Aleko and Kashchey the Immortal were completely new operas to me. They are also ones that I wish I had come across earlier as they are lovely, moving works. To see a film version of both operas around was very intriguing, as there is not much competition on DVD around, I think there's only one other DVD of Kashchey the Immortal(though Aleko has some nice recordings). The film was very interesting and has quite a bit to like, at the same I felt it could have been much better. Starting with the good things, the scenery in both Aleko and Kashey the Immortal is very charming and the costumes are authentic. The glorious music is beautifully played again in both operas, and conducted with authority and sensitivity. The acting is believable, and the singing is just as glorious as the music. For me the standouts were Svetlana Volkova's ardent Zemfira, Konstantin Pluzhnikov's commandingly telling Kashchey and especially Yevgeni Nesterenko's hauntingly powerful Aleko(his Cavatina is beautifully sung). The colour quality however is dull, almost to the extent that you can't see very much, and the camera work has a tendency to spend too much time on objects that weren't all that important, especially true of the campfires and greenery. And for anybody new to Aleko or not, they are likely to be very confused as to where the opera begins or ends, they actually decide to tie it together with a gypsy folk song that was just irrelevant. As well as this addition, there are also cuts. I'm not so fussy usually about cuts, but when it's a cut that had no reason to be cut and actually is crucial to the story it's then when I'm not so forgiving. And this is what happened with the Young Gypsy's Romance and Kashchey's choral sections. To conclude, definitely worth watching, just fell a little short. 6.5/10 Bethany Cox
