Scheherezade

9 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I keep on getting emails exhorting me to dine in the ROH restaurant or buy gifts in the ROH shop but no ticket offers.

Me too, Dawnstar, and that’s it. 

And as someone who purchases a healthy dose of both ballet and opera tickets, I never get offers for either. 
 

Hi Sebastian, if Saturday evening is still free I would be interested. Have also sent a PM. 

Absolutely! Very much deserved. She was terrific! 

4 minutes ago, Sim said:

I think she would make a wonderful Juliet so I hope that she is given the chance next season.  

She would. She has that quality of unforced spontaneity that Juliet demands. 

4 minutes ago, Henry said:

sorry

Don’t be! 😅

I loved Cinderella last time round and it was so long since it was last scheduled I will be more than happy to see it again. 
 

I remain lukewarm about Alice, ditto the music, so would much prefer LWFC if we are to have a full length Wheeldon. It may be more dance theatre than ballet but it moves along apace, has some stand-out segments and far more enjoyable music.

It looks as though Maddadam is on its way, like it or not. We shall see. 
 

if we are to have more new works can we please have Zucchetti. And/or commission Tyler Peck, Mthuthuzeli November, Arielle Smith, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa or David Dawson instead of more McGregor or Joseph Toonga. 
 

Bayadere is sadly off the menu as, it seems, is Fille and Giselle and in view of Cinderella, R&J and the current triple bill we are unlikely to get more Ashton or  MacMillan. A triple bill with Ashton, Balanchine, Robbins or MacMillan, or something like the pre-lockdown Raymonda Act 3 triple, would be more than welcome. Or, if not, the old style mixed triple with a bit of something for everyone but again, sadly, unlikely. 
 

So my hopes are pinned firmly to Onegin with the remainder awaited more with trepidation than expectation. 
 

2 minutes ago, alison said:

And can I just say, despite the regrettable absence of the two originally scheduled principals, just how good it's been to see Isabella Gasparini grow into the lead female role in Danses Concertantes?

She has been wonderful throughout 

My goodness, I was SCS at last night’s performance, fairly close to the poor man who fainted - luckily he stood up immediately afterwards and seemed to be ok, unlike a similar fainting incident in the rear amphi standing places not all that long ago when the level 6 exit had to be completely closed off until the medics arrived - but had no idea about the alarming incident in the upper slips. What a relief that there were no injuries.

Like Alison and Cayetana, I did notice Hirano’s earlier problems, including the hint of a limp just a little beforehand, which certainly rang alarm bells at the time. I also wondered how his absence would impact upon the rest of the performance and whether the lift at the end would have to be abandoned so kudos to Matthew Ball for stepping brilliantly, to the whole company for covering so seamlessly and best wishes to Hirano for a successful operation and quick recovery.

All of which seems to have overshadowed the actual performances, which were wonderful throughout. I would have liked to see Osipova and Clarke, purely because I had already seen the first cast for Distant Drummer, but I can’t honestly imagine anyone surpassing Sambe and Hayward as Woyzek and Marie, and as others have said, what an amazing tour de force on Sambe’s part to have carried so many performances of both Distant Drummer and Swan Lake within such a short timespan.

Whilst Dances Concertantes remains very much ‘of its time’, I hold by my first impressions that works of this type should not be allowed to fade from the repertoire. The performances seemed tighter overall than on opening night, with the dancers more comfortable with the choreography and I think that audience enjoyment increases with greater familiarity with what are now inevitably labelled ‘heritage works’. 
 

And Requiem was, as before, just sublime. Sarah Lamb and Lauren Cuthbertson bought very different qualities to this work. For me, Lauren, whose performance was imbued with a serene humanity, seemed more the instrument, with an other-worldly Sarah more the author, of what was happening around them. Both were exquisite. And as no one has mentioned Isobel Lubach, I thought she brought depth and integrity to her performance and held her own brilliantly. 
 

4 minutes ago, Odyssey said:

That to me is the most satisfying ending. I

The music has always suggested this to me.

Me too. 

1 minute ago, DVDfan said:

the only satisfactory end to this narrative is for Siegfried and Odette to survive, having defeated VR through the force of love.

Reunion of their souls/spirits? Victory through and beyond death. 

1 minute ago, capybara said:

At least, this run, the Siegfrieds don’t seem to be falling away from VR into a terrifying roll forwards which made the audience fear they would end up in the orchestra pit.

