Stevie

2 hours ago, jmhopton said:

What is the best way of searching for ballet on Amazon these days? You used to be able to search under 'genre' and find ballet as a genre then you could narrow it down to 'most recent,' 'forthcoming' etc and it was great but as they seem to have done away with ballet as a genre I rather struggle to find new items these days. if you just put ballet in as a search it often doesn't bring new items up. (It didn't bring Onegin up. I had to search for it by title but if you don't know it's there to search for you're not going to find it.)

The are all listed under category 'Performing Arts'. Always were and always are.

CMajor say, casting :-

'With his full-length ballet Onegin, John Cranko secured his place in the pantheon of great 20th century choreographers. Based on Alexander Pushkin’s dramatic verse novel „Eugen Onegin“, he tells the story of the arrogant and world weary aristocrat Onegin who rejects the love of the naïve country girl Tatiana only to realize – upon meeting her again years later – that in her he threw away the only woman who ever truly loved him. On the occasion of its 50th anniversary the Stuttgarter Ballett has come up with a special cast featuring Alicia Amatriain as Tatjana, Friedemann Vogel as Onegin, Elisa Badenes as Olga, David Moore as Lenski, Jason Reilly as Prince Gremin, Melinda Witham as Madame Larina and no other than the wonderful Marcia Haydée as nurse.'

19 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

 

Having now bought a few Blu Ray  discs I can confirm that the quality is far superior to DVDs. I should  have upgraded before, as soon as  we got our HD TV.  

Richard, you may now have the same task that I had, where applicable, trading in all my old DVD's for Blu-Rays. Note that there is less advantage in upgrading from PAL to Blu-ray and a large advantage in upgrading from NTSC.

Mathew Bourne's Cinderella released on DVD and Blu-Ray on 15th Oct 2018. I saw it on UK tour and in Cinemas. It has a WW2 blitz setting, which appears to work fine. 

I used to go to the football when I was feeling depressed. It was years before I realised that it was the football that was depressing me. Now I go to the ballet instead and always remain bright, cheerful and positive. I still occasionally risk a football match. I think the message should be, 'if you are a bad loser and English', stay away from the football.

Reviews can often tell you more about the reviewer than they do about the product, so always consider them with caution. That is why it is bast to get a range of reviews for a good balance. Amazon reviews contain many different reviews, with different points to make. Even then, you need to make a judgment because they usually  attract ratings of between 1 and 5 , for the same product. As a result, there is probably no absolute review process.

On 09/08/2018 at 20:31, Jan McNulty said:

ENB usually announce quite early but no I have no idea.  Sadly, because of other commitments, I can only go on the Saturday night or i would have been there all week!!

I only go to Manchester matinees, since last train home, 7:30. I hadnt realised how poorly it has been supported, so as stated, most important for us all to buy tickets. Dont really care who is performing, all are good, still looking forward to casting. Pretty miserably that the last train to Carlisleleaves 7:30 when I can get the Caledonian sleeper from Euston leaving just before midnight.

2 minutes ago, Rob S said:

This thread is weird!!!🙃

Weird is only for poor people. For the rich, its called eccentric.

On 19/08/2018 at 20:59, Rob S said:

 

How close was your guess......well, I watched Sylvia today and my favourite was in it....and so was Darcey. Do you fee(l) like guessing again?

No need to guess now, that clinches it. I think that Sylvia is the best legacy she has left on DVD & blu-ray, closely followed by the mirror scene in Vicar of Dibley. I only saw her once and I swear her legs stretched further above her head than mine do from the waste down. I applaude your choice and don't think Martin Harvey can match that.

BLU-RAY

1 hour ago, Richard LH said:

Encouraged by the advice here, and by the belated realisation that Blu-Ray players are backwards compatible with DVDs, I have just bought one. I haven't actually got a Blu-Ray disc to try out on it yet, but in the meantime it's pleasing to see that the new player somewhat improves the playback quality of the DVDs. 

