JohnS

A truly memorable weekend with Swan Lake and International Draft Works before the final MacMillan Triple Bill albeit not all for the best reasons with Ryoichi Hirano’s injury, other cast illnesses, and the audience problems. For the final Triple Bill performance I was delighted to be sitting in a favourite seat (Stalls H4) above the gangway so unrestricted views of the stage. I’m very sorry Reece Clarke was poorly necessitating the cast change for the lead dancers but it was a privilege to have seen Marcelino Sambe and Francesca Hayward from such a fabulous seat. Saturday’s Different Drummer was unbearably raw, utterly draining, and Sambe, Hayward and Serrano gave an astonishing performance which will live long in the memory. The audience problems with shouting up in the slips were clearly audible in the stalls but for me they didn't detract from the spellbinding performance on stage. Requiem was proving the perfect complement but Ryoichi Hirano pulled up suddenly (though as others have said he hadn’t looked entirely comfortable before) and left the stage part way through Libera Me. It left rather a gap as Luca Acri didn’t have anyone doing the ‘heavy lifting’ so the improvisation was rather earthbound. For In Paradisum enormous congratulations to Matthew Ball who held Sarah Lamb in a high one legged lift albeit not standing on his shoulder - not even Ball could lift Lamb and place her to stand on his shoulder. He then walked backwards to the back of the stage with Sarah Lamb, transcendent, facing the audience looking to the beyond. I guess many of the audience wouldn’t have known things had gone awry. I saw Kevin O’Hare at the Stage Door so could offer congratulations and many thanks to him for devising such a tremendous Triple Bill. I said I hoped there’d be another challenging Triple Bill next year. As regards the dancers, I spoke to Teo Dubreuil who was the Different Drummer Christ figure and in Requiem. He hadn’t heard the audience shouting so perhaps other dancers hadn’t as the disturbance was news to him. Isabella Gasperini was also in Requiem after her sixth Danses Concertantes lead so it was very good to congratulate her. Luca Acri was pleased they’d managed to improvise after Ryo’s injury. Matthew Ball was with Mayara Magri. They’d danced in International Draft Works in the Linbury that afternoon which I’d seen and I thought Matt’s ‘To & Fro’ one of the best - very polished and certainly made me smile. I hadn’t gone to the Stage Door the previous evening so it was good to chat to Mayara and I’m certainly looking forward to her and Marcelino Sambe’s next Swan Lake when I’m sure I’ll be more Swan Lake centred. Matthew Ball impresses me more and more and with ‘To & Fro’ and the remarkable Requiem improvisation, quite a day for him. Ryoichi Hirano came out on crutches and wearing a protective boot. He was very happy to chat to all and have photos/sign programmes etc. Sarah Lamb was last out - I was about to go as the other well wishers had just gone and I’m very pleased I had chance to have a few words. She brings a very special quality to ballet and I’ve been very taken with the serene aura she projects in Requiem. On the way home on Sunday, I called in Rheged for the cinema encore and was hugely impressed. I’m delighted we have such a good recording of Different Drummer and Requiem although I think I have a marginal preference for Matthew Ball rather than Will Bracewell in the role. I found the cinema encore of Requiem particularly moving despite my third viewing, I guess in part because the previous evening’s performance had been affected by Ryoichi Hirano’s injury and it was so good to see such a wonderfully strong, collective performance. I do very much hope we won’t have to wait as long as we did this time before having chance to see these ballets in the theatre again. Hopefully we’ll have a stream or DVD recording but there’s nothing to beat live performance in the theatre for such intense ballets.

A hugely enjoyable evening and many congratulations to Yasmine Naghdi, Matthew Ball, and the corps. I thought their performance irresistible and with a bit more precision in some supporting roles, I think we’re in for a cinema relay treat. It was very good to see Yasmine and Matt at the stage door and with dancers ever striving for perfection there was talk of further polishing/refinement from them. For my part, I’d happily settle for a repeat performance. What really impressed me was that they both seemed absolutely in time with the music and convincing in the roles. I know there’s been a fair bit of criticism of Siegfried’s role in Act 4 but I wonder if there’s a bit of exaggeration? Siegfried is knocked out by Von Rothbart at exactly the same time as Odette’s fatal leap so it’s too late for him to save Odette. But he has resisted Von Rothbart up to the time of Odette’s sacrifice. I accept it’s very much Swan power that overcomes Von Rothbart but I’m more than happy with that. And I’ve always been touched by Odette’s spirit offering protection/solace to Siegfried in the closing moments: even if Siegfried isn’t conscious of Odette’s spirit, the audience (albeit those who can see Odette’s spirit) can think that in time Siegfried will appreciate and ultimately accept Odette’s blessing.

