Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake

The principal Dancers were good. The Costumes and Stage background were beautiful and the Music was wonderful. I think that Odette's White Swan Costume could have "stood out" better, because she was hard to distinguish from the other Swan Dancers, unless she was out in the forefront by herself.

Fonteyn and Nureez - what could be better.

I was somewhat disappointed when Odile omitted her 32 fouettes. Then I realized that at the time of the performance, Ms. Fonteyn was 46 or 47 years old and I cut her a lot of well-deserved slack.

Nureyev had a wonderfully keen practical and artistic sense of how to produce the classical ballets. Among other things, he realized the merits of enlarging the role of the male dancer, as did Balanchine, his quote to the contrary notwithstanding!(Male dancers who danced for him that I have trained with, tell me that when he said ballet is all about women, he was mostly referring to the concept of partnering, where the woman is prominently displayed; he enjoyed working with male dancers very much, as we can see in his choreography.) In this version, both principal dancers are given a great deal of choreography and, as one would expect from one of the world's most famous ballet duos, they dance magnificently! Margot Fonteyn was always the quintessential ballerina, both on stage and off. She was also a great balletic actress and did not like to be disturbed backstage during a ballet because she would stay in character. She always peformed at her best, right up to the end of her very long career.Some people have been surprised at the closeup of Nureyev in this at the begining of the first act; it shows the starkness of his makeup. Actually, this type of makeup is often used for this role, but we usually don't see it in closeup! It looks good at a distance. It is all part of the fantasy aspect of Swan Lake.Especially noteworthy is the adagio Nureyev dances at the end of act one. Many dancers have bought this version just to see and study this! It is one of the greatest moments in classical ballet!Nureyev's handling of the corps de ballet is also fantastic. I loved the geometric patterns he sets for them. The corps also dances with great precision and passion.The only subdued aspect of this version is that of the Rothbart character. He is reduced to just a character role here. Nureyev liked to have important character, non-dancing , roles in his ballets for balance, no doubt.This recent transfer by DG is marvelous, both visually and acoustically. I highly recommend this classic performance as a traditional Swan Lake.

Seeing Nureyev and Fonteyn was a dream come true. I had never seen these two artists dance together until I saw this film. Their dancing brings the words elegance and love to mind. The grace and beauty of both stars was intoxicating. While Nureyev's performance was superb he never was a distraction from the total performance. Margot Fonteyn had exceedingly long and elegant arms and legs. She used them to great effect in her dual role as Odette/Odile. She was transformed as Odile in the zest and allure of her dancing. The soloists and corps de ballet were stupendous. I was lucky to see Natalia Makarova in Swan Lake at the Kennedy Center in the 70s. She was unbelievable! However, Fonteyn and Nureyev wove a special kind of magic that brings a smile to my mind that will last forever.The production values were excellent. This looked great on my 43" HDTV in standard aspect ratio. There are always going to be complaints about ballet films but these pale in comparison to the fact that we have such a crowing work adorned with these jewels.

Fonteyn and Nureyev. One struggles to find adequate words for these true legends of dance, these two amazing talents the likes of which may never repeat, one might believe in our lifetimes at least.This production of Swan Lake, with choreography by Nureyev himself, is surely one of the very few filmed productions (perhaps the only one?) to be produced and directed and photographed with intelligence and taste and respect for the arts . . . with not one iota of those frantic, intrusive, camera maneuverings so out of place in the art of ballet (and so common in competitive sports). And the colors, and the set design! Wow. Picture quality of this late 1960s performance? Not to worry; in my opinion, at least, this one ranks right up there with the best of the best! And jus waytlyasee the amazing finale!This is the one.

It's romantic classicism at its best. If you've never seen Fonteyn and Nureyev dance, their style is more lyrical than the more showy exhibitionist style we see today, and it is just beautiful to watch them dance. The Nureyev choreography is satisfying, but I keep comparing this version to the Kevin McEnzie version on dvd with Gillian Murphy and Angel Corella, and I think McEnzie's has an edge on the choreography. McEnzie shows the story more explicitly, with his introduction showing how the maiden became a swan, his very entertaining first act (after all, it is a birthday party), and a larger role to the prince's friend. The Nureyev version focus is on the Prince with more solo for Nureyev (which is ok because he is fabulous). The costumes and sets are beautiful, and the booklet explains that Nureyev's 2nd act kept the Ivanov version almost intact (only change is the dance for the large swans from 2 to 4 dancers), and kept the Petipa Black Swan (which is all that's left of the Petipa choreography). This swan lake is a MUST have.

My very favorite ballet beautifully performed. A must for any ballet enthusiast.

