Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		4.0

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Blu-ray Movie Review

Neatly traditional with just a touch or two of the new, this Zurich production of 'Swan Lake' has a lot to offer.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 12, 2010

Zurich, Switzerland is probably not the first major European metropolis one thinks of when ruminating about centers of classical music. Vienna? Certainly. Paris? Most assuredly. London, Rome, Milan? Yes, yes, yes. But Zurich? However, a cursory glance over this alpine city’s bona fides with regard to various classical music activities through the years is really most impressive. Anyone who has followed the reviews here on Blu-ray.com of high definition opera releases is certainly aware that a glut of these productions comes from the Opernhaus Zürich. But this company’s background is full of amazing names and productions, with everyone from Furtwängler to Richard Strauss to Hindemith contributing on the orchestral and operatic sides of things. As is so often the case, ballet has been something of an afterthought, and the Zurich Ballet is only just beginning to have its impact felt on the world stage. Part of the challenge of developing a world class dancing troupe is forging a unique yet cohesive identity, one that proves a company is able to tackle the classics while at the same time injecting its own savoir faire into the proceedings. It’s a remarkably tough high wire act on which to balance, and more than one company has fallen to the figurative ground, taking years to finally establish themselves. The Zurich Ballet seems well on its way to making its way across that tightrope under the able direction of Heinz Spoerli, who has been Zurich’s choreographer and artistic director since 1996. His production of the venerable Swan Lake shows that Spoerli is able to craft a piece which unashamedly hearkens back to previous choreographers’ contributions (notably Marius Petipa, of course) while just so slightly pushing the envelope to make Spoerli’s own vision apparent.

Semionova and the corps of swans.

Spoerli, who will step down from his post at Zurich at the end of the 2011-12 season, worked for a large span of time at Basel and also at Dusseldorf, where he previously staged Swan Lake. Unlike some classical ballets, Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece is at least possible with a smaller company than some of the major European cities have at their disposal, and Spoerli has been able to utilize that fact to his advantage. In Dusseldorf he attempted a neo-Swan Lake, set in a ballet studio, but in this version we’re given a more traditionally classical approach, albeit one where some of the men wear Indian Nehru waistcoats. I’m not quite sure if Spoerli is making some sort of recondite commentary on colonialism, which probably isn’t very a propos to this ballet to begin with, but it at least gives the ballet some unexpected visual elements.

Though the Zurich Ballet seems to shun “star” dancers, especially prima ballerinas, they have in recent years been able to attract quite a few guest performers, and this Swan Lake features Polina Semionova as Odette and Odile. Semionova studied with the Bolshoi and has been Principal with the Berlin State Opera for years. She also has a long history with Swan Lake, having danced the role(s) to rapturous reviews in England several years ago at the tender age of 19. Spoerli’s company actually seems (by surname deductions on my part) to have a large number of Russians like Semionova in it, making for a somehow genetically appropriate reading of this ballet, and not only in the Russian specialty dances. But it’s Semionova who of course maintains focus throughout Swan Lake, and she delivers a devastatingly lyrical interpretation, with some of the most amazing near-acrobatic moves you can imagine. Both graceful and muscular, Semionova brings the whole caliber of this production up several significant notches.

Conductor Vladmir Fedoseyev brings some typically Russian temperament to this most Romantic of Russian scores. This is an often fiery and incredibly dramatic Swan Lake which nonetheless loses none of its aching nostalgia or underlying sadness. Swan Lake’s tragic story requires a firm hand, both choreographically and perhaps even especially in the conductor’s chair, to keep it from becoming overly maudlin. The plangent tones of the oboe are mournful enough without the schmaltz that a lot of conductors slather on to their interpretation of the score, and thankfully this reading is free from such excesses.

The corps work here is also brilliantly realized, especially in the segments with the swan maidens. Gliding gracefully in step with each other, they ably recreate a beautiful and moving experience. Though they’re somewhat overshadowed by Semionova and especially the women of the corps, this Swan Lake also benefits from some bristling athleticism on the part of Stanislav Jermakov as Prince Siegfried and Arsen Mehrabyan as Rothbart. Jermakov’s pas de deux with Semionova are a highlight of this production.

This is a spare and lean production with virtually no set design to speak and, aside from the Indian waistcoat element, traditional costumes by Florence von Gerkan. The swan ballets are typically lit in a cool blue scheme, which plays beautifully off of the frilly tutus the women wear. In fact this is a largely pastel-ridden production, which contrasts nicely with the florid emotions which Swan Lake tends to bathe in. While this is neither a staid recreation of Petipa nor a groundbreaking new interpretation, it’s a calm and measured middle ground approach that helps to establish the Zurich Ballet as a force to watch in the European arts scene.

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Belair Classiques is one of the lesser seen labels distributed by Naxos, but it provides a generally very good AVC encoded 1080i "live" image here in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Due to large swaths of Swan Lake being lit in pastels or deep blues, there's a certain softness to a lot of this image which it is frankly impossible to tell results from this lighting scheme or the source elements themselves. My personal hunch is it's a lighting issue as extreme close-ups reveal a wealth of detail and when we get a different hue in the stage lighting, sharpness ticks up considerably. There isn't a riot of color in this production, so forewarned in forearmed; this is instead a very subtly lit and costumed production that plays upon very subtle gradations in the color palette, which this Blu-ray reveals quite nicely. The one exception, which occurs several times throughout this Swan Lake, is the ultra-deep hues of cobalt blue which almost haunt the swan scenes. These moments provide the production with a gorgeous luster and sheen, with deeply saturated hues. Contrast is certainly acceptable here, but again I would have liked a bit more differentiation between the lights and darks. Black levels on the other hand are excellent, with no hint of crushing.

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Swan Lake contains some of Tchaikovsky's most iconic music, but as noted (no pun intended) above, the tendency is often an overarching attempt to wring every drop of emotion out of the score with over the top legato and ridiculous (to me, anyway) changes in dynamics. Luckily we're provided with a somewhat subdued, and for that very reason extremely effective, reading of the score on this Blu-ray, which is lovingly reproduced on two lossless audio options, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and an LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down. Tchaikovsky was such a brilliant orchestrator that his methods have become a blueprint for scores (no pun intended again) of composers who have followed in his footsteps. The unfortunate thing is that his music has become so well known that it almost becomes aural wallpaper at times, verging on self-parody. None of that is in evidence in this recording, with some stellar playing by the Zurich Opera Orchestra. The oboist, upon whom so much of Swan Lake's mournful qualities rest, plays superbly here, with just a touch of portamento and a really beautifully liquid tone with just the right amount of vibrato. Strings and brass also sound warm and resplendent, and the DTS track especially has some wonderful separation and hall ambience. All in all, this is an engaging account of one of the most famous ballet scores of all time, indeed one of the most famous orchestral scores of all time, and it is offered in a brilliantly effective recording on this Blu-ray.

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered on the disc. The insert booklet contains some musings by Spoerli and a plot synopsis.

Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Spoerli has elevated Zurich's ballet reputation enormously to the point where it is quite competitive with much larger, more renowned houses. This Swan Lake shows that the company is able to mount its own quite excellent account of one of the iconic pieces of classical ballet. There's something old, something new, something borrowed, and a lot of blue (light, anyway), all adding up to the perfect marriage of dance and music. Recommended.