broadcast version of Coppélia contains all three acts and is performed in historic costume and with the original designs by Sir Osbert Lancaster at the Royal Opera House. Apart from the actual performance there are three "extras": the introduction to the original television broadcast by Deborah Bull; a ten-minute feature on the removal of the Royal Ballet to Covent Garden; and an illustrated biography of Sir Osbert Lancaster.

Personally, I found the performance mesmerising, enjoyable in every aspect. Leanne Benjamin gives an amazing performance considering that she had to stand in for the injured leading ballerina at very short notice. I found her gestures easy to follow (after listening to Deborah Bull's explanation), and her facial expression always delightful with just the right mixture of humour and mock gravity. The scene in Act 2 where she fools Dr. Coppelius into believing that Coppélia has come alive is absolutely hilarious. Her dancing is beautiful, too, and if there are one or two slight faults or hesitations, these can be forgiven her because of the circumstances.

Carlos Acosta is an equally fine "Franz", his good looks, his youth and fresh vitality combine with an unusual degree of charm and humour to make this a performance to remember. And surely, Luke Heydon's performance of Dr. Coppelius should not be overlooked: I don't know how often he is knocked over, carried around etc., but he manages to make it all look like child's play. He is certainly no ogre, rather a funny old man with his own sense of humour.

The rest of the team made a grand impression on me, not least the orchestra. The sound from a video DVD is usually inferior to what you would hear from a CD (probably a result of using a multi-format player), but I found the digital signal here (fed to an external D/A converter) to be quite satisfying. On Amazon's German-language website, one reviewer philosophizes about Délibes' music and the piece's commenting on the industrial revolution and man's relationship to the mechanical world. I think that is probably reading too much into a score that is just sheer good fun all the way through - a piece that will make you feel good about life!

All in all, this was a first-rate cultural experience not to be missed.

The storyline for Coppelia is so wafer-thin that it's a testament to Delibes lilting score and the delightful choreography that this ballet remains a staple of most ballet companies. Even George Balanchine choreographed his Coppelia. The story: Franz is engaged to a clever village girl Swanilda, but falls in love with a life-sized doll made by the eccentric Dr. Coppelius. Swanilda catches onto Franz's cheating ways and decides to teach her fiance a lesson.
This Royal Ballet production of Coppelia is delightful in almost every way. The choreography by Ninette de Valois (after Petipa) captures the small-village charms of this ballet. As the heroine Swanilda, Leanne Benjamin is more cute than memorable. She is graceful and has lovely extensions, and very beautiful soft arms. She is one of those ballerinas that's light on her feet and thus a pleasure to watch not only in the "big moments" but just standing on pointe. She's also an impressive kicker. But I'd personally like a Swanilda with more personality and spunk. Benjamin is cute, feminine, but she doesnt quite have that mischevious twinkle in her eye that I like to see.
Carlo Acosta, the Cuban ballet sensation, has a sunny, bright face and a boyish persona that's well-suited for Franz. I love his naivete and sweetness. Luke Heydon is Dr. Coppelius and the production wisely doesnt make Coppelius a sinister weirdo, just a lovable town eccentric.
The dvd helpfully has a nice synopsis before each act, and is filmed live so it is thankfully free of the cut-aways and edits that plague most studio ballet films.

This video was well done. It focused on all the aspects of attending a ballet. The entire dance hall was filmed as well as the orchestra and its conductor. The ballet itself was a treat to watch. At the beginning of each act, the scenes were explained. Many dance students are not familiar with the story ballets. My students found the synopsis to be very helpful. As always, the dancing was fabulous and extremely entertaining. Bravo!!

This is a very wonderful ballet by the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, with the orchestra of Royal Opera House. It has a very good quality sound, and is filmed in the 16:9 video format. It is 104 minutes running time and has most if not all of the music and dances of a full length "Coppelia".

Swanilda is played by the very accomplished ballerina, Leanne Benjamin who is also the best "Firebird" I have seen......Stravinsky - The Firebird & Les Noces / Royal Ballet......Her boyfriend Franz is played by Carlos Acosta. Luke Hayden plays the eccentric Dr. Coppelius who is so lonely, he makes life-size dolls to keep him company. The original story was called "Coppelia or the Girl With the Enamel Eyes".
Dr. Coppelius has put his latest creation "Coppelia" out on the balcony of his workshop to dry, and passers-by think the doll is a real person, so they try to coax her down from the balcony in order to get to know her.

Franz sees Her and while Dr. Coppelius is moving Her, Franz thinks the doll has thrown him a kiss, and he returns the gesture, which is seen by Swanilda and she becomes jealous. There is a big to-do with lots of wonderful music and dancing ending in (sort of) a reconciliation.

