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2008-05-29 12:26:21 UTC
Long out of print in vhs format, this is a VERY recent
DVD reissue of a mixed bill performed live at the
Kirov at an unclear date which seems to range
between 1985 and 1989, depending upon which
uncredited source you read. The short pieces
from DIANA AND ACTEON, ESMERALDA,
FLOWER FESTIVAL IN GENZANO, LA VIVANDIERE
and VENICE CARNIVAL are followed by a very
familiar staging of Anton Dolin's PAS DE QUATRE.
Unlike most other Kirov performances originally
issued on VHS, there is no remastering of the DVD,
which has obviously NOT been made from any
original master film. Only Gulyaev and Bolshakova,
who are quite splended on the DVD, seem to
benefit from any technical remastering. The excerpts are unusual in
that all but VIVANDIERE have a female corps de ballet (whose dancers
are uncredited) performing
choreography NOT normally seen outside these Kirov
"classical ballet nights", and all but PAS DE
QUATRE having a lone male dancer who partners
the ballerina and has at least one variation.
Strongest among the performers, in terms of
dancers regarded equally highly both in Russia
and in the west, are Sergei Berezhnoi, Gabriella
Komleva, Natalia Bolshakova, Vadim Gulyaev, Alla Sizova. Svetlana
Efranova, Irina Kolpakova and Yelena Yeveteyeva,
all of whom provide unabashedly SPECTACULAR footage
quite valuable to save for posterity. Two dancers,
Tatiana Terekhova and Galina Mezentseva, who
were equally important stars in the home theater, have
always seemed NOT to embody those characteristics
prized in the west. Though the audience response
on the DVD to these two dancers seems at least
equal to that given the other stars,their performances
seem rather earmarked for specific Kirov-only standards
rather than as universally-oriented as the others.
With Mezenteva, is it the elbows and the vacant
stare? With Terekhova, is it the "Nureyev-like" intrusive
visibility of the preparation? While there are
endless gems to praise, I might note in passing
the particularly fine sense of glorifying the corners
of the stage when Berezhnoi and Sizova have
air work in their variations, the elegant back and VERY
high jump of Kolpakova at a chronological
age above 55, the lyric fluidity in the turns
and bourees of Yevteyeva and Komleva and
in the head motions and air work of Gulyaev,
and the elegance in the lyric technique of
Svetlanova which reminds one of the young
Natalia Makarova when she first defected.
Of course, there are infinitely more gems
to praise, etc..
Arrow
DVD reissue of a mixed bill performed live at the
Kirov at an unclear date which seems to range
between 1985 and 1989, depending upon which
uncredited source you read. The short pieces
from DIANA AND ACTEON, ESMERALDA,
FLOWER FESTIVAL IN GENZANO, LA VIVANDIERE
and VENICE CARNIVAL are followed by a very
familiar staging of Anton Dolin's PAS DE QUATRE.
Unlike most other Kirov performances originally
issued on VHS, there is no remastering of the DVD,
which has obviously NOT been made from any
original master film. Only Gulyaev and Bolshakova,
who are quite splended on the DVD, seem to
benefit from any technical remastering. The excerpts are unusual in
that all but VIVANDIERE have a female corps de ballet (whose dancers
are uncredited) performing
choreography NOT normally seen outside these Kirov
"classical ballet nights", and all but PAS DE
QUATRE having a lone male dancer who partners
the ballerina and has at least one variation.
Strongest among the performers, in terms of
dancers regarded equally highly both in Russia
and in the west, are Sergei Berezhnoi, Gabriella
Komleva, Natalia Bolshakova, Vadim Gulyaev, Alla Sizova. Svetlana
Efranova, Irina Kolpakova and Yelena Yeveteyeva,
all of whom provide unabashedly SPECTACULAR footage
quite valuable to save for posterity. Two dancers,
Tatiana Terekhova and Galina Mezentseva, who
were equally important stars in the home theater, have
always seemed NOT to embody those characteristics
prized in the west. Though the audience response
on the DVD to these two dancers seems at least
equal to that given the other stars,their performances
seem rather earmarked for specific Kirov-only standards
rather than as universally-oriented as the others.
With Mezenteva, is it the elbows and the vacant
stare? With Terekhova, is it the "Nureyev-like" intrusive
visibility of the preparation? While there are
endless gems to praise, I might note in passing
the particularly fine sense of glorifying the corners
of the stage when Berezhnoi and Sizova have
air work in their variations, the elegant back and VERY
high jump of Kolpakova at a chronological
age above 55, the lyric fluidity in the turns
and bourees of Yevteyeva and Komleva and
in the head motions and air work of Gulyaev,
and the elegance in the lyric technique of
Svetlanova which reminds one of the young
Natalia Makarova when she first defected.
Of course, there are infinitely more gems
to praise, etc..
Arrow