Scheherezade

General comments on Shakespeare Live: more enjoyable than I would have expected for a programme of fragments. The acting, I thought, improved as the evening progressed. It might just be me but I found the younger actors early in the programme to be a little precious and a bit too 'try-hard'. The comedy worked, and the experience of the older actors showed - or were they just more talented? I liked David Tennant but wasn't so keen on Catherine Tate. Rufus Wainwright, as always, was just fabulous and I enjoyed both the opera and the ballet. Yasmine and Matthew did a great job, despite the constraints of the stage and I thought Tyrone Singleton was mesmeric but felt that the music was all wrong for Othello - too buoyant, which somehow diminished the helplessness of Desdemona's plight. Was anyone at the RFH? How did that fare?

Poor Mendizabal and her wobble! Apart from Northstar, hardly anyone has mentioned anything else. Tierney Heap also had a pronounced wobble in the opening performance but that seems to have been glossed over by praise for the rest of her interpretation. I agree with you, Northstar, I think that, wobble apart (and, yes, it was visible in the theatre), Mendizabal made an extremely effective Myrthe.

In line with most of the other posters, I found Broken Wings a sheer, effervescent delight. The dancing throbbed with humanity and the costumes and music were fabulous and clearly show the contribution of these elements to the effectiveness and success of a work overall. The contrast with many of the works recently debuted at the R.B. could not be more apparent.

Unlike some, I equally enjoyed M-Dao, which I found nuanced and moving. I found the shimmering silk curtain an achingly effective metaphor for the snuffing out of innocent lives and I was particularly impressed by Madison Keesler, whose personality shone through a strong and appealing performance. And I have to say that, once again, I adored the music. Haunting and unforgettable, it shaped and defined the mood of the piece with a heartbreaking intensity.

I have little to add to what others have said about Fantastic Beings. Despite some fine ensemble and individual dancing, it was too dark and too long, with a score that did little to relieve the gloom.

Overall, though, a triumphant evening for Ms Rojo and ENB. Long may she reign!

Getting sick to the back teeth with the constant spiteful jibes against Salenko.  She's a very good dancer who deserves better.

Agreed. But I do find it difficult to engage with her emotionally. And whilst I find McRae electrifying in some roles, I found their Two Pigeons underwhelming compared with the other casts.

Janet had no idea he was Australian!!

On another thread have been thinking of possible suitable dancers for the role of Petrushka.

 

Do you think "your boy" would be good in this?

I didn't realise he was Australian either. And I would definitely be there for his Petrushka.

I saw this for no other reason than I hadn't seen it before. And, yes, there were ongoing belly-laughs from the stalls to the circle from start to finish.

My first impression was that the theatre must be full of teenagers until a mid-thirties or thereabouts woman informed me on the way out how fantastic she thought it had been.

To be fair, the performances were completely committed, having Lady Bracknell sung by a baritone was something of a master-stroke and it was difficult not to come out on a high so I can't say that I actively disliked it, just that I've now ticked that box and won't be going that way again. And the words 'clothes', 'new' and 'emperor's' are still dancing dangerously at the back of my head.

After recently seeing Bartoli in Norma, part of me feels unable to watch it for a while and to be honest I can't imagine Netrebko in the role at all.  On the other hand my compatriot Joseph Calleja is singing Pollione and I always go to his performances, so something of a dilemma for me.  Kaufman as Otello may well work as I think the role would suit his voice type.

 

Looking forward to seeing Villazon as Nemorino and Grigolo as Hoffman.  I love Adriana Lecouvreur and Gerald Finley as Michonnet makes it luxury casting.  Very happy Bychkov is conducting at RO again.

 

Although the chance to see Handel's Oreste has to be a highlight of the year, I'm starting to wonder if it is now a policy to keep baroque works off the main stage,  The works shown at the Sam Wannamaker suited that venue perfectly, but Handel deserves the main house surely.

I'd go along with most of that, Mab.

I have to say that I've always been underwhelmed by Netrebko but I love Calleja so I will be there. What a pity that Radvanovsky is cast in the unappetising 2014 Manon Lescaut since the only way that I think I could stomach it again is with the aid of a blindfold. Can I suggest she does a swap with the lovely Anna?

Two interesting casts for Otello, think I'm going to have to see them both, and, like you, I am similarly delighted that Bychkov will be back for Cosi. Any idea what we can expect, though, from a Jan Philipp Gloger production?

