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Customer Reviews of Raymonda

Buy the Excerpt Tapes Instead
I originally became interested in this ballet because of the lovely highlights of Irina Kolpakova dancing the role of Raymonda on a couple of excerpt tapes. My curiosity eventually got the best of me, and I wanted to see the entire ballet. At this time, there's only one complete performance of "Raymonda" that's commercially available--this one. It stars Ludmilla Semenyaka as Raymonda, Irek Mukhammedov as Jean de Brienne and Gedeminas Taranda as Abderakhman.

There's some beautiful dancing here from top to bottom. All of the leads are worthy and have some fine moments. I was also impressed by many of the soloists. On the occasions when there are more than one person dancing the same steps, I often found myself admiring their precision and how well in sync everyone was. On occasion, I would even go so far as to say that some of the dancing approached virtuosity.

Yet, although I very much respect the performance that Semenyaka turned in, for me, the Raymonda that moves me the most is still Irina Kolpakova. If you haven't seen her in this role, then I'd recommend that you buy "The Glory of the Kirov" and "Russian Ballet: The Glorious Tradition, Vol. 3" before you purchase this tape. Quite frankly, the entire ballet gets a little boring at times, and having a really exquisite excerpt tape is worth much more than having the whole performance.

The choreography is by Yuri Grigorovich after Marius Petipa. For me, Grigorovich is a mixed bag. He gave me a couple of tapes that I really value having in my video library, such as the Bolshoi "Giselle" with Natalia Bessmertnova and the Bolshoi "Spartacus" with Vladimir Vasiliev. Yet, he gave me a disappointment in the Bolshoi "Swan Lake" with Bessmertnova, as dancing all of the third act divertissements on pointe really detracted from those numbers, among other things. Fortunately, there are no eccentricities to be found on this tape, and all of the choreography is pretty decent.

Grigorovich is no longer the head of the Bolshoi these days, and I had the opportunity to view his company, the Moscow Grigorovich Ballet, perform their abridged "Raymonda" locally on their tour of the US. The best music from the third act was moved to the first act, and the weakest music from the first act was cut entirely. What little remained of the third act was appended to the end of the second act. After having viewed both versions, I think I actually prefer the abridged version better, because I didn't get bored!

There are a couple of reasons why this is not a first-rate ballet. First, it doesn't have all that great of a libretto. Second, certain parts of the musical score seem uninspired, yet I think it's also fair to say that the best parts of it rival what any other ballet composer wrote. (Fortunately, those best parts can be found on the excerpt tapes that I recommended previously.) Third, the lighting during the dream sequence was too dark, and it reminded me of the Kirov performance of "Sleeping Beauty" with Asylmuratova and Zaklinsky that was also recorded on the Bolshoi stage which had similar problems. When I write a review of a ballet, I try to reserve 5 stars for only the best performances of the best ballets. I mean, does anyone really think that a well-danced performance of "Raymonda" should receive the same rating as a well-danced tape of "Swan Lake"? Well, I don't anyway.

For those of you who enjoy my writing, I invite you to visit my member page. You'll find other reviews of ballet tapes, plus my shared purchases with short comments about many, many more ballet tapes, as well as my ballet favorites listmania list. Thanks for taking time to read my review, and remember, that's "The Glory of the Kirov" and "Russian Ballet: The Glorious Tradition, Vol. 3" for the excerpts of Kolpakova as Raymonda!

One of the most wonderful ballet I've ever seen
When I first bought the score of Raymonda a few years ago, I thought that it was a miracle! I found Glazunov's music really fantastic. I couldn't think that after the trilogy of Tchaikovsky I could have had the chance to hear such beautiful ballet music. Finally I was able to see also the video. First of all, I must say that the scenario is really beautiful and luxurious, and all the costumes too. I mostly loved 2nd scene of act 1, the magic garden where Raymonda meets her beloved De Brienne: the scene opens with the Dame Blanche and the Maidens, all in a blue tutu. All the lights are of a deep blue that adds more mystery to this scene. All performers are extraordinary! Ludmila Semenyaka gives to the character of Raymonda a real hungaric appeal (in the sense of nobless) and all the variations are danced in a wonderful way (she's one of the most speedest ballerinas I have ever seen!). Irek Mukhamedov is simply perfect, although I prefer him in different roles, such as Solor in La Bayadère (the Royal Ballet version) and The Nutcracker. Gedeminas Taranda is a marvellous Abderakhman, a real tiger in all the tremendous variations of the Grand pas Espagnol of act II. Just look his eyes!!!!! The pearl of this ballet remains the "Grand pas Hongrois Classique" in act III: this Grand Pas is danced by the two stars with 8 couples of soloists and both the adagio and all the variations are one of Petipa's jewels. The russian ballet of XIX century could not have a better conclusion! I suggest this video to all real ballet lovers.