Also available on Blu-ray

William Shakespeare
THE TWO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA

Proteus - Mark Arends
Outlaw - Elliot Barnes-Worrell
Speed - Martin Bassindale
Julia - Pearl Chanda
Turio - Nicholas Gerard-Martin
Outlaw - Robert Gilbert
Duke of Milan - Jonny Glynn
Host / Outlaw - Molly Gromadzki
Sir Eglamour - Youssef Kerkour
Silvia - Sarah MacRae
Valentine - Michael Marcus
Launce - Roger Morlidge
Antonio - Keith Osborn
Lucetta / Outlaw - Leigh Quinn
Panthino / Outlaw - Simon Yadoo
Crab - Mossup

Simon Godwin, stage director
Paul Wills, stage and costume designer
Bruno Poet, lighting designer
Music composed by Michael Bruce
Recorded live at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, July 2014

Bonus:
- Director’s Commentary
- Cinema Trailer and Films
- Cast Gallery

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: LPCM 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Subtitles: English
Running time: 142 mins (play) + 10 mins (bonus)
No. of DVDs: 1

Britain is in crisis. Alienated, insular and on the brink of disaster. Can it be saved? An ineffectual Queen Cymbeline rules over a divided dystopian Britain. Consumed with grief at the death of two of her children, Cymbeline's judgement is clouded. When Innogen, the only living heir, marries her sweetheart Posthumus in secret, an enraged Cymbeline banishes him. Behind the throne, a power-hungry figure plots to seize power by murdering them both. In exile, Innogen's husband is tricked into believing she has been unfaithful to him and, in an act of impulsive jealousy, begins a scheme to have her murdered. Warned of the danger, Innogen runs away from court in disguise and begins a journey fraught with danger that will eventually reunite Cymbeline with a longlost heir and reconcile the young lovers. "Still handles the comedy very well, though, and draws some lovely performances from her cast. Bethan Cullinane makes a brave, determined, sweetly funny Innogen: moving in her silent shock at her husband's accusation of infidelity. Marcus Griffiths is a wonderfully bombastic and ridiculous Cloten and his attempts to woo Innogen through song are hilarious." (The Financial Times) "It's the strength of the performances that really make this production, and the cast's ability to draw out the underlying humour in every situation goes a long way to negating the flaws in the original text. Oliver Johnstone is brilliant as the suave, silver-tongued Iachimo, strutting about the stage and wearing all of his sexual potency on his sleeve. Some of the best scenes come when he focuses his scheming charm on the faithful Innogen, skilfully played by Bethan Cullinane. Marcus Griffith also manages to find much comic absurdity in the overblown ego of the otherwise contemptible Cloten. But these are compelling performances among many. It may not be one of the best-loved of the Bard's canon, but this production is full of passion and humour, and is riotous fun." (The Radio Times) "Comes straight from the heart... It's unafraid of emotion and boasts fine performances... This is an evening that belongs to the Director... Shakespeare's derided experimental romance has the capacity to touch the heart... Bethan Cullinane's Innogen moved me deeply..." (The Guardian

In David McVicar’s spellbinding production of Le nozze di Figaro the break-down of the relationship between Finley’s suave, dashingly self-absorbed Count and Röschmann’s passionately dignified Countess lies at the heart of the opera. The struggle to rekindle their love contrasts tragic-comically with the sexy ease between a feisty Figaro (Erwin Schrott) and a sassy Susanna (Miah Persson) is starkly absent, and the tenacious spark that remains between Marcellina (Graciela Araya) and Bartolo (Jonathan Veira). Antonio Pappano conducts (and accompanies the recitatives) with invigorating wit and emotional depth, allowing the ensemble to capture the moments of dramatic tension to perfection and engaging fully with the rhythm of an already classic production, captured in High Definition video and surround sound.

