Ballet

Coppélia

in

Coppélia modern ballet to music by Léo Delibes. New libretto and choreography by Eduardo Lao; production directed by Victor Ullate.  Performed at the Opéra Royal du Château de Versailles. Stars Sophie Cassegrain (Coppélia), Yester Hulens (Doctor Coppélius), Cristian Oliveri (Franz), Zhengyia Yu (The Spectral Diva), Leyre Castresana, Albia Tapia, and Zara Calero (Betty, Rosi, and Andreina, the 3 Cleaning Ladies), and Dorian Acosta (DJ). Other dancers of the Victor Ullate Ballet Comunidad de Madrid are Ksenia Abbazova, Federica Bagnera, Marlen Fuerte, Laura Rosillo, Reika Sato, Lorenza Agramonte, Mariano Cardano, Mikael Champs, Matthew Edwardson, Oliver Edwardson, Jonatan Luján, Andrew Pontius, and Josué Ullate. Set by Carlos Pujol; lighting designed by Nicolas Fishtel and executed by Tatiana Reverto; costumes designed by Pedro Moreno. There were 3 camera operators: Gaétan Lomenech, Patrick Lauze, and Sonia Paramo; film directed by Sonia Paramo.

EuroArts PR, the keepcase, and the keepcase booklet fail to mention that this ballet was produced and performed in 2006, about 8 years before it was released as a video. It was apparently performed to a recording of the Delibes Coppélia ballet score by an uncredited orchestra. Released 2014, the disc claims its music was recorded using 48kHz/24-bit sound sampling. This suggests that the disc may have music performed more recently than 2006, but again no hint is provided as to what orchestra played. The only sound output provided on the disc is PCM stereo. Grade: D

Read More

Notre-Dame de Paris

in

Notre-Dame de Paris ballet to music by Maurice Jarre. Libretto and choreography from 1965 by Roland Petit is supervised by Luigi Bonino and assistant Gillian Whittingham. Stars Roberto Bolle (Quasimodo), Natalia Osipova (Esmeralda), Mick Zeni (Frolio), Eris Nezha (Phoebus), and dancers of the Ballet Company of Teatro alla Scala. Paul Connelly conducts the Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala. Sets designed by René Allio; costumes designed by Yves Saint-Laurent; lighting design by Jean-Michel Désiré; directed for the screen by Patrizia Carmine. Released 2014, disc has 5.0 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+

Read More

Chaplin

in

Chaplin ballet choreographed and directed 2013 by Mario Schröder at the Leipzig Opera Ballet. Stars Tyler Galster (Chaplin), Amelia Waller (Tramp), Urania Lobo García (Mother), Alexander Teutscher (Father), Vanessa Shield (Mildred), Isis Calil de Albuquerque (Paulette), Romy Avemarg (Oona), Oliver Preiß (Dictator) and the following dancers of the Leipzig Ballet: Laura Costa Chaud, Naiara de Matos, Eveline Drummen, Anna Jo, Fang Yi Liu, Eva Lombardo, Frieda Mennen, Anastasia Paschali, Madoka Sasaki, Tina Slabon, Bjarte Emil Wedervang Bruland, Illia Bukharov, Jake Burden, Ronan dos Santos Clemente, Mark Geilings, Bogdan Muresan, Kiyonobu Negishi, Robert Phillips, Vadim Rzaev, Piran Scott, Takeru Shimizu, Lou Thabart, and Nikolaus Tudorin. Matthias Foremny directs the Gewandhausorchester. Dramaturgy by Thilo Reinhardt; stage sets, costumes, and video by Paul Zoller. Directed for film by Sonia Paramo. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B+

Read More

Juliet and Romeo

in

Juliet and Romeo ballet. Music from numerous non-ballet Tchaikovsky scores. Mats Ek directed and choreographed this in 2013 at the Royal Swedish Ballet. Stars Mariko Kida (Juliet), Anthony Lomuljo (Romeo), Arsen Mehrabyan (Lord Capulet, Juliet's Father), Marie Lindqvist (Lady Capulet, Juliet's Mother); Niklas Ek (Duke); Ana Laguna (Nurse); Jérôme Marchand (Mercutio); Hokuto Kodama (Benvolio); Pascal Jansson (Tybalt); Oscar Salomonsson (Paris); Daria Ivanova (Rosalinda); and Jörgen Stövind (Peter).  Alexander Polianichko conducts the Royal Swedish Ballet Orchestra (Concertmaster: Semmy Stalhammer). Piano soloist: Bengt-Åke Lundin. Sets and costumes designed by Magdalena Åberg; lighting designed by Linus Fellbom. Directed for video by Thomas Grimm; produced by Bernhard Fleischer. Released 2014, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A-

