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

Carla Fracci died recently, and this DVD is a great example of her work! A great performance by everyone, and an extra highlight is seeing Fracci up close; so beautiful and expressive.............!

Had the priviledge of seeing Fracci dance Giselle, live, and left me in tears. I can understand the criticisms of the odd camera shots but the DVD is superb. The dancing is sublime. The quality of the picture is unbelievable given when it was done.

Carla Fracci was magnificent as Giselle and Bruhn a very good partner.

I detest this film. What should have been a glorious opportunity to capture Fracci and Bruhn in their signature partnership is ruined by the meddlesome and ignorant direction of Hugo Niebeling and David Blair. Giselle is a ballet; ballet is about dance; dance should be the focus of attention. We should have unobstructed views of the dancers dancing. Instead, we get shots through villagers eating and talking, shots from above, shots from the side, shots through machinery, shots reflected in pools, and so on - absolutely infuriating, unartistic, and puerile. What a shame and a sham! What a colossal misunderstanding of art!

How David Blair could allow this insult to the dancers is beyond me. I noted that some people liked the performance, but Im at a loss to know how they actually saw the performance! Trying to watch an artist dance, through the back of huge hats, bad quality glass and anything else the director could find to put in front of them, was, to say the least, distracting. Add to that a camera that was moving so constantly that I almost felt sea-sick and editing that rarely stayed on the same shot for more than a few seconds and constantly interrupted the dance with completely irrelevant and distracting views of everything from a plate of fruit to galloping horses as seen from a galloping horse! Ballet is a theatrical art, but many others have shown that it can be totally cinematic. If you trust it and leave it alone, it will automatically weave its magic spell.

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.

We just bought this DVD. Images are beautiful and sound quality is excellent. Carla Fraccis dancing is superb. At times, the filming adds value e.g. by including snapshots of forests and lakes. At times, the rapid-cut editing and the close-ups are a bit disturbing. In spite of those minor grudges, we warmly recommend buying this beautiful DVD.

Its a fabulous perf...and so what the producer is a bit too far into puddle reflections and sech...we would be much the poorer had this film never been made, and I would have been much the poorer for never having seen it...and Fracci radiates...plus the conducting is first rate....

Note that this 2005 Deutsche Grammophon release of the 1968 ABT Fracci/Bruhn Giselle conducted by John Lanchbery is the identical production previously available on the now-withdrawn Polygram issue. Amazon reviews shown at either entry pertain equally to both releases. There is no need to pay an inflated price for an out-of-print copy of the earlier Polygram release.