Product Details

• Actors: Irina Golub, Anton Adasinsky, Leonid Sarafanov
• Directors: Mikhail Chemiakin
• Format: Classical, Color
• Language: English
• Subtitles: French, German, Spanish
• Region: All Regions
• Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Decca
• DVD Release Date: November 18, 2008
• Run Time: 88 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001CZVVX2
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,547 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker, Marinsky Theatre [Blu-ray]" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Genre: Music Videos - Classical
Rating: NR
Release Date: 18-NOV-2008
Media Type: Blu-Ray

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Long Live the Nutcracker King, November 21, 2008

By 

Joseph L. Ponessa (Glendive MT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker, Marinsky Theatre [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

On the second day of the year 2007, Valery Gergiev conducted another outstanding ballet program at the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg. Mihail Chemiakin's 2001 production, with glorious sets and costumes reminiscent of Sendak, brings the action closer in plot and feeling to the original 1816 tale "Knussknacker und Mausekoenig" by ETA Hoffmann. The old chestnut comes to life again, with some new choreography by Kirili Simonov.

Fortunately the video producer, Denis Caiozzi, does not hate ballet like the producer of the recent Swan Lake video from the same stage. What a relief to see a dancer go through a whole set of interesting maneuvers without ever being interrupted by a useless video cut. There still are more half-shots than necessary. The opening pantomimes don't require any complicated footwork, but they are still dancers and still using their feet. So what benefit do we gain from seeing them cut off at the knee? See, editor guys, it is like this: high-definition programs are going to be watched on large monitors. So people don't need closeups the way we used to. Seeing the whole stage was frustrating on the small screen, but on the large screens seeing a tiny part of the stage is such a waste. So blu-ray videos need a whole different kind of camerawork. The video resolution is good enough that the naked eye can pick out details and place them in their proper context.

I know that the great city of Saint Petersburg knows the value of the long shot, because the longest film ever comprising a single, continuous take of footage was recently filmed there, at the Hermitage Museum, on 23 December 2001. In fact, Valery Gergiev makes a cameo appearance in that film, called RUSSIAN ARK, which lasts 96 minutes on a single camera take. That kind of thing requires far more intelligence aforethought than all the mindless intercutting of camera angles that pester the life out of ballet films. My dream is to see Alexander Sokurov, the genius behind RUSSIAN ARK, do a ballet film for the Mariinsky some time.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding, December 15, 2008

By 

fouetteking (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker, Marinsky Theatre [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

Very different choreography, which made me skeptical at first. But the dancing is first-class and some of the new choreography (Waltz of the Flowers sans Dewdrop) far surpasses Balanchine or Paris Opera in my opinion. Amazing display of technique and aristry by the Kirov, all presented in wonderful Blu-Ray.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars And now for something completely different, December 14, 2011

By 

E. A. Lovitt "starmoth" (Gladwin, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker, Marinsky Theatre [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

Valery Gergiev conducts this complete, un-cut version of Tchaikovsky's well-loved ballet, which was filmed in St. Petersburg's Marinsky Theatre where it had its premiere over a century ago.

Unfortunately, the surreal sets and strange, but sumptuous costumes overwhelmed the dancing in this production by avant-garde artist Mikhail Shemiakin, and he certainly had his own ideas about the Nutcracker story. For instance, his snowflake maidens were dressed in black with little white bobbles on their costumes, and spent much of their time onstage doing the wave, rather than dancing. They resembled a chorus line out of a 1930s Busby Berkeley musical.

And why was his Drosselmeyer made up to look like a spastic, hunchbacked Varney the Vampire?

For some reason, bumblebees replaced mice in some of the 'fight' scenes, and the poor Nutcracker-prince had to wear his ugly mask almost all the way through the ballet. He finally removed it after all of the various nationalities did their set-pieces. When he did, I thought I could figure out why it had remained on so long--Leonid Sarafanov looked about 20 years younger than the prima ballerina, Irina Golub, even though she's actually just a couple of years his senior.

High point: The Persian dance was very cool: the ballerina, wearing a scaly, green unitard, oiled her way around the stage like a human cobra. Even the two muppet-snakes bobbing randomly about on either side of her couldn't detract from her performance.

Low point: the Mirliton dancers in black masks with tall white cylinders on their heads, who spent their time on stage beating up on rag dolls. What the heck was that supposed to represent?

Greatest costumes: as the guests were leaving the Stahlbaum house after the Christmas party, they were made up to look like Maurice Sendak characters: enormous face-concealing hats, short torsos, big muffs. They were darling.

Worst costumes: lots of choices here, but I'll settle on the bumblebees with their flaccid, black-and-yellow striped abdomens bobbing about behind them.

My least-favorite aspect of this production was the dancing. The performers spent way too much time sprinting across the stage or writhing on the floor. Sometimes, as in the Chinese set-piece, the dancing was banal. Sometimes it was frenzied--Irina Golub kept wind-milling her arm in a circle as though she were trying to lasso a cow. Leonid Sarafanov performed his lifts as though he were heaving a sack of cement into a truck. I expect beautiful dancing in a ballet, especially one by Tchaikovsky, and that was an infrequent occurrence in this production.

I recommend you purchase Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker - featuring The Royal Ballet orThe Nutcracker / Baryshnikov, Kirkland, Charmoli before you spend your money on this version.