Tchaikovsky – The Sleeping Beauty / Kirov Ballet [DVD]

Not Enjoyable
This was disappointing. The standard of dancing is not good. The production was so fussy that it detracted from the dancing.

Not As Good As The Reviews
Sorry I did not really like this performance. The VHS of the Kirov performing at home with Asylmuratova and Zaklinsky is much better although the lighting is not as good in places. (Hopefully this will be available on DVD soon.)In the performance here, Lezhnina is not at all compelling in the lead. In fact, as I watched Makhalina dance the Lilac Fairy, I yearned for her to have been dancing the lead. Although Ruhzmatov is a spectacular dancer somehow he fails to fit the picture of the Prince.

The Sleeping Beauty/Kirov/1989/filmed in Montreal
Attention re. Negative Reviews: All the negative reviews listed below are for a different production of Beauty filmed at the Bolshoi in Moscow in 1990 and should not be confused with the Beauty shown above. The above 1989 production from Montreal with Larissa Lezhnina and Farukh Ruzimatov is excellent in every respect and I would recommend it, without reservation, as a plus for your library.

ballet schoool director loves it so you will too
when I was learning the sleeping beauty, my teacher taught us from this video. now I am showing it to my students! still just a beautiful as remembered it from 20 years ago. this version is perfection and a grand production! show this to your favorite dancer and they will love it!

The production on the DVD was lavishing and beautiful, and many of the dancers are as with high a calibre as you would expect from the Mariinsky, especially from this era. – I have so far a total of 8 DVDs of the company, including that of 83’ Giselle, and of 89’ Le Corsaire; some of these performers, including the conductor and some dancers, also appears in the Sleeping Beauty, and their performances are magnificent.Before buying this, I had read some of the feedbacks, and as far as I did read, there were no negative comments. But I now realise that those comments were purely about the production, editing and quality of the picture, but never about the performance; or perhaps they were from those who do not really know of the ballet at all.Because, I now know that the female lead, Larisa Lezhnina in this particular performance, though understandably as this was her débuting role before she becomes a first soloist, is very tense, especially in her back, and as a consequence, she is more than often unable to hold the balance, or to complete jump consequences properly, and her entire dance completely failed to follow the music; given the fact that her partner, Farukh Ruzimatov is one of the most brilliant dancers/partners, and she does occasionally show some potential, her inadequacy and inconsistency does not make the whole performance quite as marvellous as my other Mariinsky DVDs, which is awfully disappointing. I would have personally chosen a better performance with poorer quality pictures.

This is Tchaikovsky’s ballet performed by the Kirov Ballet on it’s Canadian tour in 1989; it contains all the ingredients to make it a spectacular success. It has, for instance, the creme de la creme of the Kirov principal dancers; Larisa Lezhnina, Farukh Ruzimatov and Yulia Makhalina. Then add to this the beautiful backdrop scenery, working fountains, huge chandeliers , sumptuous costumes for all its participants, and you’d have a production of ” The Sleeping Beauty” to die for, right….well not quite. Let me explain.Having watched this DVD performance several times, I have this gut feeling that when choreographer, Marius Petipa, saw the original score for this ballet, his initial though must have been, “my God, what I’m I going to do with these people for over 2+ hours.” Despite all the positives I’ve mentioned above, I honestly feel that not even all this onstage beauty and talent (not to mention an incredible effort by both Lezhnina and Ruzimatov) could justify this slow paced, sometimes repetitive work. Some of the dances (excluding those of the principals) seem have little to do with the overall story: In fact, the Prologue seemed to be dragged out and some of this area of the ballet could have been significantly shortened. I must admit that during some segments, I had difficulty keeping my attention focused on this performance.All in all, a beautifully staged and exquisitely danced production that is superbly recorded (both audio and video) but it is, simply put, too long.