Jump to content

JohnS

Moderators
  • Posts

    1,888
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by JohnS

  1. 50 minutes ago, alison said:

    Funny how none of the programmes (I'm including 2008 here) seem to want to deal with Different Drummer from the narrative side.


    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. 

    • Like 1
  2. 6 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

    That's a pity to have no synopses, at least for Different Drummer, the other 2 pieces I suppose they're not really needed for.


    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.

    • Like 4
  3. 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. 

    • Thanks 1
  4. I was very taken with the Marie/Mary Magdalene references in Different Drummer and Marie’s washing of the soldier/Christ figure’s feet and drying with her hair.

    In Wozzeck Marie sings about Mary Magdalene including:

    ‘Saviour, I should like to anoint your feet.

    Saviour, you had mercy on her; have mercy on me too.’

    But in opera productions I’ve seen, I don’t recall the washing of feet etc being acted out.

     

    However, the washing of feet does take place in Parsifal where Kundry is also a Mary Magdalene figure. In 1979 the ROH put on a new production with Solti conducting a stellar cast, Peter Hofmann and Yvonne Minton as Parsifal and Kundry, and I recall a touching washing of the feet.

     

    As the Parsifal production was just a few years before Different Drummer, I was wondering if MacMillan had seen it (or other Parsifals). I’m afraid the index in Jann Parry’s ‘Different Drummer’ biography doesn’t help - no references to Wagner, Parsifal and Kundry and just one reference to Solti but unrelated to Parsifal. I know the Mary Magdalene story is well known and there are dozens of images in the arts but I’d be fascinated to know if MacMillan saw the Solti Parsifal and if so what he made of it. Does anybody know?

    • Like 5
  5. A few more thoughts on this astonishing Triple Bill if I may.

     

    I found the contrasts between the ballets made for a hugely satisfying programme so was a little taken aback by the negative reaction to Different Drummer and how it had diminished enjoyment of Requiem. For future performances some posters were going to sit out the ballet or even return tickets. I fully accept that Different Drummer is the strongest of game meat and is harrowingly bleak. But I think that makes Requiem even more transcendental.

     

    And I found Different Drummer utterly compelling in presenting the drama, certainly as regards Woyzeck and Marie who are so vividly brought to life by MacMillan, with Sambe and Hayward excelling. I’ll be keen to see David Donnelly’s Drum Major on the final night as he impressed me in the General Rehearsal. I liked the treatment of the minor parts: deliberately two dimensional where the Captain, Doctor and soldiers could have come straight out of an Otto Dix painting at his most savage. I was pleased to see the soldiers all holding their rifles in exactly the same way when crossing the stage at speed en masse as there’d been some untidiness at the General Rehearsal which I’m quite sure the Captain wouldn’t have tolerated.

     

    I do though find the ending of Different Drummer a bit problematic. The music closes serenely, mirroring the resolution found by the couple in Richard Dehmel’s Transfigured Night poem, and I can quite see why MacMillan originally hinted at atonement for Woyzeck and Marie. But that doesn’t fit the bleakness of the play so we see Woyzeck stumbling along the railway track at the back of the stage to whatever horrors await at the end of the line. That desolation doesn’t seem right to me: it doesn’t fit the music; and what has happened to Marie? I don’t think the music at that point is Marie’s and that she might take her place in Requiem. Cutting the last few bars of the music might be one brutal solution but not one I’d welcome, particularly as MacMillan had very deliberately selected the music and given how well the Webern and Schoenberg were played. I wonder if it might have been more effective to cut Woyzeck’s rail track stumbling and simply let the music play with the light fading. In that way audiences could decide for themselves whether Woyzeck and Marie could both take their places in Requiem’s In Paradisum.

     

    I’ve deliberately made references to Requiem as I think there are similarities between the two ballets and not just because of the presence of a Christ/John the Baptist figure in both. They both deal with death and provide remarkable contrasts: the awful anguish and bitterness of regret where life has been so brutalised for Woyzeck and Marie; or the quiet contentment of those at peace so miraculously captured in Requiem.
     

    For me having both ballets in the programme has been immensely rewarding and, combined with Danses Concertantes, with its wit and inventiveness, show the genius of MacMillan. I should add I rather like the original costumes, a reminder that the ballet is almost 70 years old yet remarkably fresh.

