G/G: 1988 LP or 1994 Moonlight Sonata? Moonlight Sonata. The cool classicism of the choreography and the performance was in complete harmony with the music, and the implicit trust between them and his support of her that reflected the "push" of the music are, to me, the ultimate romanticism.
M/D: 1992 Liebestraume or 1994 Rachmanioff 2nd? Rach, by a hair. I loved the tension in Liebestraum, although I hate the music and the two "flexibility" moves at the end -- her butt-in-the-air and backbend crotch shot spread eagles, both of which which I found vulgar. Rach had less tension between them, which I liked less, but the program on the whole was quite beautiful.
S/P: Tristan & Isodore or Love Story 2002? Love Story, by far. It's the difference between a "classic" program done well enough, and a fluff piece perfectly formed to the skaters and perfectly performed.
To mix some metaphors, not every piece can be Swan Lake or Agon or Tristan und Isolde, which are choreographically/musically superior -- more "high" art -- but are performed less well too often for comfort. Sometimes a beautifully performed Coppelia or Merry Widow can make a wonderful diet of champagne and strawberries; not everything has to be steak.
B/S: Chaplin 2001 or Medi 2002? Neither. I would choose Chaplin 2002, in the definitive performance they gave at Cup of Russia, which, in my opinion, was one of the greatest pairs performances of all time. I thought Medi had beautiful choreography to gorgeous music, except for the rollover lift, where Berezhnaia started bent over with her butt in the air, which marred the image for me. However, I thought that while B&S consistently performed beautifully when they were flying, I never once saw a performance that I didn't think was broken by execution of the slower parts and transitions into them, especially in and out of the pairs spin. If I had to choose between the two, I'd say Chaplin 2001, because, it was so original and unusual and cool, and quite brave of them to use.
MK: Lyra or 2003 LP-the name escaped me? I think the choregraphy for Lyra was quite a bit stronger, but that when a skater has a programatic "back story" -- i.e., to show how much she loves the freedom and movement in skating -- s/he sets herself up for a fall: it's not possible to perform the program to that level of flight each time. I think Aranjuez had the changes of speed and intensity, as well as a bit of character, that made Kwan appear far more free in this program than in Lyra.
Lu Chen: Rach 2nd or Butterfly Lovers.? Rach 2nd, by a hair, because of execution, which was superb. I'm not among those who love this program, because I felt that the choreography fought the music at times, which broke the tension for me.
