Customer Reviews

Glazunov - Raymonda / Bessmertnova, Vasyuchenko, Taranda, Zhuraitis, Bolshoi Ballet

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

 

 

This is a wonderful full length ballet that few know about. A shame. Though Glazumov is no Tchaikovsky he writes beautiful music and the costumes and massive sets are gorgeous. Gedminas Taranda as Abderakhman appears only in Act 2 and just fleetingly in Act 1 yet steals the show from the wonderful Natalya Bessmertova. You can't stop looking at him whenever he is on stage. He turns the three minute Spanish Dance into a spactacular tour de force that is almost unbelievable and IS unbelievable in the last minute of the dance. The DVD is worth buying just for this. This production is much better than the Bolshoi's earlier version which has just been released, also with Taranda.

If you're tired of Tchaikovsky's Big Three or just want a change of pace,

this is an enjoyable alternate. Bessmertnova is great while Taranda has rewritten the book.

I've never really encountered Glazunov. The little I heard did not impress me. So when I saw this DVD of the complete Raymonda I figured this would be the way to put him to the test. And it did not start off all that well. The first act sounded like watered-down Tchaikovsky. Not exactly out of character for this last ballet by Petipa - Tchaikovsky's choreographer - and the last in this tradition. But then the exotic dances in the last two acts brought out more from Glazunov. The story is not much - princess is in love with prince. Then an Arab prince sees her and falls in love. She does not reciprocate (suprise) and finally the white bread prince and the dark prince have a duel wherein - guess what - the dark prince is killed. General celebration in the third act which switches to Hungary where we can have lots of Hungarian color in dance and music. The star is Natalya Bessmertnova who at 48 must have been at the end of her career. But she dances beautifully. The men are both good and of course the Bolshoi company is the best at this. One small critique: the audience insists on too many bows from Bessmertnova. But it's obviously a love affair.

A big party piece from the Bolshoi, with outstanding performances from Bessmertnova and Taranda. The subsidiary roles are filled with top dancers and there are no weak links. Glazunov's score is not as immediately appealing as Tchaikovski's ballet music, but with familiarity comes much more enjoyment. The sheer size of the Bolshoi stage is very helpful for a grand performance of this little-recorded ballet. I have been watching it happily since the videotape first came out in the 80's, and I have now bought the DVD.

With all due respect to Natalya Bessmertnova and others, this production of Raymonda will sweep you away thanks to Gedminas Taranda as Abderakhman. He is so expressive, dynamic, articulate, and out of this world! If you appreciate musicality, artistry, technical perfection, believability, and beautiful dance, I think you'll agree. I fell in love with "the bad guy" the moment I saw him, and it's amazing how effective and fitting this role is for him -- he only appears for a small fraction of the show. HOWEVER, it is well worth the money. I watch him on repeat, and as my VHS from the 80s wore out, I was thankful that it finally came out in DVD! I can't name a person in our current generation who can compare to his performance. I always feel that live performance is hard to capture on film, but Bolshoi continues to prove me wrong in that front. Raymonda's plot is not great, but Bolshoi dancing is just a treat... if you're a cost-conscious person, just rent/borrow it -- just watch Act 2 (or is it 1?) of his variation, duet with Natalya, his entourage, and finally his death scene. Bessmertnova as Raymonda is crazy for not ditching her fiancee and going after Taranda's character!!!!

Bessmertova must have been in her forties when this was recorded and she dances like she's sixteen, the energy and delicacy and her execution are unbelievable. I can only agree with everyone else's raves. A great addition to anyone's library.

I bought this to see what would be the closest to an original choreography as possible. I will not rate the ballet- that's everyones personal opinion. the dancing? ok. looked a bit rushed but to know that bessmertnova was 49 in this recording- another reason I bought it. If you are looking for reconstruction of choreography- this is it. If your looking for a beautiful ballet well danced- with good props, sets and costumes- this is not it.

It's a decent ballet, but it doesn't warrent 5 stars. I'm giving it 3 to try to balance the other 5 star ratings. This is one of eight ballet DVDs I've bought in the last 12 months (I became interested in ballet a year ago after watching The Nutcracker with my grand-daughter). The other seven are better. They are (from #7 to #1): Giselle (a film by Hugo Niebeling based on the American Ballet Theatre's version), The Sleeping Beauty with the Ballet de l'Opera de Paris (choreography by Rudolf Nureyev), La Sylphide with the Ballet de l'Opera National de Paris, Coppelia with the Australian Ballet, The Nutcracker with the Bolshoi Ballet (Arkhipova and Mukhamedov dancing), Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet with the Teatro alla Scalla (Corella and Ferri dancing), and Swan Lake with the American Ballet Theatre (Correla and Murphy dancing). In this Raymonda, the principle dancers appear to be past their prime (not a good thing in ballet). And the overall ballet presentation is the most boring of the eight. This may in part be caused by the choreography. Grigorovich was the choreographer, and he didn't seem to have his heart in this production (his choreography of my Nutcracker was outstanding).