Customer Reviews

Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Nureyev, Park, Royal Ballet

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

 

 

I almost didn't buy this version because of it.Fortunately,I read two reviews on a British site that said the only thing they didn't like about it was the weird cover,so I gave it a try.Boy am I glad I did!Aside from a few dated feeling costumes,and Clara looking a bit old etc.,I was very impressed.Nuryev is in his prime~in his 30's I think~and the Sugarplum Fairy does NOT look like a 50 year old woman who has had too much plastic surgery :) Even my 5 year old daughter,who doesn't usually pay much attention to the male dancers was impressed by Nuryev's dancing!I don't claim to be an expert,aside from being in ballet for several years and having seen several different versions,I really just wanted a pleasing,well done version to give to my daughter for Christmas.She is young,but appreciates a good full-length ballet performance.I had a heck of a time finding a version that was complete(or close to it),had nice,fun costumes and sets(not all one color as in the newer Royal Ballet version),that had good dancing(principal dancers and corps dancers),and that had decent picture and sound quality.You'd think it would be possible for a professional dance company to pull at least most of this together,but...Anyway,this is pretty close to that.The picture and sound quality is very good for having been recorded in the early sixties.As I mentioned before,the costumes are very nice in general~very Russian feeling~with just an occasional hint at the sixties time period.The sets are beautiful!I'm not familiar enough with the ballet to know which pas de deux the last person said was missing,but there are a few very beautiful and exciting ones in the second act that were very satisfying.I highly recommend this version of the Nutcracker.Very entertaining.

Rudolf Nureyev's Nutcracker owes a lot to the Soviet Vassily Vainonen's in terms of choreography and concept. After all, Nureyev grew up with the Vainonen Nutcracker as a student and dancer at the Kirov. The concept of deleting the Sugar Plum Fairy and having Clara and the Prince fall in love in Act 2 is straight from Vainonen. The snowflakes dance is an exact replica in terms of choreography. Also, in Act 2 there is supposed to be an introduction by the Sugar Plum Fairy to the Kingdom of the Sweets. But when the SPF is deleted, what to do? Vainonen has the Prince battling it out with bats in the beginning of Act 2. Nureyev has it too, but the bats are much bigger and the version the scene is much more graphic. The beginning of the Grand pas de deux has Clara and the Prince mirroring each other in a series of arabesques, exactly like the Vainonen version. The pas de trois marzipan dance is also lifted straight from Vainonen.

But after that the similarities end. Nureyev's version of the Nutcracker is one of the grimmest I've ever seen. It plays like a bad dream, which I suspect was the concept. The chief "concept" of this ballet is that the Drosselmeyer and the Prince are a duel role. So when Clara dreams of marrying the Prince in Act 2 is she fulfilling some Freudian dream that she has about her uncle? Or was it yet another case of Nureyev wanting more dancing opportunities for the male? Ugh if I have to ask these questions then this Nutcracker already falls to the bottom of my favorites.

Other ways this Nutcracker is not very kid-friendly: during the Battle of the Mice, the mice actually surround her in a way that's very menacing and the mice tear at Clara's dress and parts of her dress slips off. The whole thing looks like ... sexual assault.

The awakening pas de deux between Clara and the Prince eschews the soft "swelling arabesque" romance of the Vainonen version and instead Nureyev fills this quiet enchanting moment with a whole bunch of busy steps. Act 2, until the Waltz of the Flowers, has no change in decor to indicate any Kingdom of the Sweets, it just looks like Clara's living room with the back walls opened up. The divertissements are danced by various people in Clara's life, so it's as if she's literally dreaming about them. The Waltz of the Flowers also has dancing couples but the choreography has a stiffness to it that looks less like ballroom waltzing than a formal Louis XIII court dance. It lacks sweep and charm. I could go on and on with the odd touches in this Nutcracker but you get the point.

