MAB

11 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

Did it happen at the end then, as the review mentions no spoilers when talking about the ending? I really do wonder what on earth goes on in some opera directors' heads.

Yes, it did.  As to what goes on in opera director's heads, I remember one of them claiming it was an intellectual failing of audiences if they don't appreciate the mad productions.  So we're insulted too after sitting through their torrid imaginings.  I have a lot of sympathy with those buying listening only seats.

16 minutes ago, Roberta said:

Women of good social standing weren't to be found gathering in the squares of Verona

Women traders, servants and housewives would though, that's why in other productions you see lively ensemble dancing without harlots.  Ashton and Lavrovsky for example did very well without them.

It was Die Frau ohne Schatten, brilliant musically, but I've never liked the libretto.  Here is an excellent review of what I saw, but as they're avoiding spoilers the reviewer doesn't mention Barak giving birth to the slug.

https://operatraveller.com/2023/11/06/futuristic-fantasy-die-frau-ohne-schatten-at-the-staatsoper-stuttgart/

I

1 minute ago, alison said:

I don't remember that scene appearing in the novel?

I was comparing it with Massenet's opera.  It is an incredibly powerful scene.

The production is perfectly watchable by ROH standards, remember it isn't just London that inflicts horrors on its audiences, a few months ago in Germany I had to endure a Strauss opera where a male character gave birth to a giant slug.  This Electra is at least easy on the eye.

I'd prefer shorter intervals to an earlier start, I'm on a branch line, nice late last train, but the trains are prone to cancellation.  We don't all have the luxury of a tube line.

There was a lot of ill feeling towards MacMillan from many quarters at the time Manon was created.  Some critics pointed out that in the opera the crucial scene is where Manon seduces DG before the altar to join her life of pleasure, and if you know the opera it is hard not to agree.  As I find too much padding in the final act, I still wonder why the church scene is omitted.

Is the action of Act II set in a brothel?  At one time is was simply described as an Hotel Particulier, in other words, a posh town house.

1 hour ago, Mary said:

As for Lescaut being the main interest...I have always found the character  just plain unpleasant: one-dimensional, the drunk scene very unfunny indeed and rather boring.

In MacMillan's lifetime there was a great deal more variety in interpretations than today.  No one has ever matched Dowell as Lescaut as far as I'm concerned, but his was far from being the only unique portrayal.  I don't see anything like that today.  Likewise  Manon is a conniving venal character, not an innocent victim. A great pity the performances of Seymour and Markarova never made it onto film.  

As far as I can remember no explanation was ever given, it's assumed some men are turned on by girls dressed as boys.  I believe the practice among ladies of the oldest profession has some history.

Marc Platt

Rear stalls are okay, front stalls are another matter as the orchestra pit is so high.  Being on the shorter side leg room isn't a problem.  Sight lines are.

9 hours ago, LinMM said:

Most of the Reviews back then were for the performances of Vasiliev and Rojo and that cast for Jeune and Sylphide rather than for Cesars nights casting. 

But his and a little earlier, Jonah Acosta's, remain the best performances in the Jeune Homme role I've ever seen.  Far outshining that particular guest.

10 hours ago, alison said:

Yes, I thought that as well.  Possibly a bit too princely at the moment to fit very naturally into this production, but I look forward to seeing him in Swan Lake.  He's fair-looking (although that may have been the effect of the lights), young, slender and very tall (6'4", apparently!)

And he reminds me very much of Piers Beaumont, similar type of face (patrician) and near identical physique.

Avoid the stalls.

4 hours ago, FionaM said:

So no actual dancers from Ukraine involved in this list … only ones currently in RB or ENB.  None of whom have had professional careers in Ukraine.

I read the following, both are to the best of my knowledge Ukrainian and have trained there.  More names are likely to be added

5 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

Vsevolod Maievskyi and Artist of The Royal Ballet Marianna Tsembenhoi.

4 hours ago, FionaM said:

(Royal Ballet wasn’t able to arrange extra funding to hire any elite dancers that left Russia.)

Really?  Is that fact in the public domain.?

Yes Sim, they did.  I still miss that pas de deux.

12 hours ago, Don Q Fan said:

I'm reading the new Cranko book at the moment and it would be interesting to some of his shorter works

Couldn't agree more.  In October I saw his ballet Initials R.B.M.E.after a gap of many years, it remains a true masterpiece.

Thank you Emeralds for your review of Takahashji, a dancer who in my opinion always delivers in all her roles.  For me she is always first cast.  There were some rather unkind comments about her elsewhere on this thread to which I didn't reply for fear of saying something I might later regret,  Glad you enjoyed Saturday evening as much as I did.

Quote

Elsewhere the R&J copyright doesn’t expire until 70 years after the death of Lavrovsky, as they are citing him as an co-author. 

That must surely only apply when his production is being danced.

Also the peasant pas de deux instead of a pas de six.

It may be called the Bolshoi Lift. nut mot all Bolshoi dancers perform it.

I love that the Skeaping version doesn't have Albrecht carrying Giselle back to her grave,

That was the ratio it was broadcast in.  It filled the screen whereas the first episode did not.

If you mean JW3 in Finchley Road, I have attended a ballet related event there in the past.

24 minutes ago, OnePigeon said:

As others have said, I feel like I’m living in a dystopian nightmare as it is, the last thing I desire is to fork out a load of money I don’t really have to sit and be further depressed.  Give me distraction, joy, beauty, hope

We do live in uncertain times, and there is a lot to be said for distraction right now.  During Covid my mind went back to a decades old ballet by Flemming Flindt called The Triumph of Death that accurately predicted a pandemic.  At that time it was a clever innovative theme but right now when the dystopian future may well become a reality that genre is ill timed.

I must confess to being an outlier here when it comes to Mcgregor as I am something of a fan, though not all his work fills me with delight.  Please assure me we won't be enduring another Pite work next season, I might just walk out on the RB for good if we do.  How about asking Arthur Pita, a man who really knows how to put a smile on someone's face, to create something cheerful?  Please.

There is a dearth of choreographers prepared to use the purely classical vocabulary.  Ratmansky stays true to the faith.  All views are subjective.

I remember seeing Ratmansky's beautiful Psyche at POB with that ravishing score by Cesar Franck, it would be a fine acquisition for the RB.  Tiler Peck should be offered a commission sooner rather than later.