Jump to content

Scheherezade

Members
  • Posts

    1,675
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Posts posted by Scheherezade

  1. 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. 

    • Like 1
  2. 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. 

    • Thanks 1
  3. 1 hour ago, Roberta said:

     

    What with this thread and the one where everyone is sucking their lemons because a young woman & her pal wore tutus at the ROH, I'm off to dig out MY black one and FLAUNT myself.  FLAUNT. 

     

     

     

    (Reality check... I doubt it will fit...) 

     

    I have a friend, not young and now US resident, who frequently, and happily, wears tutus (albeit the longer variety) when attending the ROH.

    • Like 2
  4. 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. 

    • Like 2
  5. 8 hours ago, bridiem said:

    When the curtain went up on Danses concertantes, I was both surprised and delighted at the designs, which I hadn't remembered at all (strange, because they're pretty memorable!). I also thought that the backdrop was more like John Piper than Georgiadis, and that added to the period air of the piece. The choreography was so inventive and consistently interesting and unexpected; a bit like Scènes de Ballet on steroids. Can't wait to see it again.

     

    Different Drummer: for the first 15 minutes or so, I was feeling quite dismayed (as before) with this - it seemed to me to be not so much nightmareish as cartoonish (and there was quite a lot of unfortunate giggling going on around me, which I don't think was the intended reaction). I think the problem mainly applies in respect of the Captain and the Doctor. But as the work progressed I found it more and more absorbing and some of the images and moves were very powerful, though it still seemed to be more a series of vignettes rather than a coherent work. But by the end, I'd been drawn in and I did find it both moving and shocking. The murder is horrific; I don't think the suicide is very clear (just as well I'd read the programme) since he seems to just wash his hands and then lie down in the bath and pull the cover back on. So ultimately I found this an unsatisfying work, but with much more to recommend it than I felt when I first (and last) saw it. Francesca Hayward was superb as Marie; I thought that Marcelino Sambé danced beautifully and gave it everything, but he doesn't strike me as ideal casting for the role - I would have liked to see Bracewell and/or Richardson do it.

     

    I find it difficult to write about Requiem. It seems to be to have come to fruition fully formed, as if no other steps could have been used and MacMillan was simply expressing what was already there. I think I barely breathed from start to finish. Unbearably beautiful, and unbearably moving. Especially because today (now) is the first anniversary of my brother's death, and we used the In Paradisum movement at his funeral (and indeed at our mother's funeral in 2014). To watch the souls being led gently into Paradise, all fear gone, with their heads held high, was quite overwhelming. All the dancers were magnificent, and rightly got a great reception. Why this masterpiece is performed so infrequently I will never understand. 

     

     

     

     


    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. 

    • Like 12
  6. 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. 

    • Like 8
  7. 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?

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
  8. 10 minutes ago, Geoff said:

    No more guessing, no more assumptions about "Maoism", no more gossip or backstage rumour. The Arts Council has just issued a lengthy report telling us what it thinks about opera (spoiler alert, basically the Arts Council hates opera). Their report can be accessed here:

     

    Lets Create_Opera and Music Theatre Analysis_Full report.pdf

     

    I can't claim to have read the whole thing yet but I notice with a smirk that one of those involved is a well-known dodgy person operating inside the arts, who was once characterised in print as "the worst executive I have ever dealt with". So the Arts Council clearly chose carefully when putting together their team of writers and advisers. 

     

    For those who would like a quick guide, the Observer newspaper has an article about the report out today:

     

    In the name of anti-elitism, Arts Council England has declared war on opera and excellence | Catherine Bennett | The Guardian

     

     


    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?

  9. 46 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

     

    The last rumours I heard on opera Twitter was that it was going to be scrapped but then got reprieved. I suppose we'll only know for certain when/if it reappears. Fingers crossed...


    Fingers very definitely crossed! 

    • Like 1
  10. 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. 

    • Like 1
  11. 56 minutes ago, Balletbloke said:

    Sorry Geoff, but you'll have to explain what "non-idiomatic emotionalism" is.

     

    44 minutes ago, Geoff said:


    Have to? Well, perhaps it would be interesting to see what other people understand by what I wrote. For those with an interest in Petipa and Ivanov I don‘t think it is obscure. 

     

    6 minutes ago, Balletbloke said:

    Well that leaves me none the wiser.


    Perhaps if you ask @Geoff what, precisely, he means by non-idiomatic emotionalism rather than what other people understand by what he wrote, @Balletbloke …

    • Like 1
  12. 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?

     

  13. 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. 

    • Like 8
  14. 1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

    Both practices are fine with me as long as the portrayal is convincing. And there’s no reason why a GM can’t be Siegfried the following week if he has the technique for it. 


    Absolutely. It all turns on the portrayal and the technique. 
     

    1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

    a shoutout for the excellent trio of Leo Dixon, Taisuke Nakao and Joonhyuk Jun as the three young gentlemen in Act 2 on 8 March, who had beautifully complementary lines and positions while jumping, on the ground or when turning, and were neatly synchronised while having their own distinct personalities. 

     

    They were stand out, weren’t they? Unfortunately some of the other trios somewhat suffered by comparison. 

    • Like 2
  15. And on the topic of gaffes, I received an email from the ROH apologising for an error in the Coming Up section of the recent Friends newsletter advertising a signing by Angela Gheorghiu in the Linbury foyer on 13 March. The signing took place on 13 February.

    • Like 2
  16. The various posters on Slipped Disc are pretty much in agreement that ChatGPT wouldn’t have made such obvious gaffes. There are some rather amusing responses. 

    • Like 3
×
×
  • Create New...