Adam - Giselle / Carla Fracci, Erik Bruhn, John Lanchbery, American Ballet Theatre

Magnifique bien sur ! Merci

I sympathize with reviewers who are put off by the artistic excesses in filming this version. A pity, because Ive owned many Giselles over the years and whenever I come back to this one, Im reminded of all the reasons Fracci remains my favorite. She has an energy and charisma that is not matched by other ballerinas who have performed this. That said, I rate Fracci 5*, the other principals and corps 4*, and the camerawork 2*. That averages somewhere between 3 & 4. For the best overall Giselle, combining youthful freshness, exquisite performances, direction and camerawork, my favorite is the La Scala version with Alessandra Ferri.

Excellent for any ballet lovers collection. This is a collectable item. Beautiful. Also excellent condition and handled in timely manner by seller. Thumbs UP!

I saw the name Carla Fracci and snapped like a salmon at this video.

I reviewed this yesterday and am only writing this because that was not quite correct. This is a movie which I hadn’t realized when I ordered it. The scenery, costumes are so elaborate they take aware from the gorgeous impact that actual ballet has had on me so many times. The filming of it is totally different than seeing it in person...

Ive watched a lot of movies over the past 50 years, and I think Im in a position to say that its very likely that the director of this movie never got a job as director of a movie again. Thats how badly he directed this version of Giselle. I also have watched some excellent ballet DVDs in the past year, so I knew that this ballet had to have been performed better. I bought the Giselle by the La Scala ballet company with Alessandra Ferri as Giselle, and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I thought it would be little more Modern ballet. Instead, theres an awful lot of traditional dancing around, and then everyone dies. Then they dance some more.

Lets be clear. The performances (excepting the corps) are mostly world class (although I prefer other Giselles). Unfortunately they have been done irreparable damage by screen directing and editing that is unfortunate at best (certainly in the second act) and inexcusable at worst. Especially in the second act, the camera uses tricks like showing dancers/images reflections in water (where in the Sam Hill should there be water in a cemetery in the woods?) and superimposing close-ups in order to (I suppose) beef-up the cinematic qualities of the video. Alas, it doesnt work and only detracts from the true genius of this masterpiece which deserves far better treatment. The corp in the second act, as seen from above, describing a circle, looks ludicrous and suspiciously like a bad Busby-Berkley musical. Where were the arbiters of good taste when this was put together??? They certainly were not David Blair (the re-choreographer) and Hugo Niegeling, the film director. A filmed performance with the same cast would have been infinitely superior and it is a great loss that we do not have one. What we have is more like a circus performance with trick photography at almost every turn (no pun intended) which trivializes the dancers as well as their art. Another minus is the totally lack-luster conducting by John Lanchbery who not only distorts the music but re-writes his own harmonies (as well as instrumentation) in place of the composer Adolphe Adam. Giselle need and deserves far better than this and it can only be recommended for the leads, who are handicapped by this travesty of film direction.

This studio performance of Giselle by the great team of Carla Fracci and Erik Bruhn, with members of the ABT and the Berlin Opera Orchestra was recorded in 1968, but it looks like it was done only yesterday! I do not know exactly how Deutsche Grammophon accomplished this feat, but the image(full screen) and sound(DTS 5.1) are absolutely at the highest standard, even by todays strict digital degree of perfection(this is shot on film with the crisp images that it imparts). The dancing itself is by some of the ballet greats of recent history and so, this qualifies also as a classic performance( I know of no other case where these two qualities come together in one recording!). Fracci and Bruhn are at their very best here, and we can see why they are so well regarded by history. Great artists are able to perform by the usual classical standards, but in an indescribable way that makes their performance unique. The choreography is also excellent and complete with the peasant pas de deux included as well as all the second act variations. The part of Hilarion, danced by Bruce Marks, is also given very extensive choreography in the second act and he dances it very well.

I used to love watching Carla Fracci dancing Giselle in the theatre often with Erik Bruhn or Ivan Nagy but not this sorry mess. Shot in a studio the first act set resembles the ABT first act but the second act looks like a one set fits all from an old Omnibus TV presentation. The director seems to have seen Godards Breathless and never gotten over it. Instead of seeing the dance and complete steps the choreography comes at the viewer as a series of jump cuts from different angles often with people or stage props between the viewer and dancers; like bursts of machine gun fire. Such wasted opportunity. Perhaps a silk purse cannot be made from a sows ear but this ill conceived video proves the reverse can be easily done.