News from Germany, Austria, Switzerland

[Duck]

Hugely excited about the cooperation with the Stuttgart Art Museum, looking at a specific topic from different angles, and the Bauhaus triple bill.  

 

4 minutes ago, Vanartus said:

So jealous that Stuttgart grabbed Mayerling. Was hoping against hope that the new Berlin team would get it as part of a MacMillan restorative grab. 

Come to Stuttgart some time ☺  

 

I guess my dream would be to see Edward Watson guesting in Mayerling😊

 

[Angela]

Oh well, they might need guests, they already bring Daniel Camargo back for "Initials R.B.M.E." because no one is left to do the R part...

[capybara]

Laurretta Summerscales and Yonah Acosta are dancing Lise and Colas in La Fille mal Gardee in Munich on the 2nd and 7th March.

 

There are currently tickets available.

[Vanartus]

11 hours ago, Duck said:

Hugely excited about the cooperation with the Stuttgart Art Museum, looking at a specific topic from different angles, and the Bauhaus triple bill.  

 

Come to Stuttgart some time ☺  

 

I guess my dream would be to see Edward Watson guesting in Mayerling😊

 

Will def come over to Stuttgart this year!

[SwissBalletFan]

Angela,

 

thank your for your reply and the history surrounding Stuttgart Ballet.

 

I enjoy modern choreographies and enjoyed Pite’s Emergence in Zurich very much. I guess I mean underwhelmed, 2 classical ballets does not really compare to the 5+ at the other companies who also have some very exciting modern works.

 

Is there a reason that Stuttgart also has seeming fewer productions in a season? Maybe it was this that highlighted the really strong leaning towards triple bills rather than full length works.

 

also I am neither disappointed nor complaining as I guess within Germany all bases are pretty much covered. 

 

[Lizbie1]

3 minutes ago, SwissBalletFan said:

 

Is there a reason that Stuttgart also has seeming fewer productions in a season? Maybe it was this that highlighted the really strong leaning towards triple bills rather than full length works.

 

 

Am I misreading Angela's post, or does it only relate the new productions, and not revivals?

[SwissBalletFan]

34 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

Am I misreading Angela's post, or does it only relate the new productions, and not revivals?

Sorry to all, It was me who misread Angela’s post.

 

Wow these are just the premieres, then it looks very exciting if there are some usual repertoire classics.

[Angela]

I guess I forgot Cranko's Romeo, but then that's all. They normally do 10 to 12 evenings/matinees of each production, so this makes around 80 performances, plus the annual Noverre/Young choreographers evenings. Munich sometimes does only four to six performances of one production. They do more repertoire productions, Stuttgart has more new productions next season. But it changes, sometimes they have more classics and fewer new works. It all depends on money, I suppose, and how often you can sell a certain piece. Wheeldon's Alice must have been very expensive for Munich, so more older productions in that season. A new full-length ballet or a ballet festival costs very much, so more Swan Lake next year, that's what Reid Anderson once said. I guess it's the same with every ballet company...

[alison]

Hey, do they leave the "Who are you/Eat me/Drink mes" and things in Alice in English, or translate them into German?

[Angela]

Alison, I have not seen it at Munich, but according to this video, they leave it in English:

 

[stucha]

Angela do know when Vienna will announce their 18/19  ballet season ? Thank you. It appears that there will be a new production of Sylvia by Manuel Legris and based on the original Choreography and the version by Lycette Darsonval for the Paris opera ballet. The designs will be by Luisa Spinatelli who designed Le Corsaire for Legris.

Edited January 18, 2018 by stucha
More info

[Angela]

stucha, the press conference at Vienna last year was in April, but for this year, the date has not even been announced yet. So we have to be patient. Stuttgart's early press conference was an exception, normally the German and Austrian theatres start in March, April with the news about next season.

[Angela]

Bavarian State Ballet has uploaded the mirror pdd from Cranko's Onegin with Vladimir Shklyarov and Ivy Amista from last Sunday:

 

 

[Lizbie1]

Thank you so much for that - you know, if there's one signing I'd like the Royal Ballet to make, it's Shklyarov.

[annamk]

Angela thank you for posting this !

 

My friend and I went to Munich for the performance because we adore Vladimir Shklyarov  he's a fine dancer with great charisma. I always thought he would be fabulous in the kind of dramatic ballets which sadly the Mariinsky doesn't have in it's rep so I was very happy when it was announced that he would be dancing in Munich with the opportunity to expand his rep. Recently the Bavarian State Ballet have started to post casting for his performances further in advance it's possible to organise tickets and flights. It was fun to bump into other London ballet-coers who also made the trip !

 

There were role debuts for the four principal parts on Sunday evening : Shklyarov/Amista Popov/Zeisal and they gave a very good account of themselves. The final pdd between Shklyarov and Amista was finely acted, with great attention to detail, very emotional. 

 

The audience were hugely enthusiastic, I lost count of the curtain calls. 

 

 

 

 

[capybara]

Laurretta Summerscales is Olga in the other Onegin cast in Munich and is dancing tonight (7th Feb.)

