Ballet DVDs (which online shop + which DVDs to start a collection)

[rosefairy]

before I get to the main point, a bit of complaining about the ROH shop:

 

For my upcoming birthday on the 1st of June, I wanted to order from the ROH shop - a mix of a few items from the gift section and some ballet recordings on DVD. When I had my shopping cart ready, I learned that although it's been 18 months (!) since Brexit came into force on 01/01/2021, the ROH shop is still "currently unable to ship to EU countries". How is that possible? Does anyone here know who could be the best person to complain to about this? Even if I wasn't interested in ordering at all, this would still astound me. From small etsy shops to the big corporations, all UK businesses that I know managed to find a way to deal with Brexit within the first couple of weeks, 2-3 months max. So what is their excuse?

 

all anger aside, I then started looking for alternatives to assure I'll at least get my DVDs in time for my birthday - the other items can of course not be easily replaced, but who knows, maybe I'll be in London again soon enough or they'll finally update their delivery policy. Until then, as an alternative, I came across the shop Presto Music, which seems to have a broad selection of ballet recordings from different companies.

 

Has anyone here ordered from them before? How was the experience? Or can someone recommend another shop for EU countries?

 

My second question would be: if you were to choose about 3-4 dvds (or dvd boxes) from the time period of the last 15-20 years, which would you pick?

 

I was thinking of the following: ( but I'm not sure if these are really the best picks for these ballets?)

 

Tchaikovsky: Sleeping Beauty, Op. 66 - Opus Arte: OA0995D - DVD Video | Presto Music (with Cojocaru, Nunez and Bonelli in main roles)

Ludwig Minkus: La Bayadère - Opus Arte: OA1296D - DVD Video | Presto Music (Nunez, Muntagirov and Osipova in the leads)

Ballet Spectacular - Opus Arte: OA1182BD - 3 DVD Videos | Presto Music (this contains La fille, Coppelia and Giselle, all from the era around 2005 with Acosta, Cojocaru etc. still at RB)

The Art of Marius Petipa - Raymonda - Arthaus Musik: 109268 - DVD Video | Presto Music (at Teatro alla Scala, with Olesya Novikova and Friedemann Vogel)

 

I'm unsure with Ballet Spectacular - at 38€ for 3 ballets it's a good price, but are these really the casts I want to have on DVD? For example I've heard great things about Osipova's Giselle, which is not included here....

 

Also I would like a Don Quixote in my collection, but was undecided which version. Also, does anyone have favourites when it comes to the Nutcracker?  

 

 

[Rob S]

Have a look at the Royal Ballet 22 ballet box set and save yourself a fortune 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Rob S

[Emeralds]

Presto is very good for music. I haven’t tried using them for ballet yet, but if they have those titles, it’s a very good start. The Sleeping Beauty, Bayadere and Raymonda you picked are fantastic. If they have the Royal Ballet Giselle with Cojocaru, Kobborg, and Nuñez as Myrtha, that is my favourite Giselle recording, which is in the Ballet Spectacular you found. I prefer the Coppelia with Nuñez and Muntagirov, but if they don’t stock it, then Leanne Benjamin’s cast is ok too. The La Fille mal Gardee is good too. 

 

For Nutcracker, my favourite is the one with Yoshida, McRae, Loots, Cervera, but the other two that are also good are Cuthbertson, Bonelli, Hayward, Campbell, and Nuñez, Muntagirov, O’Sullivan, Sambé. 

 

The three best Don Quixote DVDs (just my opinion) are Osipova & Sarafanov with La Scala, Nuñez and Acosta with Royal Ballet, or Harvey & Baryshnikov with American Ballet Theatre. The Baryshnikov and Cynthia Harvey one might be old  (before 1999!) but their technical virtuosity is as good as any lead dancers of today and it’s a very joyful, lovingly presented production. 

 

Unfortunately the Brexit EU shipping problem is one created by the current British government. It was obvious it would happen before the referendum. Small businesses like the ROH shop simply do not have the money to absorb the costs of the Brexit red tape. I feel sorry for all the small businesses adversely affected like this. 

 

Finally, don’t forget to check that all the DVDs you choose are compatible with your country and your DVD player. Happy watching! 

Edited May 5, 2022 by Emeralds

[JNC]

As Rob suggests! Or…

 

if you are interested in particular casts that you’ve specified, I think with Sleeping Beauty you can either pay the same (or a little more) and get the Tchaikovsky box set with Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and Nutcracker. There are two versions of this box set, one with the Cojocaru you’ve mentioned is the older one (my preference, to me she is just sublime in the role). And a newer one with a Nunez and current principals. 
 

