The Royal Ballet - The Collection

Marianela Nuñez (Odette/Odile); Thiago Soares (Prince Siegfried); Alina Cojocaru (Princess Aurora); Federico Bonelli (Prince Florimund); Miyako Yoshida (The Sugar Plum Fairy); Steven McRae (The Prince); Natalia Osipova (Giselle); Carlos Acosta (Count Albrecht); Lauren Cuthbertson (Juliet); Federico Bonelli (Romeo); Natalia Osipova (Lise); Edward Watson (Leontes);

Celebrating 60 years since The Royal Ballet was awarded its Royal Charter, this magnificent 15-disc collection brings together 22 ballets spanning a decade of dance.

The Collection illustrates the breadth of The Royal Ballet’s work: from such 19th-century classics as Giselle, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker through works by the Company’s heritage choreographers Frederick Ashton (including La Fille mal gardée and Rhapsody) and Kenneth MacMillan (Romeo and Juliet and Mayerling), to contemporary classics by The Royal Ballet’s Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon (Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, The Winter’s Tale) and Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor (Chroma, Infra and Limen).

A special edition book is also included, containing new articles about The Royal Ballet, richly illustrated with stunning photographs.

Giselle (2013)
Music: Adolphe Adam
Giselle: Natalia Osipova
Albrecht: Carlos Acosta
Choreography: Marius Petipa after Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot
Conductor: Boris Gruzin
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La Bayadère (2009)
Music: Ludwig Minkus
Nikiya: Tamara Rojo
Solor: Carlos Acosta
Gamzatti: Marianela Nuñez
Choreography: Natalia Makarova
Conductor: Valeriy Ovsyanikov
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Don Quixote (2013)
Music: Ludwig Minkus
Kitri: Marianela Nuñez
Basilio: Carlos Acosta
Don Quixote: Christopher Saunders
Choreography: Carlos Acosta after Marius Petipa
Conductor: Martin Yates
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The Sleeping Beauty (2006)
Music: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Aurora: Alina Cojocaru
Florimund: Federico Bonelli
Lilac Fairy: Marianela Nuñez
Choreography: Marius Petipa, Frederick Ashton, Anthony Dowell, Christopher Wheeldon
Conductor: Valeriy Ovsyanikov
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The Nutcracker (2009)
Music: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Sugar Plum Fairy: Miyako Yoshida
Prince: Steven McRae
Choreography: Peter Wright after Lev Ivanov
Conductor: Koen Kessels
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Swan Lake (2009)
Music: Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky
Odette: Marianela Nuñez
Prince Siegfried: Thiago Soares
Choreography: Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov
Conductor: Valeriy Ovsyanikov
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Sylvia (2005)
Music: Léo Delibes
Sylvia: Darcey Bussell
Aminta: Roberto Bolle
Orion: Thiago Soares
Choreography: Frederick Ashton
Conductor: Graham Bond

La Fille mal gardée (2015)
Music: Ferdinand Hérold
Lise: Natalia Osipova
Colas: Steven McRae
Choreography: Frederick Ashton
Conductor: Barry Wordsworth
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Rhapsody (2015)
Music: Sergey Rachmaninoff
Dancers: Natalia Osipova, Steven McRae
Choreography: Frederick Ashton
Conductor: Barry Wordsworth
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The Two Pigeons (2015)
Music: André Messager
The Young Girl: Lauren Cuthbertson
The Young Man: Vadim Muntagirov
A Gypsy Girl: Fumi Kaneko
Her Lover: Ryoichi Hirano
Choreography: Frederick Ashton
Conductor: Barry Wordsworth
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Ashton Celebration (2013)
La Valse: Hikaru Kobayashi, Ryoichi Hirano, Samantha Raine, Bennet Gartside, Helen Crawford, Brian Maloney
‘Meditation’ from Thaïs: Leanne Benjamin, Valeri Hristov
Voices of Spring: Yuhui Choe, Alexander Campbell
Monotones I and II: Emma Maguire, Akane Takada, Dawid Trzensimiech, Marianela Nuñez, Federico Bonelli, Edward Watson
Marguerite and Armand: Tamara Rojo, Sergei Polunin
Choreography: Frederick Ashton
Conductor: Emmanuel Plasson

