CD-Charts Position 1
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Sylvia [1996]

starring: Darcey Bussell, Roberto Bolle, The Royal Ballet, The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
directed by: Graham Bond

Release Date October 29, 2007
IN A NUTSHELL-boy fancies girl-girl shoots boy with an arrow,statue shoots girl-girl kidnapped by demigod-girl gets demigod drunk-girl saved by eros(the statue)reunited with boy who is not dead after all-demigod (Orion) reappears to try and snatch girl again but is shot by Diana(the huntress)boy and girl live happily ever after.Now the serious bit,this ballet will have you cheering from your seat,everyone puts their heart and soul into it,and that includes the corps de ballet.The sets are superb,and costumes are everything we've come to expect from the R.O.H.the list of star players is your guarantee of great ballet and you will not be disappointed,this deserves more than 5 stars...AND you could listen to this score without pictures that's how ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

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La Bayadere

starring: Altyani Asylmuratova, Darcey Bussell, Anthony Dowell, Irek Mukhamedov, The Royal Ballet
directed by: Natalya Makarova, Derek Bailey

Release Date August 28, 2006
Let me start with the only negative thing I have to say-Its filmed in 4:3,mind you my TV allows me to pick 4or5 different screen modes,play this set at 14:9 and its perfect.On this DVD you will find 2 of the most sensational dancers ever,Altynai Asylmuratova and Darcey Bussell,so you just know its going to be good,and it is.From the very opening scene in Act 1 til the destruction of the temple in Act 3 I thought it to be as close to perfection as you're liable to get,and I include the entire cast in that.The sets were good as were the costumes,the music of Ludwig Minkus does not require any praise from me as I could not do it justice.Someone has said this Ballet is not one of the first to spring to mind-THATS TRUE-but I think it should be up there with ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

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Darcey Bussell

starring: Darcey Bussell

Release Date November 08, 2004
I absolutely agree with the first review of this DVD. I only rented it and am glad I didn't spend any money on buying this DVD as I kept having deja vue's, or so I thought. It was actually the same scenes repeated over and over again, the Swan Lake rehearsal was shown 3 or 4 times (I actually lost count). Darcey is such an exceptional dancer, I have been fortunate enough to see her live a few times and there would have been so much more to be on offer. Also, when filming ballet it's always best to show the whole body, not just the dancer's face, the Dallas cameraman must have been quite an amateur in this field...
All in all, it's nice to have a DVD dedicated to Darcey, but run-time is 43 Minutes only (not 60 as described) of which there is too much ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

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Ballet Favourites (NTSC)

starring: American Ballet Theatre, Darcey Bussell, The Royal Ballet, The Kirov Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet

Release Date August 02, 2004
The clips here are predominantly from the Royal Ballet, with a couple from the Kirov, one from the Paris Opera & a long segment from American Ballet Theatre's Don Quixote.

Any disc with dancing from Baryshnikov, Collier, Dowell, Ferri & Bussell is worth watching.

The biggest disappointment is the sections from the Kirov: poorly directed with focus on the dancers' faces rather than the whole body in Giselle, and rather unexciting dance & choreography in Sleeping Beauty.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

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Great Pas De Deux (NTSC)

starring: Darcey Bussell, Margot Fonteyn, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Natalia Makarova, Irek Mukhamedov

Release Date March 22, 2004
This is a wonderful DVD - I just love it! It is a captivating treasure trove of wonderful dancers and a compilation to be viewed again and again. If you love ballet this one will not disappoint.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

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The Prince Of The Pagodas

starring: Darcey Bussell, Jonathan Cope

Release Date June 27, 2005
This includes an overview of Macmillans early work, which is beautiful, and an old stlye packed full of dancing maestro piece. So why only 4 stars? Not all the cast are top notch, and there is a young at heart quality required from the viewer at times, with a few longeurs, and not enough of deborah bull, but more than enough charm to warrant purchase, and the Britten score is fine.

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

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The Kumars at No. 42 [2001] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

starring: Sanjeev Bhaskar, Meera Syal, Vincent Ebrahim, Indira Joshi, Donny Osmond
directed by: Lissa Evans, Nick Wood

Release Date November 08, 2005
This includes an overview of Macmillans early work, which is beautiful, and an old stlye packed full of dancing maestro piece. So why only 4 stars? Not all the cast are top notch, and there is a young at heart quality required from the viewer at times, with a few longeurs, and not enough of deborah bull, but more than enough charm to warrant purchase, and the Britten score is fine.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

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Mayerling [1994] (REGION 1) (NTSC)

starring: Darcey Bussell, Lesley Collier, Irek Mukhamedov, The Royal Ballet, Viviana Durante
directed by: Derek Bailey

Release Date July 30, 2002
This includes an overview of Macmillans early work, which is beautiful, and an old stlye packed full of dancing maestro piece. So why only 4 stars? Not all the cast are top notch, and there is a young at heart quality required from the viewer at times, with a few longeurs, and not enough of deborah bull, but more than enough charm to warrant purchase, and the Britten score is fine.

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

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The Prince Of The Pagodas - Britten / Out Of Line [1990]

starring: The Royal Ballet, Royal Opera House Orchestra, Darcey Bussell, Fiona Chadwick, Jonathan Cope

Release Date November 25, 1991
This is worth buying for the dancers that feature in it - a very young Darcey Bussell is the principal female, the exemplary Jonathan Cope is the principal male, and Fiona Chadwick, Bruce Sansom, Deborah Bull,Sergei Pobereznic and Simon Rice also feature in dancing roles, with Anthony Dowell in a character role.

It is not a typical MacMillan ballet - I love the choreographer but this ballet isn't one of my favourites. The wonderful MacMillan pas de deux are there, however, and there are some nice ensemble dances.

I would recommend this to serious fans of the choreographer or the dancers.

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

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Mayerling [1994]

starring: Darcey Bussell, Lesley Collier, Irek Mukhamedov, Viviana Durante, The Royal Ballet

Release Date April 22, 2002
I have never seen a most complicated plot in a ballet, so it is sometimes difficult to follow. Maybe the title is misplacing, because it lets you think just to love story (following the movie). Now, after having seen it, I do think this is the story of the solitude and severing of a strange soul from his milieu, so "Mayerling" is not the emblem of a great love, but of the end of the tragic and lonely life of Rudolph. In this perspective, it is easiest to understand why all feminine characters are not central to the ballet.
In spite of this, the coreography is absolutely ravishing, most of all the pas de deux, and all artists are wonderful. I think that everybody used his/her most preminent qualities in order to achieve a better insight of the character.
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