DVD Videos

Two rare twentieth-century Russian ballets, starring Ekaterina Maximova, Vladimir Vasiliev, Andris Liepa, Nina Timofeyeva, Aleksei Fadeyechev, and others. The score for Trapeze was written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1924; it was choregraphed for this 1970 film production by Natalia Ryzhenko. The film version of Fragments of a Biography features choreography by Vasiliev set to a score of tango music of Argentinian composers, and was produced in 1985. DVD Bonus: A Scene from the ballet Anyuta, danced by Maximova, with choreography by Vasiliev. Color, 77 minutes.

Ekaterina Maximova is one of the few ballerinas, who, in their artistic maturity, can capture the ebullience of a thirteen-year-old. Her Juliet is an astonishing accomplishment, magnificently danced and emotionally heartrending. Her Romeo is the superb Vladimir Vasiliev, one of the greatest male dancers produced by Russia, who looks the part and acts and dances it to perfection. The other soloists and the Bolshoi corps de ballet make this a performance to treasure.

Live, 1974. Color, 152 minutes, all regions.

The great Israeli-born violinist Itzhak Perlman has already left a huge number of sound recordings of his interpretations; but it adds an extra dimension to be able to watch him execute, for instance, the brilliant spiccato bowing in Saint-Saëns's Introduction and Rondo capriccioso.A master of the French style through his teacher Ivan Galamian, Perlman at 25 is seen in the first full flush of his talent.Ten years later, the mature soloist shows his total command of the modern Russian style of Prokofiev - at a BBC Symphony Orchestra golden jubilee concert - and the bitter-sweet romanticism of Elgar's massive, virtuosic concerto.

Directed by FRANÇOIS ROUSSILLON

Choreography and Stage Direction by RUDOLF NUREYEV

Set & Costume Design by EZIO FRIGERIO

Romeo and Juliet, composed by Sergei Prokofi ev in 1935, is one of the few long great ballets that are also known to a broader public. In contrast to Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and the Nutcracker, however, there are not many original choreographies for Romeo and Juliet which are acknowledged as masterworks of ballet history and are passed on with only a few tactful alterations.

Nureyev’s choreography for Romeo and Juliet was created for the London Festival Ballet in 1977, and in 1984, shortly after he had taken over as director of the ballet of the Paris Opera, he produced the large-scale and gloriously colourful fresco for the company of the Paris Opera. His version, which takes into account all parts of the score, follows Shakespeare’s original very closely, and it is said that he read and studied the text again and again. The numerous crowd scenes, folk dances and fencing scenes, which are danced with extraordinary vitality, are proof of Nureyev’s outstanding talent as a dancer and choreographer. In 1995, two years after Nureyev’s death, the production with its exciting and innovative choreography and the almost too over-ornate décor was resurrected once more for the ballet of the Paris Opera and adapted to the prevailing taste. With its magnifi cent renaissance décor by Ezio Frigerio and the luxurious costumes, the ballet is one of the most magnifi cent productions of the Paris Opera. The title roles, which were danced by Monique Londoérs and Patrick Dupond in 1984, were given to the dancers Elisabeth Maurin and Manuel Legris , who had begun their careers in the corps de ballet under Nureyev. With the help of Nureyev’s long-time assistant Patricia Ruanne they tried to recapture the energy, passion and staying power for this new production, which is the prerequisite for the breathtaking aura of Nureyev’s choreography.

Set Design by John Macfarlane & Costume Design by Nicky Gillibrand

When Sergei Prokofiev started work on a new opera, having just finished his opera Betrothal in a Monastery, he could not have envisaged that the theme, borrowed from Tolstoy’s novel War and Peace, would very soon become dreadful reality. It was just two months later that the German invasion of the Soviet Union began. By way of the conscious parallel to Napoleon’s historic invasion of Russia, Prokofiev’s opera became an attempt to strengthen the defence morale of his fellow countrymen in this “patriotic war”, as soviet historians of the Second World War call it. One of the reasons why this work is so difficult to put on is the huge number of performers – more than were ever used before. Even for the shortened version at the Paris opera, 43 singers and actors, making up a total of 62, were engaged for the original 72 parts. Even if one considers that some have only a few words to sing and that some of the parts are divided between the scenes in such a way that a singer can double up, the mere dimension of the work is a challenge in itself.

