Shostakovich: The Golden Age [Soloists; Corps de Ballet & Orchestra of the State Academic Bolshoi Theatre of Russia ; Pavel Klinichev ] [Belair Classiques: BAC143] [2017]

This setting of the ballet is, not surprisingly, beautifully danced. However, much of the music is rather tedious and the story trite. The 'show-stopper' is the tango - absolutely fantastic!

bought as a gift , friend enjoyed it

The dancing of this large company is consistently excellent as is the choreography, the costumes and the musical direction of this performance. The four principal dancers were magnificent, the whole performance is a delight.However, the only negative aspect to this DVD of the ballet is the poor standard of the jerky and disappointing quality of the camera work. For a DVD recorded as recently as 2016, the excessive use of longshot was reminiscent of very old ballet recordings when a fixed camera had to be used. Hence here, the many opportunities for close up view of the breath taking lifts and intricate movements in pas de deux and solo dancers were thrown away. I found this aspect inexplicable and regrettable.

Unlike two other reviewers, I did not know this ballet at all until I saw it in the cinema earlier this year. I was so impressed with it that I was pleased to see it on Blu-Ray. The music shows Shostakovich at his most imaginative, bringing together different styles that merge together well giving a score that is expressive for dancing. The three melodies for the pas de deux between Nina Kaptsova and Ruslan Skvortsov are heavenly, especially the final one which ends the ballet. It is music by the composer at his most tender that allows expressive feelings to be shown between the two lovers. The choreography is brilliantly suited to every mood of the music This is the Bolshoi, so the dancing and acting skills are superb and the two pas de deux between Nina Kaptsova and Mikhail Lobukhin are out of this world. This is a welcome addition to my ballet collection and I hope for more productions by this company of less well known ballets on Blu-Ray in the future.

Some ballets have the wow factor, and this is super wow! I have watched many of the Bolshoi productions, and I think that the corps de ballet are exceptional, technically brilliant and very well disciplined. I lost count of the many lifts in this ballet, each one making me wonder, " How on earth did he do that?"The choreography was exciting and dynamic. There was so much going on that seeing a live performance would be even more spectacular. I had never heard of this ballet before, but it certainly needs to be as well known as the traditional classic masterpieces from the Bolshoi. The main dancers were superb, and the final pas de deux deserves a special mention. It showed a more tender and poignant side of the otherwise energetic and brassy music, and the Tahiti Trot was cleverly done, too. A long performance, wonderfully played by the orchestra, but a few" bonus features " would have been the icing on the cake.

I'm biased because I love watching the Bolshoi. The Golden Age is a contrast to the floaty, dainty ballets. There is also the social message from Communist Russia - hard working peasants (fishermen in this case) are good; hedonistic revellers are bad and corrupt: moral Russia, decadent west. Apparently, this was the only way that the authorities allowed the ballet to be performed. Wonderful dancing as is to be expected from the Bolshoi, and if perhaps slightly too gymnastic for purists there is still the technique and commitment from the company to appreciate. The Baddies are my favourite characters!

Its been thirty years since I recorded this ballet on a betamax video recorder, sadly lost for many years. Seeing this ballet again is like revisiting an old friend. Set in the twenties with modernist sets and pretty costumes in bright colours, the plot -communism versus capitalism has dated and probably explains why it dropped out of repertory. However the dancing is wonderful especially the two stunning pas des deux set performed by nightclub dancers Rita and Yashka. I would love to see this live, but until then this is a wonderful version of an old favourite.

Interesting and enjoyable watch, Shoshtakovich music may not be everybodies "cup of tea",but the dancing was beautiful, and it is an interesting disc, that has taken a long time to surface it is not very well known in this country...