Three masterworks by Kader Belarbi shine in these stunning Ballet du Capitole productions. Hailed by Le Figaro as ''simply magnificent: a miracle in two acts'', Le Corsaire is a bold reinvention of a 19th-century classic. La Bete et la Belle - a compelling reimagining of the classic fiary tale Beauty and the Beast - had its place affirmed among hte best of modern ballets by Belarbi's much-lauded production for Theatre du Capitole. La Reine morte, based on Montherlant's play of the same name and set to an enchanting score by Tchaikovsky, tells the tragic story of King Peter I of Portugal's devotion to his beloved Ines.

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

Keith Warner’s iconic production sets the stage for Wagner’s epic tale of family and power. Antonio Pappano conducts an outstanding cast including Nina Stemme, John Lundgren, Sarah Connolly, Emily Magee, Stuart Skelton and Ain Angerin in Keith Warner’s ‘outstanding staging’ (Evening Standard) of Die Walküre. Die Walküre is the second opera in Richard Wagner’s four-opera-cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. It is the most performed work in the cycle, loved and admired for its nuanced and intelligent exploration of complex family entanglements through music of astonishing emotive power. This includes the glorious music for the incestuous lovers Siegmund and Sieglinde, and Wotan’s passionate farewell to his beloved daughter Brünnhilde.

-----

REVIEW:

This performance of Die Walküre came as part of a Ring cycle at the ROH running from September 26 to November 2, 2018. The four operas were generally well received and if I can judge their quality from this one alone I can say I'm certainly not surprised by their positive reception. In the age of opera studio recordings, singers and musicians could do multiple retakes over many days, but now in the era of video, live efforts such as this one are usually culled from just a few performances. The dates given in the album booklet here indicate this one is derived from just two, which is all the more remarkable, suggesting the singers, pit musicians and conductor were truly in their element in this performance and thus likely throughout the entire cycle. But of course, there is another aspect to every opera on video—the production, what you see on stage. So, the issue is, this Die Walküre will have to be an exceedingly strong one in just about every respect to succeed in the marketplace, owing to the plentiful competition, which I'll deal with shortly. Let me start with the singers here.

Nine Stemme is probably the finest soprano to portray Brünnhilde that I've ever encountered on video. She doesn't have a weak or prosaic moment in this opera. John Lundgren as Wotan is also excellent: full-voiced and utterly immersed in his character—becoming Wotan, in fact—he is splendid, coming across as domineering and adamant, cold and vengeful, but struggling still in his attempts to deny all emotion. He is brilliant throughout the opera actually, and like Stemme, divulges nothing even tinged of mediocrity in either his singing or acting skills. Stuart Skelton as Siegmund is also extremely convincing, capturing the essence of his character as well, his singing and dramatic abilities consistently impressive. Emily Magee catches fire in the latter third or so of Act II and continues in the same spirited vein in the last act, really showing total involvement and singing her heart out, perhaps inspired to rival the imposing stage presence of Nina Stemme. Ain Anger as Hunding is more than adequate, as is Sarah Connolly in the role of Fricka. I'm not sure that any recording tops this cast in the competition from the video realm, though there are of course some great performances on older recordings in LP and CD formats.

Antonio Pappano generally employs somewhat brisk tempos and seems to grasp fully the emotional trajectory of each scene in his well-conceived and imaginative phrasing of the score. The ROH Orchestra respond with great spirit in their performance and also strike you as fully connected to this opera's strange but compelling world. There is much flair to their account of the Ride of the Valkyries' music but they also deliver the more subtle moments in the score in the same committed manner.

As for the staging aspects of this Keith Warner production, they are quite effective for the most part, though some Wagner traditionalists will likely object to certain liberties taken in this account. I found Warner's take on this opera generally quite fine though, not a radical rethinking of the story's events and characters. The costuming is a mixture of tattered medieval and casual modern, though Fricka's regal dress is an exception in the former category. The sets typically seem to convey symbolism, often in an inscrutable way.

