The Royal Ballet: Manon, London, March-May 2018

[ninamargaret]

 

16 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

Totally mesmerising.  .... and, oh, how those eyes can snarl  swarm, knot, wink, guffaw and presume ... all at one and the same time.  

Superman?

[Sim]

What a wonderful performance tonight.  So passionate and believable and utterly heartbreaking. More tomorrow.  JohnS I am so sorry you missed it. I am very glad that the migraine I had been suffering from had lifted in time for me to go.   I would have been devastated to have missed this special night.  

[JennyTaylor]

52 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

Totally mesmerising.  .... and, oh, how those eyes can snarl  swarm, knot, wink, guffaw and presume ... all at one and the same time.  

Spot on!  I was close to the stage and I was glued. A superb Lescaut both in dancing and magnetic acting.  

[Mary]

As soon as James Hay started to dance I thought 'Bruce was right all along'.

What a talent. I have liked his performances before but  he really demonstrated tremendous all round ability and also great stage presence tonight, and for me was the centre of a performance that was as bleak, and as shocking as I feel 'Manon' should be: there was hardly any of the knockabout farce that offended me in earlier perfomances. it was  really painful, -  very good indeed.

 

[JennyTaylor]

I managed to get a late ticket for this show as soon as I knew Alexander Campbell was dancing Des Grieux... and I wasn't disappointed. I love seeing different interpretations, and Alexander really went for it tonight as an agonised and passionate Des Grieux.  So, a more overtly emotional Des Grieux than some others we have seen.  This, complemented by James Hay's Lescuat made it a night to remember.  The dynamics between the two were fascinating and I think they managed to pull off the most realistic interaction at the end of Act 1 that I have yet seen.

 

 

[capybara]

WiFi problems mean that I can't write much now. But, following the rave reviews here  for both Campbell and Hay, I wanted to give a great big BRAVA to Takada as well.

 

I was another purchaser of a late tickets following the cast change and am so pleased to have seen this glorious Manon, her ardent Des Grieux, and her scheming brother.

 

There can't be much wrong with a ballet which can elicit performances of this quality - and those amazing portrayals from Lamb, Muntagirov and Hirano last Thursday.

[Richard LH]

I hadn’t seen Akane Takada in a lead role before. I knew she was a beautiful dancer, and she certainly showed that with her  superb display of technique, musical interpretation and timing. What I didn’t quite expect  was how accomplished she was as a character actor.  Her various looks and movements combined to pinpoint, time and again,  Manon’s heady, contradictory and complex mixture of  innocence, sexuality, passion, vanity, vulnerability, love, cunning, greed, regret and sorrow.

Her  bedroom pas de deux with Campbell was so romantic and intense  I wondered how  she could possibly go off with another man a short time later. But seeing her entrance in Act 2 as the beautifully adorned mistress of a grand and wealthy Monsieur, when all eyes in the room became fixated on her, it somehow seemed to be understandable. She was constantly torn between romance and pleasure, and you could see which influence was pulling her at any moment.

 In the novel, Manon  suggests  to  Des Grieux (after she had proposed he took another lover himself,  as a substitute for her absence with Monsieur) that, in effect,  she thinks it possible to square the circle by compartmentalising where one  gives one’s body, and where one gives one’s heart.

Alexander Campbell as Des Grieux brought the  similar ferocious dynamic, speed  and power to his dancing as he had to his Lescaut, but this time all concentrated on his infatuation with Manon as a lover, rather than as a sister to be exploited. His control and artistry  in the early solo, where he  expresses his feelings for Manon, was exemplary.  He really threw himself into this role (literally at times) and made the partnership work brilliantly. At the end, his repeated gestures imploring  the failing  Manon to try to escape the swamp with him, to try to become again  what she once was, were heartbreaking.

The plaudits here for the amazingly sprightly James Hay are well deserved, along with  Yuhui Choe as his elegantly mischievous mistress. And I thought Thomas Whitehead was a very impressive Monsieur (I loved his outfits).

The whole cast, and the orchestra,  were again on top form as the beautiful music, scenery, costumes, and dancing combined to present a  wickedly decadent, yet very poignant, demonstration of ballet at its finest level.   Thanks Royal Ballet  for a wonderful evening.

[Bruce Wall]

10 hours ago, ninamargaret said:

 

Superman?

