"Scintillating" is the word which comes to mind to describe this performance of Delibes' Coppélia. Both the story and music (here presented in 2.0 Dolby stereo only, which is a shame) are among the most robust in the tradition, and here Oleg Vinogradov's choreography gives us the most extrovert depiction of an already extrovert subject. Highlights abound, but Irina Shapchits's Swanilda and ...
La Fille Mal Gardée ("The Unguarded Maiden"), perhaps the best-known work of composer Ferdinand Hérold, is here presented in a Royal Ballet production freely adapted, arranged and conducted by John Lanchbery. The unquestioned centre of attention is Royal Ballet superstar Lesley Collier who plays Lise, the beautiful farm girl whom her widowed mother (Brian Shaw) plans to marry to the ...