It must be said that some aspects of this production don't go so well. The Ride of the Valkyries scene to open Act III is a bit awkward in execution, at least in the out of sync choreography of the eight warriors as they wave their horse skeletons in the air and traipse about the stage. Their singing is fine though, and their sense of drama quite good. In the background the wall serves as a screen which shows black and white filmed scenes of a sword battle and horses charging. Though brief, these film clips don't really enhance the happenings on center stage, but seem rather inconsequential instead. The special effects in the opera are mostly okay, not of outstanding quality. Still, while some visual effects aren't the product of some bold new technique, they often succeed quite impressively, like the jets of fire from above and to the side of center stage in the Magic Fire Music scene at the end.

The sound reproduction is excellent, as is the picture clarity and camera work. There are four short bonus features on the second DVD: the first three feature commentary by cast members, conductor Pappano, Keith Warner, the repetiteur and orchestra members; and the fourth contains the cast gallery.

What's my recommendation then in this crowded field? This new Pappano-led effort is truly superb, but so is the recent one by Thielemann. To muddy the waters further, the 2010 Barenboim is another recording I would never want to part with and for that matter, his highly praised earlier recording featured the excellent Harry Kupfer production. Any one of these four would probably do, but I must get to a verdict here. Without much hesitation I would now choose, especially for the singing, this new Die Walküre by Pappano on Opus Arte. As mentioned earlier, Wagner traditionalists might find some aspects of the production objectionable, but the whole package is immensely satisfying. A tremendous performance!

– MusicWeb International (Robert Cummings)

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

A brand new, narrative ballet about true love and grief, created to mark 200 years since Queen Victoria’s birth. As her death approaches, Queen Victoria writes her last diary entry before entrusting their many volumes into her daughter Beatrice’s care. Her surviving children arrive to say their last farewell. Beatrice begins reading the diaries, recalling the mother she knew from her childhood. As Beatrice remembers, the past unfolds. Passion, tragedy, fierce devotion. Queen Victoria’s diaries revealed a life so fascinating that Beatrice tried to rewrite history. Her irrepressible love for Albert sparked a royal dynasty. But his untimely death brought the world's most powerful woman to her knees with grief. Northern Ballet's new biopic brings the sensational story of Victoria to life in dance as celebration of the bicentenary of her birth with choreography by Cathy Marston, creator of Northern Ballet’s acclaimed Jane Eyre.

Also available on Blu-ray

A brand new, narrative ballet about true love and grief, created to mark 200 years since Queen Victoria’s birth. As her death approaches, Queen Victoria writes her last diary entry before entrusting their many volumes into her daughter Beatrice’s care. Her surviving children arrive to say their last farewell. Beatrice begins reading the diaries, recalling the mother she knew from her childhood. As Beatrice remembers, the past unfolds. Passion, tragedy, fierce devotion. Queen Victoria’s diaries revealed a life so fascinating that Beatrice tried to rewrite history. Her irrepressible love for Albert sparked a royal dynasty. But his untimely death brought the world's most powerful woman to her knees with grief. Northern Ballet's new biopic brings the sensational story of Victoria to life in dance as celebration of the bicentenary of her birth with choreography by Cathy Marston, creator of Northern Ballet’s acclaimed Jane Eyre.

Napoli, a cornerstone of the Royal Danish Ballet, was created in 1842 by choreographer and ballet master, August Bournonville. This timeless tale is set in Naples and focus on Gennaro, a young fisherman, on his quest to rescue Teresina, his beloved, who has supposedly drowned at sea. For this production, the Company has chosen to set the scene in the 1950s, taking inspiration from Federico Fellini's early films. Maja Ravn has created elaborate sets and constumes and Nikolaj Hubbe and Sorella Englund bring striking new choreography to Bournonville's classic routines. An entirely new musical score has been created for Act II just for this production! Leading this cast is Alban Lendorf as Gennaro and Alexandra Lo Sardo as Teresina. Graham Bond conducts this fabulous ballet, recorded live in 2014 at the Royal Danish Ballet, Copenhagen.

