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28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Problematic Film: some remedies, July 25, 2005
Aram Khachaturian wrote the melodious score to the Spartacus ballet between 1950 and '54. The first choreographer was Leonid Jacobson. His version, which premiered at the Kirov on December 27, 1956, was not a real success. The problem was that the choreography contained too much mime and not enough actual dancing. Two years later, Igor Moiseyev staged a version for the Bolshoi, which had a similar fate; that one received only nine performances. Later there was a revision by Jacobson, which also didn't find favor with the public. Incidentally, excerpts from one of Jacobson's versions (it is not clear which--maybe both) can be seen in "The Glory of the Kirov" DVD; I don't think his choreography was all that bad, really, but you be the judge.
It wasn't till April 9, 1968 did Spartacus achieve its definitive form in a performance given at the Bolshoi, this time, with choreography by Yuri Grigorovich. His version is a three-act ballet divided into two main categories. There are the major soldier/crowd scenes and also the monologues in which one of the four principal dancers is the only one onstage, and he or she dances against a dark background. At the premiere, the four principals were: Vladimir Vasiliev as Spartacus, Ekaterina Maximova as Phrygia, Maris Liepa as Crassus, and Nina Timofeyeva as Aegina. So, with the exception of Maximova, who was replaced by Bessmertnova as Phrygia, these were the dancers in this famous 1977 film, not 1979 as Amazon indicates.
But that's where the good news ends and the problems begin. First, as others have already pointed out, they used some dated cinematic techniques that are downright irritating. For example, they superimposed images to make one scene look like a big battle was going on. Elsewhere, they did a reverse time-lapse (slowing everything down) on Spartacus in one particular leap sequence; I'm sorry, that format just doesn't suit ballet--dance movements should correspond with the music. Furthermore, the picture itself is sometimes very dark, which makes it hard to see the corps de ballet. And the sound quality is only passable.
Even if you can overlook all this, there remains the ultimate sacrilege. Here we have three-quarters of the original principal cast, along with Bessmertnova and a superb corps de ballet dancing their hearts out, and the producer decides to cut forty-odd minutes of dance and music out of the film, which makes the work much less coherent. Notable moments are the beginning of Act II, Scene 1; the Aegina monologue in Act II, Scene 2 (danced to some hauntingly beautiful music); and a series of leaps, performed by Spartacus near the end of Act II, Scene 1.
Now, lest you think I was just carping without actually presenting a solution, I'll let you in on a secret. As far as I'm aware of, there are at least three COMPLETE videos of the Grigorovich/Bolshoi-production Spartacus in existence.
The most recent is the one starring Irek Mukhamedov and Lyudmila Semenyaka, shot live in 1990 (Arthaus Musik DVD). This is by far the best overall video of the ballet. It boasts the best picture and sound quality--with exemplary dancing to boot! Plus Mukhamedov does a version of the Act II, Scene 1, leap sequence, missing in the present film, in which the final leap looks like a spinning flying-roundhouse-kick--AMAZING!
There is another video of Mukhamedov in the role (Kultur DVD), and this time, he partners Bessmertnova in a 1984 live performance. Picture and sound are of good quality. This otherwise solid performance was marred by Mikhail Gabovich's tepid portrayal of Crassus.
A third video (Via Classic DVD) was shot live in 1979. This one is marred by even worse picture and sound quality than the '77. And some of the principals made a couple of mistakes. However, you have the benefit of, again, seeing Vasiliev as Spartacus and, this time, Ekaterina Maximova as (the original) Phrygia in a COMPLETE performance. Sadly, Vasiliev does a less technically-demanding version of the Act II, Scene 1, leap sequence--no roundhouse-kick.
Of the three COMPLETE videos, my #1 choice would be the '90 version, starring Muhamedov, for the very reasons I stated earlier.
His '84 is also recommendable, but it's been surpassed by the version above.
Because of the overall (poor) quality of the '79 Vasiliev, I will recommend it to true aficionados ONLY for its completeness. Alas, if only it were better shot...
NOTE: This DVD is not in NTSC format. Rather, it is in PAL format, which means most DVD players sold in North America will not be able to play it. You can purchase a multi-format compatible DVD player at your local specialty electronics store.
The '77 Vasiliev has been long regarded as the ultimate Spartacus ballet video, because most fans neither have had the opportunity to sample, nor, indeed, even have been aware of the existence of the other Grigorovich/Bolshoi Spartacus videos. The present version is neither fish nor flesh. Buy it for its "cult" status. But if you're looking to experience the ballet in its full glory, I suggest you go elsewhere for that.
