Eugene Onegin

Tchaikovsky Eugene Onegin opera to libretto by the composer and K. S. Shilavsky based on the poem by Alexander Pushkin. Directed 2011 by Stephan Herheim at De Nederlandse Opera. Stars Olga Savova, Krassimira Stoyanova, Elena Maximova, Nina Romanova, Bo Skovhus, Andrej Dunaev, Mikhail Petrenko, Peter Arink, Roger Smeets, Guy de Mey, and Richard Prada. Mariss Jansons conducts The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: Help!

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Macbeth

Verdi Macbeth opera to libretto by Francesco Maria Piave and Andrea Maffei. Directed 2011 by Phyllida Lloyd at the Royal Opera House. Stars Simon Keenlyside, Raymond Aceto, Liudmyla Monastryrska, Nigel Cliffe, Steven Ebel, Elisabeth Meister, and Dmitri Pittas. Antonio Pappano conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and the Royal Opera Chorus. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: Help!

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Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland ballet. This is a major new work that had its world premiere at the Royal Opera House on February 28, 2011. Original music by Joby Talbot. Choreography by Christoper Wheeldon. Orchestrated by Christopher Austin and Joby Talbot. Stars Lauren Cuthbertson, Sergei Polunin, Edward Watson, Zenaida Yanowsky, Christopher Saunders, Steven McRae, Eric Underwood, Simon Russell Beale (yes, the famous actor in his first dancing role), Ricardo Cervera, James Wilkie, Kristen McNally, Ludovic Ondiviela, Kenta Kura, Leanne Cope, Samantha Raine, Philip Mosley, Jameys Hay, Dawid Trzensimiech, Valentino Zucchetti, and other dancers of the Royal Opera Ballet. Barry Wordsworth conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Concert Master Vasko Vassilev). Designs by Bob Crowley; scenario by Nicholas Wright, lighting design by Nathasha Katz; production design by John Driscoll and Gemma Carrington; assistant choreography by Jacquelin Barrett; directed for TV by Jonathan Haswell. Released in 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: A+

This brand-new ballet was created for the Royal Ballet and premiered in February 2011. It's an absolute feast from every point of view: staging, lighting, dancing, music, and originality. The choreography by Christopher Wheeldon to original music by Joby Talbot, incredibly intricate and precise, is performed to perfection by the entire cast, particularly Lauren Cuthbertson as Alice and Sergei Polumin as Jack, the Knave of Hearts.

Staging a major new ballet of this kind is of course a formidable challenge. This is extremely well explained and documented in the half-hour "Making Of" bonus included on this disc.

I would strongly recommend everyone to watch the bonus before viewing the actual production. It is one of the very best crafted and produced "look behind-the-scenes” documentaries you are ever likely to see. It gives a real insight into the creative process and everything that goes into the buildup before the first night. Having worked in the West End theatre for many years, I can vouch for the authenticity of the atmosphere created in this film. After seeing it, you feel you know all those involved and find yourself rooting for them to deliver the performance of their lives. Which they certainly do!

This Alice will be reviewed by "The OperaDou Jury" in February and we will get their verdict.  Video Crits,  live interviews with our ballet experts, will also be posted so you can see and hear how they feel about  Alice's adventures.  I expect this to get a rare triple A rating! That would translate into an “A+” grade on hdvdarts.com.

Peter and the Wolf

Peter and the Wolf  ballet. Choreography by Matthew Hart. Traditional music and narration by Sergei Prokofiev.   Performed 2010 at the Royal Ballet School. Stars Sergei Polunin, Will Kemp, Kilian Smith, Charlotte Edmonds, Laurine Muccioli, and Chisato Katsura. Paul Murphy conducts the Royal Ballet Sinfonia (Leader Robert Gibbs). Designs by Ian Spurling; directed for TV by Ross McGibbon. Released in 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: X-B

I remember when my mom played the Prokofiev Peter and the Wolf for me on 78 rpm records in our poverty-stricken mill town. It was a big deal then. Well, it ain't no big deal now to put a 28 minute show on a disc that can hold 4 hours of programming.