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD
Caius Martius Coriolanus is a fearless soldier but a reluctant leader. His ambitious mother attempts to carve him a path to political power, but he struggles to change his nature and do what is required to achieve greatness. In this new city state struggling to find its feet, where the gap between rich and poor is widening every day, Coriolanus must decide who he really is and where his allegiances lie. This is one of Shakespeare's most overtly political plays, the modern dress setting for Angus Jackson's production emphasizes the contemporary relevance of the themes explored in ‘Coriolanus’. This release completes the RSC’s tetralogy of Shakespeare’s Roman plays ‘Julius Caesar’, ‘Titus Andronicus’ and ‘Antony and Cleopatra’, all released by Opus Arte earlier this year. ‘‘As the culmination of an ambitious, thoughtfully realized season of some of Shakespeare's less popular works, it solidly earns its place in the RSC's Roman canon.’’ (Whatsonstage) ‘‘It's a production that's built around artful clashes of violence and elegance.’’ (Time Out) ‘‘Coriolanus is an illuminating study of extremes and intransigence on both sides of the political divide. It’s a hefty, occasionally unwieldy, beast of a play, but Angus Jackson’s modern-dress production steers a clear line through, pinpointing key moments. ’’ (The Evening Standard)

Also available on Blu-ray

The last days of the American icon Walt Disney form a powerful and poignant subject for Philip Glass's latest opera, which was filmed at its first performances in Madrid in January 2013. Phelim McDermott's spectacular production is worthy of Disney's own visual imagination and its definitive influence on American culture, while in the pit is the conductor Dennis Russell Davies, an experienced and authoritative champion of the composer's hypnotically beautiful music, which gives wings to Rudy Wurlitzer's operatic transformation of Peter Stephan Jungk's novel, using both fact and fiction to peer into Disney's troubled psyche as illness forces him to confront his mortality.

What the press said: ''...one of the crowning events of the past year's globe-trotting celebration of Mr. Glass's 75th birthday.'' The New York Times
Philip Glass
THE PERFECT AMERICAN

Walt Disney – Christopher Purves
Roy – David Pittsinger
Dantine – Donald Kaasch
Hazel George – Janis Kelly
Lillian Disney – Marie McLaughlin
Sharon – Sarah Tynan
Diane – Nazan Fikret
Lucy / Josh – Rosie Lomas

The Improbable Skills Ensemble
Madrid Teatro Real Chorus and Orchestra
Dennis Russell Davies, conductor

Phelim McDermott, stage director

Recorded live from the Teatro Real, Madrid, February 2013

Bonus:
- Cast gallery

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean
Running time: 120 mins
No. of DVD: 1

PICTURE FORMAT: 16:9
APPROX RUN TIME: 199 Mins
SOUND: DTS SURROUND / LPCM STEREO
SUBTITLES: English/French/German/Spanish/Italian/Dutch
NO OF DISCS: 2

Robert Lloyd, Rolando Villazón, Amanda Roocroft, Dwayne Croft, Jaakko Ryhänen, Giorgio Giuseppini, Violeta Urmana
Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra / De Nederlandse Opera Chorus
Riccardo Chailly / Stage Director Willy Decker

Includes:
*Illustrated Synopsis and Cast Gallery. *Introduction to the opera including interviews with Robert Lloyd, Rolando Villazón, Amanda Roocroft, Violeta Urmana, Riccardo Chailly and Willy Decker.

In this majestic production of Verdi’s Don Carlo, Riccardo Chailly’s qualities as a Verdi conductor are brilliantly displayed in the dramatic precision and transparent instrumental detail he draws from both orchestra and cast. Willy Decker directs a wonderful piece of stagecraft, letting the tragedy unwind with minimal, yet telling, interventions.

The drama takes place in the mausoleum of Filippo II’s Escorial, where the tombs of countless generations of Spanish royalty line the walls. Filippo’s confrontation with Il grande inquisitore – which takes place over his own coffin, its resting place in the wall ready and waiting – is chillingly symbolic, as are the feet of the giant crucifix that hangs over Don Carlo as he sees his life sacrificed by his father.

