Description
Frederick Ashton's ballet La Fille Mal Gardee / DVD / The Royal Opera House
UPC: 809478009924
Playtime is 112 Minutes
- Aspect Ratio : 1.78:1
- Product Dimensions : 7.52 x 5.31 x 0.59 inches; 3.2 Ounces
- Media Format : Multiple Formats, Classical, Color, DTS Surround Sound, NTSC, Widescreen
- Run time : 1 hour and 52 minutes
- Release date : July 29, 2008
- Actors : Carlos Acosta, Marianela Nunez, William Tuckett, Jonathan Howells, Royal Ballet
- Subtitles : Italian, French, German, Spanish
- Studio : Opus Arte
- Writers : Ferdinand Herold
- Country of Origin : USA
- Number of discs : 1
Summary
Ever since its triumphant premiere in 1960, Frederick Ashton's La fille mal gardée has been treasured as one of his happiest creations-his artistic tribute to nature, and an expression of his feelings for his beloved Suffolk countryside. Marianela Nuñez and Carlos Acosta perfectly portray the young lovers Lise and Colas, determined to thwart the plans of Widow Simone to marry off her wayward daughter to Alain, the simple son of wealthy Farmer Thomas. Osbert Lancaster's colourful, picture-book designs, along with Ferdinand Hérold's tuneful score, arranged by John Lanchbery, provide the perfect setting for Ashton's blissfully bucolic ballet, complete with haywain, pony, maypole and ribbons, a cockerel and his chickens and, of course, the famous clog dance, here wonderfully led by William Tuckett as the irascible but lovable Widow Simone.
Press Reviews
"...times have never been better for the company than under their gracious and ever-present director Monica Mason. The international greats here include vivacious Argentinian Marianela Nuñez, Cuban superstar Carlos Acosta, Romanian national heroine Alina Cojocaru and handsome Italian Federico Bonelli. Of the two signature ballets, La fille mal gardée is sheer perfection. Nuñez and Acosta are unsurpassable respectively in the feminine grace and masculine confidence of Ashton's Lise and Colas, and their mimetic skills are delicious." (BBC Music Magazine ★★★★)
"The choreography's apparent - but not actual! - simplicity and its sheer joie de vivre work in perfect harmony with the undemanding light-hearted story and the tuneful 1828 score to ensure that audiences invariably leave the theatre with faces wreathed in smiles. That would certainly have been so as patrons left the Royal Opera House on 2 February 2005 - and thankfully the BBC's cameras were there to record the occasion." (Musicweb International)