R E V I E W S:

"Capturing one of my favourite opera productions of recent years, this new DVD of David McVicar's take on the first of the Mozart-Da Ponte operas is in some ways the ultimate Le nozze di Figaro... this performance seems to get to the heart of arguably Mozart's greatest opera more successfully than almost any other production of the composer's stage works I've seen in the last two or three years. As day turns to night and the characters leave the house to resolve their disputes in Tanya McCallin's verdant garden set, the performance takes on a warm glow; it's just so emotional, so involving, so poignant.
Shot in high definition and in surround sound, this is a luxury package and one that should be purchased and treasured by every opera lover."

-- Dominic McHugh, MusicalCriticism.com

There have been a couple of Figaros on DVD lately where the plot is distorted and the setting more or less absurd. After all this it is a relief to see that David McVicar presents a ‘normal’ version with elegant staterooms and period costumes. And it doesn’t seem in the least old-fashioned! On the contrary the sets, the costumes and the action go hand in hand with the music. The production breathes with Mozart - no artificial respiration is necessary - and we are confronted with real characters of the late 18th century. They are performed with a lightness and a cobweb-free liveliness that make them easily transformable to the present day.

McVicar has read the score closely and reacted to Mozart’s ‘under-story’ – the directions and comments that are in the orchestra, sometimes reinforcing the text, sometimes contrapuntal and even telling a different story. He, the composer, knows more than the characters themselves. In McVicar’s mind the overture is no mere prelude to the evening, where the audience have an opportunity to finish their conversations. This musical masterpiece is a little symphonic poem which, though in no way thematically related to the following play as the overtures to Così fan tutte and Die Zauberflöte are, lends itself to an amusing pantomime. And the high spirits that are evoked continue as an undercurrent all through the opera – even though there are also moments of darkness, even brutality. Count Almaviva, who is presented as a many-faceted human being, is also a hothead. In the second act he actually hits the Countess – maybe a nod in the direction of reality, where physical violence within marriage seems on the increase. Another parallel may be the teenaged Cherubino appearing markedly tipsy in the last act. Closer to the revolutionary ideas of Beaumarchais’s late 18th century is the obvious antagonism between Figaro and the Count. The third act scene with the sextet, when it is revealed that Marcellina and Bartolo are Figaro’s parents, is more straightforward comedy – but far from the slapstick farce it can sometimes be in less sensitive hands. Overall style is the buzzword for this production; inventiveness within a traditional concept. Just one tiny detail: there is no scene-shift between acts 3 and 4, just frozen positions and then over to Barbarina’s aria where she mourns the loss of the pin for which we have been prepared in the previous scene.

Musically it is also a highly attractive performance. Antonio Pappano paces the music excellently, giving the singers a certain freedom to make individual imprints and allowing them to embellish the vocal line. The effect is both stylish and elegant. It is also a musically very complete version where both Marcellina and Don Basilio are allowed their arias in the last act. Both are well sung. It is a particular pleasure to see and hear Philip Langridge in the latter role, vocally seemingly indestructible. He both looks and sings just as splendidly as he did when I last saw him on stage – and that must be close to twenty years ago!

Good singing and acting is moreover the order of the day with not a weak link among the cast. Erwin Schrott is a splendid Figaro, manly, youthful, good looking and a magnificent singer. He has bass notes that elude many a Figaro and generally makes a sensitive and believable valet. Miah Persson is a mercurial and expressive Susanna, definitely in the top flight of lyrical sopranos in the world today. Her facial expressions reveal all her feelings and she sings an exquisite last act aria. Together with her mistress, the Countess, she also performs a lovely Letter Duet in act 3. On her own Dorothea Röschmann excels in the Countess’s two arias, standing out as a truly tragic person but with a will of steel; this comes through in the intensity of her singing. Dove sono in act 3 is more powerful than most readings I have heard – but sensitive. Great singing indeed! Gerald Finley is also a splendid actor combining burnished tone with honeyed suavity when it suits him. Rinat Shaham is truly boyish in the notoriously difficult-to-cast role as Cherubino and sings with nervous passion. She is almost in the Christine Schäfer class, a singer to my mind unsurpassable in the role. Jonathan Veira, another splendid actor, makes the most of Dr Bartolo, even though he is more baritone than bass and lacks the booming bottom notes.

