Product Details

• Actors: Frederick Ashton, Lesley Collier, Michael Coleman
• Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Kultur Video
• DVD Release Date: May 31, 2005
• Run Time: 100 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0008FXSRY
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,369 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Herold - La Fille Mal Gardee / Collier, Coleman, Shaw, Grant, Ashton, Royal Ballet" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Studio: Kultur Release Date: 05/31/2005

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ashton's sunny romantic comedy, September 21, 2005

By 

MusicMad (Metuchen, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Herold - La Fille Mal Gardee / Collier, Coleman, Shaw, Grant, Ashton, Royal Ballet (DVD)

I've waited years to own this performance, ever since I taped over the cable TV broadcast. On DVD, it's brighter and better sounding than ever, and viewing it for the first time in many years, I didn't realize how much I missed it. I cannot imagine Leslie Collier in any other role - her Lise is vivacious, charming, and completely unforced and natural. Her rapport with Michael Coleman as Colas is sweetly endearing, and Brian Shaw's performance as the Widow Simone - who dances a wonderful Clog Dance in wooden shoes, right out of the British music hall - is comic perfection. Sir Frederic Ashton has fleshed out the supporting roles brilliantly, each one quirky in their own way. (Just watch Graham Fletcher in the minor role of the Notary's Clerk - very funny indeed!)

The score is conductor John Lanchberry's buoyant adaptation of the music of Frederic Herold, with liberal borrowings from the operas of Rossini and Donizetti, and the orchestrations are splashy, romantic, and altogether delightful. This ballet is one to treasure.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ashton's rustic charmer, May 16, 2005

By 

Ivy Lin (NY NY) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Herold - La Fille Mal Gardee / Collier, Coleman, Shaw, Grant, Ashton, Royal Ballet (DVD)

Sir Frederick Ashton's Fille Mal Gardee may be fluffy (it includes a rooster dance), but it's charming fluff. When the Royal Ballet visited Russia in the early 1960s, Fille Mal Gardee was a huge hit with the Russian audiences. The story is slight, the music (a pretty pastiche of a score, sharp listeners will detect the melodies of Rossini's "Barber of Seville" in Act 1) even slighter. The ballet's storyline centers around a pretty village lass named Lise (Lesley Collier) whose mother Widow Simone is intent on marrying her off to Alain, a simpleton. Lise of course has her beloved, Colas (Michael Coleman). In the end all ends happily, and even Alain is reunited with *his* beloved, an umbrella. Not very deep, yet the whole ballet has an easygoing, down-to-earth appeal. Ashton choreographed many cute, clever moments. How many ballets do heroines get to churn butter and play cat's cradle?

This video, a Royal Ballet performance, is competent without being truly enchanting, and thus the one-star deduction. Both Collier and Coleman dance very well, but they dont really project much youth or joie de vivre. I've seen the recent BBC telecast with Carlos Acosta and Marianela Nunez, and IMO Acosta and Nunez dance with more vigor and charm than Collier and Coleman. Let's hope that performance gets released commercially on dvd.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh, So Sweet!, January 11, 2007

By 

mousefan - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Herold - La Fille Mal Gardee / Collier, Coleman, Shaw, Grant, Ashton, Royal Ballet (DVD)

This ballet is sweet. I saw it done live in Chicago when my daughters were taking ballet. They insisted I see it and since then it has been my favorite ballet and I have seen many, many different ballets. This one in particular, takes place in the country and on a farm. Even the chickens are en pointe! The musical score is just beautiful, the plot is sweet and if you buy this DVD, you will be charmed throughout.

I did manage to get a copy on VHS a long time ago and have been anxiously awaiting it's arrival on DVD. The sound and video qualities are superb on the DVD.

This is an absolute must for your ballet collection if you have not seen it. Don't let the title discourage you. You will take a magical trip down Lover's Lane in the country.

Another wonderful ballet is "Napoli", equally a favorite of mine. I have Napoli on VHS and will purchase a copy on DVD. This ballet is just beautiful also. If you purchase "La Fille Mal Gardee", also buy "Napoli". You won't regret it, believe me. The music and dancing are gorgeous!