Also be advised that this is not a production of the Royal Ballet. It's a student recital---albeit a very nice one. Sergei Polunin and Will Kemp are two adults in the show. All the other roles are played by students in the ballet school. The kids are, of course, well on their way to dance careers. Chisato Katsura already shows star quality in her portrayal of the cat. The Royal Opera House was full of relatives and friends.

We are grateful to Opus Arte and the Royal Ballet for all the wonderful HDVDs they have brought us in recent years. And we understand that if the Ballet tells Opus Arte to publish this student work as a regular title, that's what's going to happen because Opus Arte belongs to the Royal Opera House. But I think that P&TW should have been tacked onto the new title Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as a bonus (Polunin also stars in the Wonderland).

I originally gave this the grade of "X-D." But we just had a our holiday party for Grace, Emma, and Sadie (first cousins, twice removed) ages 8, 6, and 3, all of whom have had ballet lessons. We started off with subject P&TW, and all three of the girls watched every second intently. I've never seen them so focused on anything else.  So I've moved the grade up to "X-B."  For young kids, this is an "A"  quality piece especially if they might have opportunity to learn dance.  That's because the little ones can easily grasp what could be in reach for them if they keep taking those lessons. But I move the grade down to "B" because of the big expense for such a short piece.

So thanks to Grace, Emma, and Sadie for helping me grade this P&TW. Let's hope that Opus Arte will add this in the future to some other title that might be of longer-lasting interest to children as they grow up.

Die Zauberflöte

Mozart Die Zauberflöte opera to a libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. Directed 2011 at la Scala by William Kentridge. Stars Günther Groissböck, Saimir Pirgu, Detlef Roth, Albina Shagimuratova, Genia Kühmeier, Ailish Tynan,  Alex Esposito, Peter Bronder, Aga Mikolaj, Heike Grötzinger, Maria Radner, Barbara Massaro, Elena Cacctamo, Eleonora de Prez, Roman Sadnik and Simon Lim. Roland Böer conducts the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala (Chorus Master Bruno Casoni). Sets by William Kentridge and Sabine Theunissen; costumes by Greta Goiris; lighting by Jennifer Tipton; video projections by Catherine Meyburgh. Executive producer was Manuela Scifoni; directed for TV and video by Patrizia Carmine; photography directed by Luciano Cricelli; sound by Guglielmina De Toffol. Released 2012, disc has 5.1 dts Master Audio sound. Grade: Help!

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The Rake's Progress

Igor Stravinsky The Rake's Progress opera to libretto by W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman. Directed 2010 by John Cox at Glyndebourne. Stars Miah Persson, Topi Lehtipuu, Clive Bayley, Matthew Rose, Susan Gorton, Elena Manistina,  Graham Clark, and Duncan Rock. Vladimir Jurowski conducts  the London Philharmonic Orchestra (with leader Pieter Schoeman) and the Glyndebourne Chorus (with chorus master Jeremy Bines). Designs by David Hockney; lighting by Robert Bryan; produced by Toni Hajal; TV direction by François Roussillon. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: Help!

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Adriano in Siria

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi Adriano in Siria opera. Directed 2010 by Ignacio García at the Teatro G. B. Pergolesi in Jesi, Italy.  Stars Marina Comparato, Lucia Cirillo, Annamaria dell’Oste, Nicole Heaston, Stefano Ferrari, Francesca Lombardi, Monica Bacelli, and Carlo Lepore. Ottavio Dantone conducts the Accademia Bizantina. Set design by Zulima Memba del Olmo; costume design by Patricia Toffolutti; lighting design by Ignacio Garcia and Fabrizio Gobbi; produced for Blu-ray by James Whitbourn; video direction by Tiziano Mancini. Released 2011, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: Help!

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