BOLSHOI BALLET

 

The Best of The Bolshoi Ballet

 

Dance of the Tartars from The Fountain of Bakhchsarai

Music by B. Asafiev

Choreography by R. Zakharov

Conductor: G. Rozhdestvensky

Cast: M. Borisov, A. Kramarevsky, S. Yagudin

and Members of the Bolshoi Theatre Ballet

 

Spanish Dance from Swan Lake

Music by P. Tchaikovsky

Choreography by A. Gorsky

Conductor: G. Rozhdestvensky

Cast: S Zvyagina, A. Nersesova, Y. Sekh, G. Sitnikov

 

Spring Water

Music by S. Rachmaninoff

Choreography by Asaf Messerer

Conductor: Yuri Faier

Cast: L. Bogomolova, S. Vlasova

 

Polonaise and Cracovienne from Ivan Susanin

Music by M. Glinka

Choreography by R. Zakharov,

Conductor: Yuri Faier

Cast: Y. Sangovich, S. Zvyagina, M. Kolpakchi, V. Petrova,

A. Radunsky, V. Levashev, K. Rikhter

and 24 Artists of the Bolshoi Theatre Ballet

 

Walpurgisnacht from Faust

Music by C. Gounod

Choreography by L. Lavrovsky

Conductor: Yuri Faier

Cast: R. Struchkova, A. Lapauri, G. Farmanyants, A. Trushkin,

T. Vetrova, M. Gotlieb, Z. Korotaeva

and artists of the Bolshoi Theatre Ballet

 

The Dying Swan

Music by C. Saint-Saëns

Choreography by M. Fokine

Conductor: Yuri Faier

Cast: Galina Ulanova

 

Giselle (slightly abridged)

Music by A. Adam

Conductor: Yuri Faier

Cast:

Giselle: Galina Ulanova

Count Albrecht: Nikolai Fadeyechev

Bertha, Giselle's Mother: Taisia Monakhova

Duke: Alexander Radunsky

Albert's Esquire: Erik Volodin

Bathilde, Albert's Fiancée: Irina Makedonskaya

Forester: Vladimir Levashev

Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis: Rimma Karelskaya

Two Wilis: N. Fetisova, N. Chistova

Giselle's Friends: V. Mitrayaeva, Z. Korotaeva, N. Taborko, M. Smirnova,

L. Ivanova, L. Litavkina

Pas de deux: L. Bogomolova, G. Yevdokimow

and artists of the Bolshoi Theatre Ballet

 

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Convent Garden / Gennadi Rozhdestvensky, Yuri Faier

 

Paul Czinner’s acclaimed 1956 filming of the Bolshoi Ballet’s first-ever tour of Great Britain, which preserves two complete programs: a Bolshoi Highlights Program featuring Raissa Struchkova in the Walpurgisnacht from Gounod’s Faust, and Galina Ulanova in The Dying Swan and a thrilling performance of Giselle with Ulanova and Nikolai Fadeyechev. Also included in the Highlights Program is the celebrated Spring Water ballet, set to music by Rachmaninoff and danced with dazzling virtuosity by the outstanding members of the Bolshoi troupe. The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra are under the direction of Gennadi Rozhdestvensky and Yuri Faier.

 

“Everything the Russian critics have written about her is true. The impeccable technique, the expressive body, the intellect, the informed face; yet Ulanova has something criticism could never define, something you might look for in Shakespeare’s sonnets.” Clive Barnes, Dance Magazine.

 

“The greatest performance by an interpretive artist within my experience.” Clive Barnes, Dance Magazine (1998) [on Ulanova’s Giselle as seen documented here]

 

First time on DVD

 

In 5.1 DTS Surround Sound

 

DG DVD 0734425