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Scheherezade

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  1. Scheherezade
    I’ll second that. A mature, intense and very physical performance from Sambe, who blitzed the road to ruin with a powerhouse display of strength and virtuosity amidst a moral vacuum of disillusionment, despair and the inevitable decline. If it didn’t leave me in quite as many pieces as Vadim the other week, that was because this Rudolf was a victim of his own demons from the start: no other outcome was possible; there was nowhere else to go. But what a way to go! The pas de deux with Hayward were electrifying and their chemistry, for me, was blisteringly hot. So, yes, I too loved Hayward, once again the perfect conduit for the complex women that we recognise from so many of MacMillan’s works: that singular mixture of dubious morality, naivety and a reckless spontaneity that should carry an automatic health warning or come with a sign stating “doesn’t end well”. What an extraordinary roll call of debuts we have had and how thrilling to see the strength in depth at all levels in the company right now. Long may it continue!
  2. Scheherezade
    I wondered the same thing. I see that the Leonora casting opposite her husband for the ROH Il Trovatore next June is still showing as tbc. Not sure whether Netrebko was originally listed - I have a feeling that she was - and, if so, whether the ROH is keeping the casting open pending the political situation at the time. No doubt we will see.
  3. Scheherezade
    I am so looking forward to the 30th; just hoping that the dancers’ illness that has fractured the McRae cast doesn’t decide to strike again between now and then as there is much to look forward to. Hayward excels in MacMillan and I have always liked Lamb’s Larisch - it is a role that sits very well on her; Magri is an innately musical dancer who always draws the eye and I loved Gasparini’s Stephanie in the Muntagirov/Naghdi cast, so I was very pleased to read that Sambe acquitted himself so well as Rudolf. Roll on Wednesday!
  4. Scheherezade
    I hadn’t posted on last Friday’s performance since pretty much everything that could be said had already been recorded, so very eloquently, by so many others, but since the performance has been restored centre stage, as it were, I felt duty bound to add my impressions and those can be summed up in two simple words: “blown away”. Again like others, I hadn’t initially booked for Vadim as I wasn’t sure what he would make of the role but encouraged by the reports of his debut, I quickly grabbed a ticket and am I glad I did! It was remarkable; haunting, shattering and utterly convincing. A fully realised performance that has already become etched on my memory. It was as though Vadim had stepped into Rudolf’s skin and shared every lost and despairing avenue that Rudolf’s tortured mind must have led him down. I was in pieces. And bravo to each and every other member of this wonderful cast. What a performance by all of them and what an evening for those of us lucky enough to be in the audience. Just wonderful!
  5. Scheherezade
    True but you would miss such a lot of unintentional hilarity.
  6. Scheherezade
    So very sad. Many wonderful and happy memories of Patricia Ruanne to treasure from my early ballet watching days. Deepest condolences to her family, loved ones and friends. And, yes, what a glorious company London Festival Ballet was back in the day.
  7. Scheherezade
    And a very good presenter he is, too.
  8. Scheherezade
    I so agree. Sheer dynamite.
  9. Scheherezade
    A purely aesthetic observation, Capybara, as enhancing the overall artistic effect.
  10. Scheherezade
    My thoughts exactly. With one of those “please donate even if you think you can’t attend” communications sent out to Friends in good time before booking opens. Mind you, I’m not saying I wouldn’t love to go if I could in any way afford the eye watering cost of a table …
  11. Scheherezade
    I don’t think you’re alone in this, Linnzi5. Everything seems so natural and unforced that it totally sucks you in. And lowering the tone, somewhat, when my daughter - who is now also a fully paid up convert to the ever expanding talents of the said Mr Bracewell - watched his Dance of the Blessed Spirits at the Cecchetti Gala the other night, she observed that she didn’t think that she had ever seen such a perfect male body, either on or off the stage.
  12. Scheherezade
    Dawnstar, to reiterate everything that has already been said, we all come new to any art form at some point. We go on to acquire knowledge through experience and exposure. The knowledge that we acquire may inform our technical understanding but is unlikely to impact upon our emotional response. I would always choose the performance that moves me, that touches my soul, over technical perfection. Surely the purpose of any art form is to connect with its audience? Different artists will connect with different audience members. Go with your gut reactions and do stop beating yourself up over gaps in your technical or historical knowledge. This is something that you will acquire to a greater extent over time but it should never devalue or overrule your emotional response to any performance. And remember that the artists who touch you are the ones who bring something extra to their performance that connects directly with you and this is something that the most accomplished technicians may not. Ask yourself why it is that a piece of music played by one musician may touch your heart when another musician, equally skilled, possibly more, playing precisely the same notes with the utmost technical skill may not? And, for that matter, why someone else may not feel the same. Our response to art it personal, just as it should be, and no one response is any more valid than any other.
  13. Scheherezade
    Well I loved it; very emotive and beautifully danced. And echo everything else that Bruce has said.
  14. Scheherezade
    Since it would seem logical to assume that the minority groups are comprised of ballet virgins, no-one can surely have a clue whether contemporary works will have a greater appeal unless and until they have been exposed to a full canon of classical and heritage works.
  15. Scheherezade
    Having seen Bracewell's performance as a tortured Hamlet in the Linbury some little time back (a calling card for Rudolf if ever there was one), I can't wait to see him take on this role. Agree wholeheartedly with Calvin Richardson too.
  16. Scheherezade
    Me too. Or should that be three?
  17. Scheherezade
    They could also be performed on the Linbury stage. I thought that idea was mooted pre-Covid: a perfect platform for the large body of 20th century works that are in grave danger of being lost forever. Possibly because the audience comprises more young people who tend to whoop a lot.
  18. Scheherezade
    Sorry you can’t make the 11th LinMM and agree with your evocative reflection upon the art of communication direct to the heart.
  19. Scheherezade
    So happy to read all the wonderful reviews for this cast and Vadim’s debut in particular. Perhaps he will now feel ready to take on Onegin next time round. Meanwhile, I really can’t wait for their second performance on the 11th. I couldn’t make last night but am hoping that, with the absence of debut nerves, it will even surpass what was, by all accounts, an extraordinary evening all round.
  20. Scheherezade
    I couldn’t agree more. It is just as easy to argue that it implies greater value. Total nonsense either way but when women have fought so hard for recognition in their own right, isn’t it counter-productive and, indeed, demeaning to negate that recognition.
  21. Scheherezade
    Is, perhaps, Melanie Hamrick the key to the current connection between ballet in the USA and the Stones’ music or did Mick Jagger work out with Boston Ballet prior to his relationship with Melanie? I do, by the way, love that throwaway reference to the galactic universe. Could Mr Galloway perhaps have a predilection for exaggeration?
  22. Scheherezade
    Doesn’t it all stem from the prevailing idea that we must all be protected from anything that anyone may find even the slightest bit unpalatable? Which totally fails to address the fact that many of us find this climate of oppressive overprotectiveness unpalatable. Not to mention how unrealistic and dangerous overprotectiveness is at a time when we are all being exposed to more violence, intolerance and inhumanity than most of us have experienced at any time in living memory.
  23. Scheherezade

