David

Really liked this post, terse and to the point, share your "Relief", but I'm intrigued - could you expand on "Disbelief" and "Uncertainty" please?

Yes - and I'm really looking forward to Derek Jacobi as Father Courage and David Tennant as Cleopatro!

Unlike the much later Woolf Works and the Human Seasons Mixed Programme that give casting details in full, there are still no indications regarding additional casting for Sleeping Beauty - not even for the Lilac Fairy. Does anyone have any idea when we might hear more please?

Certainly not. I've also booked for them, alongside various other pairings. It will make a great start to the new year!

According to Pathe Live the casting for Bright stream is: Svetlana Lunkina (Zina); Mikhail Lobukhin (Pyotr); Maria Alexandrova (the Ballerina); Ruslan Skvortsov (the Ballet Dancer); Denis Savin (the Accordionist); Alexei Loparevich (the Old Dacha Dweller)

A timely reminder. Thank you Tatiana.

OK ------- For me the biggest problem in all the various productions of Swan Lake that I have seen centres round the unexplored role of Rothbart and the failure to recognize how he is at the very core of the story. In all fairy tales there is the dark side. Just as Cinderella is ultimately about child abuse so Swan Lake is about this vile predator who preys on young women. We don’t know how or why Odile came to be ensnared (though one production I have seen uses the opening orchestral prelude to enact her abduction) or Rothbart’s intentions or what use he makes of her and the other women he abducts. These are places it seems we don’t want to go. We only know that she is utterly in his power and that she deliberately destroys herself to escape his toils. This is where the greatness of Tchaikovsky’s music lies. He understood the dark places of the soul only too well. Dowell created Rothbart as a brooding presence, very effective with a dancer actor like Gary Avis who can command a stage by his very stillness and I appreciate that but in the main productions rely on Odette to reflect her father’s evil nature, leaving him as a two-dimensional figure whose motives are unclear. Every dramatist knows that a play requires an effective baddie. I felt that Scarlett proved his skills as a dramatist in Frankenstein, for example in the way he switches our sympathies from Frankenstein himself to his creature, as Frankenstein stands silently by while the girl he knows to be innocent is hung for his creature’s crime. So …. I am wondering whether Scarlett may find ways to re-balance the work with new insights into the Rothbart role and his relationship to those he has ensnared, ie. the WHY behind the tragic love story?

"I hope they put in on in the cinema allowed to be watched by outsiders, as I will not be applying for a visa to watch it in person." Gosh SwissBalletFan - does that mean that it will be a bit like the rest of us popping over to Geneva or Zurich to see the ballet or the opera there? Oh dear, oh dear.

Don't worry - judging by modern day theatrical and operatic productions he's more like to be in fatigues. Oh yes, and with the mandatory Kalashnikov instead of a cross bow!

Is he tasked with "creating a brand new Swan Lake"? A chance to out-Bourne Bourne perhaps? If so no problem and it can run alongside the familiar and brilliant Dowell reconstruction much like Khan's Giselle at the ENB. Or is he embarking on an evolutionary process looking at the minor issues which annoyed some people over the years - costume details, a bit of fussiness, too many people - perhaps alongside new designs and so on. Over the years we came to take for granted one of the finest and most iconic productions in the RB repertoire. I have an enormous respect and liking for Liam Scarlett's work and I look forward to his production eagerly. I so wish him well. But I mourn the passing of the Dowell Swan Lake which had challenged so many generations of their finest dancers. And I wish Scarlett had been offered the chance to follow his Frankenstein with another entirely new narrative ballet, just as I am hoping and praying that one day Chris Wheeldon will return to the RB with another full-length original narrative work.

I've seen very mixed reviews - very undecided about whether to go!

Hear, Hear!

Too twee for my taste I'm afraid - and I think I'll give this new one a miss as well! Thanks for your comments.

How was it - were you impressed? It's a full price disk and I have so many Nutcrackers on my shelves! And I am promising myself that I will splurge if Opus Arte issue the RB cinema relay on 8th Dec with Hayward as Clara and Cuthbertson as the Sugar Plum Fairy.

I see the NYCB performance of Balanchine’s Nutcracker with Megan Fairchild, Jaoquin, Teresa Reichlen and Daniel Ulbricht has been listed for release on 11th Nov - described as the performance on 14th Dec 2011 at the David H Koch Theatre.

Can I just say that over the years I have seen some dreadful regietheater shakespearian productions that completely lose sight of the text and original intention. I am finding the main thrust of the comments here very reassuring!!!!!

Thank you Sim for the confirmation. I also am one who really liked Dowell's Production and I totally endorse these comments!

Has it been confirmed that Liam Scarlett has been tasked with the new production? And for the 2017/18 season?

The responses to the article have already jumped from 3 to 10 with a number of familiar names from the forum and I see that Mel Spencer (Content Producer (Social Media and News)) has responded: "Rest assured that there are absolutely no plans to change The Royal Ballet's production of La Fille mal gardée. Danielle is only exploring how Lancaster's designs contribute to the overall feel of the ballet, in the context of the criticism the designs have received in the past. We're delighted to hear that, like us, so many readers are such firm fans!" Job done!

I've already registered my disgust at the thought of any changes to the designs and I hope that many others on this forum will do the same! Here is the link: http://www.roh.org.uk/news/how-la-fille-mal-gardee-creates-pastoral-magic-through-marmite-cartoons

Ms Bussell announced on the Jonathan Ross Show that she has been recording a programme on Margot Fonteyn, to be aired "nearer Christmas"!

Janet - I just want to say that I was at the first night in Birmingham and thoroughly endorse, and thank you, for your detailed and spot-on analysis. For me Bintley's Tempest is a splendid piece, true to the spirit of Shakespeare's work and one that I will want to see again and again. HOWEVER ..... that second act! The masque began brilliantly and you are so right about the splendid individual contributions - but it just went on and on and on. It did finally get back on track and finished on a high. I liked Prospero's handing of the crown to Caliban, returning the island to him but the sight of Ariel sobbing at the end struck a false note for me - the essence of Ariel is that he is not human and not subject to human emotions - surely he should have been exultant that he had finally achieved his freedom? But these are details. This is a high calibre production and should be retained. I have not been able to get over to see it again so do please tell us if the second act is being tightened up.

Yes - you're quite right of course.

The point about the relationship between Madame Levevre and Dupont is interesting and explains a lot. However, my understanding is that Lady MacMillan continues to exercise firm control over what is performed/recorded of the MacMillan works, irrespective of the performing or recording company - if so Floss's point holds and I'd be surprised if the Paris Opera Performance or the Belair Classiques Manon release could have happened without her approval.

I think I'm getting confused between the live cinema relay on the 16th Oct 2014 with Nunez and Bonelli and the performance on 5th Oct when Lamb replaced Cuthbertson dancing with Muntagirov. Such details apart I agree with the general feeling that we need a new Manon recording. Presumably we must wait for the next run. If so, while I am a great fan of Osipova, I hope it will be with a different Principal - Either Lamb, Cuthbertson or Nunez though by then it could well be Hayward!