I enjoyed today’s General Rehearsal despite a false alarm going off during Act 1 and a ten minute delay with the audience remaining in the theatre. Some hugely impressive singing, I noticed some changes to the production which I rather liked, and fabulous flute playing. I’m certainly looking forward to a full performance on 10th May so can say more then.

I should say just the closing lines.

A memorable cinema relay despite the sound problems in the first part of Danses Concertantes. I managed to see the live relay in Keswick and Rheged’s delayed ‘live’ relay on Thursday evening. Unsurprisingly the two sound glitches were still there and Rheged were pretty sure they’d also be there for the encore. At least knowing the glitches are relatively short and are only in Danses Concertantes might help those going to the encore. Hopefully something will be done before the Triple Bill is streamed or released on DVD. I’ve been very taken with Danses Concertantes and congratulations to Isabella Gasperini for leading all performances. And I thought all 14 dancers had that sparky, joie de vivre which makes Danses Concertantes so infectious, a testament to all of them and I’m sure Laura Morera’s staging. I found Different Drummer hugely impressive and it was very good to see the detail, for example Marie’s intoxication with the Drum Major. Marcelino Sambe and Francesca Hayward were mesmerising and so well supported by all the cast. Francisco Serrano made for a swaggering, confident Drum Major, more assured than on opening night. I still think there are tensions between the ballet and the music. Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht and Richard Dehmel's poem which Schoenberg so wonderfully evokes, are forgiving and uplifting: the man accepts his lover’s child as his own: "Do not let the child you have conceived be a burden on your soul. Look, how brightly the universe shines! Splendour falls on everything around, you are voyaging with me on a cold sea, but there is the glow of an inner warmth from you in me, from me in you. That warmth will transfigure the stranger's child, and you bear it me, begot by me. You have transfused me with splendour, you have made a child of me. He puts an arm about her strong hips. Their breath embraces in the air. Two people walk on through the high, bright night" That seems in marked contrast to the bleakness of Buchner’s play and Berg’s opera. At the end of Different Drummer Woyzeck has murdered Marie after bringing her down with that crunching slide. Sambe immediately shows the most anguished remorse where for him suicide, drowning in the bath rather than Buchner’s or Berg’s lake, is the only option. That remorse and the appalling treatment Woyzeck has received from the Captain, Doctor and Drum Major, can elicit some sympathy but its poles apart from Verklarte Nacht. MacMillan’s revised ending I think is even bleaker with Woyzeck’s spirit stumbling along the railway track to goodness knows where and I do wonder if his initial intention of having Marie and Woyzeck transfigured together would work better. It would certainly be more in keeping with the music. Requiem provides extraordinary solace. A fabulous cast with Sarah Lamb serenity embodied. I thought the close ups didn't quite work for Will Bracewell where in his solo, any movements in those held positions were magnified. In the theatre Matthew Ball to me appeared statuesque having taken his positions. But I’d certainly treasure a recording at some point, particularly for Sarah Lamb’s radiance, but all the soloist and cast have made for a memorable performance. I noted the criticisms above about the supporting information and cinema relay extras and I do agree that these came across as too vacuous: insufficient as regards content with no explanation of the Woyzeck narrative; and too much ‘isn’t this wonderful’ and how brilliantly MacMillan chose and used the music, all asserted rather than argued. As regards the lack of synopses, it was only in going to the cinema relays that I saw just how much blank space there was on the cast sheet - two thirds of the second page was empty. I can’t understand why the Royal Ballet won’t make an effort to provide simple synopses which in the Triple Bill would help audiences unfamiliar with Woyzeck: for example explaining that Woyzeck is subjecting himself to the Doctor’s experiments for the extra money to support Marie and their child; and that Woyzeck drowns himself having killed Marie. And surely some discussion on how well MacMillan used music, perhaps contrasting Requiem and Verklarte Nacht, would have been a great deal more informative. There were also some throw away remarks about how all dancers in Requiem had their own ways of expressing their grief but I haven’t seen this as I’ve been more taken with the collective reactions - Introit’s fist shaking rage and the serenity of In Paradisum. It seems Benesch notation includes a great deal of written annotation which would be fascinating to read and significantly more helpful than the presenters’ comments that the meaning being conveyed is obvious. Looking forward to tonight’s final performance and catching the Cinema encore on the way home tomorrow if all goes well. I can’t wait for Kevin O’Hare’s next MacMillan Triple but I guess it won’t be next season.

