Swan Lake

Tchaikovsky's ever-popular ballet about the fickle Prince Siegfried—whose devotion to the enchanted swan maiden Odette is undone as a result of his seduction by Odile, the black swan who is Odette's dark double—is presented in this 2015 production from Moscow's famed Bolshoi Theatre. Svetlana Zakharova cuts an elegant though also very cool figure in the dual role of Odette/Odile, while Denis Rodkin is an athletic Siegfried. The corps is in exquisite form, the sets and costumes are lavish, and the orchestra plays with loving care under the baton of Pavel Sorokin. The main stumbling block for some will be that the staging follows the revision of the libretto by Yuri Grigorovich, which eliminates many details of the original and closes with an enigmatic finale that suggests the entire tale was merely a dream concocted by Von Rothbart, here called the Evil Genius and danced with abandon by Artemy Belyakov (despite the changes, Grigorovich's choreography still remains impressive). Although not superior to earlier mountings from Paris (VL-9/07), London (VL-3/10), and Vienna (VL-3/15), this is a fine version that will be especially appreciated by fans of the Bolshoi. Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and PCM stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and PCM stereo on Blu-ray, this is recommended. (F. Swietek)