Sleeping Beauty / Christine Walsh, Australian Ballet

This ballet movie is simply great. I've watched seven full-act performances of the Sleeping Beauty (3 Kirovs, Bolshoi, Royal, Paris Opera, Het), and I think this Kirov's 1964 production is one of the best in terms of the classical beauty and purity. This is a film version, not a recording of a stage performance, so the set design and special effects impossible on the stage could be realized to enhance the charm of the production. Also, this film is a shortened version that lasts for about one and a half hours, with a few sequences removed and rearranged. The two stars featured here are Alla Sizova as the princess Aurora and Yuri Solovyov as the prince Desire. Sizova was known to be the best Aurora in the world in 1960s. She was Rudolf Nureyev's favorite partner, and it is said that she's the one that could've made Nureyev want to go back to Soviet Union. She was a greatly talented ballerina, and as you can see, she was really pretty, lively, elegant and beautiful. Her smlie especially is radiant. Solovyov was an outstanding, noble dancer, an ideal partner for her. You can also see Natalia Dudinskaya, one of Vaganova's distinguished pupils, as the wicked fairy Carabosse (dancing en pointe) and Natalia Makarova as the princess Florina before she defected to the West. The Kirov's corps de ballet was, as always, graceful and in a perfect fashion. I recommend all who admire great Russian ballets should watch this film. However, I suggest you should not buy this Kultur-manufactured DVD. The reason is as follows. The original screen ratio was in cinemascope, about 2.35:1, but Kultur has cut the left and right sides of the picture to make it look large on the ordinary 4:3 TV screen, so the dancers in this DVD are sometimes out of the screen. Also, the sound pitch recorded in this DVD is a little bit higher than normal, about a semi-tone higher, and the lower-pitched sound such as played by cellos or doublebasses is hard to hear. As a result, the music sounds harsh and in a haste. In fact, Boris Khaikin and Yuri Gamalei, the conductors in this film, played elegantly and beautifully, but you cannot feel that in this DVD. There are some noises on the screen, too. Although I am pleased that Kultur has issued a lot of Kirov's and Bolshoi's ballet performances in DVD format, it would be much better if they had made them in good quality. I cannot help but think Kultur has damaged the artistic quaity of those videos by distorting them and ignoring the technical aspects. This film deserves 5 stars, but as for the DVD made by Kultur, I'll give 3 stars. A Japanese company called IVC, which stands for International Visual Corporation, has also issued this same film on DVD with region code 2. In contrast to Kultur, IVC did a truly great job. The picture ratio is the same as originally filmed, in cinemascope, not cut at the sides, and the picture quality is very clear, much better than that of Kultur's, so you can enjoy the beautiful dancing and scenery to the fullest. Also, the sound pitch is just correct, with balanced sound. I'd say watching this film in Kultur's DVD and in IVC's DVD was a totally different experience to me. You can buy one at Japanese internet shopping sites unless Amazon.com is going to sell the IVC DVDs. I'm not a Japanese, but no true ballet fans would hesitate to think highly of IVC's devoted efforts to make good-quality DVDs that the great ballet films deserve to be shown in.

Yuri Soloviev was one of the greatest male dancers of the 20th century. Searching for footage of his legendary art is like hunting for a needle in a haystack. However, a number of fuzzy clips of his mastery can be viewed on YouTube.A premier danseur of the Kirov, he was a contemporary of Nureyev and Baryshnikov, and thought by many to be the superior dancer. His elevation was mind boggling - to such a degree that he was nicknamed Cosmic Yuri. His genius lay not only in his phenomenal jumps, but also in the softness, clarity, beauty and modesty of his technique, which was coupled with sensitive and deeply moving dramatic gifts.While he was unhappy in the stifling conditions of Brezhnev's regime, he refused to defect. He apparently committed suicide in 1977. As a consequence of his shocking and unexpected death and Nureyev's and Baryshnikov's defection, a devastating and deep vacuum was left in Soviet dance that never really was filled.The exquisite Alla Sizova was a perfect partner for him. Carabosse is danced by the electric Dudinskaya - a detail which I personally find far preferable to an aging male mime in drag. Makarova appears as Florina, along with, I think, Valery Panov, another great but hard-to-find dancer. This Sleeping Beauty has some of the most brilliant dancing I've ever seen. The fact that it's even available is a miracle.

I can't quite say why I'm not raving about this version of Sleeping Beauty. Perhaps I just have too many others in my head.The dancers are, for the most part, excellent. The scenery is beautiful. The White Cat/Puss'n'Boots has been done better in other versions. Red Riding Hood and the Three Ivans were substandard compared to other companies. However, the Bluebird variation and the Pas de Trois were excellent.It's a good evening's entertainment, but not at the top of my list of presentations of this ballet.

This is a movie version of 'Sleeping Beauty' which captures the magical, fairytale quality of the ballet. I thought all the dancers were excellent, especially 'Carabosse' danced by Natalia Dudinskaya. This movie is only 84 minutes long so some of the music and choreography is gone. The 'Bluebird' dance is much shorter than usual with only the first part danced and no solo's. This movie was filmed in 1965 but to me it looks more like a 1930's movie. I think the imperfections of the film add a charm that a modern up-to-date DVD lacks. It's really a joy to watch and moves along quickly. There's a lot of beauty and drama to be seen and I know I'll watch this film many times.

I had this on VHS as a kid and now that my daughter is getting into ballet I wanted to show her. Sadly the video quality is so bad it’s barley watchable. I know it’s an old movie but I’ve seen much older films with higher image quality than this. It’s practically unwatchable. I think my old VHS was better. Such a shame.

This production is easily the finest version available of the Sleeping Beauty ballet. The dancing is superb. The only fault that I can find is the fact that some of the photography could be better, but despite this it is still a production that any ballet fan would be delighted to own - superb!

This is a must for any Natalia Makarova fans or anyone who loves the Sleeping Beauty Ballet.

Allowing for age of video, the programme was surprisingly good.Yuri Soloviev is quite amazing.Pity he was disposed of so young.

Superb cast comprising Sizova, Soloviev, Dudinskaya and Makarova. You can't get much better than these. Sure it's old recording, with all that implies, but it is still one of the best available.

Adore this film. So happy to have it in my collection. Prompt reliable international service via Amazon.Thank you..

This is a collector DVD, a historical performance based on a 1965 colour movie of Soviet quality. The small print on the back of the DVD case informs the perspective buyer: Best efforts have been made to restore all audio and video imperfections for DVD. But due to the age of the production, this DVD may contain some of the imperfections inherent in the original master tapes.A history buff will probably enjoy this Sleeping Beauty performance. Carabosse dances with a nervousness [reflecting anger and danger] which is worth mentioning. And the baby princess [Aurora], a real baby, is cute. But beyond this ...?The Australian Ballet offers a far better performance of Sleeping Beauty on DVD.

It was a pleasure to watch this ballet production, which was recorded live at the Arts Centre, Melbourne, Australia. This Sleeping Beauty performance is superior to the one of the Bolshoi Ballet [also available on DVD]. Of course, at times the sound and picture qualities show slight impurities, but this is because of the programme's age [the Bolshoi DVD quality has real flaws].

AT ONLY 84 MINUTES THERE ARE MANY OTHER VERSIONS OF THIS BALLET OF OVER TWO HOURS IN LENGTH AND AS IT HAS NO SPECIAL MERIT OVER OTHER VERSIONS I WOULD SUGGEST THE KIROV INSTEAD