Customer Reviews

Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Maximova, Vasiliev, Pavlova, Vyaceslav, Bolshoi Ballet [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The dancing here is superb with superstar efforts by the leads Maximova and Vasiliev. The other dancers, particularly those pairs in Act II are excellent as well, particularly the Russian Dance and the Chinese. The uncle/magician does an admirable role as well.

The music is exquisite, however the recording is not as sharp and clear as we have become accustomed to in our time. The stage and set design is superb with the wire acts and the lights and costumes. The marriage near the end is a great addition, and the characters at times appearing out of the floor is neat addition.

Filmed live years ago, this is worthy effort for its time and the technology available.

This is a superb live on-stage performance. The virtuoso dancers are highly inspired by the support of the audience and show their best. The dance technique is almost unbelievable and gives a taste of the outstanding Russian ballet school. The viewer can see here the full Nutcracker version - nothing is skipped. The orchestra is very good and also shown on the recording. The conductor comes on the stage at the end to accept congratulations. Most of the scenes are masterpieces. Compared to other Nutcracker versions, all dancers here are superb, not only the main characters. Every detail is worked out in the best possible way. If you are interested in ballet, you should own this one!

This version of the Nutcracker satisfied every bit of my need to see superb, Russian, ballet technique in all its glory! True, it may lack in color and zest (ofcourse Americans can't imagine anything unless it's dripping in blinking lights and such), but the rather drab colors may have been an attempt to demonstrate contrast between what ought to be focused on and what NOT to focus on. Remember, this is the Bolshoi, not Las Vegas....this is world class Ballet at it's finest and Maximova and Vasiliev deliver 10-fold. I prefer the renditions where Masha is both child AND adult dancing in both acts as opposed to one version of her in Act I and then another version of her in Act II. I also loved how Masha and the Nutcracker danced the Grande Pas de Deux, instead of the Sugar Plum Fairy that you might see in a Balachine Production. Overall, if you're a dancer who can appreciate technique-then you'll love this, however, if you're a mom looking for another "Barbie Nutcracker", you'll hate this.

A live recording of stage performance by the Bolshoi Ballet in the 1970's. Maximova is impressive and Vasiliev in simply incredible. Good choreography. Stage props and recording quality a bit old style with colors a bit dull. Music quality is not truly great. Audience interference is present but tolerable.

The AMAZING Nutcracker which opened a whole new world and adventure in appreciating the art in ballet. I am a 34 year old male. Better late than never I suppose. The storyline, the performing dancers, and the elegance still transfers to the human heart through this DVD format. Although, the cameras can't really capture the true energy and radiance of a live performance, the price of the DVD is a better value then today's theater prices. Especially if you just need something to unwind after a hard days work. Cozy up, dream through viewing into dreaming of REM download. God Bless! To the viewer from Jersey, the answer to your question is: This production dates from 1987 and the sets and costumes appear to have been in use since well before then. (taken from Editorial reviews on Amazon)

This 1984 "live from the Bolshoi" has a few things to recommend, but many more negatives.
The positives:
1. A few divertissments are well-choreographed. The dancers are strangely out-of-sync, and the choreography (by Grigorivich) lacks the gentle humor of Balanchine, but in general, the choreography has some nice original touches. For example, in the Marzipan dance, the couple come onstage dragging a stuffed poodle. Eccentric, but original and actually charming.
2. The leads, Ekaterina Maximova and Vladimir Vasiliev. The Bolshoi eschews a child-Masha and instead has adults dancing the parts of Masha and the Prince. This allows them to dance much more in the second act but eliminates the Sugar Plum Fairy. But Vasiliev and Maximova are strong classical dancers, and both are terrific leapers. Maximova has a very winning smile, and a lovely figure. She's not too tall, not too thin, very charming.

And now, the negatives, and there are a lot:
1. The technical issues. The stage is way, way too dark. You can barely see the tree. The sound is terrible -- tinny, squeaky, not well-recorded at all. Plus, this is a live performance, and there is one obvious gaffe: at the end of the first act one extra ends up on the wrong side of the curtain.
2. The Snowflakes. For some inexplicable reason, they are in truly horrifying powdered wigs that look like a cross between George Washington and "Mrs. Bates" in Psycho. They are pasted onto the dancers so loosely you can see a crack between the actual head of the dancer and the wig. Truly hideous.
3. The choreography. If there was one theme of Grigorivich's Nutcracker, it seems to be: all 200 members onstage at all times! The stage is constantly overcrowded at every moment, and at the end of the party scene the curtain falls and one dancer is left on the wrong side of the curtain. Funny, but somehow indicative of this sloppy, dreary performance.
The Mice scene is one of the most poorly choreographed Mice/Soldiers fights I've seen. For one, there seems to be no fighting/jousting, simply the soldiers lining up onstage and dancing, and then the mice dancing. The big moments like Masha throwing the shoe or the death of the Mouse King go for naught, in this muddled mess.
Afterwards, when Clara and the Prince dance for the first time, typically the stage empties for this sweet, romantic awakening moment. But Yuri Grigorivich has a bunch of toy soldiers and dolls dancing in the background.
In the second act Pas de deux, Masha and the Prince do not dance in solitude -- the corps dancers from the divertissements and waltz dance along with them. The males are holding up huge candelabras. Why???
4. Maximova as Masha. This is not criticizing Maximova as a dancer. But the Nutcracker was filmed in 1984, Maximova was born in 1939, and quite frankly, she doesnt look nearly youthful enough to be convincing. Larissa Lezhnina (Kirov), Alina Cojocaru (Royal Ballet), and Gelsey Kirkland (ABT) are all much more believable as a young girl.
5. Overall production values. The production just looks old. The sets dusty, the costumes tattered and dull, and the dancers look bored out of their minds. The corps look surprisingly sloppy, especially in the divertissements. There's no joy, no mirth, no fun.