The presentation is exemplary with a detailed tracklist in the booklet which makes it easy to access individual numbers. The sound is splendid and the video direction excellent. There are enough overview pictures to get involved in the settings but the director works a lot with close-ups which pays dividends with so eminent a cast of singing actors. This is one of those DVD operas that requires to be seen again and more than once. Readers who don’t believe in over-fanciful reconstructions or transportations in time can rest assured that this is the real thing – and still up to date.

-- Göran Forsling, MusicWeb International

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
LE NOZZE DI FIGARO

Figaro – Erwin Schrott
Susanna – Miah Persson
Count Almaviva – Gerald Finley
Countess Almaviva – Dorothea Röschmann
Marcellina – Graciela Araya
Barbarina – Ana James
Cherubino – Rinat Shaham

The Royal Opera Chorus
The Royal Opera House Orchestra
Antonio Pappano, conductor

David McVicar, stage director

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, 10, 13 and 17 February 2006.

Bonus:
- The Magic of Mozart: Interviews with Antonio Pappano, David McVicar and principal cast.
- Cast gallery and illustrated synopsis.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 Anamorphic
Sound format: DTS Surround 5.0 / LPCM Stereo
Region code: 0 (all)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian

"•First release in a new partnership with the RSC • Starring distinguished TV, Film and Theatre actor David Tennant whose credits range from Doctor Who to Hamlet at the RSC • Production directed by Gregory Doran “one of the great Shakespearians of his generation” (The Sunday Times)"

Royal Ballet Principals Federico Bonelli, Laura Morera and Steven McRae dance the lead roles in Liam Scarlett's new ballet, based on the world's most famous work of horror fiction, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. This ambitious theatrical collaboration brings the novel to life with spectacular period sets and costumes by John Macfarlane and a newly commissioned score by Lowell Liebermann. Scarlett's choreography draws out the emotional power of this classic story. Passionate encounters between Victor, Elizabeth and the Creature express their torment, regret, anger, yearning and love

Set in the present-day in the world of a women's prison, Julius Caesar could not be more timely as it depicts the catastrophic consequences of a political leader’s extension of his powers beyond the remit of the constitution. As Brutus (Harriet Walter) wrestles with his moral conscience over the assassination of Julius Caesar (Jackie Clune), Mark Antony (Jade Anouka) manipulates the crowd through his subtle and incendiary rhetoric to frenzied mob violence. There follows the descent of the country into factions and the outbreak of civil war. The Donmar Shakespeare Trilogy began in 2012 with an all-female production of Julius Caesar led by Dame Harriet Walter. Set in a women’s prison, the production asked the question, “Who owns Shakespeare?” Two further productions followed: Henry IV in 2014 and The Tempest in 2016, all featuring a diverse company of women. The Trilogy enthralled theatre audiences in London and New York and was shared with women and girls in prisons and schools across the UK. The film versions were shot live in a specially built temporary theatre in King’s Cross in 2016, and now offer screen audiences unique access to these ground-breaking productions.

Also available on Blu-ray

Kenneth MacMillan
THREE BALLETS

Concerto

Marianela Nuñez, dancer
Yuhui Choe, dancer
Steven McRae, dancer
Kenneth MacMillan, choreographer

Music:
Dmitry Shostakovich: Piano Concerto No. 2 in F major, Op. 102
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Dominic Grier, conductor

Elite Syncopations

Sarah Lamb, dancer
Valeri Hristov, dancer
Steven McRae, dancer
Kenneth MacMillan, choreographer

Music:
Scott Joplin and other Ragtime composers
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Robert Clark, conductor

The Judas Tree

Carlos Acosta, dancer
Leanne Benjamin, dancer
Edward Watson, dancer
Kenneth MacMillan, choreographer

Music:
Brian Elias
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Barry Wordsworth, conductor

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, March 2010

Bonus:
- Introductions to each ballet piece by Deborah MacMillan

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic
Sound format: LPCM Stereo 2.0 / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish

