Adam - Giselle / Carla Fracci, Erik Bruhn, John Lanchbery, American Ballet Theatre

I sympathize with reviewers who are put off by the artistic excesses in filming this version. A pity, because Ive owned many Giselles over the years and whenever I come back to this one, Im reminded of all the reasons Fracci remains my favorite. She has an energy and charisma that is not matched by other ballerinas who have performed this. That said, I rate Fracci 5*, the other principals and corps 4*, and the camerawork 2*. That averages somewhere between 3 & 4. For the best overall Giselle, combining youthful freshness, exquisite performances, direction and camerawork, my favorite is the La Scala version with Alessandra Ferri.

I saw this ballet danced by Brun in the 70s on T.V.. The performance by Brun was brillant. I ordered this DVD hoping I would still feel the same way after all these years. I was not disappointed and the DVD was of the highest quality and the dancing was as magical as I remembered it to be!

I saw the name Carla Fracci and snapped like a salmon at this video.

I reviewed this yesterday and am only writing this because that was not quite correct. This is a movie which I hadn’t realized when I ordered it. The scenery, costumes are so elaborate they take aware from the gorgeous impact that actual ballet has had on me so many times. The filming of it is totally different than seeing it in person...

How David Blair could allow this insult to the dancers is beyond me. I noted that some people liked the performance, but Im at a loss to know how they actually saw the performance! Trying to watch an artist dance, through the back of huge hats, bad quality glass and anything else the director could find to put in front of them, was, to say the least, distracting. Add to that a camera that was moving so constantly that I almost felt sea-sick and editing that rarely stayed on the same shot for more than a few seconds and constantly interrupted the dance with completely irrelevant and distracting views of everything from a plate of fruit to galloping horses as seen from a galloping horse! Ballet is a theatrical art, but many others have shown that it can be totally cinematic. If you trust it and leave it alone, it will automatically weave its magic spell.

After reading all the glowing reviews I was sorely disappointed in this adaptation of my favorite ballet. The director seemed to think adding story lines. filmed like Van Dam action scenes would give the ballet to a different viewpoint. Instead it just serves to distract from a great dancing experience. Pass it up.

THIS IS THE BEST VIDEO RECORDED GISELLE I HAS SEEN SO FAR. EXCELLENT! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED IF YOU LOVE THE GISELLE BALLET LIKE I DO.

Note that this 2005 Deutsche Grammophon release of the 1968 ABT Fracci/Bruhn Giselle conducted by John Lanchbery is the identical production previously available on the now-withdrawn Polygram issue. Amazon reviews shown at either entry pertain equally to both releases. There is no need to pay an inflated price for an out-of-print copy of the earlier Polygram release.

Had the priviledge of seeing Fracci dance Giselle, live, and left me in tears. I can understand the criticisms of the odd camera shots but the DVD is superb. The dancing is sublime. The quality of the picture is unbelievable given when it was done.

I thought it would be little more Modern ballet. Instead, theres an awful lot of traditional dancing around, and then everyone dies. Then they dance some more.