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Scheherezade

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  1. Scheherezade
    Justine Gringyte also seems to be doing pretty well.
  2. Scheherezade
    Jennifer Davis also stood in for Aleksandra Kurzak as Adina in L’Elisir d’Amore a few years back whilst still a JPYA and did a fabulous job. Anyone there on that night will remember that Alagna withdrew with a sore throat during the performance and was also replaced with panache by a much younger tenor (I forget who) who very luckily just happened to be in the House. It was a great evening! But I digress, and whilst I will agree that Poplavskaya probably had the highest profile of the JPYA graduates before her withdrawal from engagements and disappearance from the scene, there are those who had for some time questioned the enthusiasm of the casting directors who had marked her out for such a rapid trajectory.
  3. Scheherezade
    I find that non-narrative ballets transfer to the TV screen far better than narrative works which, for me, really benefit from the buzz and interaction of the theatre.
  4. Scheherezade
    There is, of course, the fact that the government, desperate in its bid to suck up to the electorate, will happily cut off its nose rather than appear to make any sort of concession to what it sees as 'elitism'. Until as many children want to become musicians and dancers as footballers and reality TV stars, I fear that this will not change. Like so much else, education has to be the key. The 'woke' message was peddled in our schools and hit a wider consciousness remarkably quickly. Let's have the same, please, for the arts which, sadly, continue to be maligned, ridiculed or plain misunderstood.
  5. Scheherezade
    I'd say with opera it's more often the production rather than the actual opera that is likely to turn people off. To the horror of those who actually like to enjoy what they are seeing as well as hearing, there has been a noticeable shift towards the German model of Regietheater, which allows the director the freedom to put his own interpretation on the opera, even if it is totally at odds with the music and the libretto. More often than not, this is characterised by profanity, pornography, perversity and a uniform cloud of greyness and ugliness. The emperor's new clothes syndrome looms large as many fear to admit that they might just prefer what the composer intended for fear of sounding old fashioned. During Kasper Holten's brief tenure, there was that heavily flagged aside in which he was reported to have said that if the audience didn't like what they were watching, they would have to be re-educated. Well, not now they won't, not so long as the government insists that if and when theatres reopen, singing is to be banned from the stage.
  6. Scheherezade
    Me too. Keep them coming!
  7. Scheherezade
    Whilst it is difficult to understand how the effects upon the wider economy have not been understood, it is to be hoped that the lack of positive action on the part of government does, indeed, stem from ignorance and/or failure to grasp these statistics since the alternative is that these effects have been wilfully ignored and if this is the case the debate will be no more than a box ticking exercise and the outcome, sadly, a foregone conclusion.
  8. Scheherezade
    Time for everyone who can to lobby their MPs today?
  9. Scheherezade
    She was reading from a card, she kept looking at it throughout her broadcast, which sounded entirely staged, totally lacking in any real passion or enthusiasm for what was being performed and completely devoid of any empathy for the intended audience. Not a good showing.
  10. Scheherezade
    ETO are looking at innovative alternatives too. More details due shortly.
  11. Scheherezade
    I so agree with everything that has been said about tonight's performances. Barring the dreadful streaming experience via Vimeo - (has anyone ever seen so many online complaints?) - utterly sublime on all counts. So happy to see Sarah Connolly back on stage and what a perfectly judged, heart-rending performance from Vadim. How will we survive without him over the coming months?
  12. Scheherezade
    All of that and worse, Capybara. Secretary of State for the Annihilation of the Arts, it would seem.
  13. Scheherezade
    Well, I shall be happy to pay for these. Lovely, if necessarily limited in terms of content. And way more user-friendly than last Saturday's offering.
  14. Scheherezade
    Totally encouraging input from Lloyd Webber and an utterly depressing account of the government's response. Is there any point in even hoping for anything more positive?
  15. Scheherezade
    Indeed. Guaranteed to bring London to its knees at a time when it needs every encouragement to get up and running again.
  16. Scheherezade
    Very much as a working first draft -perhaps others could amend, delete and expand as appropriate: ”in view of the enormous contribution made to the UK economy by the performing arts, the extraordinary and acknowledged benefits that live performance in particular brings to attendees, the devastation that lockdown has brought both to performers and to supporting staff in the industry and the fact that it has been uniformly recognised that social distancing is an unworkable model for the reopening of UK theatres, what active steps are currently under debate to resolve the impasse and save the arts in this country?”
  17. Scheherezade
    Particularly since (as regards articles that are not freely available) you would think they would want the content publicised as widely as possible.
  18. Scheherezade
    I signed yesterday and passed on the link to everyone I know.
  19. Scheherezade
    Yes, I think many of us will feel the same. She somehow portrayed the essential selflessness of that generation. Very sad indeed. A long life can make its passing felt even more keenly, no doubt due, in part, to those feelings, Jan.
  20. Scheherezade
    What depressing reading, Bruce!
  21. Scheherezade
    Fiona, Vadim is probably the only dancer that I would happily watch doing nothing more than running round in circles. It's that extraordinary purity that somehow touches the soul in a way that no-one else can quite match. Just gorgeous!
  22. Scheherezade
    It is hard to disagree with most, if not all, of the comments about last night’s live performance and the ROH output generally. Last night’s ballet offering was, sadly, a blink and it’s gone piece and the sung recital fare was, in general, melancholy to the point of suicidal. Hardly likely to draw in new audiences - in the case of the sung pieces I’d say the opposite was more likely, unlike the inspiring output from the Wigmore Hall, and on the dance front, although the Wayne McGregor piece was very welcome, it hardly made up for the disappointing choices that have been streamed so far. I shall be watching next week but, sadly, feel that last night was at best a missed opportunity and at worst something of an own goal.
  23. Scheherezade
    Well I was taken through to the end of the survey. I made my views known upon all matters and indicated that I would be happy to be contacted so we shall see.
  24. Scheherezade
    So far, there would appear to be a willingness to listen, meaningful comparisons are being made and the right questions are being asked. Let’s hope that the response will be equally encouraging.
  25. Scheherezade
    As the oft-quoted Miss Jean Brody might say (and I believe Abraham Lincoln said something similar): “For those people who like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing that they like.”
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