This DVD is an excellent record of three of choreographer Kenneth MacMillan’s most iconic shorter ballets. Brought together on a single disc running just shy of two hours it also marks the strength in depth of the current Royal Ballet company – these performances were taped in March 2010. The disc is accompanied by a booklet with a good and informative essay on the ballets and their genesis by Mark Monahan which complements neatly the interesting but brief ‘extra’ interviews from performers and the creative team on the DVD itself. The soundtrack can be listened to in either standard 2 channel stereo or 5.1 DTS and it is filmed in strikingly clear High Definition. I have to admit that my television is not rigged for high quality audio but even in far from ideal conditions the Covent Garden orchestra and the recording sounded very fine indeed. The camerawork in all three ballets is unfussy and unobtrusive. There are occasional close-ups used to emphasise dramatic points in the narrative but in the main film director Ross MacGibbon is happy to keep to a low camera angle allowing a general ‘centre stalls’ view that is surely the right choice.

The programme selection is interesting in its diversity and breadth spanning as it does the 26 years from MacMillan’s debut triple bill for Deutsche Oper Ballet in 1966 with Concerto to his last work The Judas Tree of 1992 – he died in October the same year. Between these two, and opening the DVD is his enduringly popular Elite Syncopations of 1974. Curiously, it is more the design and the use of the Ragtime music that resonates more strongly in the memory than MacMillan’s choreography. It is the piece that least engaged me here by some way. I say that in the full and certain knowledge that it was and remains enormously popular. As someone who works extensively in commercial theatre and musicals I find something irredeemably twee about ballet dancers - and a ballet audience! - ‘letting their hair down’. I find little of it funny let alone sexy – as is alluded to in the introduction on the disc, just the reverse in fact. Too much is made of; “here we are, phenomenally trained performers doing funny walks and striking pantomime poses”. The onstage band play predictably well – the Covent Garden orchestra really is one of the very finest but I was surprised coming back to the score how dull the arrangements of the rags are. They are functional at best with little extra colour or humour coming through – quite how this kind of dance-band line-up could have been conceived without a banjo escapes me. Monahan points out in his note that Elite Syncopations was not the first ballet to exploit the ragtime craze. In London, the London Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet) performed The Prodigal Son with the score arranged and conducted by Grant Hossack. Musically alone that is a superior piece of work to this and deserves revival. The choice of the rags here works well and gives enough variety to the score to support the various loosely narrative sections of the ballet. I would never claim to have any expertise at all regarding the minutiae of the art of choreography but I find the technical complexity of the piece at odds with the essential simplicity of the concept and the music. It makes for a virtuoso display which the company are well up to but instead of being relaxed and good natured I find the work frenetic with the dancers squeezing in one complex combination on top of another – to reverse the well-known phrase; more is less.

