Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #48598 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-05-02
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Classical, Colour, DVD-Video, PAL
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Dutch, French, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 125 minutes

Synopsis
A performance of the Glazunov ballet written in 1898. Yuri Grogorovich choreographs based on the original choreography by Marius Petipa and Alexander Grosky.

Customer Reviews

An excellent production by the Bolshoi Ballet
Recorded live at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1989, this is a very enjoyable DVD of the masterpiece of 19th century ballet. Revised choreography for this production by Grigorovich is based on the original by Petipa and Gorsky. It is identical with an earlier production by Grigorovich on another DVD (issued by KULTUR) in which the two leading roles are danced by Ludmila Semenyaka and Irek Mukhamedov, both of whom are at their peak.

In the current version under review, the roles are danced by Natalia Bessmertnova (Raymonda) and Yuri Vasyuchenko (Jean de Brienne). The stage sets are identical for both versions - inside a Gothic building set on the vast stage of the Bolshoi Theatre. The costumes in subdued colour are very beautiful. This DVD benefits from better picture quality and stereo sound.

Bessmertnova is very good; her dancing is flawless. However, she was nearly 50 years old at the time of the recording, and to this reviewer, she doesn't look the young and nubile Raymonda, despite the fact that she still has a youthful physique. On the other hand, Vasyuchenko is a younger dancer with excellent style and technique, although he somehow hasn't got Mukhamedov's intensity and sensitivity. I feel that Bessmertnova and Vasyuchenko are marginally less spontaneous and ardent in pas de deux than Semenyaka and Mukhamedov.

They are supported by first-rate soloists and corps de ballet. The Hungarian divertissements in the wedding scene in Act 3 in particular are very good and enjoyable. The Bolshoi Orchestra plays Glazunov's magnificent score superbly under the direction of Zhuraitis. (The tempi in this performance are sometimes very slightly slower than in the earlier recording mentioned above.) The stereo sound recording is excellent.

So, the choice is between the earlier version, danced by the superb Semenyaka and Mukhamedov with rather inferior picture quality and in mono sound, and the current version under review by Bessmertnova and Vasyuchenko with a clearer picture and in good stereo sound. Although I personally prefer Semenyaka as Raymonda, I would have both versions.