Read More

Swan Lake

in

Swan Lake ballet. Music by Tchaikovsky. Book by V. P. Begitchev and Vasily Geltzer. Choreography by Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, Frederick Ashton, and David Bintley. Directed 2009 by Anthony Dowell at the Royal Opera House Ballet. Stars Marianela Nuñez (Odette/Odile), Thiago Soares (Prince Siegfried), Christopher Saunders (Von Rothbart), Elizabeth McGorian (Queen), Alastair Marriott (Tutor), David Pickering (Benno), Gary Avis (Lord Chamberlain). Other dancers are: Laura Morera, Yuhui Choe, Steven McRae (Pas de Trois);  Cindy Jourdain and Vanessa Palmer (Chaperones); Gary Avis (A General); Isabel Lubach and Julia Roscoe (Young Girls); Christina Arestis, Kristen McNally, Sian Murphy, Samantha Raine, David Pickering, Kenta Kura, Brian Maloney, Johannes Stepanek, Iohna Loots, and Paul Kay (Waltz); Bethany Keating, Iohna Loots, Emma Maguire, and Romany Pajdak (Cygnets); Helen Crawford and Francesca Filpi (Two Swans); Helen Crawford,  Melissa Hamilton, Hikaru Kobayashi, Laura McCulloch, Sian Murphy, and Samantha Raine (Six Princesses); Francesca Filpi, Kenta Kura, Vanessa Palmer, and Thomas Whitehead (Spanish Dance); Kristen McNally and Bennet Gartside (Czárdás); Laura Morena and Ricardo Cervera (Neapolitan Dance); Tara-Brigitte Bhavnani, Olivia Cowley, Celisa Diuana, Cindy Jourdain, Ernst Meisnor, Erico Montes, Henry St Clair, and Johannes Stepanek (Mazurka); Helen Crawford and Francesca Filpi (Two Swans); artists of the Royal Ballet, and students of The Royal Ballet School. Valeriy Ovsyanikov conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Concert Master Vasko Vassilev). Designs by Yolanda Sonnabend; lighting by Mark Henderson; production research by Roland John Wiley; staging by Christopher Carr. Directed for TV by Ross MacGibbon. Released 2010, disc has 5.1 PCM sound. Grade: D

Read More

Swan Lake

in

Swan Lake ballet. Music by Tchaikovsky. Book by V. P. Begitchev and Vasily Geltzer. Original choreography by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov. Konstantin Sergeyev directed this performance, with his own revised choreography, in 2006 at the Mariinsky Theater in St Petersburg. Stars Ulyana Lopatkina (Odette/Odile), Danila Korsuntsev (Prince Siegfried), Alexandra Gronskaya (The Queen), Pyotr Stasiunas (The Tutor), Andrei Ivanov (Jester), Ilya Kuznetsov (Rothbart). Other dancers are Irina Golub, Yekaterina Osmolkina, and Anton Korsakov (Prince's Friends); Yevgenia Obraztsova, Svetlana Ivanova, Irina Golub, and Olesya Novikova (Little Swans); Alina Somova, Viktoria Tereshkina, Yekaterina Osmolkina, and Tatiana Tkachenko (Big Swans); Xenia Ostreikovskaya and Daria Sukhorukova (Two Swans); Ketevan Papava, Elena Bazhenova, Islom Baimuradov, and  Andrei Merkuriev (Spanish Dance); Yana Selina and Maxim Khrebtov (Neapolitan Dance);  Polina Rassadina and Artem Yachmennikov (Hungarian Dance); Galina Rakhmanova, Viktoria Kutepova, Marianna Pavlova, Yulia Slivkina, Andrei Yakovlev, Dmitry Sharapov, Alexander Klimov, and Karen Ioannisyan (Mazurka). Valery Gergiev conducts the Orchestra of the Mariinsky Ballet. Set design by Simon Virsaladze; costumes by Galina Solovieva. Directed for TV by Ross MacGibbon; produced for TV by Giles Oakley and Peter Maniura. Released 2008, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B

Read More

La Petite Danseuse de Degas

in

La Petite Danseuse de Degas ballet. Original music by Denis Levaillant. Choreography by Patrice Bart from an original idea by Patrice Bart and Martine Kahane.  Directed 2010 by Nicolas Joel at the Opéra National de Paris (Opéra Garnier). Stars Clairemarie Osta (The Little Dancer), Dorothée Gilbert (The Star Dancer), Mathieu Ganio (The Ballet Master), José Martinez (The Subscription Holder), Benjamin Pech (The Man in Black), Elisabeth Maurin (The Mother), Stéphanie Romberg (The Night-Club Singer), Emmanuel Thibault (The Violin Player), and Le Corps de Ballet de Opéra National de Paris. Koen Kessels conducts the Orchestra of the Opéra National de Paris. Set design by Ezio Toffolutti; costumes by Sylvie Skinazi; lighting by Marion Hewlett; photography directed by Madjid Hakimi; produced by Antoine Perset, François Duplat, Henis Morlière, and Emma Enjalbert;  directed for TV by Vincent Bataillon. Released  2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A