I enjoyed the other two works here far more. The Judas Tree is a dark, compact and powerful work. The synopsis is essentially simple, a lone woman – one assumes by design – enters a building site occupied by thirteen bored frustrated workmen. She is carried in swathed in a shroud – this being the first of many narratively head scratching moments. She toys with them individually and collectively in a display of casual provocativeness. The foreman of the gang vies for her attention with another more sensitive workman. A confrontation leads to the woman’s apparent death although she is revived by the gentle worker. In a fit of jealousy the foreman encourages the other men to gang rape her and then breaks her neck before encouraging the others to lynch her lover. The foreman then hangs himself and just as the curtain closes the woman returns resurrected – so it seems - again to assume a Madonna-like pose on a stage peopled by her and the two dead men. As Mark Monahan rightly says in his note – “we are light years from reality” and yet elements of the staging are deliberately naturalistic. The set is dominated by the Canary Wharf tower placing the work literally in modern day London. Originally this was choreographed on Viviana Durante and Irek Mukhamedov. Here we have the brilliantly coquettish and lazily seductive Leanne Benjamin and the truly extraordinary and compelling Carlos Acosta. I suspect he can’t tie a shoelace without exuding powerfully macho charisma so this role in both acting and dancing terms suits him perfectly. Indeed the entire company of male dancers bring to the stage a sense of latent aggression and pent up violence that makes the ballet a compelling piece of theatre. Quite why Benjamin’s character should blithely run such risks is a mystery never explained but she proves herself a consummate actress as well as dancer. Her stamina is a minor miracle too – for the vast bulk of the ballet’s thirty five minutes she is actively involved yet never once does she seem to be the least bit fatigued. Benjamin, at forty-five is one of the oldest principal dancers in the company. She danced the role in the original production and worked with MacMillan so she brings a particular authority to the role. Indeed, it is her dancing and acting more than any of the men, excellent though they are, that resonates in the memory. It is in this piece that camera director MacGibbon makes telling use of close-ups to underline the emotions building in the protagonists. The complexity and challenging nature of MacMillan’s choreography seems to have more dramatic relevance here providing as it does a vehicle for posturing display as the men compete for the woman’s attention. Clearly this is intended as an allegory albeit in a ‘natural’ setting – Jock McFadyen’s design is strikingly effective and menacing. The original inspiration comes from the Gnostic Gospels and transports the three central characters of Judas (the foreman), his friend (Jesus), and the girl as a disturbing Madonna-cum-whore figure. That latter description is MacMillan’s not mine and in turn comes from these gospels where the human soul is portrayed as a woman who was chaste in heaven but a prostitute on earth. It’s a frankly misogynistic interpretation and explains the enduring notoriety of this work. If you can step away from that argument for a moment it does remain clear that for anyone interested in MacMillan’s body of work this is one of his most inventive, challenging and darkest works dealing as it does with different aspects of betrayal. It doesn’t seem quite right to say one ‘enjoyed’ this ballet but it certainly makes for a compelling and concentrated thirty five minutes. The music is an original score by Brian Elias that makes use of the full Covent Garden Orchestra. As one might expect it is an uncompromising contemporary work that helps drive the narrative very effectively. So effectively indeed that it is hard to imagine it with a life away from the theatre – but I imagine much the same was said of The Rite of Spring so I’m in no rush to make a judgement there! Allegory or not I do struggle a little trying to impose some kind of narrative logic on the proceedings. The ending of the ballet seems rather abrupt and ultimately struck me as the least convincing part of the work. Why the foreman should be so distraught when he first accidentally(?) kills the girl to then showing no relief when she revives to then actually deliberately killing her within another five minutes having callously supervised her raping but then being so horror struck to hang himself before she returns again – as a ghostly Madonna? – makes no dramatic sense at all even on the heightened reality of the ballet stage. It should be mentioned that this work won the 1992 Olivier Award for Best New Dance Work but is not for those who like their ballet pretty!

So to the final part of this triple bill. In the preface to the performance MacMillan’s widow said he rejected the idea of ‘abstract’ ballet feeling that as soon as two or more dancers interacted there was a human connection which removed any literal sense of abstraction. In deference to that view I will call this ballet non-narrative. The music is Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No.2 deftly played here by soloist Jonathan Higgins but it would be hard to pretend that the musical performance was the reason to put on this DVD. As so often happens in ballet when the music becomes hostage to the choreography the essential character/tempo of the music is bent to the needs of the dancers. So the outer movements here both suffer from being a fraction slow. The good-humoured sparkle that bubbles up throughout this delightful work is dulled. The reason is the same as with the first ballet: MacMillan seems intent on cramming as many steps into any given phrase as possible. Visually this is a delight and very very complex and ‘busy’. Each movement makes a feature of different couples but the highlight is the central song-like Andante. Apparently inspired by watching Lynn Seymour practising at the barre this sequence contains the most overtly classical and consciously beautiful dancing on the DVD. Here the part is danced quite stunningly by Marianela Nuñez. Indeed, the entire work shows the strength in depth of both the principal dancers and the entire corps de ballet. After the heavy-handed humour of Elite Syncopations and the rather opaque narrative of The Judas Tree the utter simplicity of staging and just the sense of the joy of dancing comes as a real breath of fresh air. It is easy to understand why this is used as the programme finale. Again the sound and the camera work are admirably clear and unfussy.

