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Is there a DVD of Cranko's "Onegin" anywhere?

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David

David

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My understanding has always been that the ban on recordings of Onegin emanates from the Cranko Estate.  Who holds the rights to MacMillan's Song of the Earth I wonder? Is it the Cranko Estate or Stuttgart  Ballet? Are they the reason why there are no commercial recordings of Song of the Earth and why Darcey Bussell's farewell performance at the ROH was never released on DVD and has not subsequently been repeated on BBC?

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Sim

Sim

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18 hours ago, Fiz said:

Alina made me cry.

And me.  So did Johan.  I will never forget the abject desperation and desolation of that final pdd.   I saw them a few times and each time was as emotional as the time before, if not more so.  I am getting a lump in my throat just writing this.  The fact that they were both in tears at the end of their performances shows how much of themselves they gave to us.  We all cried with them and I will never forget, and will always so admire and appreciate these rare and wonderful artists.

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David

David

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On 11/26/2017 at 02:55, Naomi M said:

The November 3 and 5 performances were filmed, but I heard the performances were not so good except for Alicia Amatriain, Elisa Badnes and Marcia Haydee who are of course always brilliant. 

 

Oh dear I hope that's not so. It will be really ironic if, having vetoed recordings of so many superb performances  around the world on the grounds apparently that only the Stuttgart Ballet should be allowed to record it, the Stuttgart recording when it finally comes falls short of the bar.

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alison

alison

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48 minutes ago, David said:

and why Darcey Bussell's farewell performance at the ROH was never released on DVD and has not subsequently been repeated on BBC?

 

It was actually "repeated" once on BBC, when the whole triple bill was shown - but I don't think it's been shown again since.

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JohnS

JohnS

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And what happened to the Alina/Johan Cinderella, a BBC broadcast a number of year ago?  I don't recall a second broadcast and it has not been released commercially.

 

A wider question is the treasure trove of filmed performances held by the Royal Ballet in its archive, and I'm sure many other companies.  I believe it's primarily a source for dancers but it would be great to know more about the collection and whether there is any chance of footage being released.

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Angela

Angela

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1 hour ago, David said:

Oh dear I hope that's not so. It will be really ironic if, having vetoed recordings of so many superb performances  around the world on the grounds apparently that only the Stuttgart Ballet should be allowed to record it, the Stuttgart recording when it finally comes falls short of the bar.

 

Stuttgart Ballet has done Onegin more than 600 times, they should know how to dance it - the roles and portraits were passed on from the original cast, Marcia Haydée still comes here often to work with the dancers on her former roles. Everybody who learns Onegin has seen it at least 20, 30 times before, dancing in the corps or watching from the wings. They saw the great performances of their predecessors, saw different interpretations and learned from ballet masters who know everything about the steps and their motivation.

Vogel was superb, Badenes was superb, I'll keep my opinion about Amatriain to myself, but there are lots of people who admire her in the role. Alas, you're right, there were some (few) better performances at Stuttgart in the past - Sue Jin Kang and Jiri Jelinek for example, but compared to many other companies I saw, Stuttgart still has so many small details you don't see anywhere else. I never was a fan ob Kobborg's Onegin, by the way - Adam Cooper couldn't dance it technically, but he blew me away, I saw things like never before and never again. Wow, he was great.

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now voyager

now voyager

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10 minutes ago, Angela said:

 

 

Vogel was superb, Badenes was superb, I'll keep my opinion about Amatriain to myself, but there are lots of people who admire her in the role.  Stuttgart still has so many small details you don't see anywhere else. Adam Cooper couldn't dance it technically, but he blew me away, I saw things like never before and never again. Wow, he was great.

 I did not see the performances that were filmed, but I saw the same cast the previous weekend, and I agree with Angela's comments about them, as well as that Adam Cooper was a great Onegin.

I've been watching Onegin since 1971, and have seen many wonderful Tatianas, and a few great Onegins, in a number of companies.  Haydee remains for me the greatest, and though I think she perhaps took greater risks, at least in the mirror pas, with Richard Cragun (I have never seen that level of rapturous abandon elsewhere, although I thought Cojocaru came close in one pre-injury performance with Kobborg), for me Heinz Claus' characterization felt truer.  

