Scheherezade

True, but if the musicians' hearing is the point in issue ...

Thanks also for this information, which is also good to know. I must admit that I could not understand how freeing up the area helped the musicians from an auditory point of view. And presumably the availability of these seats for the Russian summer ballet performances is due to the fact that the average noise level over any given week is minimised by the absence of opera.

Thank you, Bluebird, it is good to know why the emails have stopped.

I used to love those seats and for a while the ROH/Friends used to email post-rehearsal and in advance of the performances as and when any of them were subsequently released. This no longer happens although from time to time I have seen audience members in these seats. The last time was for Solomon last week. Not a peep from the ROH.

My Wagner marathon was at the top of the house and tickets were checked at the ground floor entrance to the lifts after every interval. Essentially, the checks seem to be carried out wherever the public areas give way to access to the auditorium but bags are not checked anywhere, with no contingency plans currently in place to tighten up this procedure.

We actually asked about this at yesterday's Die Walkure and were told categorically that, no, bag searches would not be carried out in future.

How lovely, Swanprincess. The mark of a truly generous nature.

Just as worrying, if not more so, is the effect that that the behaviour of the BBC in the Cliff Richard matter may have upon the freedom of the press in the future. And sorry to sound dense but what is the Simon May debacle about?

The Choe/Campbell 2 Pigeons pairing was fabulous last time round, so glad its being revived!

Mmm, but way too self-indulgent.

Mark Baldwin choreographed Handel's The Creation for Rambert. And didn't Mark Morris also use Handel's oratiorios?

I loved the guitar concerto and was fascinated by Milos Karadaglic's recollections about his interaction with Talbot whilst the piece was being developed. Sadly, I just don't find Talbot a memorable ballet composer.

Back to Don Q, I did find that the Acosta version improved on second viewing but continued to be let down by the insipid orchestration and the bleached-out sets (windmill/gypsy scene apart). I will be seeing it again, if only for Corrales, who should be dynamite as Basilio. Am hoping that he and Osipova can reproduce some of the Osipova/Vasiliev magic of those wonderful Bolshoi performances. My daughter and I were on a high for days and I fully agreed with Clement Crisp who, I think, remarked that anyone who was in the audience would remember the experience for the rest of their lives.

Didn't Muntagirov do this last time round with the RB? Just sublime, if I recall correctly.

But conflicting views for the more challenging works, with glowing reviews reserved only for some. Don't get me wrong, Richard LH, I am not an indiscriminate critic of the available potential - I feel that the company is in its best shape since the seventies - but perhaps (and I use that word deliberately) the difficulty in performing Ashton's works as they should be performed may dictate that the Linbury may provide a better forum until the required technique has been sharpened.

Didn't K O'H state recently at the Barbican that Ashton's lesser performed works would possibly be revived in the new Linbury? Whether these works will include those mentioned on various wish lists or whether they are likely to be restricted to reconstructions of real curiosities taken from remastered videos - I seem to recall mention of the latter - is another matter. It would seem to indicate that there is unlikely to be an immediate revival of the bulk of Ashton's works on the main stage, perhaps because K O'H feels that the company as a whole cannot currently do these works justice, but it nevertheless represents promise for the future.

Hard to disagree with any of the richly deserved plaudits already expressed in these posts but if I had to choose one stand-out moment from the last year it would have to be Francesca Hayward's ravishing debut in Giselle, a performance that was not only deeply moving and highly accomplished but, in addition, one that made me feel as though I was seeing the ballet for the first time, something that I can't recall having ever felt before with a work that I have seen so often. Truly extraordinary!

I do hope that you enjoyed Don Giovanni, Timmie. Putting aside the production - and whilst I'm happy to do that, I've seen far worse - the music is, of course, sublime, the singing uniformly good and Mariusz Kwiezien brings that irresistible hint of danger to his Don. Hope you felt the same. Sorry, our posts crossed. Looking forward to reading your thoughts tomorrow.

Me neither, I thought they were terrific. It was my first time too and I was also pleasantly surprised at the ending. Whether this was because, having read the comments on the forum and the reviews, I was prepared for the worst I can't say but I found that the overarching vision of the swan Odette looking down upon Siegfried cradling her human form really worked, ditto the triumph of the other swans over Von Rothbart in terms of the much needed catharsis. Nunez was wonderful, the soloists superb and as for Muntagirov - Vadream indeed! Is it possible to improve upon his breathtaking performance? I doubt it and, judging by the whoops and cheers both mid-performance and again at the end, the rest of the audience agreed. Plaudits too, uniformly, to the rest of the cast, the fabulous Koen Kessels and the orchestra. No more Swan Lakes until closing night with Takada and Bracewell. I can't wait.

I so agree with the other posters, Ivy Lin. It is a pleasure to read your blogs and I, for one, believe that the continuing success of classical ballet depends upon the reactions of the lay punter every bit as much as, if not more than, those of the seasoned critics and the technically astute. After all, it is they who make up the audiences. It is also illuminating to see at what points these views converge and diverge and, in the reviews shown on this post, interesting to see those of your reactions that are echoed by Alastair Macauley. What, by the way, did you feel with regard to the much-vaunted chemistry between Osipova and Hallberg?

I've just got round to listening to the final and found the result very hard to call, although my inclination was towards the saxophonist.

Echoed. A performance that grabbed and held the attention although, of course,live and recorded performances can sound very different.

Lovely images. I was also struck by the lack of any underarm sweat marks on the men's rehearsal shots. How can this be with all that physical exertion?

Without wanting to put the kibosh on Ball's promotion prospects, can I register my interest in a front row seat, Sim?

I so agree! What a missed opportunity!