 

(Ref: JAMES HAY) 

 

Last night one might well be forgiven for thinking so  .... or perhaps a close cousin  ... Those capes it seems have much to answer for  

 

Edited April 29, 2018 by Bruce Wall

[ninamargaret]

1 minute ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

Last night one might well be forgiven for thinking so  .... or indeed a close cousin  

well, many of us have thought so for some time.F irst noticed him in Month in the Country when, if memory serves me right, he then went on to appear in Symphonic Variations,, both danced beautifully

[annamk]

13 minutes ago, ninamargaret said:

well, many of us have thought so for some time.F irst noticed him in Month in the Country when, if memory serves me right, he then went on to appear in Symphonic Variations,, both danced beautifully

 

And then he was superb in Two Pigeons and quite outstanding as Prince Florimund. I really hoped he would have got a shot at Albrecht or Des Grieux  

[Sim]

I first noticed him as "flute boy" in Fille a few years ago and had to ask someone who he was because I was so impressed!  

[LinMM]

As well as being a great dancer he just has these wonderfully expressive eyes.

I really hope to be seeing more of him in good roles next year but we shall see.

Hee hee better start a new thread "James Hay Fan Club" 😉

Enjoying reading the reviews by the way....looks like I need to see more of Akada ....I've only seen her in more straight dancing roles so far.

Sorry you had to miss it JohnS did you get any money back on rail fares ....it's a long way to London from Cumbria.

Edited April 29, 2018 by LinMM

[Beryl H]

So pleased I made it to Manon last night, I was expecting Akane Takada to be marvellous after her incredible Mayerling debut, but was still amazed by her performance, what a star,  Manon suits her delicacy to perfection, she looked like a frail broken bird in the final act but made such beautiful shapes, aided of course by Alexander Campbell, who also surpassed any expectations I had that he might be good! He danced beautifully and put so much emotion into it, the final desperate pdd was one of the best I have ever seen from them both, great performance too from James Hay!

 

Akane Takada's performances in Giselle, Mayerling and Manon may well be my highlights of this Season.

 

[JohnS]

Having seen the various comments (thank you all), I'm sorely tempted to try to come on 5 May.  Engineering works would make for a long journey home on Sunday via Manchester and a bus from Oxenholme to Penrith.

 

Thanks LinMM - I don't think my insurance will cover rail tickets etc but I have asked.  I'm hoping the damage is readily repairable - my plumber found a small tear in one of the two enormous plastic cold water tanks.

[LinMM]

Glad you didn't come home to a flood!

Rail fares are on my mind at the moment as I'm going to Leicester next week for a friends 70th and I'm taking her to the ballet at the Curve theatre there( Northern Ballet Little Mermaid) 

Well I bought the tickets months ago and knew about the weekend months ago so should have got organised quicker as have just paid  £57 for  the ticket and was told with my pass I could have done the same journey for £13-50 if I had got an advanced ticket!!

[Richard LH]

JohnS it would be great if you could get to see the 5th May performance. It's clearly not an easy journey for you so it would show true dedication!

[capybara]

Another excellent review of last Thursday's wonderful cast (Lamb/Muntagirov/Hirano) is here:

 

http://tothepointemagazine.wixsite.com/tothepointemagazine/single-post/2018/04/29/Sarah-Lamb-and-Vadim-Muntagirov-in-Manon

[alison]

11 hours ago, Sim said:

I first noticed him as "flute boy" in Fille a few years ago and had to ask someone who he was because I was so impressed!  

 

I first noticed him in a School performance in the Linbury, doing little more than just standing still on stage, and asked friends who he was on that basis!

 

7 hours ago, Beryl H said:

So pleased I made it to Manon last night, I was expecting Akane Takada to be marvellous after her incredible Mayerling debut, but was still amazed by her performance, what a star,  Manon suits her delicacy to perfection,

 

I thought, based on reports of her Mary Vetsera, which I was unable to see, that Manon ought to suit her.  Unfortunately, I couldn't see last night's performance because I was working, but am looking forward to next Saturday!

