Ballet in 3 acts
Libretto: Leonid Lavrovsky, Sergei Prokofiev [Based: William Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet]
Choreography: Leonid Lavrovsky
First performance:
* Original version: 30 December 1938, Brno, Czechoslovakia
* Significantly revised version: 11 January 1940, Kirov, Leningrad
Juliet - Galina Ulanova
Romeo - Yuri Zhandov
Tybalt - A. Yermolayev
Mercutio - S. Koren
Benvolio - V. Kudryyashov
The sumptuous 1954 Technicolor production of Romeo and Juliet stars Galina Ulanova as a radiant Juliet and Yuri Zhdanov as an ardent Romeo. Upon its initial videocassette release, the New York Times dance critic glowingly reported: "The famed 1954 film version of Leonid Lavrovsky's ballet with the great Galina Ulanova is hors concours {incontestable} as a classic."
A DVD extra is Ulanova in the second act pas de deux from Swan Lake. The conductor of the Bolshoi Ballet orchestra is the venerated Gennady Rozhdestvensky. |
[ PAL ]