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Sleeping Beauty VideoRB, Viviana Durante and Zoltan Solymosi review by Eugene Merrett | |||||||
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There is nothing like a live ballet performance, but video is often the only way many people can see some performances. With that in mind we thought it would be useful to start reviewing videos and where better than with Sleeping Beauty. Our man with the clear views reports...
{The full cast is: Durante, Solymosi, Hussain, Benjamin, Pickford and the Royal Ballet. The video is on the Covent Garden Pioneer label} Because of Durante's much welcomed comeback I feel it is appropriate to review one of her performances. In 1994 Durante starred in two Covent Garden Videos; Mayerling and The Sleeping Beauty. This time I concentrate on her Sleeping Beauty. Darcey Bussell was intended to star in Beauty with her then partner, Zoltan Solymosi, but Darcey was injured and Durante was caste instead. I believe that her performance was much underrated. Durante is not a flamboyant dancer - she is small with an average jump so she won't bring the crowd to their feet but she has excellent technique, a wonderful silky move, leg extension and deft footwork. Moreover she is a very good actress - in fact I think she is the finest dramatic dancer since Collier and Seymour. In Sleeping Beauty she combines these strengths make one of the most delightful Princess Auroras I have ever seen. When she makes her entrance in Act 1 she immediately demonstrates Aurora's character by effortlessly coping with intricate and subtle foot-work before the Rose Adagio ( a brilliant piece of choreography by Ashton which is only done by the Royal Ballet). With that 15 seconds of dance we immediately know that she is a charming, vivacious young Princess looking to have some fun. The Rose Adagio is superb. She comes across as mischievous, coquettish and very charming. Her leg extensions are very high but appear so natural and easy. For a dancer with such high extensions it is simply amazing that she is able to have such a soft line. Just as Margot Fonteyn did in her great performances, she declines the hand of the third suitor. In the final agonizingly long promenade she hardly wobbles. In fact she makes it look so easy that some of the excitement is lost. She also does a charming variation in which she demonstrates Aurora's gentleness and purity. In the second act she dances an amazing variation. It is a wonderful display of understated virtuosity. However in an attempt to appear "as if she is not there" (her own words) she resorts to that trademark glum repose and a result some of the charm is dissipated. In the third act, Durante plays the deliriously happy, much in love, Princess to perfection: subtle things like her grand entrance at the start of the Act, or the way she takes the hand of the Prince at the start of the Pas de Deux, or the sharp turn of her head at the final chord of the Pas de Deux Adagio. They are gems which go further in displaying the charisma and personality of Aurora. A criticism I often hear of Durante is that she shows no development of maturity by the third Act. This is not entirely fair. If she has just woken up after 100 years asleep, why should she be any more mature? Moreover I think this is a criticism made by those who try to intellectualize Ballet. I do not think I have seen an Aurora with more charisma. There is no stuck-on smile or bland, one dimensional acting. Her facial expressions are subtle and wide ranging. She goes further than anyone else in encompassing the characteristics of Aurora as bestowed upon her by the Fairy Godmothers in Act 1. But, most more importantly, she is a real person, someone you could like and not some mythical Princess. There are other very strong performances - in particular Hatley and Bull in the Fairy Variation in the prologue (unsurpassable choreography by Petipa). Benazir Hussain excelled as the Lilac Fairy. She is authoritative but sweet and good. I would like to see the Lilac Fairy as a character role (as in Peter Wright's BRB production); this would improve the dramatic action. The weak role is Zoltan's performance as the Prince. Whilst very majestic and noble, he appears to be sulking particularly in Act 2. Moreover Leanne Benjamin is seriously miscast in the Blue bird Pas de Deux. Benjamin is a fine Macmillan dancer but her attack is a bit to aggressive for classical ballet, particularly in this role. Her variation is rather overpowering. Moreover she resorts to the stuck-on smile routine. This is rather sad as she can be a fine actress. Errol Pickford's jumps are amazing. I will miss him. The Royal Ballet's production has many fine points. The drama is well done with good, naturalistic acting. The scene where Aurora takes the spindle is a textbook demonstration in how to do a Pas D'Action. The Garland Waltz regrettably does not come off very well on Television. This is a shame because Macmillan's choreography looks wonderful on stage. I also miss the Ashton Pas de Deux for Aurora and Florimund at the end of Act 2. By taking it out, some of Tchaikovksy's finest music is omitted ( the long violin solo). Much has been said about the dreadful sets and costumes. Whatever shortcomings there are in Bjornson's designs (grossly exaggerated by the critics) it does not come off too badly in the video. Some of the costumes look positively sparking (especially the Jewel fairies in the Wedding scene). But this production really belongs to Durante. Her acting and understated virtuosity will delight anyone who sees ballet as Dance-drama and not a lame excuse for flashy gymnastics. There are two other videos of Sleeping Beauty available on Castle and WH Smith Video respectively. Both are by the Kirov recorded in 1984 and 1989. The 1984 production is marred by the dreadfully cheap sets and costumes and an aging Kolpakova who by then was way past her prime. The 1989 production with Lezhnina and Ruzimatov has gone a long way to update the sets and costumes. Unfortunately Larisa Lezhnina was a bit too young to cope with the subtleties of the role. She was bland although technically fine. Ruzimatov was superb though. It also had Julia Makhalina ( who seems to be the most reviled ballerina - unjustified in my view) astonishingly miscast as the Lilac Fairy. She looked much too young (could not have been more than 19) and voluptuous for the role. I think she should have played Aurora. The other drawback is the poor picture quality. There is a superb video of Act 3 of Beauty on the video entitled "An Evening at the Royal Ballet". This a film no less of 3 ballet excerpts mostly with Nureyev and Fonteyn made in 1961. In the complete Act 3 excerpt Margot Fonteyn, David Blair, Mason, Park and Sibley show the world how it's done. In particular, there is an incandescently glorious performance of the Bluebird Variaton by Antoinette Sibley. But that's for another review.
Dance Books stock a lot of videos and we would normally expect them to carry all the above named videos - try looking on their web site. Both Durante's video of Sleeping Beauty and "An Evening at the Royal Ballet" can also be found at the HMV shop in Oxford circus.
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