Stravinsky - The Firebird & Les Noces / Royal Ballet | Jonathan Cope, The Royal Ballet

Stravinsky - The Firebird & Les Noces / Royal Ballet | Jonathan Cope, The Royal Ballet | Gems!

DVDs:

Stravinsky - The F...

	Stravinsky - The Firebird & Les Noces / Royal Ballet Jonathan Cope, The Royal Ballet BBC / Opus Arte, 2002 average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

The Royal Ballet's glorious Stravinsky Double Bill unleashes the spectacular production of "The Firebird" with the stark beauty of "Les Noces," magically choreographed by the legendary Nijinska. The all-star cast includes Zenaida Yanowsky and David Pickering as the Bride and Bridegroom in "Les Noces," Leanne Benjamin as The Firebird, Jonathan Cope as Ivan Tsarevich, Genesia Rosato as The Beautiful Tsarevna and as The Immortal Kostchei, David Drew, who recalls in an absorbing interview his role in Nijinska's original production of "Les Noces." As an added bonus, this unmissable DVD also includes exclusive behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage of the two ballets.

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A common man's point of view.

I thought I probably already had two of the best "Firebirds" with the Royal Ballet's VHS recording of Dame Margot Fonteyn and The Kirov Celebrates Nijinsky with Diana Vishneva, but when I saw this BBC copy starring Leanne Benjamin, I think I may NOW have the best. This version is as close to Hi-Def as you can get in quality of reproduction w/o being an HD DVD. Being a Pal format, I cannot play it on my Hi-Def. player but using a Phillips player with component input and progressive scan it is very close to perfect.

Leanne Benjamin, with those huge, startlingly beautiful brown eyes, makes for a perfect subject of a bird in captivity, as she struggles fiercely to escape Prince Ivan's grasp. She can open her eyes wider than anyone I have ever seen. Leanne's struggle for freedom is better than either Fonteyn or Vishneva who struggles the least. Have you ever held a bird in your hands? They never give up trying to get away until they are completely exhausted.

The camera work on this ballet is very good, as they get close-ups w/o losing any of the dance steps, to concentrate on those beautiful eyes yearning so desperately to be released. When the camera gets a close-up of her face just before she is released I catch my breath it is so utterly beautiful. I freeze frame on that close-up and just stare at her face, it is so remarkable. She is not the most beautiful woman perhaps, but in this role, with her big eyes, her long nose, and pert lips she fit the part very well. Her dancing in this ballet is as good as Margot Fonteyn's, if I can say that without bringing the wrath of all the ages down upon me.
The only complaint I could make here, is the ballet isn't long enough. I just didn't want it to end.

The Firebird is by far Stravinsky"s best music, however Les Noces did not appeal to me, in fact, I gave up on it before the end. But, I will be fair and play it again through to the end. You will watch The Firebird over and over again I can assure you.

The costumes and sets for this ballet are good but the stone wall made up of victims of the Immortal Kotchei, in the Kirov version was the most impressive, and the costume on Kotchei in the Kirov version is the best, plus his acting is also best. The costumes on the twelve princesses are pretty much the same in all the ballets I've seen, except the Kirov version, where the Tsarevna has a splash of color that distinguishes her from the others.

This ballet by the Royal Ballet Company is worth every penny you pay, just to see the close-up of Leanne Benjamin's face before she gives Ivan her feather, but of course, you do get to hear some wonderful music by Igor Stravinsky as well. You will need to turn the volume up to hear the opening strains of the bass violins of the Prelude. They are magnificent. Some of Stravinsky's best and most beautiful music occurs during the interaction of Ivan, the twelve princesses and the Tsarevna. It's nice to hear the change in style of the music, because the rest of the music is so raucous, good mind you, but very energetic, to say the least. The producers of this version of The Firebird do a good job of keeping her in the picture during the "dance to exhaustion" scene where it is important to see her instructions to the dancers with her arm and hand gestures. Margot Fonteyn is completely left out of the picture for quite a bit of that segment, and to my mind, she should never be off camera.

This is not a cheap DVD, by any means, but I think you will enjoy it as much as I have. I have not said anything about Les Noces because, as I said, it did not appeal to me. I had never heard of it before, but did read a review before purchasing this DVD. Les Noces means "The Wedding". It is too much like modern dance for my taste. I purchased this for The Firebird. The running time for the entire DVD is only 80 minutes, and Firebird is a little over 49 minutes including the credits, so it is quite short, but still worth owning.

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Gems!

I want to add my bit to the reviews here. I have enjoyed every moment of these two ballets which are of totally different styles of dancing.I have seen the extended version of Firebird on the 'Firebird Returns' but for personal drama this is the better version. The Les Noces, in my opinion, is beautiful and unique in its cheography. The sound is very solid - surround sound - and the thumps give one the goosebumps. All said, one has to recall the different choreographies of the two ballets to fully enjoy the DVD. The beautiful and unique sounds that end the Wedding are particularly powerful and one will remember them for years.

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Excellent Firebird!

The five stars are for The Firebird. Excellent! I've always loved the Firebird Suite music, and finally I got to see what it's all about. Excellent dancing, staging, choreography, story, and music! The shorter Les Noces is too modern for me (even though it was choreographed a long time ago). I just don't get it (I also don't get Modern Art (unless it simply appeals to the eye by its color and shape, which this ballet does not)). I first watched the short documentary about rehearsing the first showing of it, which was presided over by the creator of the Les Noces (minus its music), Madame Nijinska, and then watched the shorter documentary of the current show's rehearsal of it, so I knew what I was getting into. But it was still just noise and syncopated movement to me. But the DVD is worth buying for The Firebird. In fact, I believe this version belongs in every balletomane's collection.

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An impressive Firebird

My wife and I enjoyed this video very much. The technical quality was excellent. The performance was very good, well danced and entertaining, Why only four stars? It was somewhat less exciting than the best of the live performances we have seen. But we recommend it enthusiastically.

This is not the Paris Opera Ballet

The Paris Opera Ballet laserdisc is definitive for Les Noces. The Afternoon of a Faun is also superlative at every level.

This DVD is most welcome. The dancing in both Firebird and Les Noces is aboveaverage. However, particularly in Les Noces the ensemble lacks precision, verve, and the required intensity. This is a very difficult work, of great musical inventiveness and superior and hugely difficult choreography. This is a work that should judge ballet groups...and the Royal Ballet simply does not rise to this high mark.

I yearn for the release of the Paris Opera Ballet laserdisc. What an accomplishment that was!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3

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