 

Once again, I seem to be in a minority about Thursday's performance, though: I thought it was a distinctly mixed bag.  From where I was sitting, in line with his diagonal, I thought Muntagirov seemed "off" during his first solo, at least judging by the extremely high standards I would usually expect from him, and I didn't feel any chemistry between him and Lamb in the first act.  It felt as though the souped-up orchestration was trying to generate the passion which I should have been seeing on stage - actually, it seemed rather slow to me, which may not have helped in the "bedroom" pas de deux.  And I felt from Lamb's portrayal that Des Grieux didn't stand a chance once Monsieur G.M. and his furs and jewellery appeared (perhaps that was what she intended, but if so, it didn't entirely tally with her behaviour in the later part of the "brothel" scene for me).  For the third time this run, I was considering whether I wanted to bother staying for the final act, or get an early night.  I thought the "drunk" pas de deux in the second act was horribly overplayed - and it must have been an unfortunate coincidence of costume, messy hair and makeup that made me think "Michael Jackson" every time I looked at Lescaut in that scene, which probably didn't help!  At slower points in the proceedings, I found myself fantasy casting the live relay based on the best performances I'd actually seen, which of course Kevin O'Hare didn't have the luxury of doing.  James Hay's Beggar King would certainly have made it through, but I'm not sure about many of the other major(ish) roles.  However, I am very glad I didn't go with my initial inclination to skip Act III, because that was quite a few notches above the first act, and pretty powerful stuff, with Muntagirov in particular really cutting loose, and Lamb being quite heartbreaking.  I only wish members of the audience wouldn't start clapping the minute the curtain starts to descend: it takes a long time to come down, and I'd have thought (equally with Marguerite and Armand) that it must be quite disconcerting for the male lead to be kneeling there acting his heart out and mourning his dead love while there's thunderous applause going on, and waiting for the curtain to close!  Not to mention that it breaks the spell for the rest of the audience, too.  It's another case where a moment or two's silence first would be more appropriate, IMO.

 

Anyway, that was last Thursday's performance.  The live cinema relay is this coming Thursday (and as I've said elsewhere, look out for Encore performances possibly not being at their usual times in the UK because of the bank holiday), and I would trust that, now the cast has had one run-through in the ballet, any deficiencies will be made good, and performances tuned up or toned down as appropriate by then

[Sim]

4 hours ago, Richard LH said:

JohnS it would be great if you could get to see the 5th May performance. It's clearly not an easy journey for you so it would show true dedication!

And, it it were even half as good as last night, well worth the effort!

[betterankles]

It is wonderful to see and hear of this generation of Royal Ballet dancers performing so well as both dancers and actor/artists!

 

I only wish there were more recognition, even if a bit late, of the fact that all or virtually all come from the time of Gailene Stock’s directorship ...

[Sim]

I so agree Betterankles.  Gailene has made such a huge difference to the current state of the RB by ensuring that a new generation of dancers had the best and most appropriate training possible at the RBS.  Her loss is still keenly felt and I hope (and believe) that the current management are following in her footsteps by maintaining her high standards.

[Sim]

10 hours ago, capybara said:

Another excellent review of last Thursday's wonderful cast (Lamb/Muntagirov/Hirano) is here:

 

http://tothepointemagazine.wixsite.com/tothepointemagazine/single-post/2018/04/29/Sarah-Lamb-and-Vadim-Muntagirov-in-Manon

Great review, TTP.  I agree with every word!

[Xandra Newman]

38 minutes ago, Sim said:

I so agree Betterankles.  Gailene has made such a huge difference to the current state of the RB by ensuring that a new generation of dancers had the best and most appropriate training possible at the RBS.  Her loss is still keenly felt and I hope (and believe) that the current management are following in her footsteps by maintaining her high standards.

It is truly remarkable and it intrigues me how the previous Director of The Royal Ballet School, Ms Gailene Stock, managed to produce so many outstanding dancers now filling the various ranks of The Royal Ballet Company, dancers who not only have an outstanding technic but who are also very versatile as well as good actors. This new generation of dancers have turned the RB into the most exciting company to watch and surely, in my opinion, the best in the world for above said reasons.

 

A quick glance at the ROH website/Dancers shows:

6 out of 16 Principals have trained under her directorship (Lauren Cuthbertson, Yasmine Naghdi and Francesca Hayward trained at both sections of the School - Alexander Campbell, Steven McRae and Vadim Muntagirov trained at the Upper School)

5 out of 11 First Soloists

11 out of 17 Soloists

and in the Corps de Ballet:

13 out of 17 First Artists

12 out of 17 Artists 

(Aud Jebsen Dancers not included)

 

47 dancers were trained during her tenure as Director of the RBS (that's over half of the Company dancers). Character Artists not included as I believe none trained during her Directorship. Surely by the end of this Season a new male Principal - who also trained at the RBS under her Directorship - will be added to the list making it 7 out of 16 Principals.