As far as I am aware there are no other versions of Elite Syncopations or Concerto currently available on DVD and as mentioned these are significant works in the MacMillan canon so pretty much an obligatory purchase for admirers of his work. As a programme this strikes me as an excellent triple bill as diverse in its emotional range as it is accomplished in its technical excellence from every department. Experts on ballet will know far better than I whether this displays MacMillan’s talents and range to best effect.

-- Nick Barnard, MusicWeb International

Ludwig Minkus
LA BAYADÈRE

Marius Petipa’s exotic ballet, set in legendary India, is a story of love, death and vengeful judgement. Natalia Makarova’s sumptuous recreation of Petipa’s choreography, with atmospheric sets by Pier Luigi Samaritini and beautiful costumes by Yolanda Sonnabend, stars Tamara Rojo as the Bayadère (temple dancer) Nikiya, CarlosAcosta as Solor, and Marianela Nuñez as Gamzatti whose alluring presence challenges Solor’s love for Nikiya. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true surround sound.

‘There wasn’t a single physical gesture that didn’t mean something, that didn’t speak of love trying and failing to blossom.’ -- The Daily Telegraph

Solar – Carlos Acosta
Gamzatti – Marianela Nuñez
Nikiya – Tamara Rojo
The High Brahmin – Gary Avis
Rajah – Christopher Saunders
Magdaveya – Kenta Kura
Solor's Friend – Valeri Hristov

Royal Ballet
Royal Opera House Orchestra
Valeriy Ovsyanikov, conductor

Natalia Makarova, choreographer

Recorded live from the Royal Opera House, January 2009

- Tamara Rojo on dancing La Bayadère
- Leanne Cope and Francesca Filpi on the corps de ballet
-Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta rehearse with Alexander Agadzhanov
- Natalia Makarova on choreographing La Bayadère

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 anamorphic
Sound format: LPCM Stereo / DTS 5.0
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Menu languages: English
Subtitles (Bonus): English, French, German, Spanish
Running time: 166 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - COSÌ FAN TUTTE

Ferrando - Topi Lehtipuu
Guglielmo - Luca Pisaroni
Don Alfonso - Nicolas Rivenq
Fiordiligi - Miah Persson
Dorabella - Anke Vondung
Despina - Ainhoa Garmendia

The Glyndebourne Chorus
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment
Iván Fischer, Conductor

Nicholas Hytner, Stage Director

Recorded live at the Glyndebourne Festival Opera in June and July 2006

Bonus Material:
Interviews with Ivan Fischer, Nicholas Hytner and members of the cast / Illustrated Synopsis / Cast Gallery

Picture format: NTSC 16:9 Anamorphic
Sound format: DTS Surround / LPCM Stereo
Region code: 0 (All Regions)
Menu Language: English
Subtitles: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian
Running time: 210 minutes
No. of DVDs: 2

* Mozart's genius in setting to music Da Ponte's comic play of love, infidelity and forgiveness marks Così fan tutte as one of the great works of art from the Age of Enlightenment. Nicholas Hytner's beautiful new production, with its sure touch and theatrical know-how, lives up to its promise to be 'shockingly traditional', while Iván Fischer teases artful performances from an outstanding international cast of convincing young lovers. Recorded using High Definition cameras and with true surround sound.

R E V I E W S

"Dressed in shades of sand and stone by Vicki Mortimer, and bathed in summer light by Paule Constable, Hytner's period production marries elegance, farce and psychological acuity." -- The Independent

"…an evening of Mozartian magic… a staging that cries out to be revisited." -- Sunday Times

"I had to search long and hard down memory lane to recall a Così that so vividly revealed both the pleasure and the overwhelming pain of this evermore disturbing masterpiece, and I failed." -- Opera

