Search - Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Vassiliev, Maximova, Bolshoi Ballet on DVD

Old but great performance

11/22/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I bought this DVD for my parents who used to live in Moscow and frequently attended performances in the Bolshoi Theater. I was not sure what to expect from this DVD since the other Nutcracker DVD recordings were more recent (this one dates back to 1978), yet the Bolshoi is world famous. As it turns out, the performance itself is great. The sound quality is good and the picture quality is typical for color recordings from the seventies: the screen is permanently covered by a slight blue haze. Also, every five minutes or so the sound stalls for a split second. Moral of the story: if you're looking for something nice for the kids then you are better off buying George Balanchine's Nutcracker. If you are looking for a great classical performance by the Bolshoi Theatre and don't mind the slightly inferior picture quality and the periodically stalling sound then this DVD is for you."

A disgraceful release of a legendary performance

Marc Haegeman | Gent, Belgium | 03/01/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"First of all, the low rating is entirely for this particular DVD issue, NOT for the performance. The legendary Maximova-Vasiliev/Bolshoi "Nutcracker" has seen various VHS and now DVD releases over the years. This is undoubtedly one of the worst I ever came across. The editing is simply a disgrace. In the first Act white spots start appearing all over the screen and on a couple of places entire seconds of footage are missing. The sound has never been much to write home about and nothing has been attempted to improve it for this DVD. (Don't believe it is dolby surround, as the cover pretends.) The presentation is zero.The same performance has also been released by Kultur Video on VHS and DVD, and has to be preferred to this one."

Terribly filmed

Nicolas S. Martin | Indianapolis, IN United States | 08/29/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I agree that this is a dismal DVD. The original filming is much of the problem, with the performance either not properly staged for film or the director having no idea how to capture ballet. Much of the time the feet of the performers are lopped off, and the overall effect is claustrophobic. Whatever was done to (supposedly) make this 5.1 Dolby wasn't beneficial. Oddly, quite frequently there is a silent momentary hiccup in the disc."

Good...if you are a ballet history buff.

M. Jaramillo | Colorado Springs, CO | 08/25/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This performance is so badly filmed that it's hard to enjoy the dancing. The level of sophistication is actually close to what one would expect from a couple of cameras at a High School performance. My goal is to find a performance of the Nutcracker with a little more thought gone into its production."