The best moment of Nureyev's choreography comes in the Grand pas de deux. There is a lot of mirror dancing (as was his wont) but it also features a thrilling moment when Clara is thrown sideways into the air, she does a little twist, and is re-caught by her Prince. It finally provides a moment of magic after such a dreary evening. But the Grand pas de deux also features exactly what's wrong with Nureyev as a choreographer -- his overreliance on "mirror dancing" (the male and female barely touch, they're so busy mirroring each other's movements, so all intimacy is lost), and his determination to add little steps to every note. Sometimes it literally looks like their legs are spazzing out.

How is the dancing? Well, in such an adult-oriented Nutcracker, I suppose it doesn't matter that Merle Park is less than convincing as a young girl than as a ballerina. She does Nureyev's fiendishly busy and difficult choreography extremely well. Nureyev was at the height of his dancing powers in 1968, and really does make for a dashing Prince.

This is not my first or second or even third recommendation for the Nutcracker on video. I think the Balanchine film, the later versions by the Royal Ballet, and the Kirov version with Lezhnina and Baranov all make better introductions to Tchaikovsky's evergreen classic.

I bought this DVD of Tchaikovsky's Nucracker because of its beautiful score and Nureyev's reputation. I was really looking forward to the great climax of the pas de deux, I cannot believe that anybody would think of removing this important number.

Save your money for a better production.

Very, very disappointed.

I bought this version as a compliment to others I owned. Indeed this is the least satifying. The new digitally remastered pressing by Kultur is very weak. Particularly the second act. Lots of white scratches and a constant flicker from bright to deeper color. I guess the control room guys were out having coffee! The production is extremely dated and odd. The choreography is also odd and for the most part doesn't seem to fit the music. I realize that this was supposed to be a showcase for Nuryeve and he really does show why he became a big star in the ballet world.

If you are interested in a better production from Britain, I recommend the Anthony Dowell, Royal Ballet version. It is head and shoulder above this one in most respects.

I find the review of rss22 very wrong. There is nothing whatsoever "dissatisfactory", as she says, (I gather rss22 either doesn't speak English as her? native language, or else is poorly educated) about it. The dancing is magnificent, far superior to most other versions. Only Baryshnikov's dancing in his version is superior, but it does not overcome the other problems of that version, including an inadequate female lead. The sexual meaning of the ballet is well brought out here, but not in such a way that children should be alarmed. In many cases they will simply not "get it" at least not on the conscious level. And for the rest one has the incomparable Kirov company to back it all up. Just as the Bolshoi version of Giselle is without rival, so this version of the Nutcracker is without compare.

Ballet fans will love it! It is CLASSIC Nutcracker ....and of course Nureyev and Park are amazing. Worth every cent!!

The choreography does not follow the actual story,so I did not care for the whole story line. Nureyev was the best.

This is the best version of the Nutcracker I have seen. Have you seen Lezhnina's on-point? Absolutely impeccable. And, Baranov is not appreciated in the world of ballet. Is he a Baryshnikov? No, but I'd take his consistently well-executed performances any day. These two together are perfectly matched and suited for their roles and the corps de ballet are, well, only what you would expect from the Kirov. Anyone who would give this video a thumbs down must be too critical for my tastes. As anyone who has read my other ballet reviews, the Kirov gets all the footwork down to a tee. I've already watched The Nutcracker 10 times in the last two weeks. That's how much I love this version. And to think I hated this ballet when I was a kid!

This production is absolutely fantastic. I made my parents watch the ballet with me for my birthday present. I first saw part of the ballet in a documentary on Nureyev. It contained the most beautiful dance between Merle Parks and Nureyev. It sends chills up my spine and puts tears in my eyes. What is also part of the poignancy of this is that Nureyev died of Aids and Tchaikovsky was known for his homosexuality and was by some accounts force to commit suicide. This just points to human fragility and how much we should appreciate the blessed transitory genius that is gifted to human kind.