Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Blu-ray Movie Review

Christmas in April.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 13, 2012

My first experience with The Nutcracker was not especially auspicious. I must have been all of four or five when one of my little pre-schoolmates—a girl schoolmate, no less—invited me to attend a performance given by what was probably Ballet West in Salt Lake City (the event was so long ago, and so traumatic, that I’ve obviously blocked great bits of it from my troubled mind). I was not especially excited to be going to a ballet, for crying out loud, especially with a girl classmate, and I remember my Mother giving me a rather stern lecture before the girl’s mother picked me up that I had better be on my best behavior or else I would rue the day. As I recall, she used all three of my names, never a good sign as any child in trouble—or even potential trouble—will tell you. Mortified, but still slightly rebellious, I toddled into the cavernous theater where the girl’s mother was delighted to tell us we had front row seats. While I was fascinated by the theater and, frankly, the music (which of course was played live by a rather good orchestra culled from the ranks of the Utah Symphony), I was bored beyond tears by the ballerinas in tutus and men in codpieces and I spent most of the performance with my face turned away from the stage and buried rather deeply into the plush red velvet of the theater seating. Such are the vagaries of a little boy’s mind, especially when he thinks he’s being exposed to “girlie” phenomena like ballet. Luckily, maturity has brought a somewhat broader view of this noble Art, and several recent productions of The Nutcracker on Blu-ray (including this one) have become personal favorites. Now as the Northern Hemisphere is about to experience Spring and Summer we get the release of a ballet that has forever been associated with Christmastime, which begs the question: is this new Bolshoi Ballet production a beautifully wrapped present or a lump of coal?

Well, the short answer is, if your preference is for a resolutely traditional reading of this hoary classic, you should look no further than this Bolshoi Ballet version. Though it doesn’t exactly ape Petipa, there really aren’t huge innovations here in either the dancing or the production design. This is a sweet and loving homage to a bygone age and a long tradition, staying well within the proscribed bounds of what has long been one of Russia’s national treasures. In fact, this production, while at times rather sumptuously beautiful, might also be slightly faulted for being too conservative. One minor those telling example is in the “growing” Christmas tree, which in many productions turns into a magical feat of stagecraft, but which is here handled behind a scrim and barely seems to be happening at all.

The Nutcracker has obviously long been a part of the Bolshoi Ballet’s repertoire, and it’s to their credit that despite their long history with the piece, this production doesn’t really feel stale or overly dated. The production design is often luminous, especially once the fantasy takes hold and the ballet is awash in snowscapes and lushly colored set pieces that are really a sight to behold. The costumes are equally colorful, if again perfectly traditional.

One kind of interesting thing here is the audience reaction. I personally have never encountered the rote, rhythmic clapping of a Russian audience the way this one does. At both the end of Act I, and then again at the finale ultimo, the audience does not applaud in a traditionally raucous manner. Instead they clap together rhythmically, as if keeping a steady 4/4 beat. Over that, catcalls and shouts of approval can be heard, as well as more “normal” applause, but it’s a kind of strange thing to hear.

The dancing here is of course uniformly excellent, from the children who frolic gaily yet with discipline to the gracefulness of Nina Kaptsova as Marie and Artem Dvcharenko as The Nutcracker Prince. The Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra and Children Chorus is under the direction of Pavel Klinichev and plays with precision and nuance, though some may be a bit surprised by some of the rather brisk tempi this production offers. The sets and costumes are by Simon Virsaladze, and while resolutely traditional, are also quite beautiful, with the opening of Act II a real standout. Ballet perhaps even more than classical music or opera is the refuge of traditionalists (if one removes the “modern dance” movement from it, anyway), and taken within that context, this Nutcracker is a thing of beauty and a sumptuously played and danced experience.

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Nutcracker is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Bel Air Classiques and Pathé Live with an AVC encoded 1080i transfer in 1.78:1. While this presentation is full of spectacular color and some appealing design elements, unfortunately it doesn't quite pop with the clarity and precision that one would hope for, especially in the midrange and far range shots, where there's virtually no clarity and fine detail all but disappears. Things are noticeably better in close-ups. This productions makes ample use of a scrim, which is also used for what appears to be some projections (for things like "snow"), and that tends to add a bit of gauziness to the proceedings going in. Shadow detail is fairly murky in dimly lit areas of the stage, though there's little outright crush.

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Nutcracker features two lossless audio options, a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix and an LPCM 2.0 stereo fold down. Both of these tracks generally sound quite excellent, though there are a couple of kind of strange anomalies to be aware of. First, there appears to be some microphones that are placed so that a lot of the foot movements on stage are clearly heard, to the point that they can actually overwhelm the music in corps de ballet sequences. The specialty dances also provide a lot of aural "thumps" as dancers' feet hit the stage after spectacular leaps. At least that's part of the performance and those who want a recreation of the live experience will probably be willing to tolerate this, despite what is an inartful mix (at least to my ears). More problematic is a very noticeable low frequency hum that runs through the Prelude. It's somewhat akin to the sound of nonstop foot movements, and I almost was wondering if it was the bustle of backstage dancers getting ready for the ballet's opening. Once the actual ballet starts, the hum subsides, but it's a real annoyance during the opening moments. Other than these qualms, the surround track features wonderful spaciousness and the orchestra is reproduced with excellent fidelity and appealing dynamic range.

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements of any kind are included on this Blu-ray, not even a main menu. This feature simply starts right up and then loops back to the beginning once it's over.

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Nutcracker has delighted children of all ages for decades (and it's sweet to see a couple of wide eyed kids eagerly anticipating the start of the show as this Blu-ray gets underway). This production is resolutely traditional, but it's also energetic, big and rather opulent at times. The opening scene is curiously "reserved" in a way, with no big "magic" effect when the Christmas tree grows, but once we're into the pure fantasy sequences, the production design is often spectacular, the costumes colorful (if, again, traditional) and the dancing of course is absolutely first rate. This Blu-ray is pretty bare bones (about the only "extra" is an insert booklet containing a synopsis in several languages), without even the courtesy of a Main Menu (shades of MGM – Fox catalog releases, and even some recent Universal 100 BDs!). Both video and audio aren't quite what some would hope, but the chance to see the vaunted Bolshoi Ballet perform one of the glories of the Russian repertoire probably outweighs any niggling qualms. Recommended.