Romeo & Juliet [Blu-ray]

Same production, same venue, different cast, different interpretation
This new disc, recorded in March 2012, comes into the most direct competition possible with the previous recording. That was made in November 2007 by Decca, also at the Royal Ballet with the same production but with a different cast and a Russian conductor. One might be forgiven for being rather confused at this stage as it seems that they will double up so closely as to be an unnecessary duplication. In reality they are very different performances with a completely different emotional effect almost throughout.

Individual timings of various sections are an indication of the different approaches to the interpretation. In the earlier version starring Acosta and Rojo with Boris Gruzin conducting tempi are noticeably faster with tauter movements in many sections (such as in the crowd scenes or the sword fights) than in the new version with Federico Bonelli and Lauren Cuthbertson starring with Barry Wordsworth conducting. Some of the gentler sections can be startlingly different...

A remake but the differences are mostly a matter of taste
This is a remake of the earlier Carlos Acosta Blu-ray with the same sets, costumes and even some of the same performers. How does it differ? Not a lot. The main changes are of course in the cast and this release has some interesting extras that unfortunately do not maintain the same picture quality of the ballet. Carlos Acosta is obviously stronger and more athletic than Bonelli but that is not necessarily an advantage in a ballet where Romeo is an Italian teenager and despite not matching Acosta in panache Bonelli looks more the part. Both Juliets are excellent with Paris looking better on the older set but the Priest a big improvement on this new one. The camera work is similar but the colour balance seems slightly better on this new release, particularly in the darker scenes. Tybalt is marginally more evil here but both are very good. By a whisker I prefer this release but have both and would be happy with either. The key will be Acosta versus Bonelli and here it is really a matter...



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