     

    I’m very much looking forward to the cinema relay and the final performance in the ROH.

    • Like 15
    • Thanks 2
  6. I thought the Triple Bill worked extraordinarily well, enormous variety and contrasts, and huge congratulations to all involved.

     

    Danses Concertantes had real panache and wit, a testament to all the dancers, both last night and in the General Rehearsal, and I’m sure also to Laura Morera for her input in staging this ballet. You could almost sense the precision and wit Morera brought to the stage but now delivered by the casts she’d rehearsed.


    I thought Different Drummer gripping and utterly traumatic. First time for me and something I’ve wanted to see for a long time. I very much admire Berg’s Wozzeck and there was a terrific production last season (although I had reservations about the goings on in the on stage urinals as the audience took their seats) so I had the advantage of knowing something of the drama. Hayward and Sambe I found brutally convincing, both delivering fully committed performances. It was great to see Sambe perform the full role following the recent Insight. I liked Serrano’s Drum Major but couldn’t help but think what Campbell might have made of the role. The Captain and Doctor have no redeeming features at all and Whitehead and Hay made them suitably venomous. I’d like to think a bit more about Dubreuil’s Soldier as I don’t recognise such a role in Wozzeck.

     

    I’d been hugely impressed by Requiem in the General Rehearsal and was delighted to see the same cast were dancing the opening night, particularly the five leads Cuthbertson, Braendsrod, Ball, Hamilton, and Sissens. I very much appreciated seeing Requiem from the Balcony rather than Stalls Circle where I was for the General Rehearsal. The lighting effects I think are much more pronounced from higher up. A truly wonderful, transcendent ballet.


    I thought the orchestra, soloists and choir excellent so many thanks to Koen Kessels and William Spaulding. The music itself would make for an engaging concert and I thought the Webern and Schoenberg fabulously played.
     

    The Programme too is good. Kevin O’Hare talks about Gloria, The Invitation and La Fin du jour (not referenced as a possible Triple Bill) and also mentions Valley of Shadows and a duet MacMillan made for a gala in support of people with AIDS.

     

    Looking forward very much to the cinema relay - it’s the General Rehearsal cast for Danses Concertantes and Bracewell takes the Ball role in Requiem.

    • Like 11
  7. I’d seen the apology @Scheherezade and thought that’s very unfortunate. Mistakes do happen and it’s good when they’re corrected so hopefully no one turned up yesterday.
    It was the run of ENO clangers that rather worried me and with the awful news on redundancy letters, compounded by being distributed part way through a performance, resignations etc, it’s been a very grim time at ENO.

    • Like 2
  8. I’m pretty sure the water in Dutchman is contained on stage - I certainly hope so for the orchestra as well as those nearest the stage. Definitely no audience participation, special glasses, moving chairs so ‘immersive’ may be overstated. But the production is extraordinarily absorbing, ‘immersive’ in a more traditional sense. I find that’s also very much the case with Lucia, Jenufa and the new Rheingold so I’m very much looking forward to further Ring instalments. 
     

    I wouldn’t be too critical of ROH’s marketing tweets, certainly not compared to ENO where apparently their marketing people have warned Jenufa and Duke Bluebeard’s Castle may be too difficult for new opera goers so suggest Magic Flute and Barber of Seville instead. And I now read ENO have said that Johann Strauss was Richard Strauss’s father and Benjamin Britten composed the music for Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet film. I  thought all this must be a spoof and from a quick look I haven’t managed to find references on the ENO’s website/social media but the ENO pages quoted on various social media posts look genuine.

    • Like 3
  9. I found Dutchman pretty engaging, for the main characters and the fabulous chorus. I’d have liked to see a performance as well as the General Rehearsal but dates didn’t work so I’ll catch the 2015 performance when it’s on the Stream. I wonder if ‘immersive’ is also a reference to the water at the front of the stage which is used very effectively for a model ship and the sailors’ party?