 

Mr Kevin O'Hare also deserves full credit as he clearly understands the needs of his most talented young dancers, and knows how to nurture their talent and guide their career. The result is there for all to see.

[ninamargaret]

i don't think the company has ever had such excellence in depth, if you know what I mean!  Obviously, most of us have favourite dancers, but it's almost got to the stage where you can be pretty sure that you will get a fine performance from whoever you see - useful when injuries etc happen. I am always impressed by the versatility of all the company, Petipa  to McGregor and everything else!. And surely a lot of credit must go to the many teachers and coaches who are involved in working on the many new productions and revivals that we see.

[Richard LH]

From Alexander Campbell's  instagram site https://www.instagram.com/acampbell_1/?hl=en

 

[Sim]

I am so annoyed that I don't have tickets for the second show.  I was only going to go to one to see Akane as Stephen McRae as DG just didn't float my boat at all.  Who knew what a brilliant pairing Alexander and Akane would make?  The ballet stars were definitely aligned.....

[RuthE]

23 minutes ago, Sim said:

I am so annoyed that I don't have tickets for the second show.

 

Just don’t have tickets, or can’t make it now anyway? It looks like there’s still one spare SCS up for grabs on this thread, at the time of writing:

 

 

[balletyas]

On 29/04/2018 at 23:08, alison said:

 

I first noticed him in a School performance in the Linbury, doing little more than just standing still on stage, and asked friends who he was on that basis!

 

 

I thought, based on reports of her Mary Vetsera, which I was unable to see, that Manon ought to suit her.  Unfortunately, I couldn't see last night's performance because I was working, but am looking forward to next Saturday!

 

Once again, I seem to be in a minority about Thursday's performance, though: I thought it was a distinctly mixed bag.  From where I was sitting, in line with his diagonal, I thought Muntagirov seemed "off" during his first solo, at least judging by the extremely high standards I would usually expect from him, and I didn't feel any chemistry between him and Lamb in the first act.  It felt as though the souped-up orchestration was trying to generate the passion which I should have been seeing on stage - actually, it seemed rather slow to me, which may not have helped in the "bedroom" pas de deux.  And I felt from Lamb's portrayal that Des Grieux didn't stand a chance once Monsieur G.M. and his furs and jewellery appeared (perhaps that was what she intended, but if so, it didn't entirely tally with her behaviour in the later part of the "brothel" scene for me).  For the third time this run, I was considering whether I wanted to bother staying for the final act, or get an early night.  I thought the "drunk" pas de deux in the second act was horribly overplayed - and it must have been an unfortunate coincidence of costume, messy hair and makeup that made me think "Michael Jackson" every time I looked at Lescaut in that scene, which probably didn't help!  At slower points in the proceedings, I found myself fantasy casting the live relay based on the best performances I'd actually seen, which of course Kevin O'Hare didn't have the luxury of doing.  James Hay's Beggar King would certainly have made it through, but I'm not sure about many of the other major(ish) roles.  However, I am very glad I didn't go with my initial inclination to skip Act III, because that was quite a few notches above the first act, and pretty powerful stuff, with Muntagirov in particular really cutting loose, and Lamb being quite heartbreaking.  I only wish members of the audience wouldn't start clapping the minute the curtain starts to descend: it takes a long time to come down, and I'd have thought (equally with Marguerite and Armand) that it must be quite disconcerting for the male lead to be kneeling there acting his heart out and mourning his dead love while there's thunderous applause going on, and waiting for the curtain to close!  Not to mention that it breaks the spell for the rest of the audience, too.  It's another case where a moment or two's silence first would be more appropriate, IMO.

 

Anyway, that was last Thursday's performance.  The live cinema relay is this coming Thursday (and as I've said elsewhere, look out for Encore performances possibly not being at their usual times in the UK because of the bank holiday), and I would trust that, now the cast has had one run-through in the ballet, any deficiencies will be made good, and performances tuned up or toned down as appropriate by then

I’ve just come away from Hayward/Bonelli and was so struck by the audience’s crass clapping while Bonelli was still in agony over Hayward’s unresponsive body. It is awful and I don’t understand It. Also very struck by how few curtain calls there were. Anyone else notice this? Hayward in particular was sublime but am too tired to go further than that right now! 