La Bayadere with Nunez/Osipova was a great performance, I was lucky enough to be there and to me there was something special about that night. And I think the soloist casting is unbeatable with many now principals (or then principals) dancing in the shades roles and others. Sometimes I’m tempted to get the Rojo/Acosta DVD but I’m not sure it could beat Nunez/Osipova. I think the older La Bayadere is part of the set Rob mentions. The Paris Opera also do a DVD of La Bayadere which is the Nureyev version and a good comparison with fantastic leads. 

As for Ballet Spectacular, it includes Cojocaru as Giselle and it’s the best version I’ve seen. And some of the current principals are in the act 1 pas de six as well. (And maybe Nunez is Myrtha too!) But having seen Osipova live she is also very good in the role, as is Nunez - so personal preference again. La Fille in this set is with Nunez/Acosta so you can’t go wrong. To be honest I think the newer Coppelia recording with Nunez/Muntagirov May be “better” than the one included with Benjamin/Acosta but for me Coppelia was the one I was least interested in and the “bonus”. Whilst I like this set I wish I’d actually gone for the blu ray Giselle stand-alone with Cojocaru, and then the blu ray Ashton set with this Fille and also Sylvia and Beatrix Potter. So depends how much you are bothered by blu ray as well (and whether you are planning to expand the collection further). 

ultimately it comes down to casting - the 22 set is great value for money but I wanted specific casts and so I chose to go down a more selective (more expensive!) route. If you just want most bang for your buck then the box set is the way to go - all the recorded performances generally are of a good standard so really it’s how fussy you are on casting. 

Edited May 5, 2022 by JNC

[alison]

Hi rosefairy.  If you can bring yourself to do so, you might want to dive into our mega DVD thread here:

 

I agree with Emeralds - I think a lot of smaller vendors still aren't exporting to the EU because it's not worth it for them since Brexit.  I'm also still hearing horror stories from my colleagues in France and Germany about heavy customs duties imposed on imports from the UK, so you should bear that in mind, possibly even to the extent of buying from somewhere other than the UK?  (I wonder if there's an Ireland-based vendor which might suit?)  I see a lot of references to French people buying ballet DVDs from Fnac, but don't know how wide a range they have.

 

[rosefairy]

First of all, sorry for not replying all week long. Life was incredibly busy and I just got round to placing my order today, so I'll tell you what I've decided now😊

I'll remember Presto Music for the future, but for now I found a shop from Germany called JPC that also has quite a good range (but a bit less than Presto), so I've ordered from them. No shipping fees for me!

 

@Rob S Thank you, I hadn't heard of the 22 ballets box set and had a look at it when you mentioned it. Like @JNC while I think it's obviously the best value for money you can get, I'll also go down the route of buying a few singular DVDs at a time and taking a bit longer until I have a full collection.

 

@Emeralds and @JNC thanks a lot for your recommendations of specific casts/performances, they were very helpful for my decision making! 

 

I've ordered the following (for a total of 140€):

- Nutcracker with Nunez/Muntagirov

- Don Q with Nunez/Acosta

- Sleeping Beauty with Cojocaru as Aurora and Nunez as Lilac Fairy

- Giselle with Cojocaru as Aurora and Nunez as Myrtha

- Raymonda with Novikova and Vogel in the leads

- La Bayadere with Nunez and Osipova

[Beryl H]

Looks like you have picked some great performances 🙂

[Rob S]

50 minutes ago, rosefairy said:

First of all, sorry for not replying all week long. Life was incredibly busy and I just got round to placing my order today, so I'll tell you what I've decided now😊

I'll remember Presto Music for the future, but for now I found a shop from Germany called JPC that also has quite a good range (but a bit less than Presto), so I've ordered from them. No shipping fees for me!

 

@Rob S Thank you, I hadn't heard of the 22 ballets box set and had a look at it when you mentioned it. Like @JNC while I think it's obviously the best value for money you can get, I'll also go down the route of buying a few singular DVDs at a time and taking a bit longer until I have a full collection.

 

@Emeralds and @JNC thanks a lot for your recommendations of specific casts/performances, they were very helpful for my decision making! 

 

I've ordered the following (for a total of 140€):

- Nutcracker with Nunez/Muntagirov

- Don Q with Nunez/Acosta

- Sleeping Beauty with Cojocaru as Aurora and Nunez as Lilac Fairy

- Giselle with Cojocaru as Aurora and Nunez as Myrtha

- Raymonda with Novikova and Vogel in the leads

- La Bayadere with Nunez and Osipova

 

 

I've just seen the blu ray and dvd boxsets are now only £75 on Amazon UK, that's the price of three discs bought individually and two of your purchases are in the set!!

Edited May 14, 2022 by Rob S