The Royal Ballet: Mayerling, Autumn 2018

[bridiem]

5 minutes ago, penelopesimpson said:

Translated:  ‘I think your views are rubbish!’

 

Quite apartfrom anything else, Mendizabal didn’t look remotely look  like Rudolf’s mum.  She looked like and danced as if she was his girlfriend.  Nobody can touch Zenaida who has left a big hole.

 

It's perfectly possible to disagree with someone's views whilst still being interested to read them; and certainly without considering them to be rubbish.

 

I thought Mendizabal was very good as the Empress; she seemed to be really quite frightened of her son and his desperation, and that increased her alienation from him (and his from her).

[zxDaveM]

58 minutes ago, Sim said:

There was a film crew tonight filming for a Japanese TV programme....maybe we can beg them to issue it.  A pipe dream, I know!

 

I'm guessing that was for Hikaru's last performance at the RB

(would be great if something became available though!)

[Sophoife]

2 hours ago, JohnS said:

Always interesting to read others' views but I found Itziar Mendizabal more chilling in her treatment of Rudolf than others, absolutely the ice empress when it came to her son, and very convincing in her relationship with Bay.  I was less impressed with Emma Maguire's Stephanie where there seemed rather too many pauses between some of the steps for my liking in the bedroom pdd.

 

2 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

Translated:  ‘I think your views are rubbish!’

 

Quite apartfrom anything else, Mendizabal didn’t look remotely look  like Rudolf’s mum.  She looked like and danced as if she was his girlfriend.  Nobody can touch Zenaida who has left a big hole.

 

I didn't read John's comment like that. I read it as being an alternative view. Surely what the forum is all about? Discussion not imposition?

 

All this waxing lyrical is reminding me so strongly of April 28 last year, fresh off the plane from Oz, never seen Mayerling live, and Bonelli and Morera were the first cast I saw and I wrote then how sympathetic a Rudolf I thought he was, and was really impressed how different his and Soares' Rudolfs (seen on the same day) were. I wish I wish I wish Lady M would let us have it here.

[Sim]

Has she refused requests to do it there Sophoife?  Or hasn't anyone asked yet?

[Sim]

5 hours ago, zxDaveM said:

 

I'm guessing that was for Hikaru's last performance at the RB

(would be great if something became available though!)

Yes I am sure that's why they were there.

[JohnS]

7 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

Translated:  ‘I think your views are rubbish!’

 

I certainly hadn't meant to imply such a view and apologies if 'It's always interesting to read others' views' gives such an impression.  Many views are expressed on the Forum and whilst I may agree or disagree, I am genuinely interested in what people post. - I like having my opinions and prejudices challenged.  

 

It's good when people are forthright but on this occasion I was a bit surprised to see what you'd written and thought I'd offer a different view.

 

 I'm afraid I don't really get your comment:

7 hours ago, penelopesimpson said:

Mendizabal didn’t look remotely look  like Rudolf’s mum.  She looked like and danced as if she was his girlfriend.

 

A very strange girl friend who recoils from her boy friend at every opportunity and treats him with contempt.

 

But I did agree with your comments about Dyer's Bratfisch and to a lesser extent Stix-Brunell's Mitzi.

 

Your post also raised the tantalising prospect of fantasy casting - with the Mayerling run having ended, I wonder who would feature in a dream cast, although I think it would only be fair to limit choice to those who danced this time round (or there may be a temptation to cast people who've yet to make their debuts)?

[Jamesrhblack]

Interesting to read Jann Parry’s review of the Bonelli / Morera cast at Dance Tabs. With the benefit of hindsight it’s possible to see that MacMillan started to create the role of Rudolf on Anthony Dowell (just as one can see Jennifer Penney’s feet in Manon’s first entrance) and its turns and extensions have proved as taxing for many other dancers as Des Grieux’s first solo. It’s also interesting that David Wall who eventually created the role was 32 and in his prime at the time of the premiere. Although remembered more as a dance actor he was no tehchncal slouch. In trying to rationalise why the MacRae / Lamb cast was chosen for the cinema, when many on here, myself included, were hankering for Bonelli / Morera, I think the answer lies in MacRae’s greater youth and technical command. I didn’t find his characterisation in the theatre eighteen months or in the cinema this month as nuanced or moving as Bonelli’s but he really could dance it all and a wider audience might have been unable to reconcile Bonelli’s struggles with that first solo with his principal status and the reputation of the Royal Ballet in a way that a possibly more informed and supportive Royal Ballet audience would. 

