TURN-ONS AND TURN-OFFS IN CURRENT HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES : ****Excellent ***Good **Fair *Poor : VIDEOCASSETTES

“Swan Lake.” Kultur. $39.95. Fluently photographed in spacious, gauzy studio settings, this 1968 film represents both an adaptation and an abridgement of the familiar Kirov Ballet version choreographed by Konstantin Sergeyev. It features stylish dancing by Elena Evteyeva as Odette/Odile and John Markovsky as Siegfried, along with overwrought emoting by Makhmud Esambayev as Rothbart and manic virtuosity by Valery Panov as the ubiquitous Jester. Unfortunately, the transfer to video destroys the wide-screen compositions in the film. Most of the glorious Kirov corps is cropped out of frame and in some major passages even the Swan Queen disappears from view. Information: (800) 458-5887 **