[Oberon]

...and meanwhile the final pas de deux from Onegin (4. 2. 2018) is also available: Vladimir Shklyarov and Ivy Amista as outstanding dramatic artists...

 

Source: https://www.facebook.com/staatsballett

[alison]

On 07/02/2018 at 18:07, annamk said:

My friend and I went to Munich for the performance because we adore Vladimir Shklyarov  he's a fine dancer with great charisma. I always thought he would be fabulous in the kind of dramatic ballets which sadly the Mariinsky doesn't have in it's rep so I was very happy when it was announced that he would be dancing in Munich with the opportunity to expand his rep. Recently the Bavarian State Ballet have started to post casting for his performances further in advance it's possible to organise tickets and flights. It was fun to bump into other London ballet-coers who also made the trip !

 

Ah!  So that's why so many people I know seem to have made a sudden trip to Germany in the past week

[capybara]

7 hours ago, alison said:

Ah!  So that's why so many people I know seem to have made a sudden trip to Germany in the past week

 

Shklyarov was in Munich (more) last season when he was listed as a company member. This year, he and his wife, Shirinkina, are guests.

[Angela]

On 7.2.2018 at 19:07, annamk said:

I always thought he would be fabulous in the kind of dramatic ballets which sadly the Mariinsky doesn't have in it's rep

 

Oh yes, he is! Kondaurova is another dramatic dancer who should go abroad for roles like Tatiana or Marguerite.

I thought it was a great debut: thoughful, sensitive, with a great respect for the role that maybe only the Russians have, because they have read the book many times. I loved his first solo, all danseur noble, but the wide jumps looked almost yearning - he was clearly lost in himself, not arrogant like so many other Onegins. I loved how he developed the scene at Tatiana's birthday, starting almost friendly

but getting more and more irritated by her demeanor, until he was shocked about Lensky's reaction and how far he himself had gone in provoking it. (It was a bit odd to see an Olga so much taller on pointe than Lensky and Onegin - Prisca Zeisel is a nice dancer, but this was an unfortunate combination). I loved Shklyarov's scenes in front of the curtain - how concerned he was already before the duel, for example. So many Onegins play these scenes too haughty. The last pdd was very passionate, even sensual sometimes. My only small objection was the mirror pdd where Onegin is supposed to be Tatiana's hero: radiant, bold and just a little demonic - here Shklyarov was still self-absorbed and sinister like in the opening scene. No smile, no love for her - but wow, his exit through the mirror looked great.

Let's hope he will dance the role again, with some more performances he could be one of the great Onegins - a dancer who wants to understand the soul of Pushkin's hero, not demonstrate what kind of dandy this person is.

[Amelia]

1 hour ago, Angela said:

Kondaurova is another dramatic dancer who should go abroad for roles like Tatiana or Marguerite.

Of course it is a dream for every ballerina to do Tatiana and Manon. However, Kondaurova would have hardly founded a greater number of dramatic parts in the West than she danced and is still dancing at Mariinsky:
Anna Karenina, Juliet, Marguerite, Carmen, Nikia, Mehmene in “The Legend of Love”,

Phrygia and Aegina in “Spartacus”, Zarema and Maria in “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai”,

the tragic Girl in “The Leningrad Symphony” and other roles.
Her company gave her full play in its diverse repertoire as she deserved it.

Edited February 10, 2018 by Amelia
typo

[ChMeBa]

On 07/02/2018 at 19:07, annamk said:

There were role debuts for the four principal parts on Sunday evening : Shklyarov/Amista Popov/Zeisal and they gave a very good account of themselves

I have to disagree on one small point. Alexei Popov, I thought, was dance-wise slightly disappointing, with some trouble in partnering and lifts, though he acted convincingly, displaying passion in the duel challenge. For me, the Lensky to top all is Friedemann Vogel in Stuttgart, though now having been given the Onegin role, will alas be scarcely called on to dance Lensky. 

[MAB]

4 hours ago, Amelia said:

Of course it is a dream for every ballerina to do Tatiana and Manon. However, Kondaurova would have hardly founded a greater number of dramatic parts in the West than she danced and is still dancing at Mariinsky:
Anna Karenina, Juliet, Marguerite, Carmen, Nikia, Mehmene in “The Legend of Love”,

Phrygia and Aegina in “Spartacus”, Zarema and Maria in “The Fountain of Bakhchisarai”,

the tragic Girl in “The Leningrad Symphony” and other roles.
Her company gave her full play in its diverse repertoire as she deserved it.

 

I agree. furthermore, the 'guardians' of Onegin refused to allow Sylvie Guillem to dance the role, clearly they have something against tall redheads.

[alison]

Only tall ones?

[Angela]

7 hours ago, MAB said:

 

clearly they have something against tall redheads.

 

It's not about the hair colour , Guillem was "too famous" at the time - the ballet is supposed to be the star, not the ballerina, as far as I understand the Cranko casting rules. But Munich had and has the opportunity to cast the Cranko roles as they want, so they could have given the role to Guillem. It's interesting they put whole pdds online now, other companies are not allowed to do so (at least I've never seeen official videos).

