Royal Ballet Collection Box. This was originally released in 2016. It seems this went out of print and was re-issued in 2021 with exactly the same content. Below are the discs. All of them have already been reported on this website, and you can get more details by using the links provided:
Adam Giselle. 2014. (Grade: A)
Delibes Sylvia. 2009. (Grade: A-)
Hérold La Fille mal gardée. 2015. (Grade: A-) This is a fine recording, but the 2005 version with Marianela Nuñez as Lise and Carlos Acosta as Colas is even better and, well, still indispensable.
Liszt Mayerling. 2010. (Grade: A+)
Minkus Don Quixote. 2014. (Grade: B-)
Minkus La Bayadère. 2011. (Grade: A+)
Prokofiev Romeo and Juliet. 2013. (Grade: B+) Again the older A+ version from 2007 with Carlos Acosta as Romeo, Tamaro Rojo as Juliet, and Laura Morera as the Head Harlot is still indispensable.
Talbot Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. 2011. (Grade: A+)
Talbot The Winter's Tale. 2015. (Grade: A+)
Tchaikovsky Swan Lake. 2010. (Grade: D) Just ignore this sadly obsolete title. This production is not competitive.
Tchaikovsky The Nutcracker. 2010. (Grade: B) This production is also not competitive.
Tchaikovsky Sleeping Beauty. 2009. (Grade: B+) This production is also not really competitive.
McGregor Triple Bill. 2011. (Grade: A+)
Ashton Celebration. 2013. (Grade: A)
Ashton Rhapsody/The Two Pigeons. 2016. (Grade: B-)
What should you make of this offer? At this time it appears the box will be priced (in 2021) at about $123. So if you wanted all 15 titles, that would work out to $8 per title. If you don’t have many ballet titles and you want to take a plunge, this would be an excellent value. I note there are 8 titles here I graded A. So at $123 you would get a bunch of A titles for about $15 each with some weaker titles for free.
But the only titles above that are on my Dance Hit Parade List are the Alice, the McGregor Triple Bill, and the Winter's Tale. None of the famous Tchaikovsky ballets from the ROH are competitive. And both the Romeo and Juliet and the Fille mal gardée are second rate to other versions that are also offered by the ROH! So if you went a la carte, there might be only 4 titles from the box you would buy. This would be 3 from the Hit Parade + Mayerling, an excellent show that no body else will likely ever record. Well, buying those 4 titles might cost $140. So at $123 you get a very fair deal on the best titles and a bunch of other decent titles for free. This seems like a bargain however you cut it.
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