Read More

Peter and the Wolf

in

Peter and the Wolf ballet. Choreography by Matthew Hart. Traditional music and narration by Sergei Prokofiev.   Performed 2010 at the Royal Ballet School. Stars Sergei Polunin, Will Kemp, Kilian Smith, Charlotte Edmonds, Laurine Muccioli, and Chisato Katsura. Paul Murphy conducts the Royal Ballet Sinfonia (Leader Robert Gibbs). Designs by Ian Spurling; lighting by John B. Reed; directed for TV by Ross McGibbon. Released in 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B

Read More

Nutcracker

in

Nutcracker ballet. Music by Tchaikovsky. Choreographed by Peter Wright after Lev Ivanov. Directed 2009 by Peter Wright at the Royal Opera House. Stars Gary Avis (Drosselmeyer), Iohna Loots (Clara), Ricardo Cervera (Hans-Peter/Nutcracker), Jonathan Howells (Drosselmeyer's Helper), Caroline Jennings (Maiden Aunt), Susan Nye (Maiden Aunt), Romayne Grigorova (Housekeeper), Christopher Saunders (Clara's Father), Elizabeth McGorian (Clara's Mother), Thomas Bedford (Fritz), Paul Kay (Clara's Partner), Vanessa Fenton (Grandmother), Alastair Marriott (Grandfather), Genesia Rosato (Dancing Mistress), David Pickering (Captain), Brian Maloney (Harlequin), Bethany Keating (Columbine), Kenta Kura (Soldier), Helen Crawford (Vinandière), Kevin Emerton (St Nicholas), Miyako Yoshida (The Sugar Plum Fairy), Steven McRae (The Prince), Kristen McNally, Jonathan Howells, Sian Murphy, Erico Montes, Cindy Jourdain, Thomas Whitehead (Spanish Dance), Laura McCulloch, Ryoichi Hirano, Fernando Montaño, Johannes Stepanek (Arabian Dance), Liam Scarlett, Andrej Uspenski, Jonathan Watkins, James Wilkie (Chinese Dance), Paul Kay, Michael Stojko (Russian Dance), Elizabeth Harrod, Bethany Keating, Emma Maguire, Akane Takada (Danece of the Mirlitons), Laura Morena (Waltz of the Flowers Rose Fairy), Kinta Kura, Ernst Meisner, Sergei Polunin, Brian Maloney (Rose Fairy Escorts), Yuhui Choe, Helen Crawford, Hikaru Kobayashi, Samantha Raine (Leading Flowers) as well as other Artists of the Royal Ballet and Studets of the Royal Ballet Schools. Koen Kessels conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Concert Master Peter Manning) and the London Oratory Junior Choir (Director Charles Cole). Designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman; lighting by Mark Henderson; production consultation by Roland John Wiley; staging by Christopher Carr. Directed for TV by Ross MacGibbon. Released 2010, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound output. Grade: B

Read More

The Great Mass

in

The Great Mass ballet. Uwe Scholz originally choreographed The Great Mass for the Leipzig Ballet in 1998. He died, age 46, on November 21, 2004. This production of The Great Mass was presented, in memoriam, on June 28, 2005 at the Leipzig Opera House. Music includes Gregorian chant as well as pieces by Mozart, Thomas Jahn, György Kurtág, and Arvo Pärt.  Stars Leipzig Ballet first soloists Kiyoko Kimura, Oksana Kulchytska, Sibylle Naundorf, Christoph Böhm, and Gionvanni Di Palma; soloists Maiko Oishi, Elena Tumanova, Sebastian Angermaier, Rémy Fichet, Michael Goldhahn, and Yuichiro Yokozeki; demi-soloists Alla Bykanova, Irina Goloubeva, Anna Tsybina, Ekaterina Tumanova, Sven Köhler, Mirko Mahr, and Mohamed Youssry. There is also a spoken (whispered) part with poems by Paul Celan recited by Michael Goldhahn.  Balázs Kocsár conducts the Gewandhausorchester Leipzig and Chorus of the Leipzig Opera (Chorus Master Stephan Bilz). Solo singers are Eunyee You, Marie-Claude Chappuis, Werner Güra, and Friedemann Röhlig. Photography directed by Nyika Janscó; directed for TV by Hans Hulscher; produced by Günter Atteln and Paul Smaczny. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: C

