Customer Reviews

Essential Ballet: Kirov Ballet at Covent Garden, London and Gala Performance from Red Square, Moscow

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"Essential Ballet" is actually a generous double bill of two gala performances, one in London's Covent Garden, the other in Moscow's Red Square. Both are spectacular. While the unashamedly theatrical star turns are too numerous to mention in detail, a few highlights give an idea of the pleasures to be had here.

At Covent Garden, Larisa Lezhina and the great Faroukh Ruzimatov in "Diana and Actaeon" make a dazzling case for the best of Soviet ballet. Altynai Asylmuratova and Konstantin Zaklinsky, while not exactly in their element, bring superhuman intensity to Antony Tudor's "Leaves Are Fading."

On a very special occasion in Red Square, Yekaterina Maximova and her husband, Vladimir Vasiliev, dance an "Aniuta" duet that alone is worth the price of the DVD. Ruzimatov and the spry Margarita Kulik sparkle in the "Corsaire" pas de deux, Nina Ananiashvili and Alexei Fadeyechev -- both in heartbreakingly beautiful form -- dance the grand pas from Act 3 of "The Sleeping Beauty." And, yes, Maya Plisetskaya steals the show as only she can do with her version of Fokine's "Dying Swan." Don't miss this one.-Octavio Roca, San Francisco Chronicle

You will want to stand up for most of this one. Alas, it will do no good. The simpletons have cut off the feet in over half of the Covent Garden Performance. When will they ever learn feet require at least one meter of stage perspective.
The Red Square portion is somewhat better in this regard. However, the outdoor staging is quite distracting.
In my opinion, the Kirov Ballet Company is a near perfect human endeavor and deserves better. These recordings will become the standard by which future dancers will be judged.

A magnificent DVD! Simply breathtaking !

This DVD features excerpts from performances of the Kirov Ballet at Covent Garden and an open-air concert from Red Square in Moscow.

It is difficult to know were to start: there are so many exquisite performances on this disc. I will pick out a few (really, you could mention all of them)

The beauty, grace and sensitivity of Julia Makhalina as Odette(with Andris Liepa) in the Adagio from "Swan Lake".

The obvious joy and subtle sadness, coupled with the incredible dancing skill of Altynai Asylmuratova and Konstantin Zaklinsky in " The Leaves Are Fading "; music by Antonin Dvorak.

The unbelievable athletic abilities of Farukh Ruzimatov in his Pas de deux with Larisa Lezhina from Drigo's "Diana and Actaeon".

And then there were the young dancers from the Vaganova Ballet Academy doing a wonderful job on Minkus's "Paquita: Polonaise and Mazurka" and also a credible rendition of the Dance of the Mirlitons from Tchaikovsky's " The Nutcracker"

Overall, I personally enjoyed the Covent Garden section a little more and yet my favorite piece is probably the Pas de deux from the Act II of Giselle (Adam) by Carole Arbo and Kader Belarbi; the smoothness, the height of the lifts, the glides, the quiet touches and the grace of both performers is simply hard to believe.

As a bonus there is a short commentary on the history of ballet by Ruth Leon in the accompanying booklet that is interesting reading.

All in all, some great performances of the greatest ballet scenes you'll ever find on one disc. Highly recommended!

It's time for a new review of this ballet DVD, ESSENTIAL BALLET by the KIROV Ballet, NOT repeat, NOT, the American Ballet Theatre. The information on the product description is incorrect. (PS, I see they have corrected the discription of this "title" and no longer say it is performed by the ABT). The picture in the description IS of the KIROV BALLET. It is a very, very good mixed bill program with half of it performed at Covent Garden in London, England, with Princess Diana in attendence. She is shown during the performance, so that is a bonus for those of you who love HER.

The London performance includes: The Polonaise (no dancing) from EUGENE ONEGIN, the Polonaise and Mazurka from PAQUITA by children from the Vaganova Ballet Academy (fabulous), the Adagio from SWAN LAKE, the
adagio from THE LEAVES ARE FADING, the RUSSIAN DANCE from SWAN LAKE, the dance of the Mirlitons from THE NUTCRACKER by three adorable children from the Vaganova Ballet Acamemy, the pas de deux from DIANA AND ACTAEON, and the grand pas de deux from PAQUITA. One reviewer complained about the feet being cut out of the picture. Disregard that statement, please. Not one scene had the feet out of the picture, except during close-ups, of which there were only a few. It was well shot by the camera crew, who get the shots they are told to get by the producer (or the button pusher as I call them). Years and years ago I was a cameraman in a TV studio, so I know a bit about it. The camera operator does NOT choose how the picture is framed or at what angle it is shot. After the performance, Princess Diana is shown talking to the dancers backstage, but there is no dialogue.