Pleased you have seized the opportunity and yes, blu-ray players will enhance the play back of your old DVD's. It will also give you greater marketing opportunities, because sometimes, you can find the blu-ray discs at lower price than a DVD equivalent. Try the Nutcracket : Weiner Staatsballet, currently for £3.63, on ebay - rarewaves-united , free p&p,to demonstrate the full quality of blu-ray play back and without breaking the bank.

Nutcracker: Wiener Staatsballett e 

On 09/08/2018 at 18:14, Jan McNulty said:

Sadly there are already special offers in Manchester:

 

https://www.manchestertheatres.com/emails/enb-manon.htm

I already booked for Saturday afternoon, so would have well displeased if they were now cheaper. Still, disappointing that something of this quality is not selling well.

17 hours ago, Sharon said:

Stevie - AKA Sharon - beat me to it 😉

You need to quick on the draw in this Forum. Photons replicate faster than the speed of light. 

On 29/07/2018 at 18:15, Rob S said:

I couldn't possibly say, but you're welcome to guess if you fee(l) lucky.

On 29/07/2018 at 18:15, Rob S said:

I couldn't possibly say, but you're welcome to guess if you fee(l) lucky.

It looks like Rob could be in for Darcey Bussell👍 and La Bayadere 😋, if not mistaken ???

46 minutes ago, Colman said:

 

Yes, I know the technical argument, I was just sort of hoping it didn't make enough difference to the viewing experience to be worth the extra cost. 

The experience depends on the screen size as well as the digital or film quality. From 42" upwards, the picture quality becomes much less forgiving  and the benefits of Blu-Ray grow exponentially as the screen size gets bigger. The Ashton DVD is NTSC, not the European PAL and with this format it often appears that you are viewing the performance through a net. If you have a blu-ray player, then stick with blu-rays. If someone has a 29" TV, then the difference is hardly noticeable. Blu-ray players are now very cheap and some examples in a previous note, show that blu-ray discs are often cheaper than the DVD equivalents. Suggestions only, its your free choice.

1 hour ago, Colman said:

My Ashton Blu-ray arrived the other day and I have, sadly, concluded that it's worth paying the extra for Blu-ray. <sigh> Another money sink.

Your conclusion is a valid one, a Blu-Ray can carry 20 times more Data than a DVD. In addition, most of the Performing Arts DVD's are released in the lower definition NTSC format as apposed to PAL. 

• Yasmine Naghdi
• James Hay
• Yuhui Choe
• Tristan Dyer

On 06/08/2018 at 14:07, ToThePointe said:

I'm not a dancer, nowhere near it unless there's free flowing wine and a disco playlist; however, I was listening to the music from Sleeping Beauty earlier and thought how fun it would be to dance the role of Carabosse. This led me to thinking of other roles I would love to dance, if I were a ballerina, and thought this would be a fun topic to discuss! 

 

So assuming we are all talented, capable and technically wonderful ballet dancers - if you could dance any role in ballet's repertoire which would it be and why?

My phsyo says "you have flat feet, bow legs and funny knees, just like a footballer". If there is a such a suitable role then please advise, I could become a specialist character dancer in such a role.

On 26/06/2018 at 15:43, Beryl H said:

I've just seen on Amazon that on 27 July a DVD/Blu-Ray of Ashton ballets will be released, I was thinking please let it be Daphnis and Chloe, but it's still pretty good, M and A with Yanovsky/Bolle, and The Dream and Symphonic Variations!

