Customer Reviews

Spartacus

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

When this disc arrived I saw Ross MacGibbon credited as the video producer, and cringed: Oh, no, not the man who demolished Swan Lake at the Mariinsky! My expectations rose a bit when I thought that Khachaturian's musical language and Grigorovich's dance language might lend itself to quick cutting better.
It turns out that MacGibbon clearly knows and loves the Spartacus ballet, and respects the flow of the music and dance. Ironically, his cutting is much more conservative with this modern piece. Still there are too many half shots, which are totally unnecessary when blu-ray lets the details be seen without close-up.
In a 2001 interview, MacGibbon insists that eight cameras are an absolute minimum for filming a ballet. (Having eight, of course, does not meaning having to use each of them all of the time.) Actually, if I may presume to differ, the absolute minimum is one camera. Wouldn't it be nice if a ballet disc used the "angle" feature and gave the option of viewing the entire stage through the whole program?
MacGibbon has filmed Carlos Acosta, the excellent visiting lead dancer, before, in the Nureyev production of Don Quixote at Covent Garden in 2001. The Russians principals and corps de ballet portray both slaves and patricians with just the right touch, but Acosta brings a different feel to the lead role. As a Cuban he brings out a different dimension of the tale and universalizes it. MacGibbon seems to understands what Acosta is aiming at and helps to liberate his concept.
Anyway, I am so glad that MacGibbon does not hate ballet after all. Maybe he just has no sympathy for swans.

Carlos Acosta IS Spartacus. The identification of role and dancer is absolute and all encompassing. There is passion, power, subtlety, conviction unmatched elsewhere. A big dancer in dances that demand big ample movement, Mr. Acosta's every pore, every muscle convey the character's deep emotions and committment to great, sweeping ideals. The technique is phenomenal. Ironically, what one remembers as most riveting is the eyes. There lives Spartacus, fighter, hero and very much a lover. Given the arduous role, Russian ballet has cast it always from strength, even if in subtly different interpretations: Vassiliev and Mukhamedov come to mind. Carlos Acosta, Cuban born and trained, at the summit of his breathtaking powers, a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, achieves greatness guesting with the Bolshoi at the Palais Garnier in Paris; never have dancer and part seemed so intimately matched in this ballet. This dvd is worth acquiring for this performance alone if for nothing else.

The other roles are also well danced. Crassus, at one time memorably performed by a haughty Maris Liepa, is here also outstandingly danced by Alexander Volchkov, but with a different slant, more venal, corrupt, sensual, than fascist. Nina Kaptsova is superb: a lyrical, eloquent, vulnerable Phrygia. Maria Allash is a delicious Aegina, a knowing courtesan and virtuoso secure in her powers to seduce and dance. Alexei Ratmansky's Bolshoi shines. The company is young and vibrant, as we already knew from Shostakovich - Bolt.

Spartacus seems less heavy-handed than it did in Soviet days. It does not carry the propaganda baggage one could choose to read (or ignore) at that time. Other things one associates with this work remain as they have always been. The Aram Khachaturian music, in the main, still sounds mostly loud, uninteresting and banal, indeed, for me, awful. The Grigorovich choreography is also a mixed bag. Quite emotive and free-flowing at times, yet also at times uninspired and clumsy: when unable to develop a choreographic paragraph from a phrase (steps), his only solution seems to be to repeat the steps which usually are quite ordinary. In other words, when inspiration falters, just do more of the same. These shortcomings have been present in this Bolshoi staple since the Grigorovich version was first produced. To some, they could easily render Spartacus unwatchable (yet to many it is a wonderful, stirring piece!). In this case, however, they are not so much overcome as overwhelmed by the eloquence, power, and brilliance of Carlos Acosta's performance.

The 2 dvd set, a live performance at the Palais Garnier, Paris, on 22 January 2008, contains a series of interviews with dancers, Grigorovich, Ratmansky, et al., as well as an extended, illuminating conversation with Carlos Acosta. The reproduction and sound are excellent.

In April 2007 I wrote a very short comment on the ArtHouse DVD recorded at the Bolshoi Theater on 1990. I was then hoping for a new version with surround sound and High Definition. This time I got my wish and much more. This BluRay Disc was recorded with the Bolshoi dancers and the Cuban dancer Carlos Acosta in Paris in 2008. The choreography and scenography are the same as the 1990 production but, new technology and the passionate dancing makes it this Disc a real work of art to be enjoyed by all. If you have seen any old and new versions of Spartacus films you will appreciate and enjoy this ballet even if you have never seen a ballet before.
This Grigorovich production is 40 years old. It was created under a totally different political oversight in the Soviet Union. Although the political landscape has changed, the same production is used today with the exceptional results you can see. This, may be, goes to show that art creation can not be subdued to one political will, even when the pressure is immense.
I strongly recommend this Disc to ballet connoisseurs and to first timers. The passion the dancers put into their dance and their acting is so strong, and the music so perfect and beautiful, you will be completely totally immersed in the performance.