R E V I E W S




This Don Carlo uses the four-act version of 1884, which is described in an interview extra on the first DVD as intended by Verdi to be more comprehensible than the original five-act version. That is debatable, to say the least, since the composer’s stated reasons for producing that revision (the third of four) were to make its length more manageable on stage and to improve the relation of music and text. Like many another fan of Don Carlo , I admit to a strong affection for both of the two longer editions: the 1867 French version and the 1886 Modena one (or “1884 with many of the great French bits stuck back in”). But that’s for listening, when the more late Verdi you’ve got, the better matters get, and you can take breaks at will for as long as you wish. If it comes to viewing a performance of Don Carlo , the wear-and-tear on the soloists has to be taken into account; and I’m more than willing to watch the 1884 edition.


So this Don Carlo lacks the monumental length that some critics (ignoring developments north of the Alps) complained about when the original French version of the opera appeared. But what is not done musically and temporally, stage designer Willy Decker accomplished here visually and vertically. His re-envisioned Crypt of the Kings in El Escorial features a huge, circular stone vault, with square, identical slate-colored wall plates piled seven high and 12 long to mark the burial slots of previous rulers. Towards the back of the stage is the lower shaft of an enormous cross: Christ’s down-turned toe is 12 feet above the singers, while the knee of the carved figure, at the top of the stage, is perhaps another 12 feet above. This unholy alliance of the Bauhaus and Symbolism is intended to convey the harsh, impersonal nature of religion at the royal court and the way in which it dwarfs the personality and reforming ambitions of Don Carlo. It succeeds beautifully, and remains the centerpiece of the production with the addition of minimal props.


While Decker’s visuals are impressive and his blocking effective, I’m less thrilled with his attempts at dramatic reinterpretation. For example, there’s an elaborate dumb show in the opening orchestral prelude of Philip II’s abusing Don Carlo to enforce religious conformity. When the latter attempts to kiss his father’s ring, Philip grabs Don Carlo’s hand in a painful, pincerlike grip, forcing the boy instead to slowly cross himself. Shortly afterwards, Don Carlo is grasped by the back of the neck and pushed down to the ground before the huge cross already discussed. This muddles matters right at the start by placing one of the opera’s victims, Philip, in the role of its only victor, the Grand Inquisitor. Who is the enforcer of dogma at the court and who bows his will to that dogma in the end?


The cast is variable, but generally very fine. Roberto Villazón is exceptional as Don Carlo, with just the right mix of lustrous metal in his attractively light tenor. His is also one of the most detailed assumptions of the title role, attentive to score markings and giving us the half-mad prince with poor impulse control in all his glory. Dwayne Croft is his match, using his lyrical baritone and fine phrasing to great effect (for example) at the start of the act III quartet. Robert Lloyd’s Philip II suffers at this stage of his career from a slight beat whenever he puts significant pressure on the voice, though he manages this by discreetly shortening some phrases. His Philip remains a shrewdly judged assumption of the role, more impressive for the sum of its parts than specific moments.


Amanda Roocroft may have been under the weather when they filmed this live performance (or series of performances—we are never told whether the recording was a one-shot or compiled over several nights), for her attractive soprano is marred by a wobble that regularly disturbs the musical line during the first act. Later, this problem retreats only to loudly sung high notes. Violeta Urmana similarly improves as the production continues. She has difficulty moving her large, dark voice in her act I song, slurring the repeated minor seconds, but does a fine job in act III’s “O don fatale.” Marisca Mulder is a vocally pert and attractive Tebaldo; and if Jaakko Ryhänen lacks the tonal blackness to make the most of his part as the Grand Inquisitor, he makes up for it by accuracy, strong breath support, and excellent acting. Chailly conducts his soloists sympathetically, if with only moderate energy.


Though recorded in 2004, the only audio format supplied here is LPCM Stereo. Visuals are 16:9 anamorphic, and subtitles are available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch. The extras alluded to above include a plot synopsis and single pictures for each member of the cast, both of these features being as dull as they sound. The filmed interview is less interesting for its verbal content, which is often trivial, than for its succession of images showing the cast rehearsing and the stage under construction.


In sum, this is an intense, monochromatic, successful production of Don Carlo , sporting interesting ideas about stage design, and possessing performances by Villazón and Croft that are among the finest I’ve seen and heard. Don’t let the price hike for two DVDs throw you off its purchase.


