Swan Lake

Swan Lake ballet. Music by Tchaikovsky. Book by V. P. Begitchev and Vasily Geltzer. "Tragic" choreography by Rudolf Nureyev in grand tradition of Lev Ivanov and Marius Petipa. Directed 2005 by Brigitte Lefèvre and Patricia Ruanne at the Paris Opera Ballet (Opéra Bastille).   Stars Agnès Letestu, José Martinez, Karl Paquette, Muriel Hallé, Michel Pasternak, Marie-Isabelle Peracchi, Nolwenn Daniel, Mélanie Hurel, Emmanuel Thibault, Dorothée Gilbert, Myriam Ould-Braham, Fanny Fiat, Mathilde Froustey, Emilie Cozette, Stéphanie Romberg, Aurélia Bellet, Laurence Laffon, Alessio Carbone, Nathalie Riqué, Julien Meyzindi, Christophe Duquenne, and Jérémie Bélingard. Vello Pähn directs the Paris Opera Ballet Orchestra. Set design by Ezio Frigerio; costumes by Franca Squarciapino; lighting by Vinicio Cheli; directed for TV by François Roussillon. Released 2008, this Blu-ray disc has 5.0 PCM sound. Grade: A+ 

This title came out first in HD DVD.  Opus Arte improved the Blu-ray product over what they had achieved with the HD DVD. For example, there was considerable motion blur in the HD DVD version, but this was mostly cleaned up in the Blu-ray disc. The tragic Nureyev version takes maximum advantage of the psychological depth of the music, and its execution by the POB is on a level by itself. There may be some other version of Swan Lake that you will wind up liking better; but to find that out, you have to have this one on your shelf. For more information, try our full review of Swan Lake, which discusses both the HD DVD and the Blu-ray versions in detail.