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Mendelssohn: A Midsummer Night's Dream [Blu-ray] Posters
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Rating:  -
I was very disappointed in the quality of the disc. The first 10 minutes were unwatchable. It was like trying to watch a scrambled programme on T.V. However, after that the first and second acts were fine until the finale when the disc just stopped. I was able to start the finale again from the disc menu after which it played through to the end. From what I was able to watch I think it would have been very enjoyable but was, of course spoiled. I have not been able to watch the PAL side so cannot comment on it.
Rating:  -
Patricia Barker is one of the best dancers of our time and she is extraordinary in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Balachine's choreography is wonderful and the story itself is enchanting. The costumes and scenery are so incredibly beautiful. Any small ballet company wishes they could have a budget like that. Everything about this ballet is absolutely beautiful.
Rating:  -
As others have commented, the NTSC side of this DVD is non-playable. I tried it in two DVD players and they refused to play it. I then tried it in my PC, and only the PAL side of the DVD works. The NTSC side contains nothing but the color test bars you see when a TV station is off the air. I think Amazon has got a batch of bad DVDs here.
I'd really like to have this DVD for my daughter who loves ballet - and from viewing the PAL side of the DVD, the picture quality and sound appear superb. Giving it 1 star solely because the DVD was defective.
Rating: -
The choreography is wonderful (of course it's Balanchine!), the dancing is superb (the third act pas de deux is about the most beautiful ballet one is likely to see), the costumes are beautiful, the cast is excellent (Patricia Barker's legs and feet are astounding) well worth having in your library. One strange note to this happy tale... The first dvd I received (one side is European PalSecam, the other regular since it was recorded in England) did not play at all so I sent it back and got another one which was mislabeled (the European side was in reality the American version) so I thought I had another dud, but the opposite side plays just fine.
Rating: -
Balanchine's Midsummer's Night Dream (using Mendelssohn's famous incidental music, plus some other Mendelssohn pieces) has always been one of his most popular ballets -- it seems to meld magic, comedy, and romance better than most productions of Shaksepeare's play! In 1967 he even made a filmof his ballet, with an all-star cast of Suzanne Farrell, Edward Villella, Patricia McBride, Allegra Kent, and Arthur Mitchell. Sadly the rights to this film and tied up and there doesnt look to be any commercial release in the near future. Meanwhile, fans of this ballet can console themselves with Pacific Northwest Ballet's video.
The PNB seems to understand the Balanchine "style" remarkably well -- the sharp quick attacks, the lightning fast penchee arabesques, the mixture of pure athleticism and classical balletic grace. Care was obviously put into this production. The costumes are beautiful, the sets lavish. The cast is uniformly fine, but Patricia Barker deserves honorable mention as Titania. Tall and graceful, she's really enchanting as the Queen of the Fairies. The famous pas de deux with Titania and Bottom is both funny and extremely tender. Louise Nadeau is also enchanting as the second act soloist. She has the most exquisite leg placement, and is a wonderful adagio dancer -- she knows how to infuse each step with meaning. I'm in love with Ms. Nadeau. The adorable children who play the elves are also remarkably together and disciplined.
This ballet makes a lot of use of mime and too often in ballet productions the dancers seem to think of mime as simply waving the hands around and pointing in one direction. But the four lovers, Puck, and Oberon all remind us of how funny and expressive well-done mime can be in a ballet. At its best, mime does not simply explain the story, it enhances it. Puck (Seth Belliston's) confusion at identifying the four lovers is priceless.
The second act of Balanchine's MND is a dance extravaganza (at the Athenian court) and I hate to say this but after the exhilarating first act I always find the second act a bit of a letdown. Nevertheless there is a very well-choreographed divertissment. The pas de deux between the two soloists has one of the most beautiful final poses I've ever seen in any ballet. Louise Nadeau is particularly beautiful and lyrical as the soloist in this divertissment.
The ABT has recently come out with a dvd of Frederick Ashton's "The Dream", a one-act ballet. It stars Alessandra Ferri, Ethan Stiefel, and Herman Cornejo. The different ways Ashton and Balanchine use Mendelssohn's score and choreograph Shakespeare's play provides an interesting contrast. For instance, Balanchine uses the Adagio music from the Mendelssohn score as a pas de deux between Bottom and Titania, while Ashton uses the same music for the reconciliation duet between Titania and Oberon.
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