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penelopesimpson

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Everything posted by penelopesimpson

  1. penelopesimpson
    Thank you for agreeing with me! It can be hard going on here, sometimes! I see your comments about next season - is the programme out yet?
  2. penelopesimpson
    Thank you for your post, much of which I found educational and very useful for my future choices. However, I detect a note of censure, a feeling that the audience were somehow not up to the performance. You may be right, but this is the real world and many of us balletgoers will often be 'the wrong type of audience.' I am no expert but a real ballet fan who spends a disproportionate amount of their disposable income on trips to ROH. I am eclectic in my preferences but like most human beings, have likes and dislikes. Do I want wall to wall Romeo and Juliet? Absolutely not. I saw one performance of the Nutcracker and vowed never again. I could see Mayerling every night and never tire of it, loved A Winter's Tale, Woolf Works and the Schechter, left Don Quixote in the interval when they started yet another folk dance. Song of the Earth may be Macmillan's masterpiece. Certainly I like it and believe I will grow to like it more. But I stand by my point that, taken as a whole, last night's programme was limp, unfilling and ended the season on a low note.
  3. penelopesimpson
    Yes, I';d agree with you. I didn't like it that much first time but would now say I enjoy it but wouldn't rush to sign up for another performance. I think I am being especially critical because, for me, the first half was just nothing. I know it's a big ask but I live right out in the sticks and my trips to ROH are highlights for me which I save up for, spend far too much on and usually relish. Last night it was just a big wet nothing. Talking of which, nearly got blown off Waterloo Bridge walking to the station. The perfect end to the day! Oh, take me back to the nights I saw Ed Watson on the first night of Mayerling. Then booked to see him again and Kobborg and Cojocaru. I know you can't expect that level of emotional engagement all the time, but for me last night felt like end of term filler.
  4. penelopesimpson
    I SO get that. I took somebody who was a relative ballet novice but just beginning to get into it and they didn't like it at all. I think you either do or you don't. I found the combination of the ballets last night baffling. Not much light and dark, and no what I would call meat. Really regret buying the ticket and I can't remember the last time I said that.
  5. penelopesimpson
    I think they go expecting a ballet! I'm with you, thought the vocals were superb. BUT for my taste, I just don't like singers on stage whilst there is dancing. It is not a combination I enjoy.
  6. penelopesimpson
    Glad, if that's the right word, to see others were equally underwhelmed. I've enjoyed this season, particularly Woolf Works which was a revelation, and I'm one of the people who really appreciated Schechter. Although all the pieces last night were okay, they just aren't strong enough to be put together as a bill, and I felt vaguely cheated. Thinking about it, I'm not sure I'll ever 'get' Faun - emotionally there was nothing there at all, just some beautiful lines and the pairing of Muntagirov and Hamilton was without chemistry. Another poster has asked how it is that these pieces have achieved iconic status and it is a good question. Certainly I think they are small venue pieces, not ROH stuff. Contrast with something like Marguerite and Armand which I was privileged to see with Rojo and Polunin, and you see what you are missing. I wonder why this Bill was thrown together - didn't they have enough confidence to give more performances of Woolf Works?
  7. penelopesimpson
    Just back from tonight's performance and very underwhelmed. Faun: Bluh. Booked for this performance because I wanted to see Muntagirov but, frankly, it could have been anybody. Nothing wrong, just nothing. Not sure about the pairing, etiher. Like Melissa Hamilton but she seemed hefty beside Muntagirov's slender limbs. Possibly you have to see this piece several times and tonight was my first but, ... In the night. Okay, good stuff. But three pairs of dancers on a massive bare stage? It's a big ask. The dancing was great - Sarah Lamb particularly notable and I'm not her biggest fan -but, again, so...? Song of the Earth saved the evening for me but this is a piece I know and love. Verdict? Doesn't add up to a row of beans. Six hour round trip, no, simply not worth it. The first two pieces are just not strong enough. Why on earth didn't they put on more performances of Woolf Works (gobsmackingly terrific) or the Schechter? This was a damp squib.
  8. penelopesimpson
    Okay, take your point about Ferri, but she was not, FOR ME, the standout of the performance. Great, yes, fab, no.
  9. penelopesimpson
    Forgot to add that Ferri is great but not so great that she should take the first solo curtain call. Thought that was OTT.
  10. penelopesimpson
    Just got back from the Matinee. Overwhelmed by the First Part, particularly Watson pas de deaux and Haywards work. So moving, totally fab. Also second act which others have been critical of. I am an amateur critic but I loved it and I hadn't mugged up on Woolf beforehand (the progamme tells you nothing). For the first time began to see what people like in Sarah Lamb who has hitherto left me cold. Third act not so good for me. Choreography for large groups could learn from the Schecter I saw last month. Thought this act was lacking in drama and, as another poster has said, repetitive. Star of the day was the score, absolutely wonderful, ditto lighting. WM has come good - at last - for me. Have to add that I hate matinees. Three Americans infront of me. Teenage girl practically in tears when told she had to turn her mobile off. Spent entire performance fidgeting and cuddling up to Mum. I longed to tell them to get a room. Some of us save our pennies for these special days and they really spoilt it for me. Can't kids be dumped somewhere if they don't want to come?