 

Pace Penelope Simpson, I enjoyed Mendizabal very much and felt the casting of a more senior dancer appropriate in a way I can’t imagine it would have been with Heap (who is a favourite).

 

Re JohnS, fantasy casting is obviated by the fact that we are unlikely to see Bonelli and Morera in these roles again but I would very much like to have seen their intelligence and theatrical command against the Larisch of Sarah Lamb. It’s a role that has seemed ideally suited to her intelligence and sophistication when I have seen her dance it.

 

Looking ahead, I know many are eager to see Francesca Hayward as Vetsera and I certainly look forward to seeing Matthew Ball next time with, in my own imaginary ideal. Yasmine Naghdi as Larisch.

[capybara]

6 minutes ago, Jamesrhblack said:

 In trying to rationalise why the MacRae / Lamb cast was chosen for the cinema, when many on here, myself included, were hankering for Bonelli / Morera, I think the answer lies in MacRae’s greater youth and technical command. I didn’t find his characterisation in the theatre eighteen months or in the cinema this month as nuanced or moving as Bonelli’s but he really could dance it all and a wider audience might have been unable to reconcile Bonelli’s struggles with that first solo with his principal status and the reputation of the Royal Ballet in a way that a possibly more informed and supportive Royal Ballet audience would. 

 

You have a point, James, but, maybe also, Bonelli has had quite a lot of cinema performances in the past, McRae just asks harder (!!!!) and/or there were others in 'his' cast who O'Hare also wanted to show to the world-wide audience.

 

Actually, Bonelli's technical command in Act 1 was pretty good last night and, after all, when performances are being converted to DVD/BluRay, they become a mixture from both the shows which were filmed.

 

I shall not be buying a McRae recording...................

[Mary]

I entirely agree with James though I know it's a minority view, but, that's the joy of a discussion, isn't it?

 

I am quite sure 'asking harder' is not a reason any Principal gets this or that- is it, Capybara?

Surely not!

 

Bonelli is not the only one- wonderful and fine dancer as he is- to struggle with that solo in this run. For me, that does rather interrupt my enjoyment of the perfomance.

I really like a dancer who 'really can dance it all' as McRae can, and I shall be buying the dvd!

 

But, there are aspects of performance where Bonelli is surely supreme, and it has been fascinating reading the reviews of Bonelli/Morera..... I suppose I just can't quite take the idea of the acting becoming almost more important than the dancing.

 

Good that we all have  different views and long may we feel able to disagree pleasantly.

[Esmeralda]

What a night! I was a little bit afraid that after the weekend before with 3 Mayerlings from Friday to Sunday and with the high expectations from the last run with Bonelli/Morera it would end with some disappointments...I shouldn´t have feared!

Bonelli and Morera were even better as in the last run and the final act was so fantastic, so disturbing, so emotionally I almost couldn´t breath. I am really not someone who cries at sad endings no matter if its films, books, ballet performances etc...but yesterday I realized suddenly that I had tears in my eyes! Bonelli and Morerea didn´t dance as Rudolph and Mary Vetsera, they were Rudolph and Mary with every breath, every step, every glance! This was definitely the most credible couple I have ever seen live in this Ballet and there is nothing for a long time after this. Wished they would have be filmed, so I have to memorize them forever just in my heart...

Mendizabal was wonderful as Elisabeth and Bonelli seemed so desperate to get the love and approval from his mother and she had only the iciest glances for him, so sad! Hikaru Kobayashi had an absolute wonderful last performance and it was so nice to see the love of her colleagues and the audience for her last night. Sadly Maguire was for me the weakest Stephanie I have seen in this run and I am afraid I am not a fan of Dyers Bratfisch...Really loved  Stix - Brunell as Mitzi, I thought she was great and very flirty with the officers. By all the praise for Corrales I also want to add praise for the other 3 officers last night, Clarke, Mock and Richardson. In my humble opinion the tavern scene and the whole officer/Rudolph story doesn´t work if there is a weak link or when the officers don´t "work" well together and I thought that these three had a strong connection!

