Swan Lake: The Bolshoi Theatre and the Company of the Bolshoi Ballet

This a DVD that lovers of ballet cannot afford to miss. Natalia Bessmertnova was in the old Soviet Union and the Bolshoi Ballet what Dame MargotFontain was to the Royal Ballet.Among the things that impressed was the core ballet it self. There was so much brilliant dancing in the ballet chorus that any of them could havebeen the principal dancers. Von Rothbart who is danced by Boris Akimov dances more than any Rothbart I have ever seen and his performance is stunning. This performance has a happy ending which is common with Russian performances.

This arrived on time, and was an excellent performance. However, there were times when I would have preferred a full stage view rather than close ups on the faces of the dancers.

First of all I totally DISAGREE With that Lady V's comments on this DVD, I have collected many versions of Swan Lake DVD'S and Blurays, this is by far the best, in terms of dance technique, custume, and overall stage presentations. it is the "Russian" Swan Lake you can't judge it using someone's personal view. the image quality and even lightnings are not as good as many other versions of swan lake but, this is made from 1984 Film, there was no DVD technologies nor Bluray, and dance and custums are very Russian, this what the original! if you like the modern, simplified, often modified Swan Lake, then go some where else, there are tons of them on the market. if you are like myself then you will enjoy it.

How can you go wrong with the Bolshoi? The dancing is amazing.

Spectacular music and dancing. Camera angles a bit limited at times, missing some of the action. Overall good quality recording.

Performance of a great quality! The orchestra plays so fine,with a rich and beautiful sound.A special attention should be paid to the soloists- the violin and cello leaders,as well as the oboe player whose play meet very high standarts indeed.Natalya Bessmertnova is my favorite prima-balerina. She is so perfect that when you watch her,you completely forget what a difficult physical act is the dancing and how many hours stand behind a single performance.She embodies the spirit of the balley. She dances with her heart and soul,not with her body. Natalya Bessmertnova gives an excellent interpration of the White and Black Swans. She is so tender,unearthy,angelic in the role of the White Swan,and decisive and strong-willed as the Black Swan.The other balley soloists perform also at a high level.My sole regret was that the recording was not taken during a live performance.

With a three wire connection to DVD player, the results were really bad. When I changed my wiring to use HDMI connections, the performance is great.

Fabulous dancing. Who can do it as good as the Russians ?

I agree with all the above review, plus it would seem to be remastered, since the colour palate isn’t so washed out as memory serves when it was transmitted on TV back in the eighties. It is in 4:3 aspect, so you will have to adjust your screen. LOVE the idea of the suitor-princesses dancing the national dances as solos en pointe - though it is rather a departure from most conventional productions. Grigorovich's choreography really suits the music, too and still works (check out the lightning performance of the Spanish solo from a more recent Bolshoi production on u-tube - the dancer brings the house down). I rather think Tchaikovsky and Petipa might have thought: "What a great idea – why didn’t WE think of that?" if they could see it for themselves. Even if you hate the idea, it works and is a great alternative to the more traditional versions we’ve come to know and love.NB: though the disc is listed as region 1, it plays beautifully on my region 2 player, for anyone who's interested.

Yuri Grigorovich who directed Bolshoi for thirty years and choreographed eternal works as Spartacus, Ivan the terrible,Romeo and Juliet, The Legend of Love, et coetera, gave his wife, prima ballerina Natalia Bessmertnova, a chance to, once more in her career,perform the role Odette/Odile in a new wonderful dimention, this time in his own Swan Lake.And if he did rechoreograph Petipa's first and third acts, he also kept some of Ivanov's unsurpassed choreography.He gave the male roles (prince Siegfried and the jester) another weight and lavishingly inserted in the ball scene beautiful pas de deux. Bessmertnava dances throughout the ballet miraculously conveying her immense skill and sensibility to both Odette(graceful and sensitive) and Odile( fierce and seducing).Only Bolshoi could afford to have small parts danced by first rate dancers which is the case.A most memorable Lake, though dated (costumes and scenery).Tchaikovsky's score vividly, passionately performed under Zhuraitis's conducting.