Stravinsky - The Firebird & Les Noces / Royal Ballet
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Actor: David Drew, Genesia Rosato, Jonathan Cope, Leanne BenjaminBrand: Naxos OF America INC
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 108 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-10-22
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: BBC / Opus Arte
DVD Reviews of Stravinsky - The Firebird & Les Noces / Royal Ballet
DVD Review: A common man's point of view.
Summary: 5 Stars
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. (I have since purchased "Return of the Firebird w/ Nina Ananiashvili")........(Return of the Firebird: Petrushka/Firebird/Scheherazade)......and I still like Leanne 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 HDMI input, it is very close to Hi-DEF. NOTE: Mine is PAL format (from China), but you CAN get it in the NTSC format, be sure and check.
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 wild bird in your hands? They never give up trying to get away until they are completely exhausted. Leanne is very impressive in her struggle to get away from Ivan.
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......The Kirov Celebrates Nijinsky / Sheherazade, La Spectre de la Rose, The Polovtsian Dances, The Firebird
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, if only for Firebird.
Description of Stravinsky - The Firebird & Les Noces / Royal Ballet
FIREBIRD & LED NOCES (STRAVINSKY) - DVD MovieClassical Music CDs
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