Original title: Lebedinoe ozero
Year: 2007
Runtime: 2hours 9 minutes (+ 30 minutes extras)
Country: Russia
Language: English (only for extras)
Subtitles: None
Genre: Opera | Ballet

Director: Ross MacGibbon (director) & Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov (choreography)

Cast:
Uliana Lopatkina
Daniel Korsuntsev
Alexander Gronskaya
Peter Stasiūnas
Irina Golub
Ekaterina Osmolkina
Anton Korsakov
Andrei Ivanov
Ilya Kuznetsov
Evgenia Obraztsova
Svetlana Ivanova
Olesya Novikova
Victoria Tereshkina
Tatiana Tkachenko
Xenia Ostreykovskaya
Daria Sukhorukov

Plot/Synopsis:
Act I
A magnificent park before a castle.
Swan Lake begins at a royal court. Prince Siegfried, heir to the kingdom, must declare he has chosen a wife at his birthday ball. Upset that he cannot marry for love, Siegfried makes for the forest and escapes into the night. He sees a flock of swans flying overhead and sets off in pursuit of them.
Act 2
A mountainous wild place, surrounded by forest. In the distance a lake, on the right side of which are ruins. A moonlit night.
Siegfried aims his crossbow at the swans and readies himself for their landing by the lakeside. When one comes into view, however, he stops. Before him is a beautiful creature dressed in white feathers, more woman than swan. Enamoured, the two dance and Siegfried learns that the swan maiden is the princess Odette. An evil sorcerer, von Rothbart, has captured her and used his magic to turn her into a swan by day. Every night, she becomes a woman again.
A retinue of other captured swan-maidens attend Odette in the environs of Swan Lake, which was formed by the tears of her parents when she was kidnapped by von Rothbart. Once Siegfried knows her story, he takes great pity on her and falls in love. As he begins to swear his love to her, an act that will render the sorcerer’s spell powerless, von Rothbart himself appears. Siegfried threatens to kill von Rothbart but Odette intercedes. If von Rothbart dies before the spell is broken, it can never be undone.
Act 3
An opulent hall in the castle.
The Prince returns to the castle to attend the ball. Von Rothbart arrives in disguise with his own daughter Odile. He has made Odile identical to Odette in all respects except that she wears black rather than white. The prince mistakes her for Odette, dances with her, and proclaims to the court that he intends to make her his wife. Only a moment too late, Siegfried sees the real Odette and realizes his mistake. (The method in which Odette appears varies. In some versions she arrives at the castle, while in other versions von Rothbart shows Siegfried a magical vision of her.)
Act 4
Same scene by the lake as in Act 2.
Siegfried returns to the lake and finds Odette. He makes a passionate apology and she forgives him. Von Rothbart appears and tries to pull the lovers apart. In the original 1877 ballet, Siegfried struggles with Von Rothbart and tears off one of his wings, thereby destroying his powers. Siegfried has broken the spell of the swan maidens and marries Odette.
In the 1895 Mariinsky revival, Tchaikovsky’s brother altered the ending to a tragic one. The lovers realise that the spell cannot be broken because of Siegfried’s accidental pledge to Odile. In order to complete and fulfill the pledge initiated in Act 2 by Siegfried to Odette, ultimately making it possible for the lovers to stay together, Odette and Siegfried leap into the lake and drown. This breaks von Rothbart’s spell over Odette, causing him to lose his power over them, and he dies as a result.

“Swan Lake” is a symbol of Russian ballet. It is the most frequently staged performance of Mariinsky Theater, performed by a brilliant troupe starring Ulyana Lopatkina and Danila Korsuntsev, and it says it all. Ulyana Lopatkina is a genuine swan queen , which is acknowledged by the whole world. There are many versions of this immortal ballet, but such blending of ballerina and her part has never taken place before. One of the best ballet critics of Russia, Vadim Gayevskiy, wrote about her swans after Moscow performance in May 2007: “Lopatkina danced her part reverently. Her performance looked like an act of art as well as an act of faith… Her light flying poses and a trace of imperceptible spiritual sufferings is a realization of something that looks impossible to realize. The purity of Lopatkina’s lines as well as her character’s intentions are clearly revealed on the stage.”
Harmonious corps de ballet is Mariinsky’s trademark. Watching this performance is a great pleasure. It can be watched over and over again. This show is a real masterpiece. It was filmed by BBC in 2006. Choreographers: Marius Petipa and Leo Ivanov (1895) revised by Konstantin Sergeyev (1950). Conductor Valeriy Gergiyev.”
Thanks Orca for the translation from Russian

Additional material : (English)
• On the “Swan Lake”
• History
• Music
• Origin
• Dance
• A Chorus Line
• Prima Ballerina

Music composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Torrent DownloadSwan Lake (2007) Lebedinoe ozero

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