Customer Reviews

Herold - La Fille Mal Gardee / Collier, Coleman, Shaw, Grant, Ashton, Royal Ballet

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

 

 

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.

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.

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!

La Fille Mal Gardee is an adorable ballet. The music, choreography, sets, costumes and cast are all perfect. It is a very light hearted ballet with a lot of humer in it. You will laugh throughout the whole show. Lesley Collier is a joy to watch. She is beyond graceful and just adorable. Her technique is lovely making her my favorite ballerina.

The only complaint I have about this DVD is that the quality of the recording. It is not very sharp and the colors seem to blend together a bit.

I highly recommend this DVD to anyone who loves ballet and wants to have a laugh. It is the perfect family ballet.

This is a very cute ballet, and has a very very cute ballerina in the lead role. Lise, the lead "La Fille" is played by Lesley Collier and her heart throb is played by Michael Coleman, who both have roles in the RB version of "The Tales of Beatrix Potter".....Tales of Beatrix Potter.....Lesley is a destructive little mouse named Hunka Munka and Michael is a very high leaping Jeremy Fisher, the leapfrog.

This ballet is a little "wacky", but that is what makes it so much fun. There are a few "it couldn't have happened that way" moments, such as the farm hands getting to "La Fille's" back yard before the cock crowed or even got off the roost, but I guess that is part of the silliness of the ballet. When the cockerel does get off the roost, he and his hens do a very good chicken dance to some equally good chicken music. Widow Simone is played by Brian Shaw and he is a pretty good characature of a mother determined to marry off her daughter to someone she doesn't love. He does a wonderful performance in the wooden shoe clog dance, in the second act. There are several "ribbon dances" in both the first and second acts, which you are sure to like. One ribbon dance is done from a maypole using lots of dancers moving in and around each other and tangling the ribbons to the degree that it's hard to believe they will ever get them untangled, but they do.

Widow Simone and her vintner neighbor are so determind to marry off Lise to the vintner's son, they have a notary come in to draw up a marrage agreement, but when Lise and her lover Colas are discovered embracing in her room, the agreement is nullified and the widow agrees to let Lise marry Colas. My goodness, all they did was kiss each other.

A silly, wacky, funny ballet that everyone in the family WILL enjoy. Great music composed by Ferdinand Herold, conducted by John Lanchbery, Dolby 2.0, full screen format, 96 minutes duration, good color and costuming, well lighted stage and an all around fabulous ballet corp. You can't go wrong buying this ballet....Richard.

Had heard this work mentioned many times and seen some scenes of it, but this is my first exposure to the whole thing. Lesley Collier, Michel Coleman, Brian Shaw, Garry Grant, and specially Lesley Collier and John Lanchbery and the orchestra present a great performance. The ensemble numbers are somewhat less than perfect in choreography, execution and camera aim. Quite an entertaining presentation of a venerable stage show.

This is a very good DVD, even being copied from a VHS it is still a very good copy; good sound and image!!!!