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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
La Bayadere (Ballet de L'Opera de Paris) (1994)

La Bayadere (Ballet de L'Opera de Paris) (1994)

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Released 25-Oct-1999
Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General		Extras
Category	Ballet	Biographies-Cast & Crew Scene Synopsis
Rating
Year Of Production	1994
Running Time	133:16
RSDL / Flipper	RSDL (66:26)	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu	Cast & Crew
Region Coding	2,3,4,5,6	Directed By	Alexandre Tarta
Studio Distributor	Warner Vision	Starring	Isabelle Guerin Laurent Hilaire Elisabeth Platel
Case	Super Jewel	Starring	Isabelle Guerin Laurent Hilaire Elisabeth Platel
RPI	$39.95	Music	Ludwig Minkus

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Linear PCM 48/16 2.0 (1536Kb/s)
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.66:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.66:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No	Miscellaneous
Subtitles	French German	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

Okay, I may as well get this out in the open as it is bound to become apparent in the review - I hate ballet, it is the stage equivalent of synchronized swimming as far as I am concerned, lacking purpose and meaning. Now don't get me wrong, I fully appreciate the work that the dancers put into their work, just like synchronized swimmers, but I just do not see the point to it. So why am I reviewing this disc - because I have a passion about music and this is a wonderful score from Ludwig Minkus. I usually just listen to ballet scores, but in this instance I have to watch as well for the sake of the review. And I suppose I better get something else out of the way too - despite the name proudly shown on the cover, Rudolf Nureyev is not dancing in this. Whilst this is the ballet in which he first came to prominence, by late 1992 he was dying of AIDS and embarked upon the choreography and staging of this last testament as it were. He died before the performance recorded here, but it is his vision that is being realized, hence the name on the cover.

The broad story here is one that often forms the basis of stories, be they films, plays, ballets or operas. Love, jealously, subterfuge, betrayal, sacrifice. Nikiya (Isabelle Guerin) is a Bayadère, a dancer (really original for a ballet) in love with Solor (Laurent Hilaire), a warrior for the Rajah (Jean-Marie Didière). Unfortunately, the High Brahmin (Francis Malovic) is also in love with Nikiya. Things get a tad complicated when the Rajah offers Solor his daughter Gamzatti's (Elisabeth Platel) hand, whereupon the High Brahmin reports the secret liaison between Solor and Nikiya, and Gamzatti forces the issue between them and plots to eliminate Nikiya.

Well I may not like ballet, but I can appreciate the enthusiasm of the Parisian audience for the performance and there is no doubting the quality of the score. Fans of ballet will probably rejoice, even if I don't.

Don't wish to see plot synopses in the future? Change your configuration.

Transfer Quality

Video

I may not like ballet, but I can sure appreciate the fine transfer this one has been given.

The transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.66:1, but it is not 16x9 enhanced.

This is a wonderfully rich and vibrant transfer, full of detail and definition. Wonderfully sharp throughout apart from one very minor loss of focus early on in the ballet, and of course the deliberately grainy introductory piece. Shadow detail is quite exquisite given that this is a stage performance, not just a recording performance. There was no low level noise apparent in the transfer, and overall this is an amazingly clear transfer.

The colours come up wonderfully rich in tone, very nicely saturated without any hint of oversaturation, not even with a predominantly blue background during Act III. This is a quite gorgeous looking transfer colour wise.

There did not appear to be any significant MPEG artefacts in the transfer. The only film-to-video artefact noticed was some shimmering in the backdrop during Act III, and this was not really that noticeable. There were no readily apparent film artefacts, suggesting that this may be a video source not a film source.

This is an RSDL format disc, with the layer change coming at 66:26. The layer change is quite noticeable and mildly disruptive to the flow of the ballet, although better than a flipper obviously. However, barring some technical reason that I am not aware of, I would have thought that the break between Acts I and II would have been a more logical place for the layer change.

You should note that the subtitles available on the disc are only operative during the introductory piece that precedes the performance itself.

Audio

And matching the fine video transfer is a equally decent soundtrack.

There is only the one audio track on the DVD, an English Linear PCM 48/16 soundtrack. One note: the packaging displays a Dolby Digital logo but there is no such track on the disc.

The music is generally clear and understandable in the soundtrack, and the quality can be further judged by the fact that you can hear the patter of feet on occasions. Nifty!

The soundtrack is essentially a stereo effort that does not make much use of the surround channels. However, that is not to say that the soundtrack is automatically poor - far from it, this is a very nice orchestral sound and rivals some ballet compact discs I have for enjoyment. If you choose to turn the vision off and just listen to the music, the rewards are great indeed.

Extras

A little bit better here, although not exactly what I thought it was going to be.

Cast and Characters

This does not turn out to be biographical details of the cast but rather just a glorified listing of the roles that the main cast members dance. Not at all informative.

Synopsis

Again, this does not turn out to be a synopsis per se but rather an extremely brief indication of what the scenes in each Act are and they really act as chapter selections but on a limited basis.

Booklet

Well at least this does provide a brief synopsis as well as a full chapter listing, plus details of the major cast and the roles they dance. However, it could be so much more than it is with a bit of thought.

R4 vs R1

NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.

It would appear that this has not yet been released in Region 1.

Summary

La Bayadère is not my cup of tea for visual entertainment, but turn the vision off and listen to just the music and I am well satisfied. I am not sure that Warner Vision Australia would appreciate that but it does mean that the compact disc becomes superfluous to requirements. However, from my knowledge of ballet, this does appear to be a well staged effort, and well danced too, and there are definitely no complaints about the quality of the transfer on offer. Dance fans should not hesitate at all.

A fine video transfer.

A very good audio transfer.

The extras need some work.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

Review Equipment
DVD	Pioneer DV-515, using S-Video output
Display	Sony Trinitron Wega (80cm). Calibrated with Video Essentials. This display device is 16x9 capable.
Audio Decoder	Built in to amplifier/receiver. Calibrated with Video Essentials.
Amplification	Yamaha RXV-795
Speakers	Energy Speakers: centre EXLC; left and right C-2; rears EXLR; and subwoofer ES-12XL

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