Having said that, Maximova was a glorious Tatiana, and I loved Birgit Keil in the role (as I did in almost everything). I thought Rojo was a great Tatiana (and that dropping her on the following run was a heinous act), as was Ciaravola, and in more recent times Svetlana Lunkina.  I've been deeply moved by the Onegins of both Lantratov and Skvortsov at the Bolshoi, and by Evan McKie at NBoC (not having seen him in Stuttgart).

Besides Badenes, I'd single out Osipova and Tikhomirova in recent times as best achieving the wilfulness Olga should display, along with gorgeous dancing.

Egon Madsen left his mark on Lensky for me, but the dancing of both Heymann and Polunin in the role just blew me away.  I deeply regret never having seen Vogel's Lensky , as the video of his first act variation stuns me everytime I watch it.

 

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Fiz

Fiz

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Sim, the beauty and despair of that pas de deux and Alina’s stern anguish as she orders Onegin to go still haunt me. I saw as many of their performances in different ballets and they never failed to move me. They are my favourite ballet couple.

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alison

alison

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4 hours ago, now voyager said:

 Besides Badenes, I'd single out Osipova and Tikhomirova in recent times as best achieving the wilfulness Olga should display, along with gorgeous dancing.

 

 

When did Osipova dance Olga?  (At least, I'm assuming she wasn't displaying the wilfulness while dancing Tatiana)

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capybara

capybara

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Oh dear, we've started something now........

 

I was blown away by Cojocaru's Tatiana  when she was still in her early twenties. She way she managed to age for Act 3 was also truly astonishing.  With Kobborg, I always felt that he was  Onegin to the very core. The RB has fielded some other wonderful Tatianas and Onegins, including Morera and Bonelli in the two most recent runs.

 

The Lenskys I have admired the most have been Putrov, Muntagirov and Ball, although others have given us very fine readings too. My top Olgas are, however, not from the RB but both former ENB dancers: Nancy Osbaldeston (shortly after she joined the Royal Ballet of Flanders) and Ksenia Ovsyanick (in her first season in Berlin).

 

But seeing all the names others are listing makes me wish that I had been able to travel abroad more to watch what is one of my very favourite ballets.

 

 

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Angela

Angela

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Vladimir Malakhov was a wonderful Lensky, deeply moving, with all that Russian poetry and melancholy AND the high arabesques. And Vogel, of course. Evelyn Hart and Oliver Matz were a great couple as Tatiana and Onegin, they danced in Munich a lot.

Here's my list of Onegins that never did the role: Zelensky, Mukhamedov, Malakhov. Vladimir Vasiliev.

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now voyager

now voyager

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3 hours ago, alison said:

 

When did Osipova dance Olga?  (At least, I'm assuming she wasn't displaying the wilfulness while dancing Tatiana)

Your assumption is correct!  Osipova danced Olga in June 2012 during ABT's Met summer season.  (If I recall correctly, she was originally scheduled for two performances, but only danced the first.)  Diana Vishneva was the Tatiana, and speaking of Vishneva's Tatiana, her ABT farewell performance in the role, partnered by Marcelo Gomes, was absolutely shattering.

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Jan McNulty

Jan McNulty

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Alexander Sombart remains my favourite Onegin - even after all these years and performances seen.  The Tatiana's most seared on my brain are Lynn Seymour and Eva Evdokimova.  The Lensky for me is Koen Onzia, although I only saw him once.  Olgas - Lucia Truglia and Trinidad Sevillano.

 

Oh, I don't know if I ever mentioned that Wolfgang Stollwitzer was a very fine Onegin when I saw him with Stuttgart Ballet.  This was in Glasgow the year Glasgow was European Capital of Culture.  I mentioned having seen him there when at the BRB Friends Party a couple of years ago.  He said his main memory of that week was that the company were staying in the same hotel as Prof Stephen Hawking.

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MAB

MAB

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2 hours ago, Anna C said:

I'm probably asking a naive question, but if other companies are trusted to stage Onegin, why are they not trusted to preserve it on film? 

 

Clause in the contract?  Don't forget casting for this ballet is not at the discretion of the company dancing it but according to the wishes of the Cranko estate.  If you look at the companies that have performed Onegin and look at the dancers available at the time you will find some odd omissions.  I think personal taste has often over-ruled suitability.

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Angela

Angela

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5 hours ago, Anna C said:

I'm probably asking a naive question, but if other companies are trusted to stage Onegin, why are they not trusted to preserve it on film? 