Choreography by Mauro Bigonzetti & Set and Costumes by Fabrizio Plessi.

An idea by Mauro Bigonzetti & Fabrizio Plessi.

Never has a story been narrated as often, and has crossed as many geographic, cultural and class boundaries, as Romeo and Juliet. In ancient Greece a myth, like the wind or a river, crossed lands and cultures, changing from story to story, but always carried its profound meaning. And so, in our day, the myth of Romeo and Juliet crosses the social categories of the western world, and is probably the most well-known story of our culture. The feelings which pervade the story and determine its main structure, rather than the characters and setting, strike our sensibility of Westerners.

Passion, Conflict, Destiny, Love, Death - These are the five elements of this myth. Aterballetto stands for choreographies brimming with passion. The Prokofi ev score is powerful and evocative; the emotions it conveys are universal. The choreographer Bigonzetti focuses on the main message of sensuality and conflict, love and death. His ballet drama of Romeo und Julia pays homage to young people and their desire for taking risks. The Italian video artist Fabrizio Plessi has created a modern stage design with video effects and motorbike costumes for this extravagant ballet version.

This production from 2009 is staged by young up-and-coming director Dmitri Tcherniakov, who worked at Bolshoi, Mariinsky, Opera de Bastille, La Scala, and various opera houses in Germany.

The opera is based on the famous novel “The Gambler” by Dostoyevsky

Set & Costume Design by Simon Virsaladzé

Choreography by Yuri Grigorovich

Arthaus presents one of the most fascinating choreographies to have emerged from Russia during the last decades: Yuri Grigorovich’s original ballet dramatizing Ivan the Terrible‘s reign as Czar of Russia. Choreographed to Sergei Prokofiev‘s score for Eisenstein‘s famous film on the same topic, this ballet in two acts was premiered in Moscow in 1975 at the Bolshoi Theatre. Greeted with enthusiasm in New York in the same year, it continued its success with Western audiences when Grigorovich was invited to stage Ivan the Terrible at the Paris Opéra in 1976, making it an essential part of the company’s repertoire.

This production features the amazing star of the Paris Ballet, Nicolas Le Riche, one of the foremost dancers of today, in the title role. Famous all over the world for his elegant strength, the beauty of his expression and the musicality of his movements, he has created leading roles for choreographers such as Rudolf Nureyev, Mats Ek and John Neumeier.

Using the music composed by Sergei Prokofiev for the celebrated two-part film epic by Sergei Eisenstein entitled “Ivan Grozny” as a starting point, Yuri Grigorovich choreographed a fresco on the life of the Russian people and lent it inspiration with the deadly love story of the tsar and his first wife, Anastasia, beneath the dark gaze of the traitor Kurbsky. In this work sensitive classical and powerful character dance blend together to create a lyrical epic, rich in the colours of medieval Russia.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo, DD 5.0, DTS 5.0

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Running Time: 114 mins

FSK: 6

For a significant number of people, she is simply the greatest pianist of our time. No matter what repertoire she plays, she sounds, as they say, “in her element”. Indeed, her playing is entirely lacking in vanity, yet never remotely anonymous. Nor can one even speak of “Argerich’s Beethoven” – or “Argerich’s anything else”, for that matter, since her playing of every work – of every theme or section within a work – is conceived so intensely from within that it doggedly resists categorization. Interestingly, though not perhaps surprisingly, the same variety of approach is evident in the way she plays the piano. To speak of “Argerich’s technique” is again to oversimplify. She has this technique and that technique and any number in between. What they all have in common is their naturalness, their visible “fitness for function”. Her interpretations are united by the effortlessness and pure joy of her music making and her individual approach to each work, each situation and each audience.

Sound Format: PCM Stereo,DD 5.1, DTS 5.1

Picture Format: 16:9

DVD Format: DVD 9, NTSC

Running Time: 87 mins

FSK: 0