    • Thanks 1
  10. Apologies - I’m very late to the recent posts. I wonder if some more ambitious productions might be worth considering? I’d been unimpressed with recent Toscas, Bohemes, Turandots etc having been spoiled by so many great performances in the 1970s to 2000s before moving to Cumbria. But my faith in opera was restored when I saw Lucia di Lammermoor and then Jenufa, engaging;/challenging productions and wonderfully sang. Lucia is coming up in April and I’ll be going to the General Rehearsal (a handful of £9 tickets) and a performance (plenty of tickets, all prices). There’s not much Lucia on the Stream but there may be an Insight coming up - on 11 April Katie Mitchell and Oliver Mears are discussing the director’s role in taking a production from the rehearsal room to the stage which may include some discussion of Lucia but I don’t know if it will be relayed/on the Stream. Jenufa is on the Stream - it’s a production I find gripping where I am genuinely concerned as to what happens to all the characters. I enjoyed the recent Flying Dutchman General Rehearsal and a 2015 performance will shortly be on the Stream. There are a couple of performances left this run - 2 hours 30 minutes and no intervals but for me the time simply flew by. 

     

     

    • Like 1
  11. A truly memorable evening on Friday and fabulous to see all the tributes, footage of the curtain calls and speeches, and the stunning performance footage from the wings. Thank you all for the posts here.
     

    I do sympathise with the comments about Alex being so underused but I thought his speech an eloquent and incredibly measured response. I’ve also been looking again at his ‘Spotlight on …’  series on the ROH Stream which seems remarkably prescient.

     

    It was great to see Alex, Claire, Francesca and others at the Stage Door, with Alex generously finding time to have more than a few words with everyone as he’s always been so willing to do. 
     

    In writing a note for Alex I realised I’ve now been coming to the ROH for 50 years and Alex and Francesca have certainly provided me with some of the absolute highlights. I’d pick their Giselle (Act 1 of the first performance and Act 2 of their second performance) and last Saturday’s Manon as the ones I’ll most treasure but there are of course so many more which will stay with me. Hugely fitting for Alex and Francesca to be dancing Manon to bring the curtain down on this Royal Ballet chapter of Alex’s career and let’s see if there’ll be another chapter at some point.
     

    Meanwhile huge congratulations, many thanks, and all good wishes to Alex as he takes up his RAD role, a great opportunity where I’m sure he’ll excel.

    • Like 24
  12. I too booked for the Annual Performance. There wasn’t much choice (other than in the Amphitheatre) and I was pleased to get a restricted Balcony ticket. It’s always good to attend and a great way to bring the curtain down on the season. And hopefully I should manage a day trip as it’s a Saturday.

    • Like 2
  13. Another fabulous Wigmore Hall recital this lunchtime (6th March). Alisa Weilerstein cello and Inon Barnatan piano played the fiendishly difficult Britten cello sonata with astonishing ease followed by the Brahms second cello sonata, a favourite. They then played the Andante from the Rachmaninov cello sonata as an encore. A wonderfully matched duo and so good to have the Wigmore Hall hosting their programme, such a welcome haven of civility from the ills around us.

    • Like 8
  14. I enjoyed last night and there was much to admire. Melissa Hamilton is a compelling Manon and I agree with the praise for Calvin Richardson’s debut, particular his solo work, acting and stage presence. But there were times when the partnering was insecure and I was pleased Melissa Hamilton is such an experienced Manon and covered so well. Act 3 impressed me most and I’d very much like to see them again: I wish they’d had chance for another performance this run.
    James Hay is a magnificent Lescaut and I feel very fortunate to have seen his three performances. His cameo old man has also provided great entertainment and hopefully we’ll see him again in that role on Friday.

    • Like 13
  15. On 03/03/2024 at 10:38, Fonty said:

    Hayward and Campbell seem to fit together perfectly.  During the bedroom pdd, I felt a bit like a peeping Tom, their dancing was so intimate.


    I think Fonty’s highlighting of Hayward’s and Campbell’s intimacy absolutely captures Saturday night’s performance. Their relationship seemed so real that for me they inhabited Manon and Des Grieux more than any other lead pair. Their fluidity of movement, at times almost melting, transcended the choreography. Whilst always on the beat, they conjured time to make the most of every gesture, touch and kiss. A truly fabulous performance.

    • Like 16
×
×
  • Create New...