FANFARE: Barry Brenesal

This Blu-ray Disc is only playable on Blu-ray Disc players and not compatible with standard DVD players.

Also available on standard DVD

With its combination of enchanting love story and broad, burlesque comedy, Cendrillon is one of the great operatic fairy tales – a Cinderella that looks back to Charles Perrault’s original story in all its richness and ambiguity. Massenet’s sensuous Belle Epoque fairy tale is gilded with lavish orchestral textures and glittering vocal writing, drawing on everything from baroque dances to Wagner-inspired chromaticism to bring its story to colorful life, conjuring a world of infinite musical and emotional variety. Fiona Shaw’s original Tour production makes its Festival debut here, re-directed by Fiona Dunn and conducted by John Wilson, with a cast led by Glyndebourne favorites Danielle de Niese as Cendrillon and Kate Lindsey as her Prince. The Times called this production “a savvy modern-day makeover,” while Classical Source called it “enchanting and thought-provoking.”

Also available on Blu-ray

\ With its combination of enchanting love story and broad, burlesque comedy, Cendrillon is one of the great operatic fairy tales – a Cinderella that looks back to Charles Perrault’s original story in all its richness and ambiguity. Massenet’s sensuous Belle Epoque fairy tale is gilded with lavish orchestral textures and glittering vocal writing, drawing on everything from baroque dances to Wagner-inspired chromaticism to bring its story to colorful life, conjuring a world of infinite musical and emotional variety. Fiona Shaw’s original Tour production makes its Festival debut here, re-directed by Fiona Dunn and conducted by John Wilson, with a cast led by Glyndebourne favorites Danielle de Niese as Cendrillon and Kate Lindsey as her Prince. The Times called this production “a savvy modern-day makeover,” while Classical Source called it “enchanting and thought-provoking.”

MEYERBEER Robert le Diable & • Daniel Oren, cond; Marina Poplavskaya (Alice); Patrizia Ciofi (Isabelle); Bryan Hymel (Robert); John Relyea (Bertram); Jean-François Borras (Raimbaut); Nicolas Courjal (Alberti); Royal Opera Ch & O • OPUS ARTE 7121 (Blu-ray: 211:00+11:00) Live: Covent Garden 12/15/2012

& The Legacy of Robert le Diable

So, it seems I am playing the mop-up role again. James Altena has reviewed the DVD version of this Covent Garden video in the previous issue of Fanfare. I have here the Blu-ray version. Altena gives this production of Robert le Diable a favorable review, with which I generally agree, but we have some differences, which I will get to in a few moments. First, let me say that, as usual, the Opus Arte Blu-ray disc provides finely detailed video resolution and in this case, satisfying state of the art sound in both PCM stereo and HD surround formats. We are undergoing another major change in media formats with video and you would be wise to hop on board sooner rather than later.

Robert le Diable was one of the most popular operas of the 19th century, not only in France, but throughout the world. If we take a bit less enthusiastic a view today, it still should be with the appreciation that this is a fine operatic work which fully deserves a place in the standard repertoire. Here, as Altena says, we have probably the best recording of it to date, whether on audio or video. It does not come without flaws, however. This production has been criticized, especially in the British press, for its nontraditional, even cartoonish, sets: multicolored plastic horses for the knights, a cut-out cardboard castle for the princess Isabelle, a bar with red-checked tablecloths, and a lighted framework suggesting a simple frame church. In the final scene Robert is tempted to enter the dragon’s mouth to hell by dear old dad, while his doting step-sister Alice sits amongst fleecy clouds trying to entice him to the path of righteousness. Like Altena, I find all of this rather innocuous, even mildly entertaining. The story being told still comes through loud and clear with all its dramatic integrity maintained. The dance of the licentious nuns however, reportedly a major highlight in Paris, is a bit of a disappointment here. With their diaphanous white costumes we can’t even tell they are nuns, and they are made to look and act like escapees from Night of the Living Dead.

