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Yes, hence my having to go halfway across London to see it once again - my local had gone for a smaller screen than usual, and had been sold out for quite some time!  Silly really, when they're charging £22 a ticket, not to put it somewhere a bit bigger.  I know the Bolshoi don't tend to sell as well as the RB, but this was Romeo & Juliet!

 

Incidentally, I really can't imagine that I didn't go to see NBC do it at Sadler's, but I have very little memory of it - apart from the big red set, and I may of course just have seen pictures of that.  Unless I was feeling unwell and went home, or something ...

 

There were some parts I liked very much, and some I disliked: Act III being a prime example.  I really didn't like the first bedroom scene, but found the second one really effective.  Would certainly have appreciated a second viewing ...

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I think this is the link, but I can't see the full ballet: http://media.bolshoi.ru/play/

 

I do hope they upload it. I was snowed in on Sunday and so couldn't make it. Our Vue cinema used to screen them, and don't any longer, so the closest is in another town a drive away. I don't drive, so it doesn't make for a fun afternoon for my husband. And it's a rural town, so an amber weather warning = disaster!

Edited by RHowarth
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  • 1 month later...

A full (small) cinema for Flames of Paris today - and, no wonder, as it seems to be harder to find Bolshoi screenings this season.

 

Loved the energy from Igor Tsvirko as Philippe. Unfortunately, Margharita Shrainer's Jeanne didn't seem to muster up the energy or technique the role really needs. But she has the very hard acts of Osipova and Krysanova to follow.

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Agreed, Capybara: you could feel the energy from Tsvirko pouring off the screen and bouncing round the cinema! phenomenal..admirable elevation, my golly.

Some of his facial expressions were causing some giggles but to be honest it isn't a ballet one can take deathly seriously ( is it?)

The whole performance was high octane, fun and enjoyable- not what you'd call subtle, nuanced finesse. But that's OK. I also thought Denis Savin was very good in his role and and as always I loved Semyon Chudin, perfect as the arrogant doomed aristo- there is something unique in the way he carries himself: I can recognise him from behind at the back of the stage.

 

My cinema was half empty, the poorest attendance for a Bolshoi this season...but, maybe people were less likely to come as FoP has been live screened recently (last year?)

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It was fun to see this. I agree it was Tsvirko's show. I am surprised that the management thought Shrainer could hold the stage against him.  Somebody clearly thinks highly of her. I thought it was rather unfair, considering the great ballerinas who had performed this before - Alexandrova, Osipova, Krysanova and all very recent. 

 

I enjoyed seeing the other performers too- Kretova, Ovcharenko, Savin, Chudin etc. 

The lady in the cinema next to me was most disappointed. I think she was expecting the more usual classical ballet!

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1 hour ago, capybara said:

A full (small) cinema for Flames of Paris today - and, no wonder, as it seems to be harder to find Bolshoi screenings this season.

 

Loved the energy from Igor Tsvirko as Philippe. Unfortunately, Margharita Shrainer's Jeanne didn't seem to muster up the energy or technique the role really needs. But she has the very hard acts of Osipova and Krysanova to follow.

 

We may have got used to super-energetic Jeannes of Osipova and Krysanova yet, actually, I like Shrainer with her subtler approach and I think she holds well against them on her own terms, full of charm and lightness. Tsvirko, for me, went overboard, unless one likes Philippe to be a complete simpleton, Kretova was, predictably, mediocre as the Actress and, Ovcharenko, as the Actor, too (in his case, rather surprisingly). Ana Turazashvili, very limited with her expressive means, but that was fine for the role of Adeline. A fine show, overall, I would love to see Gudanov (recently retired), or Skvortsov, as the Marquis.

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Tsvirko danced the FoP pdd here in London just a few weeks ago and struck me as having exactly the right level of panache for the role.  I've seen Kretova dance the actress a few times and she most certainly is not mediocre.  I wouldn't want to see a "subtle" Jeanne, it's not a subtle ballet.  The only way to dance it is over the top and down the other side.

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I still think Shrainer's dancing was too small scale for the role. She danced all the steps but where was the revolutionary fervour? The role of Adeline may suit her better.

 

i am surprised the the Bolshoi didn't broadcast the other cast.

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  • 3 months later...

Saw it [Coppelia] yesterday and enjoyed it very much- a rich feast of colour, spectacle, fun and some superb dancing, and of course that marvellous buoyant score.

I watched very closely trying  to decide what was 'not to like', as they say. Ms Shrainer is a fiercely energetic dancer, and after all this choreography is pretty fiendish especially in Act 3, so no wonder that, with the live filming as well,  there was a look of sometimes intense concentration on her face in place of the sunny smile appropriate to the role ( I kept imagining Marianela Nunez, with her radiant smile,  in this role- ideal)

I admired Shrainer's strength, energy and attack, though at times there were some slightly less than poised moments perhaps.

As always Artem Ovcharenko was elegant and lovely to watch but I thought danced with  less than his usual power and the principals didn't seem to me to have much chemistry.  The soloists are always interesting to see in Bolshoi screenings- very varied yesterday in style and delivery...

 

Some of the designs, on the other hand, are perhaps a bit over-powering especially the corps in act 3 in a mixture of black, purple, pink and yellow tutus...er...But the men in powder blue satin with plumed hats looked wonderful.

Katya Novikova, looking glamorous as ever, gave us a wealth of information. I shall miss these broadcasts over the summer months.

 

I do wish the RB would give us Coppelia some time soon. No one dies..................................

 

Edited by alison
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Yes, the production looked glorious on the big Bolshoi stage - such vibrant colours!  And the set design is stunning too - such a shame that it appears to be a dying art from what Katya Novikova was saying.  I missed out on any interviews - were there any?

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