5/5 Beautiful, classic performance
  by C. A. Doyle (Southwestern USA)
This is a classic performance of a classic ballet, complete with all the artistry one would expect from the Kirov Ballet of St. Petersburg. Yulia Makhalina is utterly breathtaking, and Igor Zelensky is a strong and talented partner.

5/5 A common man's point of view.
  by Richard Rawls (Dublin Ga USA)
This is one of my favorite Swan Lakes. Yulia Makhalina is one of the most beautiful ballerinas I have ever seen. She is also as technically accomplished as any ballerina I've seen. Now, I do not know anything at all about the techniques of ballet, but I do know beauty when I see it. Partnered with Yulia is Igor Zelensky, a very strong and magnetic male dancer. In the first act, one of the female friends dancing with the Prince is Larissa Lezhnina who stars as Aurora in the Kirov version of Sleeping beauty with Yulia Makhalina as The Lilac Fairy. Tchaikovsky - The Sleeping Beauty / Kirov Ballet Larissa also stars in a Kirov version of The Nutcracker. Tchaikovsky - The Nutcracker

This ballet is performed from the stage of the Kirov Theater in St. Petersburg, (once Leningrad). The opulence in that building is spectacular, and you can see part of it on the video "Bringing Balanchine Back" by the NYCB.......New York City Ballet: Bringing Balanchine Back....... The theater had no audience and there was no sign of a live orchestra, although it had very good stereo sound. I doubt if it was a live orchestra because there was no sound of ballet shoes on the stage. Costuming and sets were spectacular. As usual for a Russian performance of Swan Lake it has the so called happy ending, but the Russians should wake up to the fact that the sad ending is better, which is how Petipa and Tchaikovsky designed it to end. The emotion is there in the music for the sacrificial ending, and after all that is a happy ending, for how could there be a more romantic ending than a love living forever in paradise?

Typical of Russian ballets, there is very little if any mime used in this production. I like to see mime used in ballet. I believe it was the Russians who invented it, yet now they use it the least. It is a beautiful art form in itself. The arm and hand motions go very well with all the movements of dance. See the American Ballet Theatre for excellent examples of mime in Swan Lake. Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake / American Ballet Theatre, Murphy, Corella It was the ABT who showed in mime that the lake the swans inhabit was formed by their tears.

This ballet has a running time of 115 minutes which is about right for most Swan Lakes. Some of them run as much as 135 minutes, however. The video format is 4:3 ratio. If you are looking for a good version of Swan Lake, I believe you will like this one.


5/5 This pushed ALL my buttons.
  by Ian Mackay (Albany, WA Australia)
I was knocked out of the ring by this production! I've seen many versions, but this one comes first by a long way. Yulia Makhalina and Igor Zelensky were amazing in their precision, energy, grace &c., &c., &c. Yuri Fateyev, however, as the jester was the special ingredient that made this an absolute masterpiece for me, instead of just a glorious success - he makes it worthy of 6 stars instead of 5. Eldar Aliyev as Rothbart was far and away the best I've seen. Most of all though, the Kirov Theatre Orchestra's performance was what won my heart and stirred my blood (7 stars instead of 6!!). Under Victor Fedotov the music had all the pathos the score demands, and more, but it also had extraordinary crispness and punch when the action needed it (tympani and trombones, especially, at their wondrous best in the climax to the second act). WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T MISS THIS. Although Zelensky might not at first seem handsome enough to be a credible Prince Siegfried, he grows on you, if you give him a chance. At least that's what happened to me.

4/5 Yulia Makhalina and Igor Zelensky at their best in this Swan Lake
  by R. Nicholson
A glorious 'Swan Lake'.

This is a movie version of Tchaikovsky's 'Swan Lake' filmed in 1990. The performance is done by the Kirov Ballet and stars Yulia Makhalina and Igor Zelensky.

There are many positives regarding this DVD and only one minor negative...let me explain.

The good:

1.)This is one of the most beautiful renditions of this ballet I've ever been privileged to witness. Makhalina is a vision of loveliness and her skills, designating her as a prima ballerina are not hard to spot. Her spins and balance are flawless and her sense of timing with her partners is perfection itself.

2.)Prince Siegfried is danced by Igor Zelensky (a dancer unknown to me prior to this performance). I felt his emotional response to his role was a little flat, BUT his spins and leaps (especially in his solo in Act II) were breath taking. The height and hang-time of his leaps were reminiscent of Baryshnikov in his prime; his leaping spins were exquisitely performed and fully completed.

3.)The costumes and sets; simply sumptuous...enough said.

4.)Camera work and position of shooting angles was, with a couple of exceptions, well done and resulted in visual pleasing presentation on this DVD.

The Negative: (singular)

Whether you like a recorded performance with or without a live audience is, of course, a personal preference. However, I felt this work sorely missed the spontaneous response that is only obtained with a live audience. Within this DVD you'll be witness to some of the most incredible skills in the form of a pas de deux or solo dance(s); but then, the music would end, the dancer(s) would hold their finishing poses and...nothing...just dead, disquieting silence. The camera then faded to black and the next scene started.

It's hard to express in the written word how much the applause and the shouted 'bravos' add to a performance such as this. To me, the lack of audience response slightly diminished the overall effect of this otherwise magnificent ballet; I really felt that the performance was incomplete...something was missing. One can only wonder how it could not have affected the dancers themselves; hard to believe they'd not have 'given' more before a live audience.

Conclusion:
One of the finest productions of 'Swan Lake' I've seen, featuring two of the world's best dancers in their prime. It's unfortunate it wasn't recorded in front of a live audience; one can only speculate about an even better performance than in this movie version.
5 Stars for the music, dancers, sets and costumes. 2 1/2 stars for the movie format.

5/5 Absolutely the best I know
  by J. A. Urquidi (Bolivia)
I have it and the Bolshoi and Royal Ballet at Covent Garden in VHS, have loved Swan Lake since 1948. This is the best performance I have ever seen. Makhalina is amazing, astounding, inspiring, awesome as both Odette and Odile. I haven't seen anyone handle the arms so perfectly, apart from the poetry of the rest of her body. Zelensky matches an astounding physical performance to a great ballet interpretation of the music and the drama. The Corps de Ballet discipline and artistry are impressive; the Pas de Quatre in the second scene of the first act is my total favorite. Love the whole thing.