Considering all of the changes in cast for this production at the Royal Opera House in London, the singers that finally do appear are quite good. Bryan Hymel, as Robert, smudges a coloratura run or two, which original choice Juan Diego Flórez would have sung more cleanly, but Hymel sings very well here, and his dramatic ability is well beyond anything we could expect from Flórez. Patrizia Ciofi, a last-minute replacement, is a fine singer, and takes the vocal honors in this cast. Her coloratura is performed impeccably, and I do not hear a hint of the acidity in her top range reported by Altena. Ciofi is a major operatic star, lovely and well-cast here. It is baffling to me that she continues to be snubbed by the Metropolitan Opera. Russian soprano Marina Poplavskaya also always sings very well, as I have noted before, but lacks charisma on stage. Here, cast as the loving step-sister Alice, the epitome of good, I found myself rooting for Robert to step into the dragon’s mouth. Maybe it’s just me. Robert, like Hamlet, never really decides anything; the clock runs out, like at a football game. I guess we can all be relieved there are no last-minute turnovers. I was disappointed in bass John Relyea. Not only is he not the successor to Samuel Ramey in these roles, he lacks the vibrant low register to really carry this work as it should be sung. Twenty years ago Ramey would have eaten this role alive; sadly, we have no one comparable today.

I am also a bit perplexed by Altena’s favorable advocacy of the booklet notes. If the booklet writer is discussing literary values or grand themes pertaining to all the Meyerbeer operas, he is most probably addressing the work of librettist Eugene Scribe rather than composer Meyerbeer himself. I find all this intellectual analysis a bit pretentious and overblown; Scribe, like all librettists, was just looking for good stories, he was not contemplating writing Paradise Lost. This one is a good story, despite our perhaps more jaded 21st-century perspective, with quite good music to match. Recommended.

FANFARE: Bill White

Virtuoso percussionist Evelyn Glennie collaborates with RSC Artistic Director Gregory Doran to create a satirical futuristic vision of a world resounding with the rhythm of battle, a form of incidental music suited to this Shakespearean rarity.

“Lechery, lechery, still wars and lechery: nothing else holds fashion.” Love, rivalry and war are a-plenty in this new production. Troilus and Cressida swear they will always be true to one another. But in the seventh year of the siege of Troy their innocence is tested, and exposed to the savage corrupting influence of war, with tragic consequences. “Sweeping and confident production of Shakespeare’s rarely performed tragedy.” (The Standard)

REVIEWS:

Adjoa Andoh memorably brings out the manipulative monstrosity behind Ulysses’s beguiling rhetoric, literally loading the dice when it comes to the choice of a Greek champion to fight Hector. Oliver Ford Davies is a classic Pandarus, brimming over with senile prurience so that even a line such as “I’ll go get a fire” gains a lurking suggestiveness. The central lovers are also well played, with Amber James’s spryly intelligent Cressida provoked beyond endurance by the naive insistence of Gavin Fowler’s Troilus on her fidelity.

-- The Guardian

Also available on Blu-ray

Paired here are two of Rossini’s best-loved operas in stunning Glyndebourne stagings showcasing the composer’s threefold genius for comic storytelling, musical energy and vocal fireworks. Vladimir Jurowski and Sir Peter Hall unite for a fresh and vibrant yet timelessly elegant production of Rossini’s setting of the Cinderella story, with a fine cast led by Ruxandra Donose in the title role. While the magical, boldly theatrical world that Annabel Arden creates for the amorous plots and intrigues of young Figaro’s Seville bustles with a gifted ensemble of singer–actors and merry mischief from the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Enrique Mazzola. Recorded in true SS. ‘This is a truly marvellous performance on all counts - staging, conducting and singing...The sense of an ensemble on top form is underlined by Vladimir Jurowski's exacting, pellucid and vivid interpretation, so that the music, like the libretto, is presented afresh. The superb cast has no weaknesses and many strengths...’ (Gramophone) ‘…conductor Enrique Mazzola gets Rossini’s music to sizzle. No slouching, no lingering here and there – just razor-sharp playing from the London Philharmonic Orchestra at helter-skelter speeds.’ (The Financial Times)