 

[penelopesimpson]

On 14/04/2018 at 23:46, loveclassics said:

Reading the different opinions on this thread is fascinating.  When I first saw Manon about 13 years ago I was bowled over by it but that may be due to the performers.  I was lucky enough then to see a more mature couple who had the danced the roles for so many years together that they transcended the material.  Seeing it again later with different dancers frequently showed the faults in the story and production: the misogyny, the heavy-handed humour, gratuitous sexual violence and Macmillan's tiresome bordello fetish. Why does he make his whores so repulsive?  How on earth do they make a living?

 

I can understand why this particular ballet is rarely staged by other companies.  In the US, the critics are not in favour: one eminent New York critic has referred to it more than once as 'a steamy little shocker'  and I don't think the Russian companies have  staged it since the first disastrous attempt years ago.  I can't remember which company it was but I did see one recorded clip of the bedroom pdd and it was hopeless.  The dancers seemed to be under the impression that they should ingratiate themselves with the audience to mitigate the other, more sordid, aspects of the story.  It's a reasonable approach I suppose but they shouldn't have to make up for the flaws in the rest of the ballet.

 

Nevertheless I think I will try to see the cinema transmission in May if I can get a ticket (and, more importantly, somewhere to park) in Brighton.  I now realise just how difficult it is for ballet-lovers outside London and I'm only in the South East!

 

Linda

Francesca,you broke my heart.

 

What a performance tonight.  I didn’t think it could get any better than Osipova, but I was wrong.  Francesca IS Manon. I was not ina theatre, Iwas in Paris following the life of a bewildered and fragile young lady whose beauty is both her success and her downfall.  For the first time I understood that Manon is beguiled by adulation and falls in love with being loved.

 

And the wonderful thing about her performance is that Bonelli shines as never before.  And Campbell,well he was born for this role.

 

Wonderful night.  Thank you KOH and ROH for making my senses sing.

[Sim]

Wow what lovely words, Penelope!  I will be seeing their final performance and can't wait.

[bridiem]

10 minutes ago, penelopesimpson said:

What a performance tonight.  I didn’t think it could get any better than Osipova, but I was wrong.  Francesca IS Manon. I was not ina theatre, Iwas in Paris following the life of a bewildered and fragile young lady whose beauty is both her success and her downfall.  For the first time I understood that Manon is beguiled by adulation and falls in love with being loved.

 

I had a similar realisation, penelopesimpson. I felt that Hayward's Manon wasn't so much in love with Des Grieux as with herself - her power and her new found sexuality. So when she was presented with the alternative of riches, there was no hesitation - they were simply an alternative proof of her power. Only in the last act did she relinquish her power - or rather have it viciously torn from her - and in her loss and defeat turn fully to the loving Des Grieux. But by then it was too late.

 

Tremendous performance by Hayward, and although I found Bonelli a little bland in the first and second acts, by the end he was blazing. And I thought Campbell was an excellent Lescaut - terrific dancing, and a convincing portrayal of a controlling, amoral swine. 

 

 

[Bruce Wall]

No time.  

 

One word for Hayward:  Searing.  She enflamed the hearts on stage and beyond.  The swelter of her Manon was positively thermogenic!  Campbell outdid himself as Lescault - and that as we've all been happily privileged to learn is going some.  

 

What incandescent jubilance.  

 

Edited May 1, 2018 by Bruce Wall

[penelopesimpson]

9 hours ago, bridiem said:

 

I had a similar realisation, penelopesimpson. I felt that Hayward's Manon wasn't so much in love with Des Grieux as with herself - her power and her new found sexuality. So when she was presented with the alternative of riches, there was no hesitation - they were simply an alternative proof of her power. Only in the last act did she relinquish her power - or rather have it viciously torn from her - and in her loss and defeat turn fully to the loving Des Grieux. But by then it was too late.

 

Tremendous performance by Hayward, and although I found Bonelli a little bland in the first and second acts, by the end he was blazing. And I thought Campbell was an excellent Lescaut - terrific dancing, and a convincing portrayal of a controlling, amoral swine. 

 

 

That's exactly it, Bridiem.  Last night Francesca's interpretation, for me, left little room for doubt.  Manon is young and impressionable and turns this way and that as her circumstances change.  The way she discovered the power of her sexuality was incredible, she seemed almost to bask in it.  Okay, by the time she is passed around in the brothel she is almost numb but before that you can see her responding each time a male shows her appreciation.  

I think we are so attuned to the 'woman exploited by men' scenario, that we automatically assume this is what we are seeing when the reality is quite different.