In recent years Yuri Grigorovich's 1968 "Spartacus" had become something of a problem child in the Bolshoi Ballet's repertory. Ever since Irek Mukhamedov stopped dancing the title role, they had a hard time finding somebody to tackle it in a satisfactory way. With guest star Carlos Acosta they finally did.

Cuban-born Carlos Acosta learned the role in 2007 with legendary Spartacus interpreter Mikhail Lavrovsky and danced it to great success in Moscow before he conquered the London Coliseum as well as the Palais Garnier in Paris (where this film was shot) with it. By the dynamism of his dancing Acosta gives the ballet its vitality back, by the sincerity of his acting he invests the character with a meaning again, and by his technical brilliance he upgrades Grigorovich's choreography. It's been some time since we saw a Spartacus so full of anger and hatred, putting his whole being into his leap for freedom. Although differently, Acosta gives sense to the choreography just as much as it first interpreters did. "Spartacus" has long since ceased to be the Soviet propaganda piece it once could be taken for and although its interpreters continue to move on this same outsized, superhuman scale, an artist like Acosta remains above all a very human Spartacus with whom we, today, anywhere in the world, can completely associate with. As a performance it is utterly exciting as well as profoundly moving, and it's great to have it preserved on video.

"Spartacus" isn't completely saved, though, because Alexander Volchkov's Crassus remains far too meek and gentle to portray the unbalanced Roman despot who mercilessly crushes the rebels. On the other hand, the female leads of Phrygia and Aegina are still in safe hands with the current crop of Bolshoi ballerinas. The petite Nina Kaptsova is an excellent Phrygia, fragile and expressive, while Maria Allash is in her element as Aegina. The Bolshoi company performs for the rest with plenty of energy and conviction.

Filmed live in Paris at the Palais Garnier in January 2008, it's a shame that the Bolshoi's own orchestra wasn't used for this release. Pavel Klinichev conducts the Orchestra Colonne, which lacks conviction and energy and cannot hide its unfamiliarity with Khatchaturian's score.

Directed by Ross MacGibbon and shot by the French Bel Air Media team, close-ups are sparingly used and aren't too distracting. Bonus features include clips of studio rehearsals and interviews with Acosta, his co-stars Kaptsova, Allash and Volchkov, choreographer Yuri Grigorovich, Bolshoi Ballet artistic director Alexei Ratmansky, and the Paris Opera Ballet's Brigitte Lefèvre. Acosta talks about his beginnings in Havana and his personal affinity with the role of the Thracian rebel.

All in all a fine new release. Collectors owning previous versions of the ballet with Vladimir Vasiliev and Irek Mukhamedov, can safely invest in it, as Acosta is a completely different Spartacus and on his own well worth the admission price.

When Grigorovich took the challenge of choreographing Khachaturian's Spartacus - who had searched the story of this rebelled slave in Appian and Plutarch,more than in Giovaniolli's novel as basis for his ballet score -he would be the third choreographer to do so,after Yakobson in 1956 and Moiseev,in 58.
In 1963 he finally staged this 3rd productin of Spartacus,for Bolshoi.The leading role does demand an exceptional physically gifted dancer in order to give life to the extremely violent choreography with its "jetés" and leap sequences,not to mention strength.Mikhail Lavrovsky,Vladimir Vasiliev and Irek Mukhamedov became legendary interpreters of Grigorovich's Spartacus.Two dancers,young Ivan Vasiliev - possibly one exceptional Spartacus to be - and cuban Carlos Acosta have the courage to dance the part,nowadays.
Carlos Acosta,internationally recognised ballet dancer,even foot injured,gives,live from Palais Garnier,an unforgettable interpretation of this demanding role,after Moscow and London.His generosity,his inner capability of giving the rebelious slave a soul trough dancing,is absolutely transcendent,and technically too,though injured.
His partenaire Kaptsova is neither Semenyaka nor Bessmertnova but portrays a fragile,tender Phrygia.
Allash's Aegina,quite convincing,follows Bilova's steps(she danced the two Mukhamedov versions).The weakest part is Volshkov's Crassus,far from being a cruel despot the role requires.Too young and light,is far away from Vetrov's energic,violent dancing.The orchestra...weak.
The Bolshoi corps,alas, does not bear the masculine quality male Bolshoi dancers used to have...I did think of majorettes,once or twice.
The filming is excellent,the blu-ray DVD image exceptional.This said,Vasiliev and Mukhamedov remain unsurpassed.