 

For Kondaurova, I was thinking about Neumeier's Marguerite, I would have loved to see her and she would have been perfect. Yes, I know she did the Ashton role.

[MAB]

12 minutes ago, alison said:

Only tall ones?

 

You're right of course, I can think of a petite RB dancer who could have been the Tatiana of Tatianas but was never cast. 

[MAB]

17 minutes ago, Angela said:

It's not about the hair colour , Guillem was "too famous" at the time - the ballet is supposed to be the star, not the ballerina, as far as I understand the Cranko casting rules.

 

Hmm...   I'm thinking Makarova and Maximova, stars don't get much bigger, though as I'm not certain of the dates they actually danced the role, it could have been in Cranko's lifetime.  I'm told by someone who worked for him that he had a very different attitude to casting than his successors.

[bangorballetboy]

51 minutes ago, MAB said:

 

Hmm...   I'm thinking Makarova and Maximova, stars don't get much bigger, though as I'm not certain of the dates they actually danced the role, it could have been in Cranko's lifetime.  I'm told by someone who worked for him that he had a very different attitude to casting than his successors.

 

There’s a picture of Makarova in the Munich programme that is dated 1982.  The programme also contains a list of everyone who has danced the principal roles in Munich and the number of appearances (5 for Makarova and only 1 for Maximova).

[Angela]

6 hours ago, MAB said:

 

Hmm...   I'm thinking Makarova and Maximova, stars don't get much bigger, though as I'm not certain of the dates they actually danced the role, it could have been in Cranko's lifetime.  I'm told by someone who worked for him that he had a very different attitude to casting than his successors.

 

Marcia Haydée, then director of Stuttgart Ballet, invited Makarova to dance the role in November 1978 (ten days after the creation of Neumeier's Lady of the Camellias with Haydée, by the way - what a great time to be a Stuttgart...). Her partner was Richard Cragun, but she also danced the role several times with Reid Anderson.

[annamk]

On 10/02/2018 at 10:57, Angela said:

 

Oh yes, he is! Kondaurova is another dramatic dancer who should go abroad for roles like Tatiana or Marguerite.

I thought it was a great debut: thoughful, sensitive, with a great respect for the role that maybe only the Russians have, because they have read the book many times. I loved his first solo, all danseur noble, but the wide jumps looked almost yearning - he was clearly lost in himself, not arrogant like so many other Onegins. I loved how he developed the scene at Tatiana's birthday, starting almost friendly

but getting more and more irritated by her demeanor, until he was shocked about Lensky's reaction and how far he himself had gone in provoking it. (It was a bit odd to see an Olga so much taller on pointe than Lensky and Onegin - Prisca Zeisel is a nice dancer, but this was an unfortunate combination). I loved Shklyarov's scenes in front of the curtain - how concerned he was already before the duel, for example. So many Onegins play these scenes too haughty. The last pdd was very passionate, even sensual sometimes. My only small objection was the mirror pdd where Onegin is supposed to be Tatiana's hero: radiant, bold and just a little demonic - here Shklyarov was still self-absorbed and sinister like in the opening scene. No smile, no love for her - but wow, his exit through the mirror looked great.

Let's hope he will dance the role again, with some more performances he could be one of the great Onegins - a dancer who wants to understand the soul of Pushkin's hero, not demonstrate what kind of dandy this person is.

 

Beautifully put Angela  

[annamk]

On 10/02/2018 at 13:48, ChMeBa said:

I have to disagree on one small point. Alexei Popov, I thought, was dance-wise slightly disappointing, with some trouble in partnering and lifts, though he acted convincingly, displaying passion in the duel challenge. For me, the Lensky to top all is Friedemann Vogel in Stuttgart, though now having been given the Onegin role, will alas be scarcely called on to dance Lensky. 

 

I agree with you about Popov - I was being generous  The Olga/Lensky Act 1 pdd was not a highlight, I assume nerves & the mismatched heights didn’t help. I thought Popov improved in Act 2 though: as you say his acting was convincing and I thought the pre duel solo was well enough danced. Sadly, I’ve never seen Vogel dance it, my current favourite is the Bolshoi’s outstanding Semyon Chudin. 

[Angela]

2 hours ago, annamk said:

 

Beautifully put Angela  

 

Thank you! 

 

Malakhov was a wonderful Lensky, too - but yes, Vogel is the benchmark. I liked Popov's dancing in the first scene, but he never really managed to look like a poet or somewhat romantic, the solo before the duel was almost disappointing. Chudin is wonderful, no question, but he was almost too Onegin-like when I saw him - intellectual instead of impulsive. His musicality was beyond belief. 

 

[Angela]

Marco Goecke, still house choreographer at Stuttgart Ballet until the end of this season, but more and more successful on an international level with a commission by Paris Opera Ballet next season and a premiere at the Stanislavsky in April, was appointed  director of the ballet company at Hannover, Germany, from 2019 on. Since 13 years, the Hannover company of 30 dancers is directed by Jörg Mannes, an Austrian choreographer who creates modern story ballets. Goecke's work, though very modern and unusual, is very popular in Germany, his older works are staged in many companies.