Rating: 
Summary: Graceful Ballerina, Eccentric Choreographer
Review: "The Nutcracker" is such a popular ballet, with so many different versions available, that it can be difficult to choose between them all. There is one compelling reason to give serious consideration to this particular title: ballerina Yekaterina Maximova. Graceful and joyous, her dancing stands out as exemplary. Her partner is Vladimir Vasiliev, and they are wonderful together.The choreography is by Bolshoi Artistic Director and Ballet Master, Yuri Grigorovich. His overall work has been influential, but one of its peculiarities is his rejection of mime. In a typical "Nutcracker" production, act two begins with the "mimelogue" section. Marie and the Prince arrive at the Kingdom of the Sweets, where they use mime to tell their hosts about how they vanquished the evil Mouse King. Grigorovich has omitted the "mimelogue," and this change to the libretto makes it slightly less cohesive. It is also helpful to contrast Grigorovich's choreographic style with others. In many Western productions of this ballet, the roles of the mice and the Nutcracker are primarily theatrical, but Grigorovich's choreography contains a greater emphasis on pure dancing. Furthermore, some Western productions contain comedic touches, but there are none to be found here. One interesting feature of Grigorovich's choreography is that Marie marries the prince during her dream. The choreography takes advantage of some of the Bolshoi Theatre stage machinery: the Mouse King appears out of a hole in the floor, and some of the lead characters fly. Many people enjoy children in a "Nutcracker" performance, but there are none used in this production. These things can be good or bad, depending on your individual tastes. Grigorovich has amended many of the traditional corps routines to also include the ballerina and/or the premier danceur. The camera gives preferential treatment to Maximova during many of the early corps numbers. Later, both Maximova and Vasiliev participate in the "Waltz of the Snowflakes," where they do various big leaps, while the corps dancers strike a pose. Maximova's jump is indeed very graceful. Particularly impressive is her bucking grand jete (reminiscent of the signature "Don Quixote" leap). Her aesthetics are very admirable. The tall Vasiliev gets to do a tour jete around the huge Bolshoi stage on a number of occasions in this ballet, but his jumping seems especially noteworthy during his variation in the grand pas de deux. This video was recorded during a live performance of the Bolshoi Ballet at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. This is a "one-off" performance--meaning that there are no double takes to correct small mistakes. At one point, for instance, the curtain comes down, and one of the dancers is on the wrong side of it, in plain view of the audience. Tchaikovsky's musical score is undoubtedly a masterpiece, but there are some imperfections involved with the sound recording. During the "Waltz of the Snowflakes," the brass instruments are a little too blaring and not well mixed with the other instruments. Despite some minor imperfections, the overall performance is strong and noteworthy. The video contains short credits in English, and some even shorter ones in Russian. A libretto is provided on the VCR jacket, but not on the tape itself. In conclusion, there is some top quality dancing by the leads in this production. The performance ends very strongly, with an interesting corps routine to "Waltz of the Flowers" and the majestic grand pas de deux by Maximova and Vasiliev. Out of the seven different versions of this ballet that I have seen to date, this is one of the more compelling ones. Those of you who enjoy my writing are invited to click on "rss28" above to visit my member page, where you can read reviews of other "Nutcracker" interpretations to compare with this one.
Rating: 
Summary: A Live Stage Recording
Review: A live recording of stage performance by the Bolshoi Ballet in the 1970's. Maximova is impressive and Vasiliev in simply incredible. Good choreography. Stage props and recording quality a bit old style with colors a bit dull. Music quality is not truly great. Audience interference is present but tolerable.
Rating:
Summary: Quantitative Evaluation
Review: Audio Merits:7/10; Video Merits:7/10; Cinematographic Merits:8/10;Musical Merits:10/10; Overall Artistic Performance:9/10;DVD Extras:7/10; Recording Total Quality:7/10. Professor's Recommendation:Best Nutcracker performance until the release of Baryshnikov's version.
Rating: 
Summary: Clara, your costume is musty!
Review: Having been in many Nutcracker's, this version, while very Russian, paints a portrait of what the Bolshoi must have been like in the 70's. Overall, the choreography was very simple, the colors drab, and the lighting dim. The only shining standouts in this version are Maximova herself as Masha (we know her in USA as Clara or Marie), and Vasiliev, who truly is a prince. Their elevation and line are incomparable, despite the rather plain stage settings. If you're looking for choreographic ideas, this is a nice ballet to "steal" from, particularly in the Spanish and Indian variations. It is clear that the dancing is the thing to watch from this version, but a brighter set design might have been nicer. There are better Nutcrackers, however, such as Royal Ballet's, Pacific Northwest Ballets, Rudolph Nureyev's, and the 1977 Baryshnikov/Kirkland version, which is shown on public television religiously almost every year.
Versions such as this one make it nice to compare and contrast, which is the joy of Nutcracker. I am only familiar with the VHS version, I have yet to see a better "print" on DVD. Anyway, you may adore the music, and pick which version you like best!