 

A fantastic finish yesterday - now we can have a nice break from Mayerling at the RB for a few years🙂

[Anna C]

1 minute ago, Esmeralda said:

A fantastic finish yesterday - now we can have a nice break from Mayerling at the RB for a few years🙂

 

.....and hopefully get Onegin back in the meantime! 

[bridiem]

Since there have been a few negative comments, I just wanted to say that I thought Emma Maguire was very good as Stephanie - a touching mix of confusion and bewilderment culminating in both fear and disgust, whilst also trying to maintain a fragile dignity in public.

[aliceinwoolfland]

I felt the opening night review of Mayerling on DanceTabs was rather harsh on Alexander Campbell:

 

Quote

Alexander Campbell makes rather too much of his secondary role as the cab driver, Bratfisch. He’s licensed to entertain, not scene-steal; by the final scene, neither the doomed couple nor the audience are interested in his performance. 

 

Given his lack of principal roles in the RB I don't blame him for making 'too much of his secondary role'! But that's a topic for another discussion..........

[bridiem]

3 minutes ago, aliceinwoolfland said:

I felt the opening night review of Mayerling on DanceTabs was rather harsh on Alexander Campbell:

 

by the final scene, neither the doomed couple nor the audience are interested in his performance. 

 

Given his lack of principal roles in the RB I don't blame him for making 'too much of his secondary role'! But that's a topic for another discussion..........

 

Quite. And I really don't think a review should purport to speak for 'the audience' en masse. The reviewer may not have been interested, but this member of the audience was. 

Edited October 31, 2018 by bridiem

[JohnS]

As Bratfisch I have to say (again) how wonderfully moving I found James Hay's portrayal - the look of anguish he gave Mary on leaving Rudolf and her before their suicide, the pathos he brought to the graveyard scenes and his fabulous dancing.  A triumph of technique and characterisation which I find so appealing.

[alison]

1 hour ago, JohnS said:

Your post also raised the tantalising prospect of fantasy casting - with the Mayerling run having ended, I wonder who would feature in a dream cast, although I think it would only be fair to limit choice to those who danced this time round (or there may be a temptation to cast people who've yet to make their debuts)?

 

Or were scheduled to dance  ?  But, leaving Watson aside, certainly Bonelli/Morera would have been my choice. 

[Sim]

26 minutes ago, bridiem said:

Since there have been a few negative comments, I just wanted to say that I thought Emma Maguire was very good as Stephanie - a touching mix of confusion and bewilderment culminating in both fear and disgust, whilst also trying to maintain a fragile dignity in public.

I agree.  I really like Emma Maguire as Stephanie.  I think this role has to do a lot with the Rudolf.  I remember the first time I saw her do it Johan Kobborg was Rudolf.  He was throwing her around like a piece of paper and she trusted him enough to let him....and of course (dare I say) she was a few years younger then.  Besides the technical side, I think her portrayal is very realistic....the nervousness of a virginal, naive young girl on her wedding night came through very well;  her terror to then find that not only did she have to do 'the deed' but also deal with her crazy husband was palpable. 

[Richard LH]

36 minutes ago, Jamesrhblack said:

I enjoyed Mendizabal very much and felt the casting of a more senior dancer appropriate in a way I can’t imagine it would have been with Heap (who is a favourite).

Yes I know that we are supposed to suspend disbelief when it comes to the age of the dancer vs. the  age of their character, but to cast Heap (quite mature for her age but still a c.25 year-old), in a role as the mother of Bonelli (relatively youthful looking but still c. 40 year old) is surely stretching credibilty rather too much.

Hoping very much, though, that Tierney is back performing very soon.

[Sim]

7 minutes ago, alison said:

 

Or were scheduled to dance  ?  But, leaving Watson aside, certainly Bonelli/Morera would have been my choice. 

Bonelli/Morera/Lamb/Hayward/Zen/Stix-Brunell would be my ideal cast here.  I am only going on dancers I have seen, not potentials!

[Anna C]

18 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

Yes I know that we are supposed to suspend disbelief when it comes to the age of the dancer vs. the  age of their character, but to cast Heap (quite mature for her age but still a c.25 year-old), in a role as the mother of Bonelli (relatively youthful looking but still c. 40 year old) is surely stretching credibilty rather too much.

