Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Finding a decent production of Stravinsky's first ballet, The Firebird, on DVD is fairly easy. Finding one of his most popular (and notorious) ballet, Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring), is not so easy. Thankfully, this DVD contains both of these great 20th century works, performed energetically by the Mariinsky Orchestra and Ballet, under the baton of the great Russian conductor Valery Gergiev.
CD recordings of both of these works, conducted by Gergiev, have received positive reviews. For this DVD, great care went into researching and trying to reconstruct the original choreography. The faithful reproduction of these works are primarily the responsibility of dance historian Kenneth Archer and choreographer Millicent Hodson. Both took great care in presenting these ballets as they might have been seen in 1910 and, scandalously, in 1913, when the debut of Le Sacre du Printemps caused a riot when it appeared at the Theatre des Champs-Elysees.
Fans of ballet and contemporary dance should not hesitate in picking up this DVD. Both performances were filmed in HD, and many camera angles (including aerial) are used to show the work that went into staging these great ballets. Extras include an interview with Archer and Hodson, rehearsal sequences, and historical information about Stravinsky, the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, and the impresario Serge Diaghilev. This DVD is released in time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Ballet Russes.
Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring / Alexander Scriabin: The Poem of Ecstasy - Valery Gergiev / Kirov Orchestra
Igor Stravinsky: The Firebird (Complete Ballet, 1910) / Alexander Scriabin: Prometheus - The Poem of Fire - Valery Gergiev / Kirov Orchestra, St. Petersburg / Alexander Toradze
Click Here to see more reviews about: Stravinsky and the Ballets Russes: The Firebird/Le Sacre du Printemps (2009)
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