 

I don't think the Royal Ballet could film a Balanchine or Robbins ballet without a special contract (why is there no recording at all of Dances at a Gathering???). Every trust or estate of a dead choreographer (or composer or author) owns the rights to filming or further adaptations of the works of the artist. You make contracts for a certain amount of performances of a work,  you are allowed to film it for rehearsal purposes and for a three or four minute trailer, but not to publish a DVD. 

 

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Lizbie1

Lizbie1

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3 hours ago, MAB said:

 

Clause in the contract?  Don't forget casting for this ballet is not at the discretion of the company dancing it but according to the wishes of the Cranko estate.  If you look at the companies that have performed Onegin and look at the dancers available at the time you will find some odd omissions.  I think personal taste has often over-ruled suitability.

 

No doubt this reflects badly on me, but I've just spent an enjoyable 15 minutes reacquainting myself with the Zakharova/Onegin kerfuffle.  Every cloud... :)

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MAB

MAB

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2 hours ago, Angela said:

 

I don't think the Royal Ballet could film a Balanchine or Robbins ballet without a special contract (why is there no recording at all of Dances at a Gathering???). Every trust or estate of a dead choreographer (or composer or author) owns the rights to filming or further adaptations of the works of the artist. You make contracts for a certain amount of performances of a work,  you are allowed to film it for rehearsal purposes and for a three or four minute trailer, but not to publish a DVD. 

 

 

POB has DVD's of a Robbins evening and Balanchine's Jewels, so in those cases maybe it's just a case of liking what is seen.

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alison

alison

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2 hours ago, Angela said:

 

I don't think the Royal Ballet could film a Balanchine or Robbins ballet without a special contract

 

I was surprised they actually managed to release a DVD containing Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux and Afternoon of a Faun, myself.  When they had an all-Stravinsky programme back in the early 2000s they recorded The Firebird and Les Noces(?) for DVD, but not Agon.

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Lizbie1

Lizbie1

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2 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

http://www.worldartstoday.com/dance/zakharova-talks-for-the-first-time-since-walk-out/

 

I assume it's this; don't know if she performed the role in the end.

 

Sorry, been out for a while. Yes, that's the one: a little more colour can be found at https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/bolshois-onegin-is-lyrical-elegant-and-precise-26373

 

There's no mention of the role in her Bolshoi website biography, so I assume she never did perform it.

 

Edited to add: I believe that at the time she/her supporters tried to claim that it wasn't Reid Anderson's decision but the Bolshoi management's.

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Bluebird

Bluebird

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The Home Vision issue was on videocassette.  When I searched for it I found an entry in the Stanford University Library Catalogue. 

 

https://searchworks.stanford.edu/catalog?utf8=✓&op=AND&search=&search_title=Onegin&search_author=&subject_terms=&series_search=&pub_search=&isbn_search=&range[pub_year_tisim][begin]=&range[pub_year_tisim][end]=&f_inclusive[format_physical_ssim][]=Videocassette&f_inclusive[format_physical_ssim][]=Videocassette+(Beta)&f_inclusive[format_physical_ssim][]=Videocassette+(VHS)&sort=relevance&search_field=advanced&button=

 

Maybe other libraries have it too?

 

Apologies for the long link. I don't know how to shorten it.  

 

Edited to add that SwissBalletFan and I were posting at the same time.   The link above is for the National Ballet of Canada version.  SwissBalletFan's link is for the Stuttgart version.

 

 

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David

David

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1 hour ago, SwissBalletFan said:

It seems yes there is, and you can buy it here:

http://www.hdcollection.biz/onegin-1976-stuttgart-sd.html

 

I even registered to find the price for you wonderful people ;) it is $30.

 

I haven't come across this link before. It's interesting - thank you.

 

I have registered and received an email that includes "Please note that all items in this store are not commercial releases, neither the copies of commercial releases. These opera & ballet performances have never been commercially released." Their stock includes two Onegins - Stuttgart and Bolshoi. Strange that they seem able to bypass the Cranko Estate veto - one has to wonder where they've been sourced? I can't find any technical info other than that they distinguish between HD and SD stating that these are of blu-ray and standard quality respectively .  The disks with postage are quite pricey - I can't find where  they're despatched from and whether additionally they would be subject to import charges.

 

I'm not going to rush into a purchase, I'm already over-spent this year, but if anyone decides to have a punt I'd be very interested to hear any comments!

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