Initially I wondered if making a ballet of Ravel's superb opera wasn't slightly to overload it, but on further viewing I have come to really love it. Of course the sense of overload is compounded by the subtitles, but once you know the work and can watch it without there is a kind of perfection, as if this is really the 'gesamtkunstwerk' that Wagner was aiming for, brought off by a Frenchman in 45 minutes! It has magical music, a fabulous libretto that must be one of the most imaginative in all opera, great scope for sets, and now brilliant choreography as well! As another reviewer has said, it is very difficult to bring off on stage because you can't sing and do justice to the physical projection the roles ideally require, but it certainly does require some physical action. The Nederlands Dans Theater do brilliantly here with all the parts very imaginatively realised. The whole thing is completely thrilling and leaves you awestruck - the section with fire, for instance, is totally spellbinding, and the number with the teapot and cup is wonderfully witty from every angle. The way that cup and saucer tilts like a polystyrene tutu is absolutely priceless - where else could you hope to see such a thing? There is also some superb singing to be heard in the recording directed by Lorin Maazel. If Peter and the Wolf is presented in a rather more low key version, I found it very winning as well. After all, it is very much meant for children, and those at the Royal Ballet School are amazingly fluent and skilled, as well as acting their roles very well, I thought. Anthony Dowell narrates with just the right character and his moves as the grandfather are fantastic, even with a walking stick! It's true that the set is very simple but this makes an interesting foil to the elaborate mise en scene of the Ravel. I would say this is a must-see DVD particularly for anyone who has fallen under Ravel's beguiling spell!