Also available on Blu-ray

Joby Talbot
ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND

Ballet in 2 Acts

Alice – Lauren Cuthbertson
Jack / Knave of Hearts – Sergei Polunin
Lewis Carroll / White Rabbit – Edward Watson
Mother / Queen of Hearts – Zenaida Yanowsky
Father / King of Hearts – Christopher Saunders
Magician / Mad Hatter – Steven McRae
Duchess – Simon Russell Beale

Royal Ballet
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Barry Wordsworth, conductor
Christopher Wheeldon, choreography

Bob Crowley, designs
Nicholas Wright, scenario
Natasha Katz, lighting design

Recorded live from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, 9 March 2011.

Bonus:
- Cast Gallery
- Documentary – Being Alice

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish
Running time: 120 mins (ballet) + 30 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1 (DVD 9)

R E V I E W:

A stimulating production.

It is a brave company that is prepared to take such a surrealist novel and turn it into a stage show. Where film can provide the visual trickery necessary to give visual magic, theatre machinery is cumbersome and pedantic in comparison. Yet the development of technical resources and video projection can help. With ballet, a large part of the stage must be kept free of obstructions to allow ballet routines to progress unimpeded.
To then faithfully transfer to a video medium without high level on-line visual trickery may not ideally help the viewer. So how then has Covent Garden fared in bringing about a stimulating production?

Very well, in fact. The prologue where Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) is taking photographs of the family group works excellently. It is set in a realistic deanery garden. Bob Crowley’s backdrop painting in faded Victorian hues is in keeping. In this opening scene we are introduced to the personalities that later appear as stereotypes in the fantasy world Alice uncovers. The only odd thing in a private deanery garden is having a nurse wheel a perambulator across the stage as if in a busy street.

Some of the settings contain more subtlety than might at first sight be noticed. Monotone backdrops, the Cheshire Cat and a paper boat are styled on the engravings found in Carroll’s first edition book. As the ballet progresses the settings become more flamboyant and graphically modern.

Particularly stunning is the Playing Cards scene. Choreography and costumes strike just the right note. A clever routine with a segmented Cheshire Cat allows believable animation.

As one might expect, the dancing is up to the exacting standards of the corps with a Covent Garden reputation. The problem of having Alice change size was well contrived and Lauren Cuthbertson’s acting is excellent. The character of the White Rabbit is extremely officious throughout I noticed, yet pales before the bombastic pomp of the Queen of Hearts (Zenaida Yanowsky).

The orchestra plays well under the secure direction of Barry Wordsworth, a conductor not seen enough of nowadays. Talbot’s music has facets of talent and although classical harmony is mainly maintained, it is heavy, strongly percussive and is often reminiscent of the fight scene of West Side Story. One could hardly call the music melodious which is a pity as it misses out in appealing to the younger generation for whom the story is intended. I find the scoring unnecessarily heavy and is an ill fit with the elegance of classical ballet choreography.

The DVD is divided into play chapters, and contains a gallery photographs of the key dancers. It has the bonus of a well compiled and informative BBC documentary ‘Being Alice’. In it we see the planning, realisation and execution of the staging through the eyes of the principal dancer, Lauren Cuthbertson. Subtitles are provided in English, French, German and Spanish. In-depth background production notes with synopsis by David Nice are written in English, French and German.

-- Raymond J Walker, MusicWeb International

Olga Busuioc's 'performance of sustained dramatic intensity and vocal brilliance... brings direction and shape to the Miskimmon "concept"' (The Arts Desk), in a Festival-premiere Butterfly revived from the 2016 tour. The Guardian lauds her reading's 'perception of clarity... dispassionate... yet full of heart... sensuously and expertly played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under the eagerly responsive baton of Omer Meir Wellber' with praise for Guerrero's 'Pinkerton, sung with soaring, willful, preening grace' and a 'Sharpless, richly and sympathetically portrayed by Micael Sumuel'. 'Elizabeth DeShong's Suzuki was more striking - a rock of sanity and compassion, with a voice of superb authority' and 'the chorus under it's new master Nicholas Jenkins sounded luminous in it's humming serenade' (Telegraph)