TCHAIKOVSKY The Sleeping Beauty • Valeriy Ovsyanikov, cond; Alina Cojocaru ( Aurora ); Federico Bonelli ( Florimund ); Marianela Nuñez ( Lilac Fairy ); Genesia Rosato ( Carabosse ); Royal Ballet; Royal Op House O • BBC/OPUS ARTE 995 (DVD: 135:00) Live: London 12/5/2007


The Royal Ballet’s new production of The Sleeping Beauty , which debuted in 2006, is based on their successful 1946 staging with designs by Oliver Messel. Visually, this is a significant improvement over the RB’s 1994 Sleeping Beauty designed by Maria Bjørnson. The sets used in 1994 had an immediate “Wow!” factor when first viewed (wild perspectives), but quickly wore out their welcome and so dominated the stage they detracted from the dancers. Adding to the visual impairment were many costumes that matched the scenery in color and tone, further reducing the prominence of the dancers. The new sets are beautiful. They’re very old-fashioned wing and drop; painted in warm colors that are nicely subdued so they offer a pleasant backdrop and the dancers stand out.


Marius Petipa is credited with the choreography in both productions, but contributions from Frederick Ashton, Anthony Dowell, and Christopher Wheeldon are noted. Further credit for this 2006 production is also given to Monica Mason and Christopher Newton “after Ninette de Valois and Nicholas Sergeyev.” Sergeyev was Petipa’s assistant. The original designs by Oliver Messel are augmented and interpreted by Peter Farmer. The result of their efforts is a very classy Sleeping Beauty that is a joy to watch.


The dancing in both 1994 and 2006 productions is of a very high order. Of the six principal roles (Aurora, Florimund, Carabosse, Lilac Fairy, Florine, and Blue Bird), there are individual differences between the two casts, and one significant casting difference. In 2006, Carabosse is played by a woman, Genesia Rosato, in a role usually performed by a man. Anthony Dowell’s Carabosse in 1994 is something to behold. Looking like he just rose from the swamp, he dominates the stage whenever he appears. In comparison, Rosato in 2006 is more restrained, offering a character reminiscent of a blend between Mrs. Danvers and Elsa Lancaster in Bride of Frankenstein.


Alina Cojocaru and Federico Bonelli are nicely paired as Aurora and Florimund. Neither is as flashy as their 1994 counterparts, but they combine technical expertise with convincing acting. They look like royalty from Fairy Land, and like they care about each other. In the 1994 cast, Viviana Durante and Zoltan Solymosi, were significantly mismatched in height (I’ve read Durante was a last minute stand-in for a taller dancer), and they were only superficially into their characters, but they still offered impressive performances. Durante is tiny and elflike; being on point seemed natural to her. During the Rose Adagio she so successfully achieved her balance she refused the fourth courtier’s hand. Solymosi doesn’t have quite the technical expertise of Federico Bonelli, but Solymosi, one of the tallest dancers on the stage, has stage presence in abundance. He commands attention even when standing still.


Conductor Valeriy Ovsyanikov pulls all the Romantic stops out of Tchaikovsky’s unabashedly flamboyant score, in contrast to Barry Wordsworth’s more elegant approach. Carabosse’s curse, the Rose Adagio, the finale, and Apothéose benefitted from Ovsyanikov’s muscular conducting, whereas the waltzes, the Panorama, the character dances, and the adagio in the act III Pas de deux were more lovingly handled by Wordsworth.


The 1994 Sleeping Beauty is full screen; the 2006 is wide screen. Ross MacGibbon, the video director in 2006 was listed as editor in 1994. His part in both of these videos is restrained and rarely intrudes on the dancing. There are some shots of bouncing torsos (dancers viewed from the waist up) when I would have preferred to see the entire performer, but MacGibbon’s direction in this Sleeping Beauty is how I wish more of these videos of stage performances were filmed, a vast improvement over his direction of the Mariinsky Swan Lake (see Fanfare 31:5).


There are some cuts to the score (a few numbers are deleted, a few are shortened), but the abridgements are slight and the key dances, such as the Rose Adagio, are presented in full. The image is bright and clear; the sound, available in either LPCM stereo or DTS Digital surround is excellent. The Sleeping Beauty has long been one of the Royal Ballet’s premier productions; this 1946 updated to 2006 version does the company proud.