  11. penelopesimpson
    Would love to know why he left...?
  12. penelopesimpson
    Thanks for your excellent post. I attended the performance and enjoyed the new work immensely, only to have my joy somewhat sat upon by posters on this board who find it necessary to devalue others enjoyment. I have no idea if Shechter is fashionable, nor do I have a view on Kevin O'Hare's thought process. Similarly, I am not a Shecter groupie. I can well appreciate that some people did not enjoy the work and I am always interested to hear their views. I didn't 'get' Song of the Earth which, for me, never took off, but I can appreciate it as a beautiful piece that gives great pleasure to many. I welcome ROH's decision to commission exciting new works, even if Mr. Macgregor doesn't often hit the spot for me. Long may it continue.
  13. penelopesimpson
  14. penelopesimpson
    Yes, and some of us loved it.
  15. penelopesimpson
    Yes, I looked up the site when I got home last night and found it most useful. I still found the singing a mournful German dirge but, as I was at pains to point out, that is simply my view. I would very much have preferred not to have the distracting presence of the singers on stage. This board used to be a friendly place where amateurs and experts alike could express an opinion without being labelled a groupie. No offence taken, but it is a shame.
  16. penelopesimpson
    A word re. your comment about 'groupies.' I was in the Grand Tier last night and I clapped loudly and called one bravo. That was because I really enjoyed the performance and was expressing my appreciation. I am not a Hofesh groupie, having never heard of him before, but I like to show my enjoyment. I am sorry you did not personally like the performance, but it is somewhat unkind to criticise others who did. We all like different things and for me the standing ovation was deserved. I did not leave after the Hofesh, although I wish I had because I thought Song of the Earth was a real downer, completely spoiled for me by the two singers being put on stage singing their mournful German dirges. Loved the Ballanchine and, all in all, it was a great evening which ended on a low, even thought I thought Acosta was wonderful. Should have added that Watson was his usual totally fabulous self. I had a 'non Ballet' companion with me and he was in raptures at Watson's dancing.
  17. penelopesimpson
    Oh Sim thank goodness for your post. I was depressed by those about how stinting we should be in our praise because...? I had the most marvellous evening last night watching Ed and Francesca and indeed the whole cast. They gave me great joy and I wanted to share those thoughts. Not that it matters but I don't over-praise if it hasn't pleased me. I'm an ordinary ballet fan with no real technical knowledge and I have criticised on occasion. Acosta never does it for me and I don't get the right vibes from Sarah Lamb. I expect both of them can cope with my amateur view (!) but I hope that my genuine praise, my thanks for a wonderful night, however much I lack knowledge, sometimes reaches the artistes I am writing about. When I watched Ed Watson dance the opening night of Mayerling it was one of the greatest nights of my life and it added to my pleasure to be able to say so on here and find others with similar thoughts.
  18. penelopesimpson
    Manon last night - totally wonderful experience. I have long had Hayward marked out for greatness and, hopefully, here is the heir to Cojocaru. Watson, as always, was sublime. The perfect partner, the strength in that wonderful body, the creaminess of his movements that convey every particle of emotion. Thanks RBS. A wonderful night.
  19. penelopesimpson
    I'm not quite getting what the differences were. How was Xander Parish?
  20. penelopesimpson
    Very keen to hear about Xander Parish. Also, agree with comments about Macmillan version of R&J. Nothing to touch it.
  21. penelopesimpson
    Anyone going tonight?
  22. penelopesimpson
    Thanks for that Aileen. My view entirely. Seat purchased from ROH who run the House so it is their job to protect the customers and provide a suitably well run environment. I am so mad I just called them and had a very sympathetic ear from customer services. Box Office are apparently going to call me later. Yes, I agree, staff are usually really lovely.
  23. penelopesimpson
    I was front row Stalls Circle A84. Offenders were in 85/86/87. Not often I have such a lovely seat. Still smarting this morning.
  24. penelopesimpson
    So agree about the orchestra. And with the choreography not making the most of the music. Perhaps I too am too steeped in Macmillan to really appreciate the Marinksy version. Yes, I also thought that awful moth-eaten flimsy curtain that kept coming down distracting, although it did give the production a certain paciness. Good to hear people's views.
  25. penelopesimpson
    Furious with ROH tonight not standing behind their no photography rule. A group of four women sitting to the right of me spent the whole of the first act fiddling with their mobiles and distracting me with their lights. Then, as soon as the dancers stepped out from the curtain they all held up their phones and started taking pictures. I complained at the interval and one of the staff said she would sort it. Then, exactly the same happened at the end of Act 2. I spoke to a Manager in the front Hall who said the women had been spoken to but the Marinsky allows filming so there's nothing they could do. I said they should be asked to leave and the man said, snootily 'That's not how we do it here.' Great. I spent £120 on my ticket, plus £60 in rail fares and travel for 7 hrs. The rules are no photograph - the announcement was quite clear - why will ROH not implement the policy? I am really mad. I save for my tickets and it's a big deal for me, spoilt by others.
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