There are two reasons to buy this DVD - firstly, if you want a classical (albeit 'vintage' looking) Swan Lake. But the main reason is for the fantastic performances of Fonteyn and Nureyev - if you are interested in seeing these two star dancers at their peak then stop reading and just buy the DVD.But for those interested in how this performance of Swan Lake compares to others, firstly to note this is a Nureyev choreographed version. However it is not the same (much longer) version as his one for Paris Opera. Act 1 is reasonably short, and missing the 'pas de trois'. Act 2 is sublime, traditional to Lev Ivanov's original and faultless. (One should mention however it is missing the 'mime' passage.) Act 3 is where we get most divergence from other Swan Lakes, with a completely different start to the Black Swan pas de deux. We are also missing the Neapolitan Dance found in other versions. The final Act 4 seems to have different choreography in the final pas de deux between Odile/Siegfried.To be honest, the changes don't bother me too much - with some many different Swan Lakes out there, I'm not really sure what would be considered the definitive one anyway. As long as famed pieces such as the four cygnets dance, the Black Swan series of mesmerising turns and the classic Act 2 choreography is maintained, it works for me. The changes have been made to suit Nureyev and his technique often (no bad thing), and Fonteyn is also able to demonstrate her excellent technique and partnership with Nureyev too.The film is good quality (not HD, but of course the technology didn't exist then) although it isn't widescreen and more of an old-fashioned square format. The camera work is overall good, sometimes slightly annoying close up shots during Act 2 where you want to see everything, conversely not enough close ups to see the emotion in the Fonteyn/Nureyev pas de deuxs but I think we are lucky to have a full colour ballet of this quality with them in it so overall these are minor points.The costumes do look very much of their time, as do the sets, but in a sort of lovely, nostalgic way (at least to me) rather than looking dated and awful (see the Royal Ballet Dowell production which is very much of the 80s and thankfully now replaced). The orchestra is excellent, with good sound quality. This version also seems a bit shorter than a lot of other versions (clocking in at around 1 hour 50 compared to over 2 hours for most others) but this means it keeps good pace.Overall, definitely a must have for a ballet fan. The partnership and dancing of Fonteyn and Nureyev is sublime, and whilst this is probably not choreographically the most 'traditional' Swan Lake, it is good nonetheless, with a powerful tragic ending of Odile being separated from Siegfried, and he drowning in the lake (unfortunately Nureyev's drowning acting is a little ridiculous but this is redeemed by the heartfelt acting of Fonteyn and the final scene of her gliding away). So not a Soviet happy ending (which slightly ruins the drama and build up) or a somewhat silly ending with Odile (and sometimes also Siegfried) jumping off a cliff and ascending to heaven. But this is personal preference of course.Finally other DVDs you may be interested in purchasing if you have enjoyed this are Romeo and Juliet (also with Fonteyn/Nureyev); Swan Lake (Paris Opera version also choreographed by Nureyev with an incredibly flawless Act 2); Swan Lake (Dowell/Markova for a similar vintage version); Swan Lake Royal Ballet Liam Scarlett version (for a contrasting modern version of excellent quality). Of course there are many versions of Swan Lake out there so the best thing is to go on youtube and find clips of DVDs available which give a good sense of what you may want to purchase.

Perché Il lago dei cigni ebbe una storia quanto mai agitata, cosa non infrequente nelle composizioni di Tchaikovsky, ma pure questa versione sollecita qualche appunto. Ecco allora che la musica pare il criterio decisivo, anzi la base garantita da una sicura qualità interpretativa. Se passiamo, invece, alla danza, ci sono aspetti disuguali. Nureyev offre un’attuazione stellare, quanto vigorosa, che informa pure la coreografia da lui firmata. È la componente femminile dove si avverte una tendenza al ribasso. Non ci sono imperfezioni vistose, però una carenza interpretativa da Margot Fonteyn al folto gruppo delle ballerine. Passi è figure sono, forse, inappuntabili, però di un accademicismo freddo che talvolta scadono a danza ritmica. Disegnano, ma non comunicano. Solo ascoltando la musica, si può riprendere il volo.

Seen both the main dancers brought back memories

The media could not be loaded.  Die DVD kam schnell an und funktioniert einwandfrei. Gefallen hat mir das unglaubliche Zusammenspiel der beiden Protagonisten und das Vintage-Flair, da die Aufzeichnung nunmal von 1966 ist. Auch ist diese Version des „Rothbart“ für mich die wohl am gruseligsten geschminkte. Negativ ist leider der immer gleiche Gesichtsausdruck „Siegfrieds“ und der doch sehr langatmige Auftritt der „Gäste“ auf dessen Geburtstag.

Ein ganz wunderbarer Ballett-Film!