I would not recommend this as anyone's first Nutcracker. The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet and Kirov versions are all much better-produced and charming.

This Nutcracker is by and for Adults. Other reviewers have ably noted the facts about what choices were made by the choreographer. Whether you like or dislike those choices is an individual preference. I liked the choices and enjoyed the opportunity to focus on the superb dancing without distractions. Maximova and Vasiliev dance wonderfully. Some of the other dancers are out-of-sync at times but it didn't bother me much. What I look for is an overall spontaneity which I did find in this performance.

As for the flaws, there are two areas which detract. One, the visual. Two, the aural.

As for the visual, the stage and sets look very dark. I can't help but think that in person it did not look so gloomy. I suspect that the video production was poorly chosen and executed. Wrong cameras? Wrong settings? Poor equipment? Poorly handled? Just guesses. The First Act, especially, is dreary looking visually. I actually turned the brightness up about 30 degrees on my TV to compensate. That helped and I recommend anyone buying this DVD to do the same. At least some color popped out after doing that. The Second Act was a very pleasant surprise as the curtain lifted. The set was so much more theatrical (befitting the storyline of course) and fun. Much more visually engaging than the First Act.

As for the aural, the sound quality is poor. Or maybe "distant" would be more accurate? Or over-processed? I'm guessing that the sound team wanted to make sure that there was no audience noise audible, being a "live" performance. So they applied sound processing with a heavy hand and squashed out not only any/all audience noise (like coughs) but also a lot of the top end of the threater orchestra. The result? A drab, flat, distant sound quality which was certainly not the reality of how that pit orchestra sounded that day. Even through that heavy blanket one can hear a very vibrant (some would say too vibrant) Russian orchestra of considerable quality. The conductor sets a brisk pace and does a nice job of keeping the music flowing along. The trumpets are too loud and coarse for my taste but that's the Russian way.

A last note. This DVD performance, though seriously flawed in some ways, is still a great deal. At the time of this writing they are going (in fine condition) for about $5 each here on Amazon. What a bargain! But not for kids. This is a DVD by and for adults. For ballet-loving, Tchaikovsky-loving, tradition-loving, adults.

Put the kids to bed, turn up the brightness on your tv (and by necessity the sound too), settle into a comfy chair, and enjoy this diamond in the rough.

The dancing is nothing short of incredible and from that perspective it is probably one of the best production ons dvd. Maximova is angelic, Vasilev is superb and Levashov is my favorite Drusselmeyer of all the many performances I have.

I simply admire the artistic yet definite movement lines that distinguish this performance from the sharper harsher movements that I find in the more recent performances.

My daughter just discovered this piece so we watch it and other recordings a lot (few times a week).

The reason why I start to cringe when she asks to watch this performance is that after watching this ballet a few times (and the other recordings), the sloppy Orchestra playing really starts to get to me.

It is not a good orchestra period. Almost none of the entrances are on time which probably gave the soloists hell because they couldn't really trust the orchestra to be there when they "land" after a big jump, or a small one...

After a point you can notice that Vasilev just didn't care and left it to the the conductor to "heard the band" in his foot steps.
Maximova on the other hand was not that indifferent and there are spots where the orchestra (foul) playing really interferes, especially in the "dance of the sugar plum fairy"...

All over the place there are miss entrances, sloppy passages etc. What can I say, the Bolshoi Orchestra of that time was simply sub-par. In later recordings (like sleeping beauty from 1989) the orchestra is much better, not first class, but pretty good.

Bottom line: the dancing is as good as it gets but the music playing is mediocre. Get it as a second performance just to get a taste of classical Russian ballet dancing in its finest.

If you don't mind listening to music on a transistor radio (circa 1960s) then you'll enjoy this DVD. The sound quality is the absolute worst I have ever heard in the past 20 or so years. I played this through a high-end home theater system and it sounded no different than listening to it through a conventional TV with all the bass and treble completely turned off. This DVD is worthless. I guess the old adage, "you get what you pay for" is true. At just under $10 bucks I should have know something wasn't right. If you buy this for the ballet, go for it. But if you buy it primarily for the music, don't.

The first part is better than the second part. Particularly interesting was the Nutcracker before he changes. There are mistakes made and the video shows these mistakes, such as a someone on the wrong side when the curtain comes down. While the performance of the leading lady is fine and the leading man, other than that, performances are mediocre at best. I recommend the Nutcracker by Mikail Barsyshonikov which is definitely better.