Cheap Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Maximova, Vasiliev, Pavlova, Vyaceslav, Bolshoi Ballet (Video) (Tony Charmoli) Price

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Customer Reviews of Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker / Maximova, Vasiliev, Pavlova, Vyaceslav, Bolshoi Ballet

If your tastes are different, though, you can get that awful saccharide thing by Peter Martins with Darci Kistler; just remember your insulin.

There's also an ABT version with Russian-no-more, Baryshnikov, Mr. Codpiece himself, and the ever-enebriated Gelsey Kirkland.

I'd stick with The Russians. I concur with the previous reviewer that the dancing is equivocal in the two versions offered by Amazon; me, I like to hear the whole score.

So if you like The Nutcracker, and want to watch it over and over, you need this tape. There is enough detail to absorb in slight tilts of heads, curves of arches, roundings of elbows, to keep you busy for a long time.

As to the question of whether Nadia Pavlova is related to Anna Pavlova: doubtful...Pavlova is a fairly common name in Russia; about on par with, say, Richardson, in the US...

Streamlined with Mixed Cast, but Still Worthy
Question: You have the honor of being the first person to review this title. What do you think about it?

Answer: Being the first person to review something is one of my favorite things about having a ballet page on Amazon.com, because it gives you a way of letting people know about something special that hasn't gotten much notice. Overall, I really enjoy this tape and I think that it has some compelling things to offer. Yekaterina Maximova and Vladimir Vasiliev, who dance the first act, are as fine a partnership as can be found on videotape, and Nadia Pavlova and Vyacheslav Gordeev have some beautiful moments together in the second act.

Question: Is Nadia Pavlova any relation to the famous Anna Pavlova?

Answer: I don't think that she is, but hopefully a later reviewer will confirm this for sure. Nadia was about 21 at the time this video was made, so she was at the beginning stages of her career. Nadia started with the Perm Ballet, and then she switched to the Bolshoi. Unfortunately, Pavlova is not widely recorded, so this is a great opportunity to see her. (I also really value the excerpt of Pavlova and Gordeev dancing the pas de deux to "La Bayadere" on "Russian Ballet: The Glorious Tradition," vol. 3. And, that's a hint you should put vol. 3 on your wish list.)

Question: Maximova and Vasiliev are also the leads in the 1984 Bolshoi production that's also for sale on Amazon.com. Is there much difference between the two of them?

Answer: Not very much, I don't think. This one was recorded a few years earlier. It's basically the same production, except this one was streamlined for television and the run time is only 87 minutes. But, it's nice having shorter ones in your collection, in addition to the full-length ones, because you can decide what to watch depending on what mood you're in and how busy your schedule is. Despite the change in leads and the cuts, there's not all that much difference.

Question: Why did they change leads?

Answer: The lead change probably makes some people suspicious, but there's no reason to be. It's explained by Robert Greskovic in the helpful videography section of his book, "Ballet 101." He writes, "The major difference between the two videos concerns the change of lead casts from Act 1 to Act 2, which was necessitated during the 'live' 1977 telecast because of an inury to Vasiliev. The then-blossoming partnership of the prodigious Pavlova (just watch her unfold and extend her leg a la seconde in the pas de deux) and the glorious Gordeyev makes a dazzling counterpoint to the fully matured one demonstrated by the radiant and magisterial Maximova and Vasiliev." (p. 558)

Question: Which leads do you like the best?

Answer: Maximova and Vasiliev, I think, as they're so polished. I really like their dancing in Snowflakes, with all the big jumps en manege: grand jetes, tour jetes, and coupe jetes en tournant. But, even at this early stage in Pavlova's career, there's a real special quality in her extensions that I admire, which Greskovic hinted at in his comments. Maybe there are a very few ballerinas that are slightly more flexible than Pavlova, but it's the way that she can do those developpes a la seconde that's so impressive. I enjoy both sets of leads.

Question: What don't you like about it?

Answer: That it's a Grigovovich production. I know he has a lot of hard-core fans who think that everything that he choreographs is the ultimate statement of dance. But, for me, Grigorovich is a mixed-bag. There are some things here that I like, and others that I don't especially care for. I'm also not very thrilled with other aspects of this production, such as the sets, lighting, and costumes. They're not bad, but they don't really grab me either. The dancing from the leads, however, is most excellent and definitely makes up for it.

Question: You know that criticizing Grigorovich will cost you in the voting, don't you? Bolshoi fans will not put up with that, regardless of the fact that you've given this four stars.

Answer: I know, but I just can't seem to avoid controversy.

Questions: How does this production rate in the overall scheme of things?

Answer: Pretty well, I think, and you can't really go all that wrong with either of them. I still maintain, however, that "George Balanchine's 'The Nutcracker'" with New York City Ballet is the most superior overall production of them all. Nevertheless, I'm happy to have this streamlined, mixed-cast version with Pavlova in my collection.