MAB

Going completely off topic, I'm fervently hoping the upcoming change at the top will see Christian Thielemann on the podium at ROH.

Can we start an opera wish list?

9 minutes ago, SheilaC said:

(By going to Paris we were unable to see a very young Guillem dance Giselle in London  for the first time, the same week, partnered by Nureyev, another big moment in the history of Giselle and dance).

The most extraordinary Giselle I ever saw.  All the lifts were cut forcing Guillem to improvise.  Nureyev never know when to give up, he sacrificed the performance for his ego that night. 

12 hours ago, OnePigeon said:

 In total fantasy land I would give anything for the RB to stage The Merry Widow

In total fantasy land I would like the RB to stage Clavigo, it must be over fifty years since there was any Petit danced by the RB.  And surely it's rime to revive Prince of the Pagodas and Sylvia.

Blossom, you've absolutely nailed it.

With regard to operas, the opera buffa is hardly a rare genre and many baroque operas, regardless of historical facts, inevitably end with a jolly ensemble. 

I can think of a number of ballets with happy endings. we just don't see them danced.  As for modern dance, I think Martha Graham excelled in angst and that rather created a trend, but Paul Taylor created much that was upbeat and has there ever been a more uplifting work than Alvin Ailey's revelations?

It's all down to programming.

Quote

It really does need people who not only have superb technique, but can really dance it with a wonderful flow.  

It continued to be wonderful during the years Ashton was around to coach subsequent casts.

Thank you Silke H for including a couple of pas de deux.  I suppose strictly speaking that makes fantasy triples quadruples.  I wish we could include a pas de deux in the RB's ever shrinking repertoire as the dancers deserve more opportunities to take centre stage than they currently get.  Walk to the Paradise Garden, Thais and Side Show are all too good to loose.

I'm surprised it got a second run, the other ballet created for Osipova, Medusa, was far superior in my opinion.

I saw Dante Project in Paris in May and it was obvious from the comments of others in my box that they were there for the composer.

Petrushka was of course choreographed by Fokine and not Ashton..  That's what happens when the wretched phone rings.  Sorry!

As I mentioned on another thread, music is very important to me.  Some years ago there was an all Stavinsky triple bill including Rite that was conducted by Bernard Haitink that sold like hot cakes.  So all the RB needs to do is lure a internationally famous maestro onto the rostrum.

Failing that here are some fantasy triples I'd love to see including an all Stravinsky.

Birthday Offering Ashton/Glazunov

Triad MacMillan/Prokofiev

Ballet Concerto No.2 (nee Ballet Imperial) Balanchine/Tchaikovsky

Symphonic Dances Scarlet/Rachmaninoff

Symphony MacMillan/Shostakovich 

Firebird Fokine/Stravinsky

Scene de Ballet Ashton/Stravinsky

Petrushka Ashton/Stravinsky

Rite of Spring MacMillan/Stravinsky

With non Russian Composers

Les Biches Nijinska/Poulenc

Voluntaries Tetley/Poulenc

Gloria MacMillan/Poulenc

Dances of Albion Tetley/Britten

The Four Seasons MacMillan/Verdi

Theme and Variations Balanchine/Tchaikovsky

I believe the RB currently has the dancers to do all of the above justice

41 minutes ago, Fonty said:

I often longed to see Guillem with someone other than Cope

I would have given my back teeth to see her paired with Tsiskaridze.

8 hours ago, Ondine said:

John Cranko left the UK for Stuttgart as he was prosecuted for homosexual activity in the UK (1959?) Not always so kind and gentle, the UK, sadly.

 

Worth remembering that the act of 1967 came about because of the strength of public opinion.  The law as it stood was simply a charter for blackmailers and it disgusted people.  It was the compassion (something else lacking in current society) of the general public that was the driver for the decriminalization.