Romeo and Juliet (2012)
Music: Sergei Prokofiev
Juliet: Lauren Cuthbertson
Romeo: Federico Bonelli
Choreography: Kenneth MacMillan
Conductor: Barry Wordsworth
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Mayerling (2009)
Music: Franz Liszt
Prince Rudolf: Edward Watson
Baroness Mary Vetsera: Mara Galeazzi
Choreography: Kenneth Macmillan
Conductor: Barry Wordsworth
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Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (2011)
Music: Joby Talbot
Alice: Lauren Cuthbertson
Jack / The Knave of Hearts: Sergei Polunin
Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon
Conductor: Barry Wordsworth
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The Winter’s Tale (2014)
Music: Joby Talbot
Leontes: Edward Watson
Hermione: Lauren Cuthbertson
Perdita: Sarah Lamb
Paulina: Zenaida Yanowsky
Florizel: Steven McRae
Polixenes: Federico Bonelli
Choreography: Christopher Wheeldon
Conductor: David Briskin
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Wayne McGregor triple programme (2008)
Music: Chroma (Joby Talbot and Jack White III); Infra (Max Richter); Limen (Kaija Saariaho)
Chroma: Tamara Rojo, Federico Bonelli, Edward Watson, Sarah Lamb
Infra: Edward Watson, Leanne Benjamin, Lauren Cuthbertson, Eric Underwood
Limen: Sarah Lamb, Edward Watson, Lauren Cuthbertson, Steven McRae, Eric Underwood
Choreography: Wayne McGregor
Conductors: Daniel Capps, Barry Wordsworth

Reviews

"Anthony Dowell’s production...offers the ultimate classical experience, with the sights and sounds of a proud 19th century tradition running at full throttle. Fancy a romantic tragedy in a tutu? Then this is the ballet for you...The production as a whole is beautifully formed and dramatically convincing...And praise, too, for the corps, who made us feel the sorrow and anger of the swans’ collective misfortune." (The Times - Swan Lake)

"[Darcey Bussell] dances with perfect precision in the pizzicato divertissement and is ravishingly radiant in the pas de deux powerfully partnered by Roberto Bolle who also displays some soaring elevation as the shepherd Aminta. Mara Galeazzi has developed into an accomplished performer and shines as Diana with Martin Harvey providing a superb and mischievous Eros. It is gorgeous - do not miss it." (The Stage - Sylvia)

"In 2006, the company revived its classic Sleeping Beauty, featuring pretty Oliver Messel designs and a spruce choreography combining the romantic Petipa original with Ashton's hallmark narrative. Nuñez is charm personified as the Lilac Fairy, and has there ever been a more enchanting Aurora than Cojocaru?" ((BBC Music Magazine - Sleeping Beauty ★★★★)

"…while Mara Galeazzi as Mary Vetsera nearly stole the show with her natural conviction, exuberance and authoritative technique, the evening belonged to Watson as Rudolf, one of the most challenging male roles ever created." (The Sunday Express - Mayerling)

"One of the very best seasonal treats for children and adults alike, the Royal Ballet’s Nutcracker is a handsome, magical, thoroughly traditional rendering of ETA Hoffmann’s immortal if deeply strange story." (The Sunday Express - Nutcracker)

""Overall, this is one of the best productions of a classical ballet that the ROH has ever staged or filmed." ((Musicweb International - Bayadère)

"What a treat this is - such an imaginative treatment of a favourite story. There are extraordinary, eccentric sets and special effects; colourful, larger-than-life, argumentative characters and extraordinary costumes. Lauren Cuthbertson, as Alice, is excellent, her every movement suggesting the actions and emotions of this curious, spirited pre-adolescent... Christopher Wheeldon’s choreography is very imaginative and fitting for every character." (Musicweb International - Alice)" (Musicweb International - Alice)

"... a jovial and entertaining showcase for classical dancing at its most demanding and exuberant. One of the pleasures of this ballet is to be tickled by Minkus's infectiously melodious score... Marianela Nuñez and Acosta delivered sparky, engaging performances." (The Times - Don Quixote)

"Natalia Osipova’s Giselle is the most radical I’ve ever seen. Not because she takes any liberties with this Romantic classic – she dances with pure line, superb technique and feeling for the ballet’s style – but because her dramatic intelligence brings it to such fresh, burning life. The Royal Ballet looks energised by its new star, with a strong company performance around her. Acosta partners her with devoted care, and responds to her dazzling dancing with renewed sharpness and attack of his own. Led by Valentino Zucchetti and Yuhui Choe, the peasant pas de six has an airy precision." (The Independent - Giselle ★★★★★)

"he ensuing competition between their solo variations is thrilling, not simply because of McRae’s soaringly athletic jump and Osipova’s skimming footwork, but because they dance all the little steps with such fierce, articulated detail. When the two dancers meet and melt into their central pas de deux, the lyricism of their suspended lifts, the lavish meshing of their bodies is all the more transcendent for having been hard won." (The Guardian - Rhapsody ★★★★)