Scheherezade

You are exceptionally lucky, Bruce.

Ditto. They do ENB but I’ve never seen anything from the ROH either.

I’d say a combination of ticket prices and the rep, but ticket prices primarily because punters who will not - or, frequently, can not - pay the massively inflated prices currently demanded for productions that they are lukewarm about at best, might well go along anyway if prices were less prohibitive. By way of comparison, look at the swathes of £20 seats with excellent sight lines at the National Theatre, where the very best seats in the house cost less than virtually every one of the cheapest restricted view seats in the amphitheatre at the ROH.

Well, I am so looking forward to seeing Yasmine and Matthew on Saturday evening. Then it’s a long wait until November for Fumi and Will and then Matthew again but with Mayara on the date when whatever it is that we were supposed to have been told about weeks ago but are still none the wiser is happening. These performances are so good that it’s just too long a wait between 14 October and 3 November. If the tickets weren’t so ridiculously expensive, I would definitely be snapping up something up between those dates. And I am now very curious as to who could be the bonus Espada dancing with Fumi and Will in the Saturday matinee, and assuming that the 3 November will yield the same Espada, so don’t let us down, whoever you are!

Couldn't agree more!

Or, as the ROH is so fond of telling us each and every time the website crashes, clear the cache ...

Oooo yum....coffee and orange creams are my faves too. Me too. Our John Lewis personalised tin is always filled with orange, coffee and strawberry creams, with the odd fudge and truffle in case anyone else comes round before we have eaten them all.

All too possible. And heaven help us all!

Which gives credence to the view that the original prices were overly inflated.

That is interesting, Emma Rose, and perhaps also because the qualities required for a convincing film portrayal are somewhat different from the stage. It’s still noticeable, I’d say, that many of the truly great stage performances do not translate well either to TV or to the cinema screen, both of which are far more intimate, with the result that any element of ‘projecting’ comes across as overblown.

To deliver the unforgettable, the performer has to be prepared to throw caution to the wind, with the inevitable, accompanying, inbuilt risk.

I am absolutely on the same page. Art - performance art in particular- is all about communication and although I can objectively admire technical perfection, what stays with me is what touches my heart and soul rather than my critical faculties and my mind. And I so agree with you about Callas, one of the few artists that I truly wish I could have seen on stage although, paradoxically, I would also place Jussi Bjorling - not someone ever feted for his dramatic heft - high on my “wish I had seen” list. The sheer beauty of his voice frequently brings me close to tears.

You are right, Morgane, there was the odd wobble, and Sambe was a little unsteady in the second one-handed lift in particular, but nothing that in any way detracted from my enjoyment of two performances that were lifted to another level by the bang on characterisation and sheer force of personality of the two leads. Having initially booked for Osipova, I found Magri an utterly convincing Kitri and absolutely thrilling replacement, and am very much looking forward to seeing how her interpretation has developed when she dances with Ball on November 7.

At least …

Well, what a wonderful evening! Mayara Magri, my goodness, an absolute star! With an irresistibly cheeky Basilio from Marci Sambe and a spoonful of fabulousness from each and every member of the cast. Who said this ballet doesn’t sit well on the company? It was sheer, feelgood magic from start to finish and I can’t wait for another piece of the same.

I’m with you on this. He’s one of those dancers who always holds the eye.

They won’t feel short-changed with Maestri. Great performance, perfect fit.

I was at Sadlers Wells for the second time on Wednesday night, my first since opening night, and interestingly it appeared to be a patrons’ night, unless the sign was left up from a previous reception. But I digress… Performance-wise, I did prefer Frola and Khaniukova in Theme and Variations and thought that they led the ensemble very effectively. Khaniukova is always lovely to watch - like a warming drink on a crisp, cold evening - and Frola’s impressive technique was, as always, enhanced by his charismatic stage presence. There’s not a lot I can add to my first night comments as regards the other two pieces. The synergy between singer and dancers in Four Last Songs was even more apparent than before, and worked very well, although the overall impression, perhaps even more than previously, was that the dancers were there to lend support to the stellar soprano of Madeleine Pierard. And Les Noces? As before, compelling and committed performances from all the dancers, with the overall flavour markedly reminiscent of the Mats Ek Rite of Spring. Oh, and the tall, youngish man sitting immediately in front of me, whom I would have expected to be fully on board for this piece, fidgeted, stretched, writhed, looked at his phone and moved forwards, backwards and sideways throughout Les Noces although, somewhat surprisingly and to my relief, he sat stock still throughout the other two pieces. Just goes to show that, to paraphrase Chuck Berry, “ces’t la vie, say the old folks, you never can tell.”

She was, Dawnstar.

I do, of course, agree that heritage works were once new and that new works have to be part of the mix. Just not the only part. Can't we have a balance? And what came of the pre-lockdown suggestion that the Linbury could be used for smaller stage heritage works? Edited to add that I totally agree with your other comments about the joy and overall value of feelgood pieces. Who doesn't like going home on a high?

I so agree. And isn't this a particularly British thing, in the arts as in everything - the seeming need to apologise for our past achievements rather than celebrate them.

The problem being that the majority of the alternative works funded by the acknowledged cash cows (and I am someone who feels that Christmas isn't Christmas without a taste of Nutcracker) are invariably either hip hop-infused creations that could be performed by pretty much any member of Joe Public, preachy, suicide-inducing gloom-fests or overly-pretentious vanity projects that serve little purpose beyond feeding the ego of the choreographer rather than the neglected works from the distant or not too distant past. A problem that doesn't seem to matter one jot - either to producers or audiences - within the lucrative world of seasonal panto. And one that could easily be remedied by changing the emphasis, where needed, to that of affection (which, by the way, I feel is almost always fully realised anyway). Absolutely, Dawnstar! Well said!

it does seem to be somewhat de rigour at Sadlers Wells.

Nor me. What else from an audience for whom a scarcely noticeable, suppressed cough is considered an unacceptable outrage.

Well on reflection I’m glad I didn’t buy a programme. I shall remain, fittingly, in the dark for the next performance of Les Noces.