David

I suppose the temptation is to see this as a kind of institutionalised elitism but the more likely and certainly the kinder explanation is that Mr O'Hare has said that casting details will be available prior to the booking date/s and that date must be imminent for Patrons? Meanwhile I'm afraid we lesser mortals must wait our turn. Hopefully it will not be too long.

Well that is good news! Thanks.

Rudolf’s Great Grandson outlined six reasons for his suicide: “his troubled relationship with his mother who cared little for him, his bad relationship with the Emperor his father, his catastrophic marriage, his many love affairs, none of which led to fulfillment, his bad health and the frustration of his political objectives”. adding “he was a total failure as a human being, as a husband, as a son and as a father.” It seems to me that MacMillan reflects this perspective pretty well. If anything he offers a slightly more redeeming portrait - particularly as, for example Bonelli portrays him.

Technically eight if you count Gary coz he's said he's playing Bay Middleton tomorrow night - and what's the betting that another Principal Character Artist will be cast as the Emperor?

Thank you Beryl H. As RMM1 says it will probably be repeated eventually and I’ll certainly look out for it.

Talking about historical inaccuracies, I don’t think the amazing Freeman/MacMillan reconstruction has been properly recognized - sifting through all the varying, often conflicting accounts, memoires, biographies, police and medical records available to them at the time, rejecting speculation regarding political assassination, botched abortion and the like and settling on the narrative outlined in the Ballet. They didn’t have the benefit of the forensic examination of Mary’s remains in 1992/3 or Mary’s farewell letters discovered only 2 years ago but as far as I can see all the subsequent evidence has supported the MacMillan/Freeman narrative. It was a remarkable piece of research! Incidentally, when I get the RB programme tomorrow I will be interested to see if it has been up-dated to take account of the public release of Mary’s letters since the last time it was performed by the Company.

I haven't seen this - according to one reviewer it is "full of historical errors" but I'll certainly look out for it. Meanwhile, perhaps BerylH will enlighten us?

I can only think that BerylH was referring to the final part of Lucy Worsley's brilliant three part series "Empire of the Tsars: Romanov Russia". If so it's still available on BBC Player!

Actually you only have to watch Nureyev partnering on film footage. His positioning and stance absolutely shrieks "Look at Me!" And of course we do!

Didn't I read somewhere that Kevin O'Hare said that Strapless was going to be significantly re-tweaked this time around? Or am I mixing it up with something else?

Just noticed this: Malandain Ballet Biarritz L’Après-midi d’un faune (Debussy) 2012 Le Spectre de la rose (von Weber) 2012 Une Dernière chanson / One Last Song (Traditional) 2012 Silhouette (Beethoven) 2016 Estro (Vivaldi) 2016 Nocturnes (Chopin) 2016 Scheduled for release on 19 May 2017. Best deal seems to be on Presto Classical!

True O Sage - my dementia is even further advanced than I had realised.

This is the first and the best of four superb compilations mainly from MGM musicals - TE1, 2, and 3 plus That's Dancing. To quote Frank Sinatra in TE1 - “You can wait around and hope but you’ll never see the likes of these again”.

Well try Wikipedia for a start - "It is an Anglicized form of Irish Ó Tiarnaigh (male), Ní Thiarnaigh (female), also spelled Ó Tighearnaigh/Ní Thighearnaigh. It is derived from tiarna, the Irish word for lord or master". Mind you I’ll take your word over Wikipedia any day and I’m happy to stand corrected. We Celts should stand together. But Hey - I did think though on the basis of your past contributions that you of all people would be a fan, and not be able to resist a response when I mentioned the wonderful Gene Tierney!!!!!

And Tierney, both forename and surname, is the anglicised form of the Irish for male! Edited: And I've just remembered that the father of the great Hollywood actress Gene Tierney (Laura; Heaven can Wait) was of Irish descent!

While the Vue website gives the full 2hrs 30mins starting at 7.30! All very unhelpful!

Helpful to have the encore dates. Thank you.

I see that the Bolshoi Cinema relay of Giselle on 8th April 2018 is to be the performance captured live on 11th Oct 2015 that paired Zakharova with Polunin!

Nice one, Lindsay!

All very complicated! The interest for me will be in the detail, particularly in the castings. Several of the McMillan Celebration items are already scheduled in the individual companies' own programmes.

I guess we're all waiting to see if he will be listed to dance with Osipova in Marguerite and Armand on 5th & 10th June?

Well, that's good enough for me. I've placed my order. Thank you. And thanks again Bluebird for identifying it.

Thank you Bluebird. Armed with that I've checked the review in the New York Times which seems to have been favourable. I'm wavering whether to order it - does anyone have any advice please?

Amazon have announced the following Belair Classiques DVD for release on 12th May: New York City Ballet in Paris [New York City Ballet, George Balanchine; Orchestre Promethee; Daniel Capps Not much detail but this from the blurb: “This exceptional production, performed in Paris after eight years of absence, revolves around three great French composers who inspired NYCB founder George Balanchine: Charles Gounod, Maurice Ravel and Georges Bizet. The four ballets performed, choreographed from 1925 to 1980, perfectly encapsulate Balanchines genius and his very own neo-classical style. They also provide a particular insight on the bonds that tied Balanchine to France. What is known today as Walpurgisnacht Ballet was a ballet choreographed for the opera Faust (Charles Gounod) at the Paris Opera in 1975. It premiered as an independant piece in New York in 1980. Sonatine, set to a music by Maurice Ravel, was created by two New York City Ballet French principals, the recently departed Violette Verdy and Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux. La Valse was originally composed by Ravel for the Ballets Russes and Serge Diaghilev, then exiled in France, shortly before Balanchine entered the company. Symphony in C (Georges Bizet), better known as Le Palais de Cristal, premiered at the Paris Opera. A spectacular tribute to Balanchine, beautifully served by the breath-taking technique of these American dancers, who rank today among the best in the world!”

It's a reputation that dates back to the bad old days when, prior to the fifties orchestras in this country were created for specific occasions, with players brought together performing pretty well without rehearsal. Orchestral players in those days had to be good sight readers! We owe so much to the likes of Beecham and Boult and of course the BBC for the development of our great orchestras and the orchestral tradition that we take for granted now. Twasn't always thus!