David

15 hours ago, FLOSS said:

Perhaps I am the only one but does anyone else think it rather odd that details of the ballet casting are available to Patrons but have not yet been posted on the website? If prior knowledge of the ballet casting is one of the benefits conferred on those willing to pay whatever eye watering sum is required to secure patron status why does not the same rule apply to the details of the opera casting as well?

 

 

 

 

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.

2 hours ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

 Hamilton ... is scheduled to dance in period 1 pieces, but I am not at liberty to give further detail at this time.

Well that is good news! Thanks.

36 minutes ago, Mary said:

 

The scene with Empress Elizabeth is very involving -when so well danced as it has been this run it can be brilliant- but, taking it all in all, are we meant to feel that because his mother was a bit chilly towards him, it is ample explanation for Rudolf's turning into a drug-addled bully and rapist, for whom we can feel sympathy?

 

 

 

 

 

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.

8 minutes ago, RMM1 said:

More likely the final part of Vienna: Empire, Dynasty and Dream with Simon Sebag Montefiore, which isn't currently available on i-player.

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?

15 hours ago, CHazell2 said:

Hi, what was the documentary called?

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!

Just now, bangorballetboy said:

 

 

 

I think this has come about from a misunderstanding - the reference to male and female there in the Wiki extract is just the gender equivalences of the surnames, rather than a translation.  Lord, Master, Noble all the same sort of thing!

 

 

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

3 hours ago, Amelia said:

BBC-2    Saturday 23 April, 7:55 am    Film "That's Entertainment!" (1974)

Compilation of highlights from MGM musicals. Among the cast: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Cyd Charisse, Gene Kelly, not to mention dozens of other stars.

Edit: Complete credited cast   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072272/

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”.

32 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

I really don't know where you got that from, but I don't believe it.  The Irish for man is fir (a bit like the Latin, vir) and the adjective 'male' is derived from that as either fierann or fearga depending on the context.  Anglicising any of those wouldn't result in Tierney.  Tierney in Irish means nobleman (or son of a nobleman) but is generally used these days as a unisex term (and a unisex name) as noble.  

 

Says the Irishman with a unisex name meaning meadow...

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!!!!!  

40 minutes ago, Fonty said:

I don't think the person was being rude, or at least it never occurred to me.  They had heavily accented English, and Alexander sounds like a unisex name if the spelling doesn't register with you.   And Tierney is not a common one either.  I've never met anyone called that.

 

I got the impression it was a genuine question, and I was amused. 

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!

15 minutes ago, Lindsay said:

 Many of the corps dancers are going to spend months being flamingoes, party parents and whores.

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?

BUY IT!! It's worth it for Sarah Mearns's Walpurgisnacht Ballet alone. Plus, we have so little Balanchine on DVD. And Symphony in C!!! Who WOULDN'T want a video of Symphony in C? <<heading right over to amazon website now, thanks for the heads up>>

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 12^th 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!”

.....  the great tradition of British orchestras being the best sightreaders 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!