Editorial Review:

Description:
Coppelia, a mechanical doll made by the toy-maker Dr. Coppelius, is so life-like that some believe she is his daughter. The mistake leads to intrigue and jealousy in love. This 19th century classic, in an enchanting production by Royal Ballet choreographer Dame Ninette de Valoise, with original designs by Sir Osbert Lancaster, was broadcast live by BBC television in February 2000. With Leanne Benjamin, Carlos Acosta, Luke Heydon, and Nicolae Moldaveano.

The puppet maker makes this version. His crotchety mannerisms were fun to watch. The the dancers were excellent. As usual, I could watch this over and over.

Average Rating:

Rating: - Excellent
The puppet maker makes this version. His crotchety mannerisms were fun to watch. The the dancers were excellent. As usual, I could watch this over and over.

Rating: - A common man's point of view.
This is a very wonderful ballet by the Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, with the orchestra of Royal Opera House. It has a very good quality sound, and is filmed in the 16:9 video format. It is 104 minutes running time and has most if not all of the music and dances of a full length "Coppelia".

Swanilda is played by the very accomplished ballerina, Leanne Benjamin who is also the best "Firebird" I have seen......Stravinsky - The Firebird & Les Noces / Royal Ballet......Her boyfriend Franz is played by Carlos Acosta. Luke Hayden plays the eccentric Dr. Coppelius who is so lonely, he makes life-size dolls to keep him company. The original story was called "Coppelia or the Girl With the Enamel Eyes".
Dr. Coppelius has put his latest creation "Coppelia" out on the balcony of his workshop to dry, and passers-by think the doll is a real person, so they try to coax her down from the balcony in order to get to know her.

Franz sees Her and while Dr. Coppelius is moving Her, Franz thinks the doll has thrown him a kiss, and he returns the gesture, which is seen by Swanilda and she becomes jealous. There is a big to-do with lots of wonderful music and dancing ending in (sort of) a reconciliation.

As Dr. Coppelius goes to the tavern for his nightly draught of beer, he drops his latch key and Swanilda finds it. She and her six girl-friends sneak into the house to find out what goes on there. Meantime, Franz gets a ladder to sneak in through the balcony to see the beautiful Coppelia.

Swanilda has discovered that Coppelia is just a mechanical doll, and is having all kinds of fun over the fact that her boyfriend has fallen in love with a doll. Some of the most delightful music begins when the dolls seem to come to life and begin to move about. Oh, did I tell you this is a funny ballet? The fun begins when Swanilda trades places with the doll and makes the eccentric Dr. Coppelius, think the doll has come to life.

I can't tell you any more or it will spoil YOUR fun, that is, if you have not seen Coppelia before. I know some of you have not seen her. My first time to see her I was probably 50 years old, living in Nashville,Tn.
The promoters of the ballet offered a money back guarantee to any patron who was not delighted with the performance. They got to keep their money, which was a lot more than this DVD costs. It's worth owning this DVD just to hear the music by Leo Delibes. Tchaikovsky liked the music of Leo Delibes even better than his own music. Can you believe that? It's true.

Another fabulous "Coppelia", by the way, is the Australian Ballet version......The Australian Ballet - Coppelia...... Probably a little more color in the sets and especially the costuming. There are three completely different sets in the Aussie version, and they are considerably more detailed than the Royal Ballet version. A couple of other "pluses" for the Aussies are the "dolls" and the performance in the way Franz is manipulated into giving his "lifeforces" to the doll Coppelia. Another great addition by the Aussies occures in the third act, when they added a borrowed melody from "Sylvia" to the wedding celebration. It is one of the most beautiful pieces of music the composer Leo Delibes wrote, entitled "Chant Bacchique", danced by the Brides-maids and Grooms-men in honor of the bride and groom, Swanilda and Franz. You should have BOTH Coppelias, NO, wait, you should have both COPPELIAS, and SYLVIA by the Royal Ballet....Delibes: Sylvia....Richard

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Rating: - Delibes delivers
I am not a ballet critic by any means, but an average guy, and I guess most of you out there are like me. Delibes's music has always been sweet to my ears, but I had not been interested in this ballet until I learned that my daughter's ballet company was producing it this year. I enjoyed this DVD very much and it made me wish I was watching it live. The vintage German village, costumes and dances set this production apart from other popular tales. The story is well understood watching the performance. Some situations are similar to those on kid's TV shows seen on Disney or Nickolodeon channels, so kids with interest in ballet will enjoy it. I must say being familiar with the music helps me to enjoy the performance even more. At least this has been the case for me at some ballet, musicals, and other productions like Michael Flatley's. The widescreen is a plus for watching ballet if you have a widescreen TV, that is why I chose this DVD. This DVD comes with some interesting extra features. Thanks to the Royal Ballet, the Royal Opera House and BBC for this work of art.

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Rating: - Coppelia Ballet
This video was well done. It focused on all the aspects of attending a ballet. The entire dance hall was filmed as well as the orchestra and its conductor. The ballet itself was a treat to watch. At the beginning of each act, the scenes were explained. Many dance students are not familiar with the story ballets. My students found the synopsis to be very helpful. As always, the dancing was fabulous and extremely entertaining. Bravo!!

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Rating: - Even the kids love it
We rented this from netflix and are going to have to buy it. Our children do like ballet but so far they've seen only ballets that have simple concepts. Coppelia is a bit more complicated to explain but they all enjoyed the humor and our three-year-old asked to watch it repeatedly.

I'm afraid I can give no technical review as I am only a layperson but from where we sat it all looked very good. The dancing was interesting and lively. The characters were as developed as you can get in a ballet, perhaps even more so since it was a comedy, which for some reason makes ballet characters seem more human.

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Related Items:

Giselle

Delibes: Sylvia

La Fille Mal Gardee

The Australian Ballet - Coppelia

Tchaikovsky: The Sleeping Beauty (The Royal Ballet)