Swan Lake ballet. Music by Tchaikovsky. Book by V.P. Begichev and Vasily Geltzer. Choreography by Liam Scarlett (assisted by Kristen McGarrity) after Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa with additional choreography by Frederick Ashton. Directed 2018 by Liam Scarlett at the Royal Opera House. Stars Marianela Nuñez (Odette/Odile); Vadim Muntagirov (Prince Siegfried); Elizabeth McGorian (The Queen); Bennet Gartside (Von Rothbart); Alexander Campbell (Benno); and Akane Takade and Francesca Hayward (Prince Siegfried’s Younger Sisters). Other dancers in Act I are Tierney Heap, Meagan Grace Hinkis, Fumi Kaneko, Mayara Magri, Matthew Ball, James Hay, Fernando Montaño, and Marcelino Sambé (Waltz and Prolonaise); Artists of The Royal Ballet and Students of The Royal Ballet School (Court Ladies, Lieutenants, and Corporals, Ladies in Waiting, Servants, Heralds, Guards). Other dancers in Act II are Isabella Gasparini, Elizabeth Harrod, Meaghan Grace Hinkis, and Romany Pajdak (Cygnets); Clare Calvert and Mayara Magri (Two Swans), and Artists of the Royal Ballet (Swans). Other dancers in Act III are Itziar Mendizabal (Spanish Princess); Melissa Hamilton (Hungarian Princess); Yuhui Choe (Italian Princess); Beatriz Stix-Brunell (Polish Princess); Tierney Heap, Reece Clarke, Nicol Edmonds, Kevin Emerton, and Fernando Montaño (Spanish Dance); Romany Pajdak, Tristan Dyer, and Artists of The Royal Ballet (Czárdás); Meaghan Grace Hinkis and Marcelino Sambé (Neopolitan Dance); Nathalie Harrison, William Bracewell, and Artists of The Royal Ballet (Mazurka); Artists of The Royal Ballet and Students of The Royal Ballet School (Guests, Ladies in Waiting, Servants, Heralds). Other dancers in Act IV are Isabella Gasparini, Elizabeth Harrod, Meaghan Grace Hinkis, and Romany Pajdak (Cygnets); Claire Calvert and Mayara Magri (Two Swans); and Artists of The Royal Ballet (Swans). Koen Kessels conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. (Concert Masters Peter Manning [Black Swan solo] and Ania Safonova [White Swan solo]). Designs by John Macfarlane; lighting design by David Finn. Directed for TV by Ross MacGibbon. Released 2019, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A
This is the 3rd Swan Lake in Blu-ray published by the Royal Opera Ballet and Opus Arte. They finally let Liam Scarlett overhaul the McDowell libretto and choreography and discarded the ancient Yolanda Sonnabend Farbregé-inspired sets and costumes! In our first screenshot below we see a rather somber party scene that appears to be personally painted for this by John Macfarlane:
Below, Vadim Muntagirov as Prince Siegfried with his mom, the Queen (Elizabeth MGorian):
Francesca Hayward as Siegfried’s sister and Alexander Campbell as Siegfried’s friend Benno:
Bennet Gartside as the Sorcerer:
Marianela Nuñez is back in the lead role of Odette/Odile, and this time around she does not make any crazy faces!
All costumes are new including tutus for the entire white corps. Alas, the lights are a bit low to get really satisfactory shots of the white acts:
The low lights create unfortunate shadows. In the shot below, the girls appear to have no eyes (just black eye sockets) and a black line appears to be running down their throats:
Even in a near shot, the throats of the corps dancers have odd shadows-;
The spotlight leaves the girls in the dark as Odette and the Prince pursue their courtship:
The acting here is more convincing than in previous ROB recording of Swan Lake. Below the Prince falls in love with Odette:
A magnificent palace ballroom set. Now the Prince must pick a bride:
Most of the character costumes are dark and sumptuous. But my favorite is the peppy Italian Princes here played by Yuhui Choe:
From the Spanish dance:
Siegfried turns down all the eligible girls, but falls for the mysterious stranger Odile:
To Scarlett, Rothbart (Gartside) is an enemy secret agent who has infiltrated the court to betray the Queen and destroy Siegfried:
Oh, dear! Black swans appear as the realm crashes into ruin:
The Swan Princess forgives her less-than-astute lover. Since this is new, I’ll not spoil things by telling how it ends:
The ROB made a huge improvement over the old Anthony Dowell show with new sets and costumes. But best of all, the ROB commissioned Scarlett to update the libretto and choreography in a way that balances well the old and the new. Scarlett’s ending of the show creates great emotional impact for a story that is so well known to ballet fans. Both Nuñez and Muntagirov are, of course, splendid dancers who also possess mature and effective acting skills. Scarlet also has built into his show huge opportunities for the many fine supporting dancers to show what they can do. I’m especially impressed by Francesca Hayward as Siegfried’s younger sister, and I look forward to seeing her soon in a staring role in the movie version of Cats.
Alas, David Finn’s lighting was geared for the live audience and crippled picture quality for Ross MacGibbon in the white acts. But from the viewpoint of video content, this probably is the best video made yet by Ross MacGibbon with a pace of 11.3 seconds per video clip and 68% of his video images showing the whole bodies of the dancers. So this title neatly side-steps any diagnosis of dastardly DVDitis.
I would like to give this title an A+, but I have to reduce the grade to A on account of the low lighting issue. We now have 3 fine A or A+ Swan Lake titles to enjoy.
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