Swan Lake (1966) Act III / Лебединое озеро / Le Lac des cygnes

Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Wiener Staatsopernballett with Wiener Symphoniker conducted by John Lanchbery. Filmed in Vienna, Staatsoper, October 15, 1966
Peter Ilyich TCHAIKOVSKY (1840 - 1893)
Swan Lake, ballet in four acts, Op 20 (1876)

"Perhaps the most popular ballet video ever released, this version of Tchiakovsky's beloved work stars one of the most famous classical dance partnerships of all time: Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn. Nureyev choreographed this production for the Vienna State Opera"
When someone congratulated Tchaikovsky on the success of his Nutcracker ballet, he reportedly replied angrily, "I gave them a masterpiece in Swan Lake, but all they want from me is fluff." In 1876, the year of the Ring's Bayreuth premier, Tchaikovsky had Wagner on his mind, and he wrote his own story of Siegfried but in the familiar Russian fairy tale mould of the young man bewitched on his wedding night. Although it consists of separate dance movements, the work begins in B minor, ends in B Major, and all the themes are linked together to produce a Dance Symphony in a sense similar to Wagner's Vocal Symphonies.

It was probably the political context which caused the astonishing count of 89 curtain calls at the opening night of this 1964 Vienna production, Nureyev's first public appearance after his defection. But it must be admitted that when Nureyev and/or Fonteyn are on the stage, nothing else is noticeable, an experience unlike any other ballet video I've ever seen. Fonteyn's performance calls to mind descriptions of great ballerinas of the past in the swan role, yet here she is in the flesh before us. The first frame of this video is a close-up of Nureyev's face and you can see that he has the most prominent cheek bones, longest eyelashes, biggest reddest lips, and coolest eye shadow of any other person on stage. When the camera pulls back, you see he also wears the tightest tights and the most meticulously form-fitted chemise. It seems that there are more solos for him in this version of Act I than in the others, or maybe they're just more memorable. When Fonteyn joins him in Act II you forget they're dancers and think they're pantomime actors, they tell so powerfully the story of the bold hero and the frightened maiden gradually succumbing to his charms. Then when Fonteyn appears as Odile in Act III you wonder how Siegfried could be fooled because everything about her is different. Not just her facial expression, but her whole body language and style of dancing has changed. For the evil Rothbart's appearance in this scene, it appears that an actor chosen for his massive square physique, a wrestler's body, is chosen to pantomime him, since he has actually no dancing to do. For Rothbart's dancing scenes, we see a slimmer dancer in the usual very elaborate costume, probably too difficult to remove and refit in time to begin Act IV.
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