Customer Reviews

Romeo & Juliet [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Romeo & Juliet [Blu-ray]I first saw Romeo and Juliet at the Sacramento Ballet several years ago. The performance was fine, but the score by Sergey Prokofiev just blew me away. Recently I bought the DVD performed at the Teatro alla Scala from 2000. I liked the performance but wanted to see another.
I first saw Carlos Acosta on blu-ray in Khachaturian's Spartacus by the Bolshoi Ballet. Acosta's athleticism was like nothing I had seen in ballet. Then I bought the blu-ray of Acosta in the Royal Ballet's La fille mal gardee. His acting skills in a comic ballet convinced me to get all his performances.
When I saw that Romeo and Juliet had been released with Acosta as the lead, I couldn't wait to buy it. The dancing is outstanding and so is the Prokofiev score. The entire production by Kenneth Macmillan and with Tamara Rojo was flawless, much more satifying than the one from la Scala. This is the one to get.

Being familiar with the music for many years, seeing it in its original dancing context was a revelation. It gives much more meaning to the subtle nuances in the composition and reveals a story of deep pathos and emotion. This emotional message is helped in this superb production by the excellent music from the Royal Ballet Sinfonia conducted by Boris Gruzin - it is BD audio at its best. There is less focus on athletic showmanship than on translating emotion through dance and mime and the lovely Tamara Rojo portrays a Juliet with such sadness as to bring tears to the eyes. I classify this as one of the best of the new Blu Ray productions and one which excels in all areas. Recommended without reservation.

My partner and I have been ballet fans for several decades and, over those years, we have seen many, many Romeo and Juliet performances, both live and recorded. Without question, the one depicted on this DVD is the very best we have seen. In our humble opition, Tamara Rojo has impeccable technique and is without question the best dramatic ballerina in the world. Her Juliet performance on this DVD will serve as a primer for all future ballerinas who dare to tackle Kenneth MacMillan's magnificent choreography. Carlos Acosta matches Tamara's artistic brilliance, and their R&J is pure magic!! By the way, anyone who enjoyed this DVD and has the time and means to visit London may want to know that Tamara and Carlos will be dancing Romeo and Juliet live at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in January 2010. See you there!!!

Most of my Romeos were old Russian recordings that now look very dated with really poor picture quality. The Nureyev choreographed recording from Paris is vastly better and will soon be released on Blu ray, however it is is done with strong emphasis on male sexualism and will not be to everyone's taste. This recording is just superb. The two leads are magnificent dancers and the rest of the cast leave nothing to be desired. The picture quality is very good but perhaps just a little on the dark side and the sound is excellent. There is no competition at the moment and you are unlikely to see much better for a long time anyway. The whole performance is a wonderful blend of brilliant dancing, magical music and all presented in a very traditional way. Do not hesitate.

I have seen many productions of Prokofiev's "Romeo & Juliet" even one on Ice, but this is the definitive one to own. The title roles are danced by Carlos Acosta and Tamara Rojo and what a couple they make. This production by the Royal Ballet has got to be seen to be believed. It is simple stunning. I could not fault it in any way, the sets and costumes are magnificent. The dancing and fight scenes are impeccable and the Blue-Ray presentation gives you the best seats in the house. The sound and image are extremely clear and sharp. What more could you want! Add it to your collection today.

I agree with the other reviewers that this is a marvellous overall production but prefer Angel Corella's Romeo to that of Acosta's. Corella's youthful enthusiasm and joyful exuberance are, to me, more believable than Acosta's more mature approach. Both are superb dancers--Acosta's interpretation of Franz in Coppelia (available on DVD) is wonderful, but the award for Romeo must go to Corella. I thought Rojo's Juliet was sublime but, again, not quite as polished as Ferri's. There were subtle nuances in Ferri's performance that were missing in Rojo's, such as the palpably painful arc of her body when she faces Romeo at the beginning of the bedroom scene--not a huge move but one that speaks volumes. The balcony scene with Corella and Ferri moved me to chills and tears while Acosta and Rojo, though beautiful and passionate, did not.

The BIG difference in the productions, though, is costuming. La Scala's costumes are superb. Juliet's costume in act I is just gorgeous and flows with her every movement. The costumes for the ballroom scene are brilliant and exhibit such creative use of color (Juliet's is a deep gold--stunning!). The lighting, too, is brighter and has none of the dark, murky tones of the Royal Ballet production. Although the Royal Ballet's lighting is probably more authentic,the La Scala production is certainly easier to see (something to consider when a production is being filmed).

In all, both productions are worthy of praise, both are valuable additions to ons's ballet library, but this reviewer prefers the La Scala production.

Beautiful dancing, beautiful music, and the visual quality is excellent. You can see clearly every dancer. In my opinion, this video shows what Blu-ray is capable of.

This is by far the best Romeo and Juliet Ballet out there--and we've seen them all! Tamara Rojo is perfect as Juliet. She embodies the youth of the character, her acting is great and her dancing is breathtaking! The other dancers are also fantastic. Carlos Acosta's dancing skills are wonderful, but his acting is a little stiff. Other than that, I'd say you can't do better than this version. The costumes are beautiful, the lighting is perfect, and the music is well balanced. I can almost hear Shakespeare's words with this version. Another plus to this one I like is the view of the orchestra playing during the overtures at the beginning and intermission that you can't see even when you see a ballet in person. If you buy only one dance dvd, make it this one.

I have the original version with Fonteyn & Nureyev, the version with Eagling and Ferri, the LaScalla version with Corella & Ferri and now this one.
I have to say I've never been able to deal with a 46 year old woman playing Juliet so that lets out the Fonteyn version. Not to mention the fact that MacMillan made changes to his original choreography (which had been made on Gable & Seymour) to accomodate those two "stars".
I like the Eagling/Ferri version because at the time Ferri was so close in age to Juliet but Eagling was not the world's greatest dancer.
In the LaScala version I do not like the production at all and find the company quite lacking compared to the two stars.
This performance has it ALL. It is a lovely production with a good supporting company and Acosta and Rojo are well matched in their wonderful dancing and acting skills. See it live, see it on DVD, there is just no way around it, the soaring, dramatic music and the choreography that fits it so well, combine to pull you in and by the end you are totally wiped out. And you can see that in Acosta and Rojo when they take their bows - it seems hard for them to come back into the "real" world.
On the newest Manon DVD I enjoyed the special feature "Dancing Manon" and I really wish the company had done a similar feature for this one too.
This version will be the gold standard for a long time, I think.

Ok, this is one beautiful DVD. The production values are of the highest caliber, the photography, editing and, of course, ballet itself, are all top notch. Although a little long, this is a thoroughly engrossing ballet with beautiful and highly professional performances.