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David

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  1. Well yes indeed, I welcome the return of vinyl despite its cost and so do my family who have invested in expensive turntables, etc. CDs never cut it with me coz they never sounded the same, I think coz they only sampled sound waves so you didn't get the full-bodied sound? Anyway, good to hear from you again Stevie - you have informed many of my choices over the years. And yes, I also have the Houston Ghost Dances - but in my case the cost was far from reasonable so well done you!
  2. "Put out the torches! Hide the moon! Hide the stars!" This thread has been a major source of information to me since it was started by charliewise back in 2015 and quite recently I have gratefully added Coppel-A.I and Like Water for Chocolate with it's beautiful final pas de deux. But these are exceptions. I have been building my collection of recordings for over 70 years, embracing not just Dance but also Theatre, Opera and much else. But sadly that is coming to an end as theatres and companies embrace streaming. Will we see programmes from such diverse companies as Opus Arte, The BBC, The Bolshoi etc issuing recordings on disk or being broadcast in the future? I fear not and much of the material from the past will not find it's way onto streaming. My collection is pretty comprehensive (and bulky!!!!) and I am so very grateful to Members of the Forum who have shared copies of their precious recordings with me. But I still mourn my failure to record certain performances eg. : Theatre - Oscar Wilde's Salome - the performance of the original French Text by Radiodiffusion Television Francaise back in 1969 with the French Prima Ballerina Ludmilla Tcherina writhing orgiasticly in the title role (there is a copy on You Tube but it is virtually unwatchable; Opera - Harrison Birtwhistle's Gawain aired by the BBC but my recorder failed; Darcey Bussell's Farewell Performance including Das Lied von der Erde with Gary Avis and Carlos Acosta, amazingly never released on disc. I have seen many changes of format since my boyhood when I first started haunting second-hand shops looking for the old one-sided, G&T shellac 78 recordings of the like of Caruso, Schipa, Melba and Galli Curci. Each change of format has meant loss! Those of us who have been recording assiduously over the years are holding what are fast becoming historical collections which I suspect will never again see the light of day. And IMHO, streaming, targetted at the bucks, is a poor substitute!
  3. The preoccupation rightly has focussed on the absurdity of the pricing structures but my family remain equally concerned re the dearth of casting information. With our booking slot due in a couple of days there is no way that we will be booking for The Dante Project and The Nutcracker unless we know who will be dancing and when. It looks like we are going to save a lot of money!
  4. With the Friends Plus booking date imminent, I have been watching the confusion on the RB booking site in amazement, tempered with awe that so venerable an institution could make such a dog's dinner of the booking process; also that so many respected contributers on these pages accept the administrative incompetence with such patient resignation. The ROH has been my cultural home for over 70 years and I have never known such chaos. Me and mine are still waiting to discover the castings for The Dante Project and the key additional castings for Nutcracker while Don Quixote is still missing from our screens in its entirety though we have kept a record of the dates and the two primary roles (though that may well no longer be relevant!). Holiday plans, etc are on hold across the family but there is no way that we will be booking blind as apparently the upper echelons amongst the Friends have been asked to do - far too much money is involved and we are in the midst of a cost of living crisis. And how can everyone in the famiy express their preferences so that we can sort out a booking strategy? I see that someone in the system seems to think "the issue has been resolved". Not in our book, it hasn't! We accept that there will always be last minute changes, injuries etc but surely someone knows who is down to be dancing with whom and when?
  5. Very envious! I'd be interested to hear if the cameras are in - in particular whether Suzy Klein is picking it up for her new live performance initiative with the BBC or whether there might be a DVD/Blu Ray issue?
  6. J'accuse.... My guess is that the huge interest in the release of the Ashton 69 recording of Cinderella reflects the dearth of recordings on disk during the pandemic. Orchestra, ballet and opera companies around the world have been streaming a wealth of otherwise unavailable material for which I have been profoundly grateful but for whatever reasons this has not been reflected in releases on disk. The pandemic offered an unique opportunity to recording companies to release recordings that we know are available but have never found their way to disk many of which were broadcast once and never seen again - opportunities that have been wasted. Examples abound - on the opera front for example Birtwistle's Gawain, a huge work of Wagnerian proportions; on the baller front, Darcey Bussell's farewell performance of MacMillan's Song of the Earth, one of his finest works and unavailable on disk. We can all think of other examples and I'm sure there are reasons (excuses!) but I for one am bitterly disappointed by this failure by recording companies to rise to the opportunity.
  7. Oh dear, I feel I should apologise. I seem to have raised hackles. It was a simple query, a wish to know more about the woman who has moved us all so profoundly. Surely it is not inapproriate, particularly on this day of all days that we should think about the forgotten person behind the story.
  8. Thank you Bruce. Nothing can detract from the beauy of the clip of course but dance is so ephemeral - we and future posterity are so fortunate now that dancers and their performances can be recorded. The clip has gone so viral around the world - possibly more will emerge about this woman who has moved us all so much.
  9. Such beauty in old age is so moving. Sim reports that she was a principal with the New York City Ballet in the 60s but I have not been able to discover anything else about her, in particular any recording of her dancing. I wonder Bruce if you are aware of any record of her performing - maybe in the NYCB archives?
  10. The best place to catch it is probably on You Tube - and yes, both she and it really are lovely to watch:
  11. Thanks Stevie - well that's clear, though my loyalty to the Peter Wright production remains undimmed and I certainly don't see it as "the definitive Nutcracker on DVD". Nor do I understand what "the highlight of every holiday season for years to come" might mean. Unless they are assuming it will be an annual TV Xmas treat. Very sloppy marketing!
  12. I remain confused re this. Amongst my plethora of Nutcrackers, I have a performance recorded in 1985 in which Lesley Collier is partnered by Anthony Dowell & Michael Coleman, and a performance from 1968, choreographed by Nureyev in which he is partnered by Merle Park as Clara. I had no knowledge of a performance in which Nureyev is partnered by Collier but now see it listed, DVD only, on amazon in which, contrary to the Nureyev/Collier listing, the blurb identifies it as the Nureyev/Park 1968 recording!!! If the blurb is correct and it is the 1968 Nureyev/Park version, though it is a performance to be treasured, it would need a heck of a lot of restoration to justify a re-purchase if my current copy is anything to go by but perhaps with modern technology it will emerge in pristine form. Like Stevie I find it an odd choice.
  13. Oh Stevie - I really must stop spending money - but as the man said I can resist anything but temptation! Can't see a cheap copy comparable to the Zurich/Hagen Dance and Quartet you found but I've set up a search on eBay and will wait for one to come along. For now though I think I've got quite enough to keep me going! Meanwhile, going back to your earlier comments abut the RB Jewels, I'm still hoping that this might still be released. I'm reminded of Menuhin's comment - "I admire virtuosity, I enjoy virtuosity but at the end of the day it is self-defeating". The same could be said about tchnology and the obsession with perfection. If such obsession had been in place in the past, many of the greatest performances ever released on record would never have been heard. We don't worry about the odd fluffed note or, for that matter the odd misstep in live performance. If Jewels can't be released on disk then it should be streamed. It was far too fine to be left to wither.
  14. Thank you Jeannette, that's a boost - I'm really looking forward to receiving this set now!
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