The Pharaoh's Daughter (La Fille du Pharaon)

One of a hundred ballets created by the prolific but largely forgotten Italian composer Cesare Pugni, this extravagant piece featuring choreography by Marius Petipa caused a sensation at the Bolshoi Theatre in St. Petersburg in 1862. The plot is ludicrous—although characteristic of the fantasies that propelled much of romantic ballet—with British explorer Lord Wilson taking shelter in the pyramid of Princess Aspicia and after experimenting with opium being transformed into her ancient Egyptian lover Taor. Taor and the revivified princess resume their romance, but her father has betrothed her to the King of Nubia, who arrives to claim her and follows the fleeing couple to the Nile, where Aspicia throws herself into the river. Beneath the waves she dances for the River God, who is so pleased that he allows her to return to dry land, where she saves Taor from execution, and the couple receive the Pharaoh's blessing (followed by Wilson awakening from his dream). A staple in the Russian repertory until the Soviet era, this 2003 revival staged by Pierre Lacotte at the Moscow Bolshoi in Petipa's style features huge sets, flamboyant costumes, and a large cast of supernumeraries (a horse-drawn chariot even appears at one point). The dancing—especially by Svetlana Zakharova (Aspicia) and Sergei Filin (Lord Wilson/Taor)—is excellent, as is the orchestral playing under Alexander Sotnikov. While Pugni's music is frankly boilerplate, it provides an innocuous backdrop for what is essentially a 19th-century equivalent of one of today's big-budget summer popcorn movies. Presented in DTS 5.1 and PCM stereo, extras include a behind-the-scenes featurette and an interview with Lacotte. A strong optional purchase. (F. Swietek)