Yuri Grigorovich's Spartacus has long been a calling card for the Bolshoi Ballet. The story of a slave uprising against the evil Roman Empire played very well to Soviet propaganda. It was a ballet that for a long time only the Bolshoi COULD perform -- a company of 200 dancers, they've always been known for the strength of their males, who could handle both those endlessly repeated cross-stage leap diagonals and what I call the "curtain drape" lifts, where the female is lifted above the male's shoulder and draped over it like a curtain. Leap, curtain drape lift, beat chest, that's all Grigorovich demanded of his principal dancers. For the corps de ballet, there's lots of marching with swords and shields for the Romans, and arm flailing and tragic thumping for the slaves. Wash, rinse, repeat, and that's basically the entire ballet. The score by Aram Khatchaturian is as bombastic and repetitive as Grigorovich's choreography. It has one nice tune (the "love theme") that's repeated about 1,560 times before the ballet mercifully comes to an end.

It's a paradox that as the Bolshoi becomes a more refined, classical company, their calling card ballet becomes less believable. There are vintage films that exist of the original cast (Vladimir Vasiliev, Natalia Bessmertnova/Ekaterina Maximova, Marius Liepa, Nina Timofeyeva), with the 1960s/70s Bolshoi Ballet corps that showed the relentless energy that the old-style Bolshoi dancers were able to bring to this Soviet spectacle (I hesitate to really call it a ballet). It was fun, in that kind of vulgar, mindless way. But the Bolshoi Ballet of today is a very different company. Then men are still strong and athletic, but they lack that extra bit of conviction and showmanship with the chest-beating, thumping choreography, so it comes across as hokey. The female corps de ballet is now more turned out and refined, so when the female slaves come onstage, it looks like they wandered in from the wrong ballet.

As Aegina the courtesan, Maria Allash has the bright red lipstick and tries gamely to play the va-va-voom courtesan, but again, she just lacks that toughness that the old-school Bolshoi women exuded in this part, so her lying on the ground and kicking her legs up just looks campy, and not even fun camp, but depressing camp. Perhaps most ridiculous is baby-faced Alexander Volchkov as Crassius -- when he does his first series of stage-crossing diagonal leaps, he looks dainty, almost sweet. More like a Puck than supervillain. If you watch Marius Liepa in the film made in the 1970s, you'll see how this role is supposed to look.

It's telling that for the lead role, the Bolshoi imported Cuban superstar Carlos Acosta. Acosta is a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, and he obviously relishes the chance to dance this relentlessly heroic, bravura role. His portrayal of Spartacus is hammy (lots of silent movie acting), but he gets the role -- the bombast, the heroism, and most of all, the importance of nailing every diagonal leap sequence and curtain drape lift as if his life depended on it. The other highlight is Nina Kaptsova as Phrygia. She's not asked to do much besides get draped over the shoulders a lot and act Incredibly Sad, but within the confines of Grigorovich's choreography, one can tell that she has a wonderfully lyrical style.

The Bolshoi is now a company with a varied repertory. In recent years it did "new-old" reconstructions of Esmeralda, Coppelia, and Le Corsaire. It dances quite a bit of Balanchine, and former director Alexei Ratmansky choreographed some interesting revivals of Soviet ballets like Flames of Paris and Bright Stream. It's therefore depressing to see that this tired Grigorovich warhorse gets a DVD release, while the other revivals have yet to make it to video. I'm happy to see dancers like Acosta and Kaptsova and Allash and Volchkov, but can it be in a ballet that better showcases their talents?

I Martinez Ybor has an eloquent and favorable review with which I do not want to quibble. Just a warning: if you own the Vasiliev and/or the Mukhamedov versions, you might want to check out highlights of this version before you plunk down your money. If you do not, check highlights of those before you make a final decision.

I have two Bolshoi versions with basically the same sets, choreography and costumes. The crucial difference is the character of Spartacus. I prefer the other version, with Irek Mukhamedov as the rebel leader. I think he is a much better dancer--his turns are just faster, for example--and Mukhamedov is someone I wouldn't mind following into battle.

The Acosta version is a different situation. To me, it seems that Acosta approaches each set of steps like an ice skater in one of those skating specatulars with Brian Boitano or Scott Hamilton. There doesn't appear to be much continuity to Acosta's performance. Instead, he seems to be happy with executing his combinations while completely forgetting the Roman army that is lurking about.

Another thing. The booklet in the Acosta version states: "From the moment he first appears on stage, presenting the highly charged image of a black man in chains, Acosta imbues the work with a depth and poignancy its creator could hardly have dreamt of, reinventing it for a new generation." Yeah, because the Russian people know nothing about slavery and oppression! Especially during the Stalin era when "Spartacus" was created!

une révélation : Carlos Acosta. On a vraiment l'impression que le rôle est fait pour lui : un visage presque brutal, viril, et un corps souple et musclé. De l'intensité, de la fougue, et une maîtrise absolue tant physique, gestuelle, qu'expressive. Un régal. Belle mise en scène et partenaires efficaces : que du bonheur.

What a joy this DVD is to view. The Bolshoi Ballet is always outstanding,
but to star a lead such as Carlos Acosta, it becomes even more enjoyable.
This dancer soars through the air and moves like a deer in flight! If you see this DVD and like it, I recommend you also see one of Romeo and Juliet, with Acosta in a great romantic telling of the love story; his Romeo is magnificent.