Any form of censorship is anathema to me.  I'm old enough to remember when every theatrical production had to be approved by the Lord Chancellor's offce and there was even the DH Lawrence book that finished up in court for a judge to decide if the general public could read it.  It seems we've gone full circle and the bad old days are back with a vengeance.

I see a society where any kind of tolerance is thin on the ground, have the wrong view on subjects and you are 'cancelled' (what an odious expression) People now are selective of their prejudices with agism, misogyny, antisemitism and open contempt of the disabled being rife and the official figures sadly confirm this.   I look in vain for the kind gentle people I knew in my youth, but find coarseness, anger and ignorance in abundance.  I often wish the 'virtue signallers' would take a long hard look at thenselves and the society they are creating because there is little that is good about it.  

3 hours ago, DVDfan said:

Many years ago I had a conversation with a published author which revealed that he listened to pirated music tapes all the time

I'm told there are websites that specialise in pirated performances.  A friend once gave me a pirated opera CD, It was a rare early opera and at that time there was no commercial recording available.  I myself bought what turned out to be a pirated ballet DVD once off of ebay which I bought in good faith.  I imagined someone was selling a Russian DVD and was surprised when it turned out to be an amateur effort.  However that ballet is no longer performed and no legitimate DVD of it exists.  I have no doubt it was made by someone recording it for a cast member who spotted its money making potential.

I have quite a number of opera and ballet DVDs all authentic and have no time whatsoever for the poor quality clips that spring up on You Tube, unless they are of historical interest.

Perhaps someone should start a thread on ballets and casts we wish had been recorded for posterity and weren't.

Where were the ushers?  Two young women arrived late at the Wigmore Hall and sat in front of me, one immediately pulled out her phone.  The usherette was there in a trice, asking her to put it away.  She did but five minute later out came the phone again, once more the usherette insisted she turn it off.  It stayed off and she didn't returm after the interval.  

Oddly enough I had a Moorfields appointment change too, from May to June in my case.

I think the score for Job is superb, but I'm resigned to the fact I'll never see it again. The music is massvely important to me, I'll sit through 19th century rubbish music for the choreography and the dancers, but if I never saw Corsair, bayaderka or Don Q again I could live with that but not ballets to scores of genius, e.g. Stravinsky, Ravel.

There have been no fewer than twelve ministers of culture in the past thirteen years.  Without resorting to Google, how many of you can name half of them?  A failing of the present government no doubt.  But wait a minute, these ministers aren't just ministers of culture, they are also ministers of media and sport.  Culture and media I just about get, but sport?  The sole culture portfolio was abolished by Blair in 1997, thereby diminishing the importance of the role.

Personally I feel that hoping for improvement under the other lot will lead to disappointment.

The most menacing Black Queen I saw was Maina Gielgud, but having earlier seen Robert Helpmann as the Red King and Nureyev as the Red Knight, perhaps I have  more keenly etched memories of the ballet than most.  Svetlana Beriosova and Monica Mason were also stunning Black Queens.  I think today Osipova could get to own that role given a chance.

I liked Hirano a lot.  I saw a couple of performances in Paris in May, interesting to compare the two companies.

As an admirer of the music of Arthur Bliss it distresses me that Checkmate, a British classic in every sense of the word, should be considered outdated.  I accept I'll probably never see a ballet by Massine again but from comments here it sounds as if Fokine will soon be thrown on the scrap heap too.

One of my friends saw Ms Badenes for the first time earlier this year.  So impressed was he that  he insisted  I accompany him to see her in the Remember Me programme last month.  She is very lovely and her performances were of the highest order, and yes, I did have the addded pleasure of seeing her with Messrs Vogel and  Reilly.  She totally deserves her win.

3 hours ago, LinMM said:

Yes Giselle was often accompanied by Monotones or L’Apres Midi d’un Faune 

I can remember Triad too.

1 hour ago, FionaM said:

Seeing as he was forced out of multiple music director and conducting roles around the world after February 2022,

Forced out?  Not  how most people would describe it.