Read More

Don Quichot

in

Don Quichot ballet. Music by Ludwig Minkus. Choreography by Marius Petipa and Alexander Gorsky, updated for this production by Alexei Ratmansky. Directed 2010 by Adrienne Liron & Jeff Tudor at the Dutch National Ballet (Amsterdam Music Theatre). Stars Anna Tsygankova (Kitri), Matthew Golding (Basilio), Peter de Jong (actor as Don Quichot), Karel de Rooij (actor as Sancho Panza), Dario Mealli (Gamache), Altin Kaftira (Lorenso), Natalia Hoffmann (Mercedes), Moises Martin Cintas (Espada), Maiko Tsutsumi (Piccilia), Nadia Yanowski (Juanita), Maia Makhateli (Cupid), and Sasha Mukhamedov (Queen of the Dryads). Kevin Rhodes conducts the Holland Symfonia. Set and costume design by Jérôme Kaplan; lighting design by James F. Ingalls. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A-

Read More

Coppélia

in

Coppélia ballet. Choreography by Patrice Bart after Arthur Saint-Léon. Music by Léo Delibes. Performed 2011 at the Palais Garnier, Paris. Stars Dorothée Gilbert, Mathias Heymann, José Martinez, and Fabrice Bourgeois with the Corps de Ballet of the Opéra national de Paris. Koen Kessels conducts the Orchestre Colonne. Staging by Patrice Bart; sets and costumes by Ezio Toffolutti; lighting by Yves Bernard; additional choreography by Claude de Vulpian; directed for the screen by Vincent Bataillon. Released in 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B

Read More

Swan Lake

in

Swan Lake ballet. Music by Tchaikovsky. Book by V. P. Begitchev and Vasily Geltzer. Choreographed and directed by Heintz Spoerli (after Marius Petipa) at the Zurich Opera House in 2009. Stars Polina Semionova (Odette/Odile), Stanislav Jermakov (Prince Siegfried), Arsen Mehrabyan (Rothbart), Karin Pellmont (Queen). Other dancers include Galina Mihaylova, Arman Grigoryan, and Véronique Tamaccio (Pas de Trois); Sarah-Jane Brodbeck and Maria Seletskaja (Big Swans); Galina Mihaylova, Vittoria Valerio, Aliya Tanykpayeva, Jiayong Sun, and Vahe Martirosyan (Pas de Cinq);  Yen Han, Iker Murillo, Oleksandr Kirichenko, Sergiy Kirichenko, Daniel Mulligan, and Yuriy Volk (Russian Dancers). Vladimir Fedoseyev conducts the Zurich Opera Orchestra. Sets by Erich Wonder; costumes by Florence von Gerkan; lighting by Martin Gebhardt. Directed for TV and video by Andy Sommer; edited by Toby Trotter; produced by François Duplat. Released 2010, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: B

Read More

Sylvia

in

Sylvia ballet. Music by Léo Delibes. Choreography by Frederick Ashton with production realisation and staging by Christopher Newton. Performed 2005 by the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House. Stars Darcey Bussell (Sylvia), Roberto Bolle (Aminta), Thiago Soares (Orion), Martin Harvey (Eros), Mara Galeazzi (Diana). Sylvia's attendants are Deirdre Chapman, Lauren Cuthbertson, Victoria Hewitt, Sarah Lamb, Isabel McMeekan, Laura McCulloch, Sian Murphy, and Samantha Raine. Orion's concubines are Victoria Hewitt and Sian Murphy. Slaves are Kenta Kura and Joshua Tuifua. Goats are Iohna Loots and José Martin. Graham Bond conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Assistant Concert Master Melissa Forshaw). Original designs by Robin and Christopher Ironside; additional designs by Peter Farmer; stage lighting by Mark Jonathan; directed for TV by Ross MacGibbon. Released 2009, disc has 5.1 PCM sound. Grade: A-

Read More

Spartacus

in

Spartacus ballet. Music by Aram Khachaturian. Libretto and choreography by Yuri Grigorovich. Production of the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. Performed 2008 at the Opéra national de Paris, Palais Garnier. Stars Carlos Acosta, Alexander Volchkov, Nina Kaptsova, and Maria Allash supported by the Corps de Ballet of the Bolshoi Theatre of Russia. Pavel Klinichev conducts the Orchestre Colonne.  Scenario by Nikolai Volkov; scenography, set, and costume design by Simon Virsaladze; lighting by Mikhail Sokolov. Executive Pruducer François Duplat; Director of Photography Martial Barrault; directed for TV by Ross MacGibbon. Released  2008,  disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade A-

Read More