Hoping very much, though, that Tierney is back performing very soon.

 

I agree.  I know that like Stephanie, the Empress was only 16 when she married but Heap seemed a peculiar choice.  Mendizabal on the other hand looked absolutely right and was most convincing as a Mother only 21 years older than her Son.

[Richard LH]

36 minutes ago, aliceinwoolfland said:

"He’s licensed to entertain, not scene-steal; by the final scene, neither the doomed couple nor the audience are interested in his performance."

Re. Alice's post above - What a strange concept from Jann Parry,  in her Dance Tabs review of Campbell's performance.  

A dancer should strive to entertain, but not perform  their role too well, in case they  "steal the scene" from others?

From what I saw the audience  weren't just interested in his performance; they loved it.

Of course in the final scene  the doomed couple were not interested in his very "entertaining" performance, because that is the whole point - to highlight an awful contrast and tension between  his attempt at light-heartedness, and their mad pre-occupation with suicide.

[Richard LH]

37 minutes ago, Sim said:

Bonelli/Morera/Lamb/Hayward/Zen/Stix-Brunell would be my ideal cast here.  I am only going on dancers I have seen, not potentials!

OK Sim on that same basis mine would be: 

McRae/Takada/Lamb/Hayward/McNally/ Nunez

[JohnS]

I'm pleased to see fantasy casts but can we include Bratfisch and might Sim consider a current Empress?

[Anna C]

55 minutes ago, Sim said:

Bonelli/Morera/Lamb/Hayward/Zen/Stix-Brunell would be my ideal cast here.  I am only going on dancers I have seen, not potentials!

 

Ditto. In reply to JohnS I would have Campbell or Hay as Bratfisch and Mendizabal as Empress.  I thought her portrayal was excellent.

[Esmeralda]

"...nor the audience is interesed in his performance." I think this is really weird - I do not want to speak for everyone but I do know that a lot of people are interested when someone is dancing - even in such a dramatic scene with a wonderful couple like Bonelli/Morerera (or whatever your favourite couple is) I always look to Bratfisch and what the dancer is making of this scene. If I like it is  a complete different story but this statement sounds like the dancer of Bratfisch (whoever it is) doesn´t need to care about this scene and could also just be there because no one will look at him. And this is definitely not true!

[Nogoat]

Having been lucky enough to see them in the last run, I was very much looking forward to seeing the Bonelli/Morera performance last night - and for the most part they did not disappoint. They seem to have a natural affinity for each other that comes, perhaps, from their partnering experience - but whatever its source, that sort of intangible chemistry raises the bar of expectation and, more often than not, delivery.

 

Having said that, and given the sheer complexity of the artifice the cast attempts to construct on stage, exceptional individual performances cannot guarantee an overall exceptional experience, and I didn't feel that happened last night. I don't think this is being overly harsh; there must be an element of 'luck' involved in everything and everyone working together seamlessly - and small issues can bully their way to the front of one's perceptions, like a small scratch on a vinyl record.

 

The biggest small issue, to me, was Bratfisch. He just didn't convince me in either his dancing or overall characterisation; maybe this is because, for me, James Hay had set a new standard the week before (and that is both a blessing and a curse - a blessing as I was lucky enough to see it, and a curse as having seen it I cannot help but compare!).

 

Having previously been very impressed by the touching interplay between Gary Avis' Bay Middleton and Elisabeth in their Act 2 PDD, I was rather disappointed that Kish kept his suave, unflappable persona even when alone with the object of his affections.

 

I want to concentrate on the positives, though...

 

I thought Bonelli's Rudolf was perfectly credible and his downward spiral into abject despair captured my sympathy; he is an exceptional actor (as is Morera) and the profound, hopeless sadness he showed at the end of his PDD with his mother was very moving. Unusually, compared to other Rudolfs, there was no maniacal laughter or rage when straddling Stephanie on the floor after terrorising her - it was almost a sense of anguish or self-loathing at his own behaviour as he turned his head to us and seemed to push her away. In the tavern scene, he seemed the most 'relaxed' of the Rudolfs I have seen in this run - whatever conflicts were triggered in his head at court, etc, were subdued in that environment; one lovely flourish was the 'horizontal bow' when being held by the Hungarian officers - executed with a cigarette in his mouth! He is also so good at broadcasting his thoughts - for example, in the way he handles the revolver after his brief meeting with Larisch and Mary outside the tavern.

