Tchaikovsky - The Sleeping Beauty / Sylve, Lambiotte, Florio, Dutch National Ballet, Amsterdam

Rating:
Summary: Sleeping Beauty Awakes!
Review: As soon as I held this dvd in my hands, I knew this was no ordinary edition; it's heavy! Actually, this edition is TWO dvds. It also contains a sumptuous booklet in English, French, and German(why no Dutch?). That's why it is so heavy. There is also no regional coding, so it should be viewable in ALL regions. This is a very complete,long Sleeping Beauty. It is brand new(performed in 2003) and state of the art. It is a very ambitious and successful production. The dancing is nearly flawless, especially by Sofiane Sylve. What an amazing stage presence! What an amazing dancer, as the New York City Ballet has discovered, since she now dances for them. Sadly, this was her farewell performance with the National Ballet of Holland, but she says her heart will always be in Amsterdam. This should be enough of Sleeping Beauty for anyone. The playing time, including the interviews, is three hours! I will mention one little nitpicking item. Gaël Lambiotte does a great job also, but he frequently hops in his pirouettes(remember, I am a ballet dancer also, so these things bother me). That is not acceptable! Since he has abundant talent, I blame his coaches for that. Nevertheless, this dvd is one of the Ballet greats!

Rating:
Summary: a disappointment
Review: I apologize upfront for the negative review as I usually only rate products that I am enthusiastic about -- the negativity usually reflects merely my personal preference and therefore a negative review may not do justice to the author or artist. But I felt compelled to say a few words about this recording as it is rather overrated. Got this for my ballet-mad daughters for Christmas and we watched it right away. Very disappointing. I chose this production because it was recorded in 2003 and I had hoped for a better quality, at least technically. Well, the lighting was way too dark -- for a good half of the show the screen would be so dark that it was difficult to figure out what's going on. The pace could be a bit more cohesive as well. The choreography was less than captivating. On top of all this, one practical nuisance is that the performance was recorded on two DVDs -- the disc needs to be exchanged after the First Act. It is really not a big deal but it adds to the non-cohesiveness of the whole performance. My 5 year old, who is usually fully absorbed in ballet and musicals and had sat through numerous full length live performance and recordings, also voted against this one just ten minutes into it. Positives: excellent performance of the orchestra and gorgeous costume design.