Customer Reviews

Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake [HD DVD]

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

 

 

This ballet was made available in three different video formats; DVD, HD-DVD, and BluRay. My version was the HD-DVD version, but in all formats the ballet is the same. First of all Nureyev is not dancing in this ballet. I think the Ad is somewhat deceiving. The principle dancers are Agnes Letestu and Jose Martinez. They are excellent dancers, and as you will see from the extreme close-ups of the principles, they both "sweat blood" in their efforts to entertain us.

The only reason I did not give this production a five star rating is because I did not like the ending. You may call me old-fashioned, but I want to see good triumph over evil, which does not happen in this story. Swan Lake is a story ballet, and is NOT just dancing to beautiful music. This is the second ballet in my considerable collection in which Nureyev came up with a terrible ending. In The Vienna State Opera Ballet.....Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake.....production with Dame Margot Fonteyn, he had Siegfried drown in the Lake of Tears as Odette swims away to remain a Swan-Maiden for all eternity. Plus, he had on more make-up than Margot Fonteyn. In this version, he has Rothbart flying off with the Swan-Maiden clutched in his talons as Siegfried writhes on the ground unable to help her. Again, she must remain a Swan-Maiden for all eternity. I HATE that, period.

NOTE: I must make a correction here, because I misunderstood an important aspect of the meaning of this version of SWAN LAKE. This entire ballet is a dream by Prince Siegfried from beginning to end. The poor Swan Maidens are NOT doomed, because they never existed except in Siegfried's dream. This was brought to my attention by Mr. Robert Campbell for which I am grateful.

This is an HD-DVD (also available in std def and Blu-Ray) and will NOT play on anything but an HD-DVD player. It has excellent resolution in HD. I wonder though, why the video producer thought we needed 12 to 14 close-ups of the ballerinas hands, and their feet? Letestu and her partner are wonderful dancers, though, I thought she lacked the sad expression Odette needs as the trapped Swan-Maiden. I thought at times her expression was rather bored. She was very good as Odile, and Siegfried warmed up to her portrayal of "Odette in disguise" gradually, and did not act like he knew her when she first appeared. Letestu gives a good account of herself in her mime role, both in the second and fourth acts. Color and lighting are well done in all four acts and the excellent music is stereo and surround. The running time to end of curtain calls is 140 minutes, and the screen format is 16:9

The dark psychology thing of Rothbart being in all four acts hovering on every move of Siegfried was way overdone, in my opinion. Why do people think they need to psychoanalyze Tchaikovsky's mind forever? I think that is what Nureyev is trying to do here, using the freakish spectre of Rothbart haunting Siegfried's every thought.

The corps members of the POB were superb, but messed up by an overzealous button pushing production manager. Why have a beautiful weaving line of ballerinas and then ruin the effect by shooting close-ups of them? That sort of thing was done all through this ballet. It's good that the theater patrons did not have to see all of the close-ups. The button pushers think they are being artistic, but they know nothing about the art of the ballet. The artistic director of the ballet company should put a stop to their enthusiasm. I spent thirteen years in a TV studio, so I know a little of what I speak.

Quality excellent over all but as an earlier review said the camera work could be better.

Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake / Nureyev, Letestu, Martinez, Paris Opera Ballet [HD DVD]Since purchasing both a HD DVD and a Blu-Ray player, we have been wondering why there isn't much of a selection for the classical performing arts. Surround sound and high-def picture both lend themselves perfectly to programming such as Ballet, Opera, and Theatre. Swan Lake was the first offering we saw and ordered it immediately. We were not disappointed. The surround sound provided center seating acoustics as well as the live performance sound of the dancer's feet upon the stage......very live performance type of experience. The high-def picture was flawless and provided a depth that gave the impression of a bird's eye view of a live performance. Equipment used Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD player; Denon AVR-4806ci receiver; Polk 7.1 speakers; HP MD5880N high-def TV. All connected via HDMI.

First, the bad. On my HDA2, this disc craps out with an error at 1:05 into the ballet. I'm not sure if this is a player error or a format/DRM/SW error. This is not the only disc/instance that reports of this error has been mentioned. Checkout avsforum for details. I hope a future firmware update would fix this.

Now, the good. Ballet is glorious in HD and the POB is one of the finest companies in the world. I had seen POB live in Paris so I was looking forward to adding this to my collection. POB dancers are not as spectacular as ABT dancers with their acrobatic turns and jumps. But, you can really see the solid technique in everything they do, which sometimes takes your breadth away. In some respects HD reveals too much detail that most live audiences would never see. Ballet technique is top notch but you start to notice the emotionless acting (especially with Jose Martinez). Video editing work could be alot better as camera changes were too often and erratic for my taste. I would rather include alternative closeups as bonus material. The music was wonderful but all stage sound were suppressed. Again, this is my preference for not over producing a live performance.

The first few performances of Swan Lake were not very succesful. It all changed when the Petipa/Ivanov version appeared. This has become the "standard version" and has made this ballet very popular. But this is not the version on this disc. In fact, I very much disliked the coreography (Nureyev, 1984), which differs from the Petipa/Ivanov coreography in significant ways. More to the point, Mr. Nureyev has decided that the Prince's tutor and Rothbart are one and the same person! Why mess with the Petipa/Ivanov version? The fact that the picture and sound quality of this HD disc are excellent is not sufficient compensation, at least for me, for these departures from the highly succesful Petipa/Ivanov version. Here is an example: the "battle" scene in the finale (the Prince vs. Rothbart) has been played down to a few steps! The other negative point of this performance is the spartan bareness of the theater. Why didn't they dress-up the stage at least during the ball scene? There is one redeeming aspect to Mr. Nureyev's coreography, though. The geometrical figures depicted by the swans in the later acts, superbly captured by cameras hovering above the stage, are splendid.

Before you purchase this disc, be sure that your receiver will decode its soundtrack. The only soundtrack available on the disc is DTS-HD. Because I'm using an older surround processor, I can't play it because there is no sound. I'm not planning on running out to purchase a new processor just so that I can watch one disc.

If your into your new hd dvd player and looking for new ways to expand your horizions!! This could be it..i'm not a huge fan of ballet myself, but with Tchaikovsky playing and a crystal clear picture hd dvd can even make ballet very enjoyable..so if your up for something new or already a big fan of ballet and Tchaikovsky. i say this is a must buy!! plus you don't have to get all dressed up and spend $200 to see

I was SO dissapointed recieving my new Swan Lake DVD; a HD DVD....I have no HD DVD player and I did not notice that is was a HD movie......
I really suggest that Amazon warn about the format - HD....who has a HD DVD player these days???