Product Details

• Actors: Viviana Durante, Zoltan Solymosi, Anthony Dowell
• Format: Classical, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Kultur Video
• VHS Release Date: February 27, 1997
• Run Time: 132 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304364415
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #285,993 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

This ballet may be Tchaikovsky's grandest achievement, The Nutcracker's eternal popularity notwithstanding. And when in the hands (and feet!) of the Royal Ballet, whose superlative 1994 production has been taped for posterity, the composer's singular genius for dance becomes palpable to even the most casual viewers. With choreography by Marius Petipa (who updates Kenneth Macmillan's and Anthony Dowell's work from earlier stagings) and with Dowell's lovely production, the Royal Ballet demonstrates yet again its preeminence in the world of ballet. Viviana Durante dances the princess with otherworldly grace and fluidity, and her partner Zoltan Solymosi's prince is impossibly agile and equally graceful. Dowell even contributes wonderful comic relief as the evil fairy. Barry Wordsworth and the Royal Orchestra do Tchaikovsky's beautiful score, and the remarkable dancers, justice. A ballet company at its considerable performing peak has been preserved for all. --Kevin Filipski

From the Back Cover

"A production to last into the next century", this Royal Ballet performance of Tchaikovsky's beloved fairy tale features an all-star cast. 132 minutes, color, 1994. Cast:

Viviana Durante: Princess Aurora
Zoltan Solymosi: Prince Florimund
Anthony Dowell: Carabosse
Benazir Hussein: The Lilac Fairy
William Tuckett: King Florestan
Elizabeth McGorian: The Queen
David Drew: Court Chamberlain Cattabutte

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL PRODUCTION, October 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Tchaikovsky - The Sleeping Beauty / Durante, Solymosi, Dowell, Royal Ballet [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I needed a video so that my young daughter could see what she was working toward in her beginning ballet class. She'd seen a local performance of "The Nutcracker" but I wanted her to see a completely professional company at work. I couldn't have chosen better. The production is very traditional, best for a first-time experience. Durante is a marvelously delicate Aurora and Solymosi is every inch a prince. The video quality is excellent which cannot be said of very many ballet videos on the market. The lighting is such that every detail is visible and the sound quality is high. My only quibble is that the story scrolls by so fast that it is difficult to read it outloud. Very minor quibble, that!

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent video of a ballet classic., October 12, 2001

By 

R. H OAKLEY "roboakley" (Vienna, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tchaikovsky - The Sleeping Beauty / Durante, Solymosi, Dowell, Royal Ballet [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It is generally agreed by ballet critics that video and film cannot capture the impact of a ballet performance, and are best used to record performances so that later dancers can see how it was done. However, these critics have the advantage of living in those few cities with well established ballet companies. Sleeping Beauty is a long ballet, with many roles, and thus is beyond the resources of all but the largest companies. This video is of an excellent performance by the Royal Ballet. The dancing, costuming, and sets are all excellent. The camera work also does a good job of making up for not being there in person.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking Beauty ..., November 25, 2002

By 

Keeneye Reviews (Northeastern USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tchaikovsky - The Sleeping Beauty / Durante, Solymosi, Dowell, Royal Ballet [VHS] (VHS Tape)

An incomparable performance of the Tchaikovsky-Petipa masterpiece from the Royal Ballet. From the moment the curtain rises on the Prologue we are swept into world of fairy tale splendor. Viviana Durante is exquisitely beautiful and technically brilliant as Aurora with stud-muffin Solymosi (he of the supple buttocks) her accomplished Prince; Dowell is a deliciously evil Carabosse with the lovely Hussein countering him as the beneficent Lilac Fairy. Sets and costumes are fabulously splendid, suggesting the early 18th and 19th centuries. In the panorama scene, the Prince travels through a wintery landscape to raise Aurora from her deathlike sleep, and, in the final act, their union is celebrated beneath a brilliant sunburst with Aurora's fairy tale guests dressed in lovely pastel costumes. This production cannot be bettered nor praised enough: every art of ballet theater has been lavishly employed in its creation. Principals, solists, corps, designers, and musicians are all in magnificent form. A 'Sleeping Beauty' that will delight most.