A Swan Lake

Alexander Ekman's A Swan Lake—inspired by Tchaikovsky's famous ballet—is a strange enterprise employing highly imaginative staging and a score by Mikael Karlsson. The first act is part play and part dance, centering on the failure of the initial 1877 performance of Tchaikovsky's work. Featuring spoken dialogue and snatches of Tchaikovsky's music, this section comically portrays a composer trying to mount a musical about swans in the face of doubts from his producer. The second act, set 137 years later—today—turns the stage into a virtual lake in which a flock of swans skitter about with beach balls, yellow rubber ducks fall from the sky, and a black swan meets a white one, with unfortunate results that are made worse when a diva appears with a hairdryer. This hubbub is performed to a jazzy score lacking even a vestige of Tchaikovsky's music. A third act, set 437 years later, consists of one brief joke. The Norwegian National Ballet and National Opera Orchestra (conducted by Per Kristian Skalstad) perform enthusiastically, and the sets, costumes, and lighting design are spectacular. In the end, however, this admittedly intriguing piece is so overstuffed and garish that the introductory montage of past performances of Swan Lake makes one wistful for a more traditional performance of Tchaikovsky's warhorse. Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and PCM stereo on Blu-ray, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes. A strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)