Rating: 
Summary: classic
Review: The AMAZING Nutcracker which opened a whole new world and adventure in appreciating the art in ballet. I am a 34 year old male. Better late than never I suppose. The storyline, the performing dancers, and the elegance still transfers to the human heart through this DVD format. Although, the cameras can't really capture the true energy and radiance of a live performance, the price of the DVD is a better value then today's theater prices. Especially if you just need something to unwind after a hard days work. Cozy up, dream through viewing into dreaming of REM download. God Bless! To the viewer from Jersey, the answer to your question is: This production dates from 1987 and the sets and costumes appear to have been in use since well before then. (taken from Editorial reviews on Amazon)
Rating:
Summary: What year is this performance, any ideas?
Review: The dancing here is superb with superstar efforts by the leads Maximova and Vasiliev. The other dancers, particularly those pairs in Act II are excellent as well, particularly the Russian Dance and the Chinese. The uncle/magician does an admirable role as well. The music is exquisite, however the recording is not as sharp and clear as we have become accustomed to in our time. The stage and set design is superb with the wire acts and the lights and costumes. The marriage near the end is a great addition, and the characters at times appearing out of the floor is neat addition. Filmed live years ago, this is worthy effort for its time and the technology available.
Rating:
Summary: Phenomenal Dancing Nutcracker
Review: The dancing here is superb with superstar efforts by the leads Maximova and Vasiliev. The other dancers, particularly those pairs in Act II are excellent as well, particularly the Russian Dance and the Chinese. The uncle/magician does an admirable role as well. The music is exquisite, however the recording is not as sharp and clear as we have become accustomed to in our time. The stage and set design is superb with the wire acts and the lights and costumes. The marriage near the end is a great addition, and the characters at times appearing out of the floor is neat addition. Filmed live years ago, this is worthy effort for its time and the technology available.
Rating:
Summary: A sweet ballerina, but only a mediocre corps
Review: The first part is better than the second part. Particularly interesting was the Nutcracker before he changes. There are mistakes made and the video shows these mistakes, such as a someone on the wrong side when the curtain comes down. While the performance of the leading lady is fine and the leading man, other than that, performances are mediocre at best. I recommend the Nutcracker by Mikail Barsyshonikov which is definitely better.
Rating:
Summary: A Nutcracker fatally lacking charm and Christmas spirit
Review: This 1984 "live from the Bolshoi" has a few things to recommend, but many more negatives.
The positives:
1. A few divertissments are well-choreographed. The dancers are strangely out-of-sync, and the choreography (by Grigorivich) lacks the gentle humor of Balanchine, but in general, the choreography has some nice original touches. For example, in the Marzipan dance, the couple come onstage dragging a stuffed poodle. Eccentric, but original and actually charming.
2. The leads, Ekaterina Maximova and Vladimir Vasiliev. The Bolshoi eschews a child-Masha and instead has adults dancing the parts of Masha and the Prince. This allows them to dance much more in the second act but eliminates the Sugar Plum Fairy. But Vasiliev and Maximova are strong classical dancers, and both are terrific leapers. Maximova has a very winning smile, and a lovely figure. She's not too tall, not too thin, very charming.
And now, the negatives, and there are a lot:
1. The technical issues. The stage is way, way too dark. You can barely see the tree. The sound is terrible -- tinny, squeaky, not well-recorded at all. Plus, this is a live performance, and there is one obvious gaffe: at the end of the first act one extra ends up on the wrong side of the curtain.
2. The Snowflakes. For some inexplicable reason, they are in truly horrifying powdered wigs that look like a cross between George Washington and "Mrs. Bates" in Psycho. They are pasted onto the dancers so loosely you can see a crack between the actual head of the dancer and the wig. Truly hideous.
3. The Mice. One of the most poorly choreographed Mice/Soldiers fights I've seen. For one, there seems to be no fighting/jousting, simply the soldiers lining up onstage and dancing, and then the mice dancing. The big moments like Masha throwing the shoe or the death of the Mouse King go for naught, in this muddled mess. Plus, afterwards, when Clara and the Prince dance for the first time, typically the stage empties for this sweet, romantic awakening moment. But Yuri Grigorivich has a bunch of toy soldiers and dolls dancing in the background. Similarly, in the second act Pas de deux, Masha and the Prince do not dance in solitude -- the corps dancers from the divertissements and waltz dance along with them. Why???
4. Maximova as Masha. This is not criticizing Maximova as a dancer. But the Nutcracker was filmed in 1984, Maximova was born in 1939, and quite frankly, she doesnt look nearly youthful enough to be convincing. Larissa Lezhnina (Kirov), Alina Cojocaru (Royal Ballet), and Gelsey Kirkland (ABT) are all much more believable as a young girl.
5. Overall production values. The production just looks old. The sets dusty, the costumes tattered and dull, and the dancers look bored out of their minds. The corps look surprisingly sloppy, especially in the divertissements. There's no joy, no mirth, no fun.
I would not recommend this as anyone's first Nutcracker. The Royal Ballet, New York City Ballet and Kirov versions are all much better-produced and charming.
Rating:
Summary: What year is this performance, any ideas?
Review: This is a great performance by both parties, Maximova and Vasiliev.
Vasiliev is very strong and executes everything with amazing precision.
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