TCHAIKOVSKY: Swan Lake - Ballet de L'Opéra National de Paris (DVD)

Agnès Letestu (Odette); José Martinez (Prince Siegfried); Karl Paquette (Wolfgang / Rothbart);

Agnès Letestu, a feminine and warm Odette, and José Martinez, a convincing, pale, vulnerable prince Siegfried, are the stars of this deeply passionate, dream version of Swan Lake. Rudolf Nureyev's interpretation of Tchaikovsky's lyrical ballet, far from being a clichéd stereotype of this celebrated masterpiece, is an exposé of astonishingly powerful and recognisable human emotions. Under the inspired and clear cut musical direction of Vello Pähn, this production of one of the jewels of the Paris Opera Ballets repertoire brilliantly displays the meticulous precision, technical prowess and pure, unmannered style of the company's unrivalled female corps de ballet, eliciting an ethereal, intense beauty captured for DVD in High Definition video and superb surround sound.

"This Parisian Swan Lake offers the reworked choreography which Nureyev devised for his 1984 production of the ballet and which has remained a favoured recital ever since...Readers used to traditional views of the ballet should see this gripping newcomer." (The Penguin Guide)

"…their [Agnès Letestu & José Martinez] dancing was sensational, and Letestu in particular was magnificent. She was soft, lyrical yet aristocratic as Odette, as befits her slender, long-limbed body and her mime scene was of intense beauty...Letestu is outstanding as Odile, both in her technical prowess and artistic interpretation." (Culture Kiosque)

"Vello Pähn is quite simply one of the best dance conductors I’ve ever heard, capturing the full suavity of the waltzes, the panache of the national dances in Act III (shunted towards the beginning) and the full blazing tragedy of the final lakeside scene." (BBC Music Magazine)

Extra features
Illustrated Synopsis. Cast gallery.