I very much enjoyed last night’s Swan Lake with Mayara Magri and Marcelino Sambe in great form and I found them well matched. Very impressed with the debuts: Taisuke Nakao’s Benno - fabulous jumps with the softest of landings; David Donnelly’s Von Rothbart - great stage presence and well danced. I liked Sae Maeda and Ashley Dean’s sisters although I found some of the tempi a bit slow (not just for the pd3 but also some of Act 2). I very much liked Madison Bailey’s and Liam Boswell’s Neopolitan dance. Fabulous Big Swans, Cygnets and corps. The slight ’but’ for me is that I’m still so very much MacMillan Triple Bill dominated. It astonishes me that Sambe can dance Siegfried so convincingly after Tuesday’s Woyzeck (and for me Thursday’s delayed ‘live’ screening), a testament to his professionalism and that of the Royal Ballet. What I can say is that I’m really looking forward to seeing this cast on 27 April when I’ll be much more Swan Lake orientated.

I’m not sure when the new Season will be announced but today I received an invitation to the Friends' 2024/25 Season Preview (8 May 2024 in the Linbury Theatre). I can’t recall how close this event has been to Season announcements in recent years but we may have to wait a few more weeks for the full details.

I do sympathise @Vanartus. I know it’s not the same but hopefully at some point there’ll be a recording on the ROH Stream and/or a DVD.

There’s always the cinema relay where I’m rather spoiled: Keswick screen tomorrow’s live relay; Rheged, with it’s enormous screen, shows the ‘live’ relay on Thursday; and both offer the Sunday afternoon matinee. I’m going to Saturday’s final performance so if the train plus the bus replacement from Oxenholme run to time on Sunday, I could make Rheged’s encore. Having not seen the Triple Bill since opening night, I’m delighted to have chance to catch two performances and possibly repeats of the cinema relay.

If it’s not going to cause you too much grief, I think it would be very good to let Customer Services know what happened. As @Sim says, they will be able to identify who bought the tickets behind you. Other people may also have complained, either about last night’s experiences or at other times. My understanding is that the ROH have on occasions taken action to exclude audience members. And there may be some useful lessons for Front of House staff.

An awful experience @emmarose which must have massively impacted on what should have been a fabulous evening. You may well have complained to Front of House staff but I’d be inclined to contact the ROH and set out what happened. I’m sure Customer Services would investigate and take appropriate action. The email is: customerservices@roh.org.uk

And quite a contrast with Wozzeck where last year’s programme has a very clear synopsis - well presented in large print over three pages, each Act on one page and separate paragraphs for the five scenes in each Act.

Whilst there’s no stand alone synopsis, I do think the paragraphs on Different Drummer in the first three programme articles by Jann Parry, Jonathan Gray and Gavin Plumley are informative and give helpful insight to the drama and music. I also rather liked having Requiem printed in full in Latin and English. The cast sheet doesn’t have anything by way of synopses, other than a reference to Requiem being dedicated to John Cranko. A shame as there’s masses of white space on page 2 so it would have been relatively easy to include a sentence on Danses Concertantes and Requiem, and perhaps a short paragraph on Different Drummer within the two pages.

Many thanks @Dawnstar. I think it well worthwhile getting the programme - helpful articles, including two by Jann Parry; some historic photos, including from the last 2011 Requiem with Lauren Cuthbertson reprising her role this run; and many photos of the dancers in rehearsal albeit Anna Rose O’Sullivan, in a full page photo with Vadim Muntagirov, sadly didn’t make the actual performances.

Just to flag up Friday Rush this week is tomorrow, Maundy Thursday 28 March 2024. https://www.roh.org.uk/ticket-deals/friday-rush