Prokofiev;Sergei Romeo and Jul

Angel and Alessandra seem perfect for their roles in this recording of Romeo and Juliet, with Angel's boyish charm and Alessandra's fluid grace coming together beautifully in this powerful ballet. Prokofiev's score is, needless to say, amazing, and the dancing is excellent, for the most part. Apart from Angel, though, the male dancers are severely lacking in technique; they have tricks coming out the wazoo, but it would be nice to see someone actually pointing their feet. The girls, on the other hand, are all superb dancers, and of course Angel and Alessandra are simply amazing. The balcony scene pas de deux is absolutely stunning. Unless you are a severe ballet critic, the flaws of the male soloists and corps are easily made up for in the beauty of the score, costumes, and set and in the well-played roles of Angel and Alessandra. One of my favorite recordings of any ballet.

There's a reason Alessandra Ferri appears on virtually all of the available Romeo and Juliet ballet videos: she's exquisite and matches her emotional responses to those of her partner. In this production mounted in 2000, she's as graceful and breathtaking as she was in the 1984 Covent Garden video (with Wayne Eagling as Romeo). Angel Corella is a marvel, too--exuberant, boyish, stunning good looks and a clear rapport with Ferri.
So why only 3 stars? Simply put, the rest of the cast isn't compelling. Tybalt is the only character with some dimension to him; everyone else is nondescript. There's a lot of mime in this choreography and much of it appears to be mere gestures. The crowd scenes don't have a sense of cohesion or urgency and the sword fights could use more menace. The ballet is about Romeo and Juliet but McMillan also choreographed for a large corps, setting up the world surrounding the doomed lovers.
Some of the camera angles are from such a distance that detail is sacrificed for the big picture. You can skip to the scenes with Ferri and Corella and be overwhelmed by their passion and grace. If you want a thoroughly satisfying production, try to find the 1984 Covent Garden production, only available on VHS (although it may be available in dvd in England). Wayne Eagling is an interesting contrast with Corella: his restraint makes his wild outburst in the duel scene that much more tragic.

I felt that the quality of this DVD was much better than the one made from the Margot Fonteyn/Rudolph Nureyev production. The picture quality is sharper, as is the sound. The camera shots are wider, tending to focus more on the dancing than the acting, which I found a change for the better. Also, the scene changes are not cut out as they are in the Fonteyn/Nureyev DVD.

As for the individual performances, I prefered Corella's boyish and energetic Romeo to Nureyev's more graceful and restrained portrayal. Corella is a strong performer, highly believable as a young man in love. On the other hand, I feel that Ferri (although she is an excellent actress) is more reliant on mime in conveying emotion, while Fonteyn manipulates the choreography with expertise.

In short, if you are a ballet conossieur, buy both. If not, buy this one.