some DVD recommendations

Another great feature is that the DVDs are multi tracked so you can access any part of the ballet instantly. That means the end of rewind and fast forward.The better ones have a separate track for each dance (up to 50 tracks!) so you can flip through to the particular dance you want to see. The Australian ballet DVDs have only one track for each scene. However most DVD have 8 -16 fast forward search functions.

Another interesting function is the zoom. You can zoom any part of the screen up to 4 times. You can use the arrows function on your controller to move the zoom center in 4 directions. This is particularly good for the Paris Opera Ballet where there is too much out-panning

The sound from DVD is very good but not CD quality. You can plug the audio output into an amplifier to get passable sound. Although many CDs have the facility for five- channel sound etc no ballet video takes advantage of it.

DVD players can be hooked up via the SCART socket (which means plug and play) or via phono input just like in a VCR. But the latter requires tuning of the TV to receive the signal from the DVD. They can also be hooked up via S-video link if you have this facility on your TV.

All modern TVs can accept a DVD signal. Older TVs may struggle with NTSC signals from DVDs bought in the US but otherwise its should not be a problem..

Multi Region
DVD players have been designed to only play DVDs purchased in the same region. This means that DVDs from the US (region 1) theoretically cannot be played in a European purchased player (region 2). But more and more DVD players have been tweaked to overcome this restriction. If you buy What DVD magazine from any newsagent you can see many multi-regional players for sale for a little bit extra. But they are rare in the high street apart from one exception below. If you do choose to buy a multi-region you should ensure that it can give a PAL signal at 60 Hertz (NOT 50 Hertz) or a pure NTSC output. (for the latter make sure your TV can accept an NTSC input or it will be just a black and white picture)

However there are relatively few ballet videos only available in the US and there are many more available in Europe! But there are two very important ones ONLY available in the US. On the Kultur Label Nureyevs Don Q with the Australian Ballet has been released. I should point that it has been carefully restored and looks wonderful and is a MUST for any video collection Also on the same label is Nureyev and Fonteyns Romeo and Juliet! Check out their website:

www.kulturvideo.com

Recommended Player to buy Go for the Alba 103 DVD Player which can be bought from ARGOS. The picture quality and sound is excellent and it is a multi-region player (PAL 60 hertz). At 149.99 it is one of the cheapest around! What more could you ask for!

List of Ballet DVDs

*   recommended 
**  exceptional 
*** must buy!! 
+   not seen

We should all expect many many more to be released next year

{not sure at all about having this on the page! Ed}
One exceptional Opera video
Don Giovanni - Herbert Von Karajan and an all star cast including Kathleen Battle). A superb performance and good sound and at 15.00 it makes a mockery of the pricing of CDs. It will cost you nearly 50 to get the non-video version. So it is true - Less is More!!***