Return of the Firebird: Petrushka/Firebird/Scheherazade
by Andrey Chistiakov
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Andris Liepa, Bolshoi Ballet, Nina AnaniashviliDirector: Andrey Chistiakov
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Classical, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, PAL
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 120 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-02-11
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Decca
Movie Reviews of Return of the Firebird: Petrushka/Firebird/Scheherazade
Movie Review: An excellent format for getting your RDA for "culture."
Summary: 5 Stars
The disk is entitled, "Return of the Firebird." What is presented is three complete ballets: The Firebird, Petrushka, and Schehrazade. (There is no piece of music here entitled "Return of the Firebird.") The picture quality is sharp and crystal clear. The color balance is excellent. The cinematography includes close-ups, distant shots, and varying angles. The costumes are lavish, appropriate, and of extensive variety. The scenes for all three ballets take place on a stage, but the snowy scenes feature "real" artificial snowflakes falling upon the dancers. The Shrovetide scene include props that are appropriate to a town square market, e.g., samovars and live horses. The interlude with the Moor, ballerina, and puppet takes place on a tropical seashore where the set includes palm trees and a real (not scary) snake. The puppet's gestures are distantly reminiscent of Peewee Herman's body language. Petrushka is the standout piece of the three productions. Firebird does not follow the same storyline that I have read in three different translations, see, e.g., Jeremiah Curtin's Myths and Folk-Tales of the Russians, Western Slavs, and Magyars, published by Dover; or Favorite Russian Fairy Tales, by Arthur Ransome, also published by Dover. But do not worry, the DVD comes with a beautiful, full color booklet (in English) containing a 3-paragraph synopsis of each storyline. Much of Firebird takes place in a dark cave, containing demons and spiderwebs. Hence, the production of Firebird is less attractive than the largely out-of-door scenes found in Petrushka. The production of the disk being reviewed is in welcome contrast to The Royal Danish Ballet version of Firebird (on Kulture), which is blurry and contains a stable camera. Note also that The Kirov Ballet's production of The Sleeping Beauty on the Kulture label is also unspeakably blurry, contains off-colors, and a bothersome stable camera angle. Again, the disk under review gets five stars because of the crystal-clear visual quality, the varying camera angles, and splendid costumes. Note also, of course, that Firebird and Petrushka are two of most monumental pieces of music to be created by mankind. (Also note that the music of the three ballets are abundantly accessible to children, while in contrast, to give some examples, the saxophone compositions of John Coltrane, piano of Cecil Taylor, and string quartets by Bartok, would not be attractive to little kids.)
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