Wilton's could be an interesting venue for the Handel but, from a purely practical angle, does anyone know what the parking is like?

Grigolo should pull off Hoffman admirably but what are the odds on Villazon making the cut next season? Is Alagna lined up for the entire run if not?

And what about the later works? The fabulous Barbara Hannigan makes Written on Skin a must-see (so sorry she isn't doing the Ligeti at the Barbican with Simon Rattle), ditto The Nose, which I haven't seen before, although I'm not so sure about The Exterminating Angel. Does anyone have any views as I've heard very mixed reports.

I've tried to keep away from this topic. There are many dancers today who are technically outstanding, there are some who can touch me emotionally and one or two who tick both boxes. And then there is (was) Nureyev. Sheer animal magnetism. Even in his declining years, all he had to do was to stand on the stage and nothing and no-one else mattered.

For what it's worth, my two penn'orth on whether to clap or not to clap:

1. The existence of, and motivation behind, the claquers is well documented; it is disingenuous to attempt to deny either;

2. For the most part, regular audiences of the performing arts in the UK feel that it is an unwelcome and unwarranted intrusion to interrupt the flow of a performance by random and/or self-indulgent clapping, which is disruptive both to the performers and to other members of the audience and that displays of appreciation can, and generally should, be reserved for the end of the performance although exceptions can occasionally be made for something particularly outstanding;

3. If these exceptions are allowed to become general practice, this may have the effect of diminishing the truly exceptional;

4. It is fully recognised that British audience members can behave in a wholly unacceptable manner - the 'audience behaviour' thread makes it quite clear that this is recognised by, and is a matter of concern to, forum members and that no distinction is made between British and non-British audience members;

5. Disruptive behaviour can generally, although not always, be attributed to infrequent theatre-goers who may have have had little exposure to the medium and who may not therefore know any better; these theatre-goers may attend the theatre because they want to see a favourite performer close up, not because of any desire to see the performance that they have chosen to attend;

6. There is an argument that reserving applause or displeasure until the end of a performance, or generally watching in silence, denies the spontaneity that was present in the early days of the performing arts; 

7. The contrary argument is that this ignores the evolution of participatory theatre through spectator theatre to 'theatre with the lights off' which emerged to divert the attention of audience members from themselves to what was happening onstage; it also ignores the irrefutable fact that much of the 'spontaneous' behaviour of the past would be considered utterly gross by almost anyone today;

6. Most British people utterly condemn the behaviour of the small number of drunken or loutish British holidaymakers who give Brits a bad name abroad and few, if any, would seek to excuse this behaviour on the basis that the perpetrators were British.

When I first began regularly attending the ROH as a student in the early 70s, no-one clapped until the very end of a performance, anything else was considered discourteous. On the rare occasions when anyone did, onlookers would remark (and apologies here to Sim and any other forum members with lineage from across the pond) that they must be American.

Finally, on an envious note to Mab, how exciting it must be to come along with your fiends! Can I come?

Lots of bravos and foot stamping at the end of Saturday's Boris Godunov. Sadly, I couldn't personally get past the tragically unfortunate wigs. What was the director thinking of?

The chorus was terrific as were the performances from Bryn Terfel, Ain Anger (please may we have more of him!) and John Tomlinson but I still found the evening a bit underwhelming in parts and, overall, a bit of a curate's egg.

Thanks for all the updates, Geoff. I couldn't agree more about the impact of losing an inspirational leader such as Mark Wigglesworth but, sadly, I doubt that the letter to Cressida Pollock will have any effect. I sincerely hope that I am wrong.

 

 

Again   Very disappointed not to see Morera, since I missed her last time round as well...

Me too, on both counts. That's both Osipova and Morera this run. Thank goodness I actually got to see Marianella and Vadim, who were utterly sublime! Vadim, quite improbably, seems to get better with everything he does and I can't recall having seen Marianella as good as she was last Tuesday, although I have to say that I found Sarah Lamb's mad scene the most nuanced and convincing of any that I have ever seen.

I agree with:

Prince of the Pagodas (Macmillan and Bintley) - the Britten score just doesn't translate to movement;

Tetractys - and anything else with a pretentious name;

anything with nudity - moving parts on stage are not a good look! 

 

 

Don Quixote is my absolute number ONE!

 

Don Q Fan, I am so surprised!

