Wiener Philharmoniker, Hollreiser - Strauss: Jospehs Legende (DVD)

This ballet DVD - which, as choreographer/director John Neumeier's notes explain, is a heavily revised version of Strauss's 1914 original - has to be seen to be believed.

The Biblical story of the Joseph's encounter with Potiphar and his wife and Strauss's lushly orchestrated score are supposedly being used to epitomise the conflict between sacred and profane love.

At least in this 1977 production, however, both loves are presented as most decidedly erotic. While that might be expected in the episodes involving Joseph and Potiphar's wife, the sexual elements are made more than obvious in the encounters between Joseph and Potiphar himself (apparently missing any sort of sex life with his frigid wife) and, more surprisingly, perhaps, Joseph and the angel who intervenes to protect him at various crucial points in the plot.

Region Code: NTSC Region 0