Nabaza.net-The MarketPlace - Romeo and Juliet (Royal Ballet)- Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn

	List Price: $29.99 Our Price: $26.99 Your Save: $ 3.00 ( 10% ) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Manufacturer: Kultur Video Starring: Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, David Blair, Desmond Doyle, Julia Farron Directed By: Paul Czinner
Average Customer Rating:
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Binding: DVD EAN: 9780769711836 Format: Classical ISBN: 0769711839 Label: Kultur Video Manufacturer: Kultur Video Number Of Items: 1 Picture Format: Academy Ratio Publisher: Kultur Video Region Code: 1 Release Date: 1999-11-30 Running Time: 124 Studio: Kultur Video Theatrical Release Date: 1966-10-05
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Editorial Reviews: It's not a stretch to call Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn the most sublime of all dance partners and Sergei Prokofiev the most gifted 20th-century ballet composer. And so it goes without saying that the 1966 film version of the Royal Ballet production of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet featuring Nureyev and Fonteyn as the star-crossed lovers is an absolute must-have for anyone who cares a whit about the art. Director Paul Czinner has made all the right moves, alternating between full shots of the performers with long shots that accentuate how Kenneth MacMillan's fastidious choreography is inexorably linked to the characters, their story, the elaborate sets, and the viewer. Nicholas Georgiadis's costumes are sumptuous without being overdone, the supporting dancers and ensemble are as exquisite as the leads, and John Lanchbery conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House with just the right mixture of joviality and tragedy that Prokofiev's classic score needs but doesn't always receive. --Kevin Filipski
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Silly reviews Comment: I have been looking over the multiple silly reviews of this DVD. The fact is that Dame Margot and Nureyev were among the greatest dancers of the past century, they have both sinced passed away, and this so very moving performance of one of Prokofiev's most masterful and human scores is what we are left with. I saw them do it more than once at the Met (Royal Ballet visits) while I was a student at Juilliard, and it was a life changing event. Dame Margot seems a 14 year old in gesture despite the 40+ year old face. If that is hard to see, please look deeper. So, forget that it is NOT the Chicago Symphony, it is NOT a modern videotaping. I don't focus on unimportant flaws while listening to Cortot play Schumann! Let us thank God for great Art... Customer Rating: Summary: Matchless! Comment: Fonteyn and Nureyev were terrific actors and matchless dancers. I am sure that there were and are better technicians in some steps, but no two people created the charged atmosphere and told a story better or more beautifully than they did. One can actually feel the joy in the balcony scene, the poignant parting in the bedroom scene (Nureyev's expression is priceless), and the tragic heartbreak in the last scene. Prokoviev's music is unsurpassed, I do agree that this treasure needs to be digitally re-mastered for another edition. Otherwise, it doesn't get much better than this. Customer Rating: Summary: Beautiful and moving. Comment: As always, it is a feast for the eyes and senses to watch Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev in partnership showing their extremely high level of expertise. The detail of the scenery, costuming and dancing in this production are all eye catching and beautiful. Very noticeable are the wonderful steps and leaps of the male dancers, as they not only support the ballerinas but perform with perfection themselves. Also of note are the expressive body language and facial expressions. This DVD is treasured! Customer Rating: Summary: Buy a copy! Don't worry about the age difference. Comment: Dame Margot bounces onto the stage like a ten year old in her first scene. Since her agility, energy and acting permit her to perform the entrance with that elan, you believe in her Juliet right away. Sometimes Fonteyn flutters like a leaf, sometimes she floats, sometimes she rushes toward her love. It's been said that she's older here and past her prime. I can't see any flaw in her performance. She pirouettes, she jumps, she's always in the right place for lifts, and she stays on point endlessly and effortlessly. In one place just the movement of her hand and arm is a dance. Nureyev is wonderful to watch. I'm not a balletomane, but his jumps with flashing footwork are fabulous. I can't help wondering if he could have turned in the air. He dances with every bit of his body, not forgetting that his hands and feet are a part of his performance. In one place especially, he and Fonteyn use their hands so expressively that I don't even remember what else they were doing. I have never seen the change from Rosalind to Juliet so convincingly demonstrated. Like opera singers, ballet dancers sometimes do and sometimes don't act. Fonteyn and Nureyev act as if they had studied drama as well as ballet. Their chemistry is so convincing that you forget that there can have been no romance between them offstage. The romance between their characters sometimes yearns, sometimes blazes, and sometimes explodes in rapture. That's all the more convincing because in filming, while the camera does move in and out in ways that make sense, the distances are well chosen. (This is a studio recording.) Whoever filmed this avoided tight closeups, but moved in close enough for the moment to be touching. That bit of good judgment avoided the jarring notes that sometimes mar a filmed performance when the best woman for the role is not only older than the character, but also older than the man who is playing the romantic lead. I had seen that recently in a different situation, and was worried about it here, but the performance is delightful throughout, and I was never bounced out of the story by a badly chosen closeup. In the curtain calls you do see for yourself that Fonteyn is materially older than Nureyev, but at that point they are themselves, so it's appropriate. I thought I had enough versions of Romeo and Juliet, and I was a little nervous about buying this. I'm very glad I did! Nureyev and Fonteyn dancing Romeo and Juliet is a great performance of a great ballet. Don't JUST get it to see two of the most famous ballet dancers in history dance with their most effective partner: get it because you'll love to watch it. Get it because here, the movement really does tell the story without words, which is what ballet is about. The brand name of fame is immaterial, but that's because it's this performance and others like it that created the fame to begin with. Customer Rating: Summary: Not a high quality transcription Comment: I found the transcription to be pretty low quality. There are pops in the audio and snow in the video. There is another version on Amazon which is almost double the cost ... maybe I should have chosen that one. Of course, the music and the dancing are marvelous, but what did I expect. I did appreciate written scene synopses and bios of Prokofiev and the dancers. More Reviews