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Scheherezade

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Everything posted by Scheherezade

  1. Top flight influencers are given an eye watering amount of high end goods as their endorsement brings in far more revenue for the suppliers. And to channel Linda Evangelista’s oft-repeated statement that ‘80s supermodels wouldn’t get out of bed for less than £10,000, influencers who are at the top of their game are paid upwards of this sum for a single line of text or a few spoken words so, yes, lucrative indeed!
  2. I think I’m going to have to blow my entire birthday budget on seeing as many cast combinations as I can fit in. Why am I not surprised?
  3. How did you manage that, San Perregrino? My daughter tried on the dot of 9.00 and it was showing Sold Out.
  4. I am very happy to read your views, Richard LH and Lindsay and having booked months ago purely to see Grigorian due somewhat to Butterfly fatigue over the last few seasons, would have looked forward to this coming weekend’s performance whatever the strengths or weaknesses of the rest of the cast. I can’t recall which review pointed to Grigorian as the sole reason to see this cast, although most of the critics point to her performance as something of a class apart. Bety glad that you both rated the supporting cast too.
  5. Asmik Grigorian is said to be the sole reason for seeing this cast. She is also the reason why I booked but I won’t be going until the weekend so can’t report back and just hoping the casting doesn’t change between now and then. Would be interested in what anyone else thinks.
  6. I have a friend, not young and now US resident, who frequently, and happily, wears tutus (albeit the longer variety) when attending the ROH.
  7. I have noticed recently - and I mean very recently - a number of young people, largely in the Floral/Paul Hamlyn Hall, glammed up to the nines. I don't know whether they are influencers and their friends, or people influenced by influencers, or whether suddenly, and entirely independently, noticeably larger numbers of young people have decided that they would like to attend performances at the ROH and dress up in a way that I can't say I have particularly noticed previously. I have nothing whatsoever against young people dressing up in this way, in fact I think that most of them look fabulous, but is this entirely coincidental and, if not, is it perhaps reinforcing the exclusivity tag? As regards influencers and their ilk, I have also seen Made in Chelsea people (no, my daughter recognised them, not me) posing up a storm in boxes during the intervals and whilst I may be barking up totally the wrong tree, it did lead me to wonder whether their tickets may have come courtesy of the Opera House.
  8. Brilliant review, Bridie, and I agree with everything you have said. I would add that this is the type of triple bill we really should have: something charming and witty as an aperitif, a challenging work in the middle and, to round off the evening, a piece that is utterly sublime. And what a showcase of MacMillan’s range. I think the muted reactions to Dances Concertantes show how much we need to familiarise ourselves with this type of what would now be grouped under the less than helpful umbrella of ‘heritage works’. There was much to admire but we are just not used to seeing works like this any more and they should not be allowed to fade from the repertoire. And I also liked the costumes and backdrop. Different Drummer was never going to be an easy watch but Hayward and Sambe were totally riveting. For me - and, I suspect, others - the grotesques (ie the doctor and the captain) shaped the uncomfortable side of this work and I put this down entirely, and clearly deliberately, to their appearance rather than their contribution to the onstage drama. And dramatic it certainly was, with many a nod to the familiar MacMillan canon found in Manon and Mayerling. Hayward was sublime, utterly moving in her portrayal of a Marie who was always prisoner to her unhappy fate and Sambe’s Wozzeck combined anger and desperation with more than a hint of Petrushka, although I too would love to see Bracewell’s interpretation. And Requiem? Just perfection. No more needs to be said.
  9. They would but that was definitely being put about during the run this time last year so let’s hope that Dawnstar is right about a reprieve.
  10. I would also like to say thank you to Sebastian for providing, as always, such a clear and informative explanation. The problem that I have turns on the increasing confusion between emotion (a genuine response which can be beautifully defined by pure dance and I see this as idiomatic emotionalism) and sentimentality (a contrived representation of what is supposed to express intense feeling, which I see as very much a 21st century disease and, in this context, non-idiomatic emotionalism). I am not convinced that characterisation in itself robs classical ballet of its authenticity. The dancers that truly touch us do characterise, albeit by dint of the sheer beauty of their movement and interpretation of the music, and without this the art form would be reduced to a series of sterile tableaux that we cannot connect with in any way beyond that of an intellectual exercise but this is not the same as the over-emoting that inevitably accompanies the merciless onward march of sentimentality in life and in art.
  11. If we take idiomatic emotionalism as the language we associate with a particular branch or style of an art form, that implies that any deviation from a purely intellectual interpretation is non-idiomatic, and I get that, it may be emotionally engaging but it’s inauthentic, but where does the response of the audience member come in?
  12. I felt too depressed about it all to even comment. Is there any hope that all-things-to all-men Keir and opera-loving, two homes Ange will do things any differently?
  13. Fingers very definitely crossed!
  14. Well I would take non-idiomatic emotionalism as meaning a natural response, not something informed by any sort of preconception of what you’re supposed to feel, so - I think - along the same lines as @Linnzi5 but what do I know? I think we need a dictionary corner here. Anyway, if it is a natural response to what you experience, I would imagine that would be pretty much impossible from your restricted view seat, Dawnstar.
  15. Perhaps if you ask @Geoff what, precisely, he means by non-idiomatic emotionalism rather than what other people understand by what he wrote, @Balletbloke …
  16. Am I wrong in thinking that the rather thrilling ROH Turandot, has gone the way of so many of its other wonderful productions and now seen its last due to cultural stereotyping and the outdated notion that spirit-crushing, non-contextual greige productions are the way forward? How much longer can the current Butterfly last? On which note, my booking for later on in this run is entirely down to Asmik Grigirian’s casting as Butterfly, which I see the critics are singularly raving about. Did she do it for you, @JennyTaylor?
  17. My thoughts: the weakness in Act 4 revolves almost entirely around the lack of agency given to Siegfried. This apart, there is a strong religious thread running through Act 4. We have the ascendancy of the swans over evil/Von Rothbart, the resurrection of Odette’s spirit representing the ultimate victory of good over evil through sacrifice and death, and the return of her mortal, human body in death, emphasising the difference between human frailty and betrayal with unconditional love and eternal life. I don’t think that Siegfried’s contrition is anywhere near enough but if he were to take more of an active part in the defeat of Von Rothbart, the ending would ultimately feel far more satisfying and this would perfectly carry the swell of the closing part of the score.
  18. I find the Tchaikovsky score in itself transcendent (and I think that’s such an accurate description, Bridie).
  19. Just read this, Blossom, and glad to see that your tickets have been snapped up. Thanks so much for asking and, yes, I am sorted. Should have confirmed sooner.
  20. Absolutely. It all turns on the portrayal and the technique. They were stand out, weren’t they? Unfortunately some of the other trios somewhat suffered by comparison.
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