Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30881 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-08-01
• Rating: Exempt
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Classical, Colour, DVD-Video, PAL
• Original language: German, French, English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 136 minutes

Customer Reviews

An Epic of Epical Proportions (for once)
At two and a quarter hours we can really think of this as an epic production,but Aram Khachaturian's score(he only passed away in 1978)was written to be three and a half hours in length,though this was never shown.The Musical score though is to say the very least fantastic (this composer never shied away from using the orchestra to its full potential)as you will discover should you purchase this Ballet,it ranges from Heavy Percussion right through to the delicate theme tune of The Onedin Line,one of the loveliest melodies ever written.
The stars in this version are all highly thought of Spartacus (Irek Mukhamedov),Crassus (Aleksandr Vetrov),Phrygia (Lyudmilla Semenyaka) and Aegina (Maria Bilova)
Downsides as such are few,and none of which spoil the show to any degree,though I must mention them ;The backdrops are dark which does on occasions make it hard to visualise individual dancers,not helped when the stage is shown as a long shot with in excess of 20 people on stage.
The upsides are that you are getting a wonderful Ballet with top dancers and a musical score second to none.The fights are highly stylised and very well portrayed,and the death of Spartacus is nothing short of stupendous with him literally being held aloft on the Roman spears as if Crucified.Semenyaka makes a pleasing Phrygia,and as expected gives a good performance.Aleksandr Vetrov as usual is cast as the bad guy(he was also Rothbart in Swan Lake)and plays his part very well I think with just the right amount of swagger you would expect in Crassus(Dictator of Rome).Lastly we come to Maria Bilova who I think it fair to say stole the show,her dance being superb and her acting(especially when seducing the slaves)spot on.
Should you buy it, well I only have this one version so cannot honestly say its any better or worse than other recordings,but I'm sure you'll not be sorry if you do - Highly Recommended-..