Rating: 
Summary: Credibility of Amazon's Review
Review: ...Petipa was the original choreographer for Tchaikovsky's work and died in 1910. Dowell is still with us (and appears in this production). In any event, it is wonderful to have this production on dvd. It costs less than the cd version of the integral ballet score...and you get the beautiful images as an added bonus!
Rating:
Summary: Credibility of Amazon's Review
Review: ...Petipa was the original choreographer for Tchaikovsky's work and died in 1910. Dowell is still with us (and appears in this production). In any event, it is wonderful to have this production on dvd. It costs less than the cd version of the integral ballet score...and you get the beautiful images as an added bonus!
Rating:
Summary: Performance Very Good - Costumes Amazing
Review: A very good performance of a traditional ballet made exceptional by Anthony Dowell's wickedly wonderful Carabosse, Durante's incredible point work and costumes which move the whole thing into a different dimention. I had read that the costumes were "a point of controversy". I thought they complimented the performances and gave the whole ballet a beautiful and refreshing newness.
Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking Beauty ...
Review: An incomparable performance of the Tchaikovsky-Petipa masterpiece from the Royal Ballet. From the moment the curtain rises on the Prologue we are swept into world of fairy tale splendor. Viviana Durante is exquisitely beautiful and technically brilliant as Aurora with stud-muffin Solymosi (he of the supple buttocks) her accomplished Prince; Dowell is a deliciously evil Carabosse with the lovely Hussein countering him as the beneficent Lilac Fairy. Sets and costumes are fabulously splendid, suggesting the early 18th and 19th centuries. In the panorama scene, the Prince travels through a wintery landscape to raise Aurora from her deathlike sleep, and, in the final act, their union is celebrated beneath a brilliant sunburst with Aurora's fairy tale guests dressed in lovely pastel costumes. This production cannot be bettered nor praised enough: every art of ballet theater has been lavishly employed in its creation. Principals, solists, corps, designers, and musicians are all in magnificent form. A 'Sleeping Beauty' that will delight most.
Rating: 
Summary: Superior dancing
Review: Durante is a pleasure to watch and has the requisite skills for Aurora - security on pointe. Her Rose Adagio is superb, and clearly superior to Asylmuratovna. The latter is a lovely dancer, but falters in this most challenging part of the ballet. The production is not as lovely as ABT's, but this DVD is worth buying just for the dancing.
Rating:
Summary: The only Sleeping Beauty you'll ever need
Review: Durante is a vivacious and lively Aurora; Solymosi is a competent Prince and the Lilac Fairy is one of the most authoritative dancers I have seen in this role in a long time. Every dancer from Durante down to the Corps is wonderful and Jane Burn and Belinda Hatley shine as 2 of the fairies. The production is less refined than the POB production (where you can see real lyrical dancing from every member of the cast) . *However*, it more than makes up for it with the energy and passion which the POB production sorely lacks. If there is only one Sleeping Beauty you can get, this is it.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent dancing, dim production
Review: I agree with other reviewers - the dancing in this production is absolutely superb. However, I did not care for the design at all. Almost everything is executed in silvery-grey shades that look more monotonous than delicate on VHS, and some of the backdrops have a huge scale and weird perspective that are very distracting. That said, and somewhat to my surprise, my 4-year-old is clearly charmed by the video and will watch as much of it as I will allow at one sitting.
Rating:
Summary: A PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL PRODUCTION
Review: I needed a video so that my young daughter could see what she was working toward in her beginning ballet class. She'd seen a local performance of "The Nutcracker" but I wanted her to see a completely professional company at work. I couldn't have chosen better. The production is very traditional, best for a first-time experience. Durante is a marvelously delicate Aurora and Solymosi is every inch a prince. The video quality is excellent which cannot be said of very many ballet videos on the market. The lighting is such that every detail is visible and the sound quality is high. My only quibble is that the story scrolls by so fast that it is difficult to read it outloud. Very minor quibble, that!
Rating:
Summary: A PERFECTLY BEAUTIFUL PRODUCTION
Review: I needed a video so that my young daughter could see what she was working toward in her beginning ballet class. She'd seen a local performance of "The Nutcracker" but I wanted her to see a completely professional company at work. I couldn't have chosen better. The production is very traditional, best for a first-time experience. Durante is a marvelously delicate Aurora and Solymosi is every inch a prince. The video quality is excellent which cannot be said of very many ballet videos on the market. The lighting is such that every detail is visible and the sound quality is high. My only quibble is that the story scrolls by so fast that it is difficult to read it outloud. Very minor quibble, that!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent video of a ballet classic.
Review: It is generally agreed by ballet critics that video and film cannot capture the impact of a ballet performance, and are best used to record performances so that later dancers can see how it was done. However, these critics have the advantage of living in those few cities with well established ballet companies. Sleeping Beauty is a long ballet, with many roles, and thus is beyond the resources of all but the largest companies. This video is of an excellent performance by the Royal Ballet. The dancing, costuming, and sets are all excellent. The camera work also does a good job of making up for not being there in person.
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