First performed in 1890 at the Maryinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, The Sleeping Beauty is perhaps one of the most recognised and accomplished ballet performances ever conceived, prompting Rudolf Nureyev to refer to it as the “ballet of ballets.� Inspired by the fairy tales of fifteenth century French writer Charles Perrault, the director of the Imperial Theatres Ivan Vsevolozhsky devised the ballet, brought it to fruition, and designed its costumes. However, it was the ballet maestro Marius Petipa who adapted Perrault’s wondrous stories for the stage.

The most important figure in the establishment of the Russian school of ballet, Petipa worked in close collaboration with composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchailkovsky. Petipa’s disciplined choreography and Tschailkovsky’s melodic instrumental brilliance proved to be an unbeatable combination; other than Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty represented one of the first serious attempts to merge dramatic music with stage and dance.

Perrault’s immortal fairy tale is perhaps one the best known stories in all of popular literature. Throughout the King’s realm, the christening of his daughter Princess Aurora is being celebrated. The child’s fairy godmothers present her with their offerings. However, the celebrations are disrupted with the arrival of the wicked witch Carabosse, who is incensed that she has not been invited to the King’s banquet.

In retribution for this insult, Carabosse ominously predicts that Aurora, on her sixteenth birthday, will prick her finger with a needle and die. Unable to prevent the witch’s spell, the Lilac Fairy, who has not yet presented Aurora with her tribute, attempts to alleviate it; instead of dying, the Princess and the occupants of the palace will fall into a deep slumber that will remain effective for a hundred years. The King issues a decree: anyone found to be using pins or needles will be executed.

The King hosts another banquet, this time commemorating Princess Aurora’s sixteenth birthday. Amongst the pageantry, Carabosse appears within the King’s court, disguised as an elderly woman; the witch offers Aurora a floral bouquet in which she has placed an needle. Aurora pricks herself on the sharp object and promptly faints, fulfilling Carabosse’s prophecy. Stealthily, the witch creeps away from the ensuring commotion and the Lilac Fairy retrieves Aurora’s limp body, plunging the palace into a hundred-year sleep.

The Lilac Fairy magically produces a dense forest that will protect the castle for the century’s duration. Disenchanted with his lot - despite the attentions of a beautiful Countess - Prince Desire wanders into the woods in search of solitude during a hunting expedition. The Lilac Fairy materialises before the Prince, showing him an apparition of Princess Aurora; Desire immediately falls in love and, guided by the Lilac Fairy, commences his quest to find and awaken her.

Upon the Prince’s arrival at the long-derelict palace, Carabosse battles with the Lilac Fairy in an effort to prevent them from entering. The Lilac Fairy defeats the wicked witch’s spell, thus rousing the castle’s guards, courtiers and noblewomen; Aurora is revived by a kiss from Desire. The palace is soon a cathedral of light as both Princess Aurora and Prince Desire are wed. True to the spirit of Perrault’s fantastical literature, their marriage is attended by the Blue Bird, Puss in Boots and the White Cat.

The Sleeping Beauty is presented in a screen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and is anamorphic.

Blacks are solid and provide a great sense of depth. Details are very sharp, allowing for excellent definition - in particular, the ballet’s numerous lavishly ornate costumes. Although there seems to be moments where slight edge enhancement is visible, I found none of it to be disruptive to the viewing experience. Despite the rich and vibrant colour of the presentation, there is no evident colour-bleeding or oversaturation.

There are no apparent MPEG artefacts or film artefacts. Minor aliasing is present, mostly affecting stage pillars and the iron gate featured at the beginning of Act I; at no time did I consider it to be intrusive. The layer transition is well placed at 1:05:52 and occurs during a fade-out into Act II.

There is only one audio selection available, that of the English Dolby Digital 2.0. Listened to via the Dolby Pro-Logic decoder, Tchaikovsky’s lush and melodic composition is featured in all five channels, with the front soundstage delivering the bulk of the audio presentation and the rear surrounds providing the appropriate support. Naturally, there is no activity from the subwoofer.

No distortion was detected throughout The Sleeping Beauty's audio track, but there was a moment of disconcertion at 1 hour and 44 minutes; for approximately three seconds, there was a slight drop in sound level.

In addition to the 22-page booklet containing the ballet’s synopsis, this disc features a DVD-ROM supplement that includes articles on Petipa’s original choreography and Nureyev’s rendition. Also, links to the NVC Arts website are included.

Rudolf Nureyev’s version of The Sleeping Beauty is a stunning, elaborate, and flamboyant interpretation of Petipa’s magnum opus, while the video transfer itself is superb and just falls short of being reference material. Overall, The Sleeping Beauty is an essential purchase for connoisseurs of fine ballet and the arts. To coin a cliché, this stylish presentation is perhaps the next best thing to actually being at a ballet performance.