Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake [BluRay Untouched, 1080i] (2007)

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake [BluRay Untouched, 1080i] (2007)

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Just gorgeous

I'm no ballet aficionado by any means (I much prefer opera and orchestral music), but I decided to get this BD because I just love the music itself. (As ballet music, Swan Lake is, after all, one of the greatest ever written and can certainly stand alone on purely aural terms.) I also thought it would be good to have a ballet in hi-def. The dancing looks great to my untrained eyes and the PQ (1080i) is just fabulous. Detail is tremendous. Gergiev does a great job with the score as well. It's a live performance from the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg in June 2006. This disc is part of Decca's first foray into Blu, and the results are consistent with what I saw in the 'Aida' companion release, though without the ever-so-slight aliasing that sometimes plagued that disc. I did some spot-checks for bit rates and saw numbers in the high 30s/low 40s. Impressive. As I'm only set up for 2-channel stereo sound (albeit through a high(ish)-end system), I can't comment on the multi-channel aspects of this disc (where DTS MA was used), but the PCM 2.0 mix sounded just fine. Russel_L@ blu-ray.com

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake [BluRay Untouched, 1080i] (2007)

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Swan Lake

There have been a number of very fine performances on CD and DVD of of this marvellous timeless work - arguably the greatest masterpiece in the history of classical ballet - but a really good Blu ray disc is surely the visual holy grail! In my view this is by far the best overall presentation of Swan Lake to date. The playing and sound are magical under Gergiev's assured hand and the dancing is superb. It largely uses the traditional Petipa / Ivanov choreography. None of the sexual mannerisms that made Nureyev's dancing and choreography so distinctive, and the casting, costumes and sets are wonderfully conceived. No video performances include all the music Tchaikovsky wrote but this performance at 129 minutes seems quite complete.

I still have trouble with the lighting on a number of blu ray discs. Proving one can film true blacks is all very well but we are not in the opera house with opera glasses and perhaps LCD and plasma monitors still have some way to go to show blacks and let us see the shadows as well!This production is vastly better than the gloomy Eugene Onegin but it is still a bit dark in places.

The bonus feature is well done but spoilt by lack of subtitles and adequate credits. English may be the most universal of languages but differing accents and word usage not to forget the hard of hearing make it more and more desirable to add English subtitles at all times. It is now so easy to do and not very expensive.

Despite my reservations, this is a wonderful musical experience. I will surely watch it many many times. Penguin@ blu-ray.com

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake [BluRay Untouched, 1080i] (2007)

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Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Swan Lake [BluRay Untouched, 1080i] (2007)

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