Minkus: La Bayadere [Blu-ray]

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Product Description Marius Petipa's exotic ballet, set in legendary India, is a story of love, death and vengeful judgement. Natalia Makarova's sumptuous recreation of Petipa's choreography, with atmospheric sets by Pier Luigi Samaritini and beautiful costumes by Yolanda Sonnabend, stars Tamara Rojo as the Bayadère (temple dancer) Nikiya, Carlos Acosta as Solor, and Marianela Nuñez as Gamzatti whose alluring presence challenges Solor's love for Nikiya. Filmed in High Definition and recorded in true surround sound. Press Reviews"There wasn’t a single physical gesture that didn’t mean something, that didn’t speak of love trying and failing to blossom." (The Daily Telegraph) "Overall, this is one of the best productions of a classical ballet that the ROH has ever staged or filmed." (Musicweb International) CastTamara Rojo (Nikiya)Carlos Acosta (Solar)Marianela Nuñez (Gamzatti)Gary Avis (The High Brahmin)Christopher Saunders (Rajah)Kenta Kura (Magdaveya)The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House; Valeriy Ovsyanikov ProductionCompany: The Royal BalletChoreographer: Natalia Makarova Disc InformationCatalogue Number: OABD7079DDate of Performance: 2009Running Time: 166 minutesSound: 2.0LPCM + 5.1(5.0) DTSAspect Ratio: 1080i High Definition / 16:9Subtitles: EN, FR, DE, ESLabel: Opus Arte Review A truly sumptuous ballet Blu-ray, filmed in high definition on the stage of the Royal Opera House and presented in a choice of LPCM stereo or DTS-HD Master Audio.The production is dramatic and romantic, and the costumes and sets suitably striking, creating a real visual feast on disc, supported well by a highly detailed, powerful orchestral sound, with just the right amount of audience ambience.It's all exotic and heady stuff and a delight to watch, with performances nicely tempered for the video close-up rather than the furthest row of the theatre. --Gramophone, April 2011Ludwig Minkus' La Bayadère is another less-familiar ballet work getting solid treatment in a Blu-ray release and once again, The Royal Ballet and Opus Arte have come up with a top rate presentation all around in this tale of love, death, living and consequences that takes place in India. Impressive down to the Natalia Makarova choreography, the extras include a Corps de Ballet featurette, Tamara Rojo profile, cast gallery and rehearsal footage. --Nicholas Sheffo, Fulvue Drive-in, March 2011London's Covent Garden opera house had assembled a star-studded trio of soloists for this spectacular performance of Marius Pepita's ballet to music by Ludwig Minkus. First performed in 1877, it comes from a time when Western Europe was fascinated with any story with a Far Eastern theme, La Bayadere being set in an India at the time when it was ruled by the Rajah. Nikiya is the gorgeous temple dancer (La Bayadere), who falls in love with the warrior, Solor, much to the anger of the temple s High Brahmin who is besotted by her beauty. On his return home, Solor is offered the hand of Gamzetti, the daughter of the Rajah, as a gesture of reward for his brave exploits. Nikiya finds out of his proposed marriage and comes to the Palace to convince herself of its truth. On receiving a bunch of flowers she holds them to her breast but is bitten by the snake hidden beneath, the flowers were not from Solor, but from her rival. The High Brahmin offers her an antidote, but she prefers to die. The remainder of the ballet, is largely a 'white' ballet, Solor's drug induced dream bringing her to life amidst a host of other beautiful women. On awakening he is taken to his wedding at the temple, but an enormous storm kills everyone there, Nikiya coming to claim Solor as her own in death. The staging is sumptuous, the dress colourful, and in the leading roles are three of the finest dancers of our time: Tamara Rojo (Nikiya), Carlos Acosta (Solor) and Marianela Nunez (Gamzatti). Rojo, as light as thistledown and so utterly fragile, has the strength of legs that allow her to 'lock-out' in a way few dancers can achieve; and if Solor is mainly a grand gesture role, Acosta explodes into one brilliant solo. Nunez has the unenviable part in the trio, but she dances superbly. The corps de ballet receive a massive and prolonged ovation in the second act, which is richly deserved, and the lesser roles are taken with consummate artistry and authority. Very good orchestral playing directed by Valeriy Ovsyanikov, the video made at performances on January 15 and 19, 2009. In Blu-ray format the colour definition is exceptionally good and the sound highly realistic. The disc also comes in standard DVD on OA1043D. Very highly recommended. --David Denton, David's Review Corner, February 2011