As Dr. Coppelius goes to the tavern for his nightly draught of beer, he drops his latch key and Swanilda finds it. She and her six girl-friends sneak into the house to find out what goes on there. Meantime, Franz gets a ladder to sneak in through the balcony to see the beautiful Coppelia.

Swanilda has discovered that Coppelia is just a mechanical doll, and is having all kinds of fun over the fact that her boyfriend has fallen in love with a doll. Some of the most delightful music begins when the dolls seem to come to life and begin to move about. Oh, did I tell you this is a funny ballet? The fun begins when Swanilda trades places with the doll and makes the eccentric Dr. Coppelius, think the doll has come to life.

I can't tell you any more or it will spoil YOUR fun, that is, if you have not seen Coppelia before. I know some of you have not seen her. My first time to see her I was probably 50 years old, living in Nashville,Tn.
The promoters of the ballet offered a money back guarantee to any patron who was not delighted with the performance. They got to keep their money, which was a lot more than this DVD costs. It's worth owning this DVD just to hear the music by Leo Delibes. Tchaikovsky liked the music of Leo Delibes even better than his own music. Can you believe that? It's true.

Another fabulous "Coppelia", by the way, is the Australian Ballet version......The Australian Ballet - Coppelia...... Probably a little more color in the sets and especially the costuming. There are three completely different sets in the Aussie version, and they are considerably more detailed than the Royal Ballet version. A couple of other "pluses" for the Aussies are the "dolls" and the performance in the way Franz is manipulated into giving his "lifeforces" to the doll Coppelia. Another great addition by the Aussies occures in the third act, when they added a borrowed melody from "Sylvia" to the wedding celebration. It is one of the most beautiful pieces of music the composer Leo Delibes wrote, entitled "Chant Bacchique", danced by the Brides-maids and Grooms-men in honor of the bride and groom, Swanilda and Franz. You should have BOTH Coppelias, NO, wait, you should have both COPPELIAS, and SYLVIA by the Royal Ballet....Delibes: Sylvia....Richard

This 2000 BBC production of Coppelia featuring beautiful music by Leo Delibes and superb dancing by Leanne Benjamin and Carlos Acosta is delightful. If you like this one, I highly recommend the 2005 Frederick Ashton BBC production on DVD and blu-ray of La fille mal gardee with Marianela Nunez, Carlos Acosta and the Royal Ballet.

I am not a ballet critic by any means, but an average guy, and I guess most of you out there are like me. Delibes's music has always been sweet to my ears, but I had not been interested in this ballet until I learned that my daughter's ballet company was producing it this year. I enjoyed this DVD very much and it made me wish I was watching it live. The vintage German village, costumes and dances set this production apart from other popular tales. The story is well understood watching the performance. Some situations are similar to those on kid's TV shows seen on Disney or Nickolodeon channels, so kids with interest in ballet will enjoy it. I must say being familiar with the music helps me to enjoy the performance even more. At least this has been the case for me at some ballet, musicals, and other productions like Michael Flatley's. The widescreen is a plus for watching ballet if you have a widescreen TV, that is why I chose this DVD. This DVD comes with some interesting extra features. Thanks to the Royal Ballet, the Royal Opera House and BBC for this work of art.

We rented this from netflix and are going to have to buy it. Our children do like ballet but so far they've seen only ballets that have simple concepts. Coppelia is a bit more complicated to explain but they all enjoyed the humor and our three-year-old asked to watch it repeatedly.

I'm afraid I can give no technical review as I am only a layperson but from where we sat it all looked very good. The dancing was interesting and lively. The characters were as developed as you can get in a ballet, perhaps even more so since it was a comedy, which for some reason makes ballet characters seem more human.

This production and recording of "Coppelia" is absolutely incredible!
First of all, the quality of the recording is tremendous- the sound is good, the picture is perfectly clear, and the close-ups are very appropriate to helping the audience to follow the story. This recording makes you feel as though you are in the audience (with a great view)!
The performance is spectacular, both the orchestra and the dancers! The dancers (including those in the background) are completely in character, facial expressions and all, and they sweep you into the story. While beautiful, this ballet can actually be quite comedic, and the dancers do a lovely job of portraying the emotions appropriately- and they look like they're having so much fun, that it's fun to watch them! At the beginning of each of the 3 acts, a brief, written synopsis of what will happen in that act appears on the screen. It would be very helpful for those who aren't familiar with the storyline, and for children. Honestly, though, this ballet is very easy to follow without explanation, which makes it a wonderful ballet for children.
Also, the costumes and set are gorgeous. I highly recommend this version of Coppelia!