The second half of the program includes dancers from the Kirov Ballet AND the Bolshoi Ballet. It is done at a later date from Red Square in Moscow on an outdoor stage. Again someone complained about the conditions during the taping. During the evening fog rolled in and onto the stage, but it did not distract hardly at all. It was well lit, and for an outdoor event the sound quality was good. The Moscow performance includes: the pas de deux from THE SLEEPING BEAUTY w/Nina Ananiashvili, the pas de deux from LA CORSAIRE, the pas de deux from act II of GISELLE, the pas de deux from ANIUTA w/Yekaterina Maximova and her husband Vladimir Vasiliev, the pas de deux from the FIREBIRD (the prince and the Firebird), THE DYING SWAN w/the fabulous Maya Plisetskaya, and closed with the grand pas de deux from DON QUIXOTE w/Nina Ananiashvili and company. Would you believe some reviewer even complained about Maya Plisetskaya dancing as she approached the age of seventy? I can tell you no one in Moscow complained. She is dearly loved by the Moscowvites, and most people the world over who know anything at all about her. If you can find this DVD, do yourself a huge favor and get it, but be sure and confirm from the dealer that it is the Kirov version and not the ABT version. They are two seperate DVDs, both of which are called ESSENTIAL BALLET.

Good viewing.......Richard.

I thought Odette was a wonderful dancer.The Leaves in The Leaves are Fading were brilliant and I love the choreography. Diana and Actaeon were excellent and the costumes for the corps de ballet were very pretty. Paquita was beautiful with all the corps de ballet in tutus and in lovely colours, Olga Chenchikova's pirouettes were amazing and all of it very well danced. Anuita was quite modern but very nice and with lovely music. The Sleeping Beauty,Le Corsaire, Giselle and the others were all good but I didn't like The Firebirds dance of costume. The lighting and filming were fine and the DVD was very enjoyable. On the whole I think it is Essential Ballet and worth getting and keeping.

This video shows highlights from some beautiful ballets performed by the renamed Kirov Ballet at Convent Garden under the presence of Lady Diana and in Red Square under the presence of Russian people. Although most of the numbers chosen are famous I would not say they are essential as the title of this DVD suggest. There are far more important and interesting works which is not included in it. However I would recommend this DVD for those who are just curious about the art of ballet or want to be acquainted with it. The production is careful and the image and the sound are goods. This video is a nice entertainment for the whole family.

This tape is a must for all ballet lover.Tons of beautiful dancing.Just the "Dying swan" by Maya Plisetskaya alone worths a lot more than what you pay for.Don't miss this one.

Excellent performance from the Russian stars. The only downfall of this DVD is that the sound quality and lighting in Red Square Gala Performance are not good enough. A worth buying.

As I watched this DVD, at first I was impressed by the quality of photography of the Covent Garden segment. As far as the dancing goes, Russians dancers lack 'soul'. All you see is dazzling techique. When I came to the Red Square segment, I was delighted to see a couple of French artists in their wonderful rendition of Gisselle pas de deux. I did not enjoy Pliesetskaya's Dying Swan. She was then approaching 70 in her years. She should have retired.

I was really incensed when the credits for the Red Square gala came up. There were these names: Julio Bocca, Eleanora Cassano, Vladimir Derevianko, Rose Gad, Noella Pontois & LLoyd Riggins. The final shots even showed these artists taking their bows, but their dance numbers are totally absent from the DVD. It was very insensitive of the producer of the DVD to have eliminated at least three dances, but showed just a glimpse of the six wonderful artists at curtain time. It's most annoying!!

Another annoying thing is: the picture on the cover shows a couple in the White Swan Pas de Deux. The female could have been Makhalina, but the male surely is not her partner in this DVD.

This DVD whas not what it makes itself out to be. It says that you get Corsaire, Sleeping Beauty and Paquita.... none of which come in their true form. Many of them do not have the variations or they just have the pas de deux. And when they do have the whole pas de deux, it is quite mediocre. I bought this DVD to see the whole pas de deux, not just bad versions of excerps.

Also, the quality of the dancing is quite out-dated. If you were to buy any other video/dvd from that same time period, then you would see that the Russian ballet [is not good] in many ways. Thay have their good aspects...but they need to clean up and compare themselves to the rest of the world.

So if you are looking for a half of a decent DVD, or you know absolutely nothing about ballet, then this is what you should buy.