Customer Reviews

Tchaikovsky: Nutcracker, Marinsky Theatre [Blu-ray]

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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Some say that the music of a country is best performed by artists in that country and this brilliant effort supports that view. The dancing, lavish and colourful sets, orchestral playing under maestro Gergiev, are all top notch. The choreography by Krill Simonov is new and different to that seen in most productions and this gives a freshness to the production. Quite a few dances are traditionally performed by solo artists but here are danced by two or three together. Many of the presentations have new, elaborate and effective staging with great effects. The music is very familiar to me and the overall result in 24 bit surround sound is both entertaining and musically satisfying. A 12 year old ballet student and her family looked at it with us and everyone voted it "great". Thoroughly recommended.

This production of Nutcracker is about Michail Chemiakin. He is a prominent painter who was expelled from USSR and spent most of his career in the USA. Perestroika and collapse of the Soviet Union allow him to work in Russia. The whole ballet design in his style and it's gorgeous.
Overall it's create very magical, festive ballet. Choreography is, probably, the weakest point of this production, but on occasion it is great (yes, Snowflakes, Arabian dance-coffee ).
Dancing is very, very good. I wish dancers have more choreography to work with. Gergiev conducting is on occasion rushed and glosses over intricacies of the score. Quality of recording and camera work is great. Bonus material is OK, very mildly informative.
This is an good Blu-ray for children, because it's so magical and for connoisseur es, because it's a well done new production.

I cannot imagine a better Nutcracker than this. It is a delight from beginning to end. Wonderful sets, costumes, and superb dancing. The picture and sound quality are just wonderful. Do not hesitate. I personally prefer this to the recent San Francisco Blu ray but that is also pretty good but not as traditional as this production. I rate this as one of the best ballet discs in my collection.

The summary above says the the scenario has been updated to a "more mature" level. In my opinion, this means that the former scenario that many of us grew up with is virtually gone. The giant Christmas tree, for instance, is no longer. So while the video and audio quality are fine, the content is not. Also, Gergiev's conducting is overdriven and charmless.

I guess the Russians have succomed to the same silliness. Why production designers have to take traditional works (yes they are museum pieces, but museums exhibit many beautiful things) and make them ugly is easy to understand. They want to be "different." Tchaikovsky's music does not go well with this production from the Marinsky (formerly Kirov)ballet. Yes, I know that E.T.A. Hoffman's original "Nutcracker" is darker than what has traditionally been presented, but Tchaikovsky wrote the music for a lighter, brighter production design. If you think giant houseflies, snow maidens dressed in black, and choruses of dead, pale childred are beautiful, you will like this atrocity. The blue-ray technology is good, but what a waste of technology!

If only they'd come out with a regular DVD version and not limit it to BluRay. Alas, the have not.
This Mariinsky Theatre version is brilliant, inovative, and totally fascinating.

I found this production absolutely astonishing. Astounding, really. And the prima ballerina -- she could move in ways I did not think possible. She did some of the strangest things with her feet and ankles that I have ever seen. I saw the German Nutcracker the next night on Ovation TV but I could only stand it for about three minutes, the boredom and stultifying quality of it. Shemiakin's Nutcracker is just phenomenal. I liked especially the mice climbing up on the cake at the end and pulling little pieces off of it with their hands to take into their mouths. And the living buns and meringues were great. Well, all of it was.