Thanks for this, Geoff. I shall be particularly interested to see Straszny Dwor, an opera that I know absolutely nothing about. You may also be interested in the following link to Bayerische Staatsoper which also offers free opera online:

https://www.staatsoper.de/en/index.html

Looks terrific, Dave. I had thought about getting tickets but they were a bit expensive.

I think it's a bit strange that it's taken them until now to issue a "content warning", if they were going to do so at all.

 

(I also note that the page on their website for Boris Godunov (which opens tonight) contains a statement that it's not suitable for under 12s.  I wonder if that was already there when booking opened... not being under 12 myself I wouldn't have taken any notice!)

They seldom seem to issue 'content' warnings until shortly before the opening night. I am sure that the same thing happened a few years ago for Arthur Pita's God's Garden in the Linbury.

I bought this on CD after I saw a show in which Torvill and Dean skated to a piece of music from it. A friend went on Wednesday and he raved about it.

I do so hope it's revived before another thirty years have passed. I went expecting to be disappointed and came away completely converted.

There's a relevant article about the ENO chorus by David Nice in The Arts Desk.

I had also read David Nice's article, John, and agree with almost all of the points that he makes. To name but a few, the inappropriate McKinseyite slash and burn policy, more particularly when no alternatives have been considered, the general lack of consultation either with the chorus or the Friends of ENO, and total absence of any voice from the company on the board, the unwillingness to correct pertinent factual errors and, in marked contrast to Kaspar Holten at the ROH, to reply either personally or at all to written concerns.

I am sure that most people would agree that ENOs problems are almost exclusively administrative and not artistic and that their current problems can largely be traced back to the inability of the administrative arm to sell its product and its wrong-headed obsession with bringing in young people at the expense of its core audience due. It is not difficult to draw the conclusion that this may be due, in no small part, to the fact that only one board member has any hands-on experience of an opera company. It is equally hard to disagree with the analogy put forward by Vladimir Jurowski that the proposed action is akin to cutting off someone's foot and expecting them to participate in running competitions.

How wonderful, Mab. Thank you. And he will be sadly missed.

I caught her on the radio on the way home. She sounds typically (or archetypically) Australian; down-to-earth, feisty. And what a voice!

Thank you, Geoff. Just a pity, for those of us at work, that it starts so early.

Too late, of course, for anyone who hasn't seen this extraordinary production to obtain tickets since the run finished on Friday. It was, for that matter, difficult to get anything but the most expensive tickets for some time beforehand and I was cursing the fact that I hadn't bought a couple of the cheap balcony seats which I had assumed would be available at the last minute as per usual with the ENO.

As my children, however, are annoyingly fond of saying, everything happens for a reason and I logged on to the website just in time to grab two £20 secret seat returns with a fantastic view near the front of the stalls and thank goodness I did. It was mesmerising, compulsive, completely unforgettable and I'm still not entirely sure why since the music, as is usual with Philip Glass, was repetitive to the point of what should have been boredom but, for some unfathomable reason, was anything but.

The repetition did, of course, reinforce the ritualistic element which made this production so riveting, as did the stylised tableaux and other-wordly movements of almost everyone on stage. The costumes and sets, as a quick flip through any production photographs will show, were sublime and the wonderful ENO chorus was on fire! Add to that the heartbreaking vulnerability of Anthony Roth Costanzo in the title role and Zachary James' intense and committed scribe, and you will have some idea of the power of this production.

Rupert Christiansen described it as 'the protracted expulsion of hot air' and, in some ways, it's hard to disagree but what mesmerisingly alluring hot air!

... a quick skim of Twitter just now suggests the crowd went wild for the cover at the end of the evening - so either she got better in the second half, or a generous audience rewarded her for stepping in to an impossible role at the last minute, or my ears were tired last night and I made a poor judgement.

Who was the cover, Geoff?

I saw Norma on Monday and my heart sank as the man in the suit came on to make the dreaded announcement before the curtain went up. This time, Marjorie Owens did sing although we were warned that she was suffering from a recurring throat infection, not that I could have told; she was warm and lyrical and blended perfectly with Jennifer Holloway's Adalgisa.

Peter Auty sounded convincing as Pollione but was completely unsympathetic, looked uncomfortable rather than commanding and the Amish setting made total nonsense of the constant references to the Romans, temples and war. And what was with the enormous, phallic log? It did cross my mind that it might have been dragged across from down the road after its leading role in William Tell.

Well they've not danced Bright Stream since the first time I saw them so that was 2007 I think, correct me if I am wrong.

More than due a revival, I'd say!