Australia The Australian Ballet in Rudolf Nureyev’s Film of Don Quixote: The Australian Ballet, The State Orchestra of Victoria (formerly The Elizabethan Trust Melbourne Orchestra) / John Lanchbery (conductor). Filmed in 1973, restored and remastered in 1999, and currently available on medici.tv. (JPr)
In July 2023 as a ‘Special 50th Anniversary Presentation’ Rudolf Nureyev’s famous 1973 film version of the ballet Don Quixote (aka The Impossible Dream) reached cinema audiences for the first time, though I missed it then. It was filmed – as some of the blurb accompanying the release reminded us – ‘in an airport hangar in 40 degrees over 25 days’. That hanger was in Essendon, Victoria, Australia, and other sources confirm that it was not the happiest experience for all. When even learning a routine for BBC TV’s Strictly Come Dancing can bring choreographer and dancer into well-publicised conflict; it is no surprise that Rudolf Nureyev, a notoriously hard taskmaster on himself and others, might not have made too many friends because of the stress of a tight shooting schedule.
Nureyev once said, ‘As long as my ballets are danced, I will live’, and ‘live’ he still does with his 1964 Swan Lake (one of the first full-length ballets he created a version of) can still be seen in Vienna (review here) and others he choreographed are also regularly performed by other ballet companies including those in Paris and Milan. Nureyev’s Don Quixote (review here) entered the repertoire of the Paris Opera Ballet in 1981, shortly before he became their Director of Dance in 1984, a position he held until 1989.
But back to 1973, Nureyev was as the height of his considerable powers as the leading male dancer of his generation – and arguably of all time – as well as a well-respected choreographer. What he has left us with is regarded by some as the best dance film ever made. That is as it may be but what is without question is that it is a lasting testament to how he continued to push artistic boundaries through his creative vision, blazing stage magnetism and prodigious dance talent. All this and more can be seen in Don Quixote. Nureyev co-directed the film with legendary former dancer – and then Artistic Director of The Australian Ballet – Sir Robert Helpmann. It was photographed by Geoffrey Unsworth (whose other credits included Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 2001: A Space Odyssey and Bob Fosse’s 1972 Cabaret). This Don Quixote has been available in various formats from Opus Arte for a few years. Was this the same version that was seen in cinemas last year and currently can be seen on medici.tv, if you know otherwise please let me know?
Regardless at last I have been able to see the 1999 re-mastered, restored and re-orchestrated film and what a delight it was from the use of the engravings about Don Quixote and his adventures by nineteenth-century French artist Gustave Doré to the exuberant finale as the music ends and everything fades to black.
Though based on episodes taken from Miguel de Cervantes’s early-seventeenth-century novel Don Quixote de la Mancha the stock characters of commedia dell’arte feature heavily in Marius Petipa’s libretto for his 1869 Bolshoi Theatre ballet. There is the father (the innkeeper Lorenzo) wanting to marry his daughter (Kitri) off to a rich, older gentleman (Gamache) while she is in love with someone penniless whom her father deems unsuitable (the barber Basilio). Other commedia dell’arte tropes include disguises, trickery, chasing about and physical humour all of which you get in the ballet. There is also a wily servant (the glutinous squire Sancho Panza) whose master, Don Quixote, seems to live for his books and believes himself to be one of the valiant knights from the romantic tales he reads. Having envisioned Dulcinea – his ideal woman – in his dreams he sets off to save her from harm in his quest for love.
What Nureyev left us with is a dance spectacle in realistic sets and gorgeous costumes. The action of the first act is set in the port of Barcelona with its bustling street life and slightly ramshackled buildings; Act II begins with the suggestion of a Romani camp ‘haunted’ by several derelict-looking windmills, before there is a gilded and colonnaded backdrop for the enchanted garden when Don Quixote hallucinates about encountering Dulcinea; finally the wedding celebration takes place in a candle-lit, tapestry lined city square. The costumes are a riot of colour with Nureyev’s penchant for the use of russet seen in the crowd scenes.
Most of all the film allows us the snapshot of watching how exceptional the great Russian dancer was. There is no one I have seen in the current generation of dancers who is such an absolutely assured partner, consummate actor, and exhilaratingly virtuosic talent as Nureyev. Just watch his hand shaping in the closeups of his performance and ponder if you ever see it as good as that from any male dancer these days. Of course, this Don Quixote has a much-enhanced role for Basilio and you would expect nothing else in something Nureyev has choreographed for himself! There is much fast, fiddly and stamina-sapping footwork right from the first of a number of duets for him and Kitri which pepper the ballet. Gravity-defying soaring, as well as all the diving and one-arm lifts will make you catch your breath right from the start. Then there are the exhilarating grand jetés and fouettés of the concluding pas de deux, though a highlight of this Don Quixote is the very tender and sensual love duet for Kitri and Basilio at the start of the second act.
We watch the somewhat bewildered Don Quixote set off on his quest part way through the first act rather than – as we are more familiar with – at the start of the ballet and he enters the action riding a real horse. How wonderful it is to be given the reminder of what a fine actor Sir Robert Helpmann was though he gets limited opportunities here. Ray Powell has great fun as Don Quixote’s roly-poly sidekick. There is lively dancing for several other soloists as well as the corps in the crowd scenes and very often Geoffrey Unsworth’s camera brings us right into all the fun. The elegant Dryads in their tutus in Act II seem to be from a different ballet world entirely (which of course they are) and they are led by Marilyn Rowe’s Queen (she is also the sultry Street Dancer) and Patricia Cox’s spirited Cupid. Kelvin Coe is the preening, macho matador Espada and the vigorous Act III ensemble Fandango is another highlight. Lucette Aldous doubled as the ethereal Dulcinea whilst she was a vibrant, athletic and energetic – if not very flirtatious – Kitri with Gailene Stock and Caroline Rappell as her vivacious girlfriends.
Ludwig Minkus’s score – as adapted by John Lanchbery – is full of wonderfully infectious dance rhythms. It all sounds well-played and expertly and joyously conducted by Lanchbery himself.
Unmissable!
Jim Pritchard
Creatives:
Music – Ludwig Minkus (arranged and conducted by John Lanchbery)
Additional music – John Lanchbery
Choreography – Rudolf Nureyev (after Marius Petipa)
Directors – Rudolf Nureyev and Robert Helpmann
Production designer and Costumes – Barry Kay
Director of photography – Geoffrey Unsworth
Art director – William Hutchinson
Producer – John L Hargreaves
Editor – Anthony Buckley
Cast:
Robert Helpmann – Don Quixote
Ray Powell – Sancho Panza
Rudolf Nureyev – Basilio
Francis Croese – Lorenzo
Lucette Aldous – Kitri / Dulcinea
Colin Peasley — Gamache
Marilyn Rowe — Queen of the Dryads / Street Dancer
Patricia Cox – Cupid
Kelvin Coe — Espada
Gailene Stock — First Girl Friend
Caroline Rappell — Second Girl Friend
Ronald Bekker — First Matador
John Meehan — Second Matador