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Editorial Reviews
Fantasy and magic are the essential ingredients of The Nutcracker, and Tchaikovsky’s imaginative score helps bring to life the fantasy world of E.T.A. Hoffmann’s enchanting story of "The Nutcracker and The Mouse King." Gennady Rozhdestvensky is the guest conductor who "drew ravishing playing from this most ravishing of Tchaikovsky’s ballet scores." (Guardian) Though the original scenario for The Nutcracker was considered to be fatally flawed, this magical work has survived to become one of the firmest favorites in the ballet repertory. This production by the Artistic Director of Sadler’s Wells Royal Ballet, Peter Wright, with the help of Tchaikovsky ballet expert Roland John Wiley, attempts to rescue from far-flung archives surviving evidence of the original Ivanov/Sergueyev staging, combined with some captivating modern stage effects.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Ballet Performance,
By A Customer
This review is from: Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Collier, Dowell, Royal Ballet Covent Garden [VHS] (VHS Tape)
...I think that this ballet posesses all the elements, which make it, in my opinion, a quality performance. To begin with,the dancers posess both exceptional technical dancing skills and great acting ability. I have seen many ballet performances on video (by other ballet companies), where the dancers posess good technical dancing skills, but when it comes down to their acting ability, they couldn't act if their life depended on it. An example of the royal ballet's superb technical dancing skills, can be seen, when the sugar plum fairy (Lesley Collier) dances her famous pas de deux with her cavaliar (Anthony Dowell). Both dancers posess exquisite grace and at the same time,an immense amount of confidence. You get the feeling watching them dance, that they feel very comfortable dancing with one another. In addition to the great dancers, this production also has quality sets and beautiful costumes. Another element which stands out in regards to the Royal Ballets production of the Nutcracker, is how the theme of the ballet is presented. In most Nutcracker performances, ballet companies use the common theme of a young girl(Clara) on the verge of adolescence, who one christmas eve, is given the Nutcracker doll by her godfather Drosselmeyer. What results from that encounter, is a night of magic and adventure. In contrast, the royal ballet takes this basic theme, and uses it , but adds to it, the element of romance. The girl is not a mere young girl, but an adolescent on the brink of womanhood. She loves her Nutcracker doll, which is really drosselmeyer's nephew, who was turned into a nutcracker, by the evil mouse queen. Once the nutcracker is transformed back into Drosselmeyer's nephew, he falls in love with her, and she falls in love with him. The viewer gets the sensation, at the end of the ballet, that both Clara and Drosselmeyer's nephew are destined to be together. Why? In addition to their mutual attraction and affection for one another, they both share a common bond, and that bond is Drosselmeyer, who is responsible for bringing them together.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A pretty good performance,
By
This review is from: Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Collier, Dowell, Royal Ballet Covent Garden (DVD)
A great deal of review has already been done on this ballet; with the reviewers giving grades to this production that range all the way from one star to five stars. I have recently viewed this production (the laserdisc version!) and wish to provide another angle to the reviews.
I give it 4 stars; which is pretty good to me. I give 5 stars only to the greatest works. This is not the greatest, but it is still quite good. Some reviewers who give it very low scores seem to forget that this performance of the Nutcracker was filmed live- in late January 1985 (I imagine it was a special performance as it was danced over a month after Christmas)- in fact there are some nifty views of the audience during this performance. A live performance cannot be edited easily as there is only one "take", yet at the same time it provides a much more authentic look to the production. Most, if not all of the other performances of the nutcracker cited by the reviewers are actually assembleges of various performances over a period of days. Therefore comparing this live production to them is not fair. The other performances are good, yes, but one must realize what is actually being shown on the DVD, Laserdisc, or videotape.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic!,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Collier, Dowell, Royal Ballet Covent Garden [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I received this video from my Grandfather for Christmas several years ago and absolutely love it. I watch it every Christmas along with many other versions of the Nutcracker. Anthony Dowell and Lesley Collier are a sheer delight as the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier. Julie Rose is also very good as Clara. I would highly recommend this video to all ballet lovers. Donna M. Adank
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