I bought this a while back but I only got around to watching it this weekend. It's a BBC recording of The Royal Ballet's 2001 production of Stravinsky's The Firebird. Also included as a secondary feature, is their production of Les Noces.
Leanne Benjamin as The Firebird. Partnered by Jonathan Cope as Ivan Tsarevich.
In this clip Ivan has summoned the Firebird where she forces the crowd of Kostchei's followers to dance until they are exhausted.
The immortal Kostchei (David Drew) showing off his decorative cape, which seems to be adorned by a variation of the Mandelbrot Set.
A clip from The Wedding Feast section of Les Noces (original choreography by Nijinksa!) It's easy to hear the influence Stravinsky had on Christian Vander's Zeuhl genre of music. Watching Les Noces reminded me that I wasn't completely mad when I first proposed a ballet based on Vander's music.
As beautiful as the two productions are, the extra's included on the disc deserve to be mentioned too. Included is the entire recording of a 1965 performance of the Firebird, conducted by Stravinsky himself! Truly fascinating to see the man at work.
David Drew talks candidly about his experience with Nijinska while performing in Les Noces. A funny and charming interview, and again fascinating.
The last feature included on the disc is a collection of rehearsal footage, interviews etc. of those involved with and performing in The Firebird and Les Noces. In this piece I selected, we hear Monica Mason describe the differences between how the Principals and the Corp de Ballet rehearse.
It's very rare to see a "Digital" sweatshirt now. It's very rare to see a "Digital" anything to be honest.
Awww :)
Thats that. Not quite a review, more of a sampling of whats on the dvd. Some final details would include that the main features are filmed in anamorphic 16/9 and both a stereo and 5.1 soundtrack is available. Sound quality is excellent and theres a good thump from orchestral hits.
I bought my copy from Amazon, although play.com have it for cheaper. Don't forget the Billy Cobham version of The Firebird I mentioned before.
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