 

Morera's Mary was excellent. She was convincing as a vapid, love-struck teenager (rather than, say, the scheming social-climber that I felt was Cuthbertson), who was out to impress sexually (and, boy, did she do that in the Act 2 PDD!), but was naive/immature/obsessed enough simply to adopt the morbid interests of her lover without question. There was one superb sequence in the Act 3 PDD, the section between when Mary puts the revolver on the table (interestingly, they didn't slam the gun back on the table, but she placed it back on her own, almost reverently) and when they collapse motionless on the floor before he goes to the syringe; the two diagonal run/jumps she makes across the stage at Rudolf - the first hooking her arm around his neck and the second ending up horizontally in his arms - were the best I've seen in this run (they were so effortless, fluid, and spot-on with the music!).

 

Kobayashi went out on a high with her Larisch (and also with lots of flowers!). She played her as a consummate and incessant mischief-maker, which meant that those occasions when this facade was broken and the true tragedy of her situation became apparent (eg her crestfallen response to holding the portrait of Rudolf in Mary's apartment) were even more poignant.

 

I was also really impressed by the progress Stix-Brunell has made in her portrayal of Mitzi Caspar - the various facets of her personality were so much more on show through her interplay with the characters (from Rudolf through to Taafe).

 

As noted elsewhere, Mendizabal makes a suitably icy, distant Elisabeth, who has her own set of demons to contend with.

 

Finally, I could cut'n'paste quotes from previous posts (mine or anyone else's) about Corrales. His stage presence and dependable excellence have rapidly become a 'given', even in this relatively minor role. I think (and fervently hope!) we are about to be blown away by him in Bayadere next week... 

[Saodan]

Question for those who have seen Bonelli’s Rudolf before:

 

Does he normally leave the stage during the Mephisto Waltz when Mitzi is dancing with the Hungarian Officers?

Edited October 31, 2018 by Saodan

[bangorballetboy]

44 minutes ago, Saodan said:

Question for those who have seen Bonelli’s Rudolf before:

 

Does he normally leave the stage during the Mephisto Waltz when Mitzi is dancing with the Hungarian Officers?

 

No.  I think he left the stage as he had a bit of a cough.

[John Mallinson]

12 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said:

I think he left the stage as he had a bit of a cough.

 

…and came back on with a fag in his mouth!

[capybara]

1 hour ago, Nogoat said:

Finally, I could cut'n'paste quotes from previous posts (mine or anyone else's) about Corrales. His stage presence and dependable excellence have rapidly become a 'given', even in this relatively minor role. I think (and fervently hope!) we are about to be blown away by him in Bayadere next week... 

 

This really made me smile. I don't think I can recall a Hungarian Officer ever before commanding so much attention. And Cesar has also achieved that rare thing: a unanimity of opinion on this forum.

 

 

Edited October 31, 2018 by capybara
typo

[Saodan]

Thank you. I did hear a particularly loud cough just before, which I thought might have come from the stage. I wondered if he had taken a drag on a cigarette and made himself cough!

[Nogoat]

3 hours ago, Sim said:

Bonelli/Morera/Lamb/Hayward/Zen/Stix-Brunell would be my ideal cast here.  I am only going on dancers I have seen, not potentials!

 

Going on potentials, my ideal cast is...

 

Rudolf - Corrales

Bratfisch - Corrales

Four Hungarian Officers - Corrales, Corrales, Corrales, Corrales

Mary Vetsera - Corrales

Mary Vetsera as a Child - Corrales

Larisch - Corrales

Mitzi Caspar - Corrales

Archduchess Sophie - Corrales (or Campbell - I don't wish to appear biased... )

[Richard LH]

2 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

This really made me smile. I don't think I can recall an Hungarian Officer ever before commanding so much attention. And Cesar has also achieved that rare thing: a unanimity of opinion on this forum.

Well we can't have that !

.....just kidding, really, but  harking back to what we were discussing above about scene stealing, if there were ever an argument for holding back a little from showing off your full skill set, it would be when dancing as one of a group  where I would imagine an element of  uniformity is ideal.