    ENO Tosca

    Scheherezade replied to CCL's topic in Opera & Music

    I find Wagner and Baroque more palatable in English than other operas but still prefer the original and can see no reason why ENO still use English translations given that surtitles are automatically used.
  24. Scheherezade
    Wouldn't we all use trains if they were reliable, affordable and well-maintained. They have a long way to go before any of those requirements are likely to be met.
  25. Scheherezade
    A wonderful review indeed, Sim, I totally agree with almost everything, but with a nod to zxDaveM, as I also enjoyed Sarah Lamb’s Mary. I did not find her characterisation as complete as Laura Morera’s (there was more of an older dancer’s reading of a teenage girl, albeit less ‘knowing’ than I tend to find Osipova) but I thought that her pas de deux with Steven McRae were terrific, with the act 3 pas de deux particularly raw, and heavy with desperation. And Steven’s Rudolf delivered everything, including the occasional glimpse of a frequently overlooked compassionate side by gestures such as a protective arm around Stephanie early in the brothel scene. Yasmine Naghdi delivered a distinctly multi-dimensional Larisch, signalling watch your step with this woman every bit as much as her undeniable feelings for Rudolf. Rudolf aside, empathetic towards others she was not. Wonderful dancing once more from the Hungarian officers, an engaging and sympathetic Stephanie from Anna Rose O’Sullivan, with Mayara Magri providing a worldly and relatable Mitzi Caspar. And, as ever, a totally stand-out Bratfisch from the wonderful James Hay. One of my companions who comes along from time to time asked me “Who was that?” after his first appearance in the brothel scene and I had to remind her that he was the same dancer whose Mercutio she had remarked on some time back, saying how much she would love to see his Romeo. But that’s another story …
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