FANFARE: David L. Kirk
Marius Petipa, choreographer

Recorded live at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 5 December 2006.

Bonus:
- Cast gallery and illustrated synopsis.

Picture format: NTSC 16:9
Sound format: PCM Stereo / DTS 5.1
Region code: 0 (All Regions)
Running time: 174 mins
No. of DVDs: 1

The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House / John Carewe

A double bill which contrasts the vibrant colours of Stravinsky’s best-loved ballet, The Firebird, with the stark ritual of Les Noces, choreographed by the legendary Nijinska. With Leanne Benjamin as the Firebird in the modern Royal Ballet production. Extra features include rehearsal footage of Nijinska and her world from dancer David Drew.

Extra features include
• David Drew on Nijinska’s world
• Behind-the-scenes rehearsal of The Firebird and Les Noces

R E V I E W S:

‘This is history happening before the television cameras - just one among a score of good reasons for adding this release to your collection.’ -- International Record Review

‘The Firebird and Les Noces in revelatory and near-definitive versions…’ -- The Independent, Best DVDs of the Year 2002

‘…priceless historic material.’ Dance Expression

What makes a King? What makes a father? Shakespeare's monumental history play travels to the heart of family, duty and country. This innovative film, recorded before a live audience, documents the Donmar Warehouse's all-female stage production, adapted from William Shakespeare's two plays about King Henry IV, Prince Hal and Falstaff. The bold, contemporary production is presented as if played by inmates of a women's prison and was described by critics as 'unforgettable'. The director for both stage and screen is Phyllida Lloyd, and Harriet Walter is Henry IV. The Donmar Shakespeare Trilogy began in 2012 with an all-female production of Julius Caesar led by Dame Harriet Walter. Set in a women's prison, the production asked the question, "Who owns Shakespeare?" Two further productions followed: Henry IV in 2014 and The Tempest in 2016, all featuring a diverse company of women. The Trilogy enthralled theatre audiences in London and New York and was shared with women and girls in prisons and schools across the UK. The film versions were shot live in a specially built temporary theatre in King's Cross in 2016, and now offer screen audiences unique access to these ground-breaking productions.

Love and duty collide and nations clash in Verdi's political drama, starring Elena Stikhina. In this new production, director Robert Carsen situates Verdi's large-scale drama within a contemporary world, framing it's power struggles and toxic jealousies in the apparatus of a modern, totalitarian state. Antonio Pappano conducts Verdi's glorious, monumental score.

Love and duty collide and nations clash in Verdi's political drama, starring Elena Stikhina. In this new production, director Robert Carsen situates Verdi's large-scale drama within a contemporary world, framing it's power struggles and toxic jealousies in the apparatus of a modern, totalitarian state. Antonio Pappano conducts Verdi's glorious, monumental score.

Widely lauded by critics, choreographer Jonathan Watkins' 1984 is an awe-inspiring retelling of George Orwell's masterpiece. Winston Smith lives in a world of absolute conformity, his every action scrutinized by Big Brother. However, when Winston meets Julia, he dares to rebel by falling in love. Danced by Northern Ballet - the UK's foremost narrative ballet company - to a score by Tony-nominated composer Alex Baranowski, this thoroughly modern take on 1984 will change the way you think about ballet. 'Batley [Winston Smith] and Leebolt [Julia] are excellent, their bodies as vividly present as their faces are haunted. At the chilling end, we realise not only how intently we have been watching, but also that we too may be watched.' (Sanjoy Roy, The Guardian) "This is gripping storytelling" (The Stage) "..an ambitious, compelling and, ultimately, moving new ballet. Even more powerful are the intimate duets for Winston and Julia, verboten lovers who are dancing on a metaphorical razor's edge. Thinking themselves free of the gaze of Big Brother, they give themselves to each other with a genuinely moving passion, which is danced gorgeously by Tobias Batley and Martha Leebolt" (The Daily Telegraph