Product: Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake / Mikhalchenko, Vasyuchenko, Vetrov, Zhuraitis, Bolshoi Ballet (1989)
Rating: 5.0
A common man's point of view.
This ballet is the twin sister of another Swan Lake starring Maya Plisetskaya.....Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake [DVD Video].....However, this version by the same Bolshoi Ballet, stars another very good ballerina Alla Mikhalchenko and her partner is Yuri Vasyuchenko. The two ballets are almost identical, same sets,same scene changes, same costumes, the princesses wear almost identical dresses, both Siegfrieds wear identical costumes, and when you see the tutu of one Swan Queen you have seen them all. The lighting in this version IS better than the Plisetskaya version, however, and the sound is a better quality PCM stereo. Both ballets are 4/3 video format. This version is 129 minutes whereas Maya's version is 141 minutes. Both versions have the so called happy but dramatic ending with the Swan Queen darting between Siegfried and Rothbart supposedly saving Siegfried's life. I would like to see a version where the brave Siegfried saves the Swan Maiden. Isn't the hero supposed to save the damsel? Have you seen the sorry excuses Nuereyev had for heros? I've only seen two, but in both cases Rothbart vanquishes Siegfried, and wins the Swan Queens for himself. Siegfried should win the battle of good over evil, and there are several Russian versions which show just that. One of the best is the 1968 filmed version w/Yelena Yevteyeva, my very first Swan Lake. Siegfried, played by John Markovsky, lifts Rothbart over his head and throws him to his death, a very dramatic ending......Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake (1968)..... All three of the ballets I've mentioned here are worth owning.Some people have praised choreographer Yuri Grigorovich as a genius. He was NOT. He staged a few original works when he was a beginning choreographer in St Petersburg, but when he came to the Bolshoi he took for himself the fame of his predecessors and called their works his own. Many of the ballets he takes credit for have none of his choreography and while he was artistic director of the Bolshoi, NO ONE was allowed to introduce a new work. Read chapter 47 of Maya Plisetskaya's autobiography.....I, Maya Plisetskaya.....(where, I believe, she is telling the truth) about life at the Bolshoi. He ruined the careers of many people. Yuri Grigorovich was a despot, a little Stalin, amongst many little Stalins in the former USSR. In a totalitarian system, once a despotic type realizes he has power over others, he can become a little Stalin. I hope I don't make anyone angry, but this is a part of history, from someone who made history....Richard.