Jewels

Jewels ballet. Choreography by George Balanchine. Music by Gabriel Fauré, Igor Stravinsky, and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Performed 2005 by Paris Opera Ballet. Stars solo dancers Eleonora Abbagnato, Jean-Guillaume Bart, Kader Belarbi, Alessio Carbone, Isabelle Ciaravola, Emilie Cozette, Nolwenn Daniel, Aurélie Dupont, Mathieu Ganio, Marie-Angès Gillot, Angès Lestestu, Clairemarie Osta, Laëtitia Pujol, and Emmanuel Thibault. Paul Connelly directs the Orchestra of the Opéra national de Paris. Set and costume design by Christian Lacroix; lighting by Jennifer Tipton; directed for TV by Pierre Cavassilas.  Released  2008, has 5.0 PCM sound. Grade: D

This is an abstract ballet in which the performers are dressed first in green for the "Emeralds" number, then in red for "Rubies," and last in white for "Diamonds." Per Balanchine himself, the dances have "no literary content at all."  So all you can do is watch the dancers, which means that the way they dance and the look in the recording is all-important. This production seems to have been staged and danced impeccably. The lighting is high throughout, and the video picture is as brilliant as a diamond. Alas, this disc is so plagued with blur and other motion artifacts as to be unwatchable. (According to chat on the AVScience forum, the problem is rooted in the original recording and can't be fixed in post production.)

This mini-review was originally published in 2009. In 2011, we got another Jewels, this time from the Mariinsky Ballet. The Mariinsky show was shot in 2006, which was some time ago when the industry first was learning how to shoot material for high-definition TV. The Mariinsky recording has some motion issues, but they are much less severe than is the  case with the POB version. We now believe that this POB version of Jewels is obsolete compared to the Mariinsky show. Ballet professionals might find the POB worthwhile for professional reasons. All others would probably be wise to pick the Mariinsky.

If you have a different opinion about this title, please help us by writing an alternate mini-review to be published here.