For further recommendations...I've created a Listmania List, called "Spartacus Ballet Videos, CDs, and More", for those interested. To locate it, check out my Listmania Lists section by clicking my name.
Happy viewing!
FOOTNOTE:
Khachaturian's original score was NOT used in any of the aforementioned versions of the ballet. Everybody from Jacobson to Grigorovich had used modified versions of the score.
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15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Dark Work, October 4, 2000
"This film tells the story of Spartacus' fight for freedom, his death, and the immortal fame of his exploit through the medium of the classical dance."I came away from my first viewing of this video only moderately satisfied. There were two reasons for this. First of all, there are some problems with the video quality that distracted my attention away from the dancing. Secondly, the libretto that is provided on the tape is poorly written. It serves to explain the work in general, but it is insufficient for an in-depth, scene-by-scene understanding. Fortunately, these deficiencies are not insurmountable, and the tape has a lot of commendable things to offer. The video problems are of a couple varieties. The screen jumps every time that the camera changes angle. Videophiles describe this as "non-seamless camera switching." This problem gives the tape somewhat of a home movie feel. There are also many places on the tape that have blemishes. Most of them are small--just some little white dots that appear randomly. Occasionally, there are some larger blemishes, and in one case, the defect also affects the sound quality for fraction of a second. If you want to enjoy this tape, you will need to learn how to concentrate on the dancing, and not let the camera switching and blemishes distract you. By my third viewing, these problems no longer bothered me as much, but I still believe that a one-star reduction in the overall rating of this product is merited accordingly. Nevertheless, there are some excellent video special effects to be found here. Let me give a few examples. To depict the hopelessness and oppression of the slaves, a horizontal split screen effect is used, showing the powerful Roman warriors marching on the top, and the dejected slaves mourning their situation on the bottom. When Spartacus wins his freedom, the slow motion effect makes his leaps look especially impressive. The battle scene looks huge from the superimposed images of the warriors fighting. These effects come at the most crucial moments of the ballet, and they really enhance the film. The choreography is by Yuri Grigorovich, and one of his eccentricities is his rejection of mime. Mime can often help bring out the story line, but there is none used here. As was mentioned earlier, the libretto is not detailed enough, either. These two factors make the ballet difficult to understand. What really helped me out was a book called "101 Stories of the Great Ballets" by George Balanchine and Francis Mason. There is a chapter on "Spartacus" that explains each scene in full detail. Without a book such as "101 Stories," it is doubtful to me that the average viewer can understand the story completely. A review of "101 Stories" can be found on my member page by clicking on "rss28" above. This ballet is of a different character than most--it is a dark work. It is about slavery and Spartacus' (Vladimir Vasiliev) courageous fight for freedom. His adversary is Crassus (Maris Liepa), the oppressive military leader. These two male leads are a contrast of styles; Vasiliev dances classical steps, whereas Liepa dances neo-classical ones. The two ballerinas are a contrast of qualities. Aegina (Nina Timofeyeva) is Crassus' concubine; she is cold, lustful, deceptive. Phrygia (Natalia Bessmertnova) is Spartacus' lover, and she is fragile and caring. All four of the lead dancers turn in excellent performances, and the Bolshoi corps is also strong. The costumes include a lot of swords, shields, helmets and other military items. The musical score by Aram Khachaturian effectively brings out the various emotions involved. Let me make it simple for those of you who may still be wondering if they want to purchase this title. After voting on this review, you can scroll back up to the top of the product page, and click on the picture to see a zoomed-in view of the signature pose of the ballet with Bessmertnova and Vasiliev. This picture is representative of the beauty of her aesthetics and also of the character of the work. If you appreciate what you see, then buy it. Despite its flaws, I value having this title as a part of my video collection.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfection!, November 19, 2004
Much has already been written about this, so I will add only a few points. It would be impossible to find a better cast of dancers for this ballet. This is a legendary performance and I have never seen an entire ensemble as up for a performance as this one. This performance is on movie stock, not video stock, sort of like the Russian version of cinemascope. It is technically very well done, especially considering that at this time in history the Soviets didn't participate much in the latest Hollywood technology. The dvd quality is perfect. The lighting is exactly as it is supposed to be. So stop complaining about nonsense and enjoy the perfection! (The dvd includes a nice little extra feature with Vasiliev and Plisetskaya.)
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