Risk of injury aside, that would certainly add an extra frisson to the proceedings. 

For me, having Odette returned to human form in death and the massed rising of the swans against Von Rothbart makes a lot of sense. It’s just Siegfried’s total lack of agency that diminishes Act 4.

3 hours ago, Emeralds said:

From the  photos and trailer used for marketing it, it looks like it is the BRB version that  they have in mind. 

The BRB production is indeed more vibrant than the RB version but I have to say that I absolutely loved all the RB performances I saw in the last run. And it may just be that a level of comfort sets in with increased familiarity but it did seem to me that there was less of an insipid feel to the RB sets and costumes this time round. Also - and I acknowledge that I am in a minority here - I really like the Act 2 sets. 

20 minutes ago, LinMM said:

They were not privy to the discussions regarding this until already a fait accompli

Shocking!

With everything I hear or read I think the situation can’t get worse and then something else comes along to show me how overly optimistic I was. 
 

This ongoing and sinister attack upon excellence on the basis that it is elitist is not only disingenuous but by its very nature (removing the means for most people to engage with excellence) is well on the way to ensuring that it becomes precisely that. 
 

I too am appalled. And saddened beyond belief at having to say that I am not surprised. 

7 hours ago, Emeralds said:

 

Had no idea it was Petroc Trelawney co-presenting.....I'm sure if they had said, to him "Do a summary of the meaning and text of Fauré's Requiem to fill 2 minutes" he will do so beautifully as he will have covered it for Radio 3 before. He also presents at the Proms and Cardiff Singer of the World so he's used to filling in x number of minutes or seconds on a live broadcast.  And of the current classical music presenters working today, he and Katie Derham are the only ones I've seen who are able to discuss ballet knowledgeably.

And on a completely superficial level, he also has a rather lovely name. 

Dynamic pricing does sound likely but if the balcony has only recently been opened up (and I’ll admit that I don’t know if that’s the case), wouldn’t it make more sense to see whether tickets there would sell at a similar price to balcony tickets on all the other dates. As they are cheaper than any other levels, logic suggests that they would be more likely to be snapped up by people who want to see the company (or the ballet) but don’t have such deep pockets. 

Thanks for your thoughts San Pertegrino. That could explain why the balcony has been opened up for the first three performances and to some extent why opening night and the next day matinee have sold well but I find it odd that the same is not true for the the next day evening performance and even stranger that that selfsame evening performance is cheaper throughout the house than every other performance in the entire run. 

4 minutes ago, Tango Dancer said:

I have a suspicion she wanted to see if I was still there or whether they could close early.  But she was ever so sweet.  

What if you'd just popped out to the loo and she'd closed up by the time you got back ,,, Aaagh!!!

I have checked out the position on the Coliseum website. This shows that the balcony is available for booking on opening night Wed 28 August along with both the matinee and evening performances on Thurs 29 August but not, it would appear, for any of the other dates.

The balcony prices on 28 Aug and the 29 Aug matinee range from £29 - £49 with very few seats left on the 28th and not all that many, particularly among the cheapest £29 seats, available for the 29th matinee. By way of contrast, balcony seats for the evening performance on the 29th are priced from £19 - £39 (£10 cheaper across the board) and there are lots still available at all prices.

Prices on the 28th and the 29th matinee for the upper circle, dress circle and stalls come in at £59 - £79; £79 - £129; £89 - £129 with reduced prices for children in line with all the following dates but on the evening of the 29th the prices for all these levels follow the same pattern of £10 cheaper across the board and there are no child reductions.

This all seems very strange. Does anyone know why?

There are indeed. And it will be lovely to see Cira Robinson dancing again. 

What a gorgeous season. If only we could hope for something similar. 

9 minutes ago, Sim said:

Yes....I would recommend Vadim/Fumi and Yasmine/Matthew (although you can see the latter in the cinema soon so if you can only come once perhaps try the former at the ROH and see the latter on the screen).

Yes, luckily I have them both to come. 

49 minutes ago, San Perregrino said:

Or as ABBA sang “Take a chance, take a chance….”

And indeed they sang the selfsame plus lots and lots more very beguilingly on ABBA Night last night on the Beeb for those of us not fortunate enough to get a ticket for Marianela and Vadim. Envious? Me? 😢 …