With nothing new on the horizon and nothing released by the Bolshoi or Mariinsky in recent years, with talk of financial problems, it is starting to look like a bleak Autumn on DVD. We could speculate that the next important release could be the Royal Ballet Bernstein Triple Bill around March 2019 ? With no ballet on TV last Christmas, can we hope for one this Christmas and if so, could it be Alice's. Northern ballet say they have no plans to release anything following '1984', but then qualify by saying they never had plans to release '1984' either. So could they release Casanova, previously shown by Sky Arts. English National have not released anything on DVD since Le Corsair and when I asked about Giselle, provided a response about the high production costs, which I took to mean 'doubtful'. Still we have the new live season coming up soon and the Cinema season kicking in soon, with Australia's Merry Widow on 21st September. Some good looking UK tours coming up from English National Ballet, Northern Ballet Birmingham Royal, Scottish Ballet, an interesting one from English Youth Ballet and Opera North including The Rite of Spring with an Opera double bill.

for Royal Ballet release of Bernstein triple Bill

Richard, be patient when ordering. Don't pre-order, the prices start to drop after the release date. Check the market trends, you can see when prices are falling or rising. Keep an eye on the used market, I picked up blu-rays for 'Fille De Faroan'  for £2.45 and 'Giselle' (Nunez/Muntagirov) for £8 and plenty of other such deals. Anyone who wants 'Romeo & Juliet', Blu-Ray with Lauren Cuthbertson, available used for £6, or 'Spartacus' Blu-Ray with Carlos for £10 from CEX store online, usually delivered within two days. Current good offers include  'Nutcracker' - Weiner Staatsballet  Blu-ray at £3.55 and 'Chaplin' Leipziger Ballet Blu-Ray at £2.97, or C(h)oers Blu-Ray for £3.89, both New and Free P&P. They are Worldwide Multi Regional, from Rarewaves-United via ebay. Always takes about two weeks for delivery because they are imported, but very reliable. Call me cheap, but I'm from Derbyshire, where they would rather be 'dead than done'. However, by this means I have accumulated over 200 Ballets on DVD and Blu-Ray, which is most of what has been produced and never as yet paid as much as £20.

It is available in the UK, I got the blu-ray a few weeks ago and watched it before we went on holiday. Well worth your wait I can assure you.

Favouritism is generally considered a bad thing in the UK, implying unfair advantage or preferential treatment. As associated with 'teacher's pet in schools'. If favourite's were, however allowed, has anyone considered what would be their own candidates. This could be applied to either Artists or Productions. I think I could secretly put forward Ekaterina Kondaurova and possibly La Bayedere, if of course it were allowed and it didn't infringe on my policy of 'no favourites'.

13 hours ago, alison said:

I couldn't watch it on that DVD recorder, no.  And I don't think my "influence" as a moderator is either here or there ...

Did you manage to catch the live streaming in Cinema. The second act nearly brought the house down. If not, you really must get to see it. Don't sell yourself short, secure the means to watch it and I am sure there is someone out there who would help with the rest 😉.

4 hours ago, Richard LH said:

Unless I am missing something, I don't think that's  an actual  DVD, jmb. CMajor only seem to have 15 ballet DVDs for sale. Woolf Works  is listed as one of many more ballet "programs" but isn't this  just a list of stuff for  which  they hold commercial distribution rights, e.g. for TV viewing?  I am not sure these "programs" are accessible to the general public directly through CMajor. But let do let us know if you find otherwise...

C Major and Deutsche Grammophonen are subsidiary distributors of Unitel GmBh and the catalogue referenced previously is for the TV distribution rights only. Deutch Gramaphone have already issued the Richer Score for Woolf Works on CD, but there is nothing as yet listed for a DVD release. I assume they have purchased these rights as well as the others, so it is to Unitel that any enquiries should be made. There is a website contact request form for anyone wishing to chance their luck, but such  commercial matters are notoriously secretive.

On 20/07/2018 at 00:25, alison said:

I was in the middle of recording it when my DVD recorder failed, so I've no idea whether it actually recorded or not    Plus I think I was watching something on another channel, so I never even got to see it ...

Alison. does failure of your DVD recorder mean that you couldn't even watch it if you had a copy. Otherwise you could use your influence as moderator to get someone to burn you a copy to disc.

13 hours ago, MargaretN7 said:

If it is the 2017 cinema broadcast of Alice then it has James Hay as the White Rabbit. That sounds like a plus for me.

Edward Watson was great as the white rabbit, so not much of a plus I am afraid. But the choicer is yours. Better to have a choice than not you may say.