jm365

I haven't been for many years, but my recollection is that as long as you are reasonably central, views at all levels are fine. The equivalent of the gallery is a long way from the stage, though, and you would certainly need opera glasses. The Mariinsky is not nearly as much of a horseshoe shape as Covent Garden. I have actually watched from one of the stage boxes and even that wasn't too bad.

So did I, Lizbie 1, when seeing it live in the theatre. Watching it on television I found it pretty tedious and slow at times - in fact I actually nodded off once! I would definitely not buy a DVD.

I absolutely agree with all the posters who say how much we owe in this country to the work of the Hochhausers, especially in the early days when they had to deal with Soviet bureaucracy to get the companies into London. I don't think anyone else could have done it. My deepest condolences to Lilian Hochauser.

What was the fiolm? Does anyone know who her partner was? And I love the orchestra! Thank you so much for putting it up. So many ballet.coers seem briliant at finding fascinating things on Youtube etc - you make me feel incredibly out of touch!!

Bless you JohnS! It just never occurs to me to look at Youtube for something like a piece of music. I shall treasure this.

Lovely, interesting choice of music - and I do like his refusing to have things 'faded out'. I definitely want to get hold of a recording of the Taillefer (spelling?) fandango.

Mark Morris is the subject of Private Passions on Radio 3 at 12 noon today, Sunday 17th March.

just in case you didn't get my pm, the tickets are yours. Haven't done this before via Balletcoforum, so please advise on best method of payment and getting tickets to you. I shall be at the ROH on March 25th. Are you in London? Julia

Two Amphitheatre seats, M 48 and M 49 - £40 each.

This sounds amazing. Is the company coming to London during their tour? If so, where to and when, please?

I was lucky enough to see the original cast of Two Pigeons. Seymour was wonderful - in both acts. She managed the two sides of the Young Girl's character perfectly. If you only saw her in MacMillan, you would not know what an excellent comedienne she was - unforgettable in The Concert too. A real dance actress.

Nothing beats Wilson Keppel and Betty as far as I'm concerned.

I grow Ballerina tulips (very pretty), and I once gave a friend a Ballerina rose. Surely this qualifies me!

I am quite sure it was not Marriott's intention, but for me the use of the spoken interview extracts was insulting to the speakers in the context of a very mediocre ballet. It actually made me come out at the interval feeling really angry. Surely a good ballet on such a theme should be able to convey emotions clearly and movingly without literally exploiting the memories of those actually involved in the war. I agree with those who found the scrim half way up infuriating - I was sitting half way up the Amphitheatre and could not see the back of the stage. The moving strips etc seems to have been used in too many other ballets and didn't add anything to this one. The large panel that was lowered served no purpose other than allowing the 'dead' soldiers to get into position. From my seat, thanks to the blinding lighting effect, the 'gold lame speedos' came across as all over body tights - or long johns perhaps. I'm not a fan of Infra, but I was actually looking forward to it after U.S. I'm going again tonight to see another cast in Symphony in C, but have decided not to bother with U.S. again. None of this, of course, is intended to reflect on the commitment and dance standard of any of the performers involved. They are professionals and obviously give of their best in what they are asked to do. Also I was surrounded by what were definitely school parties of youngsters, most of whom were, I should think, having their first experience of a performance at the Royal Opera House. They were really well behaved - better than many another audience that I have encountered - presumably having been properly prepared by their school staff. The girl next to me went 'wow' as the curtain opened for Symphony. I do hope they enjoyed their evening.

I keep hoping they will do the Riverdance close again in London - much though I enjoy the New York New York finale.

Partly referring to the thread about new audiences - if the ROH would fund a few more documentaries like the SBS Mayerling (which might encourage the BBC or ITV or Sky to show them, without the huge expense involved these days in making them in house), that would go some way to letting new potential audience members see what is involved in ballet and how it is not all pretty girls in tutus and that men have a really strong role.

As a film, it is in my opinion, pretty terrible. It is bitty, the music is overwhelming at times, the dance sequences are too short, the pieces are not identified until the closing credits. If you know the Nureyev story it has some interest - I can't imagine how it is expected to appeal to a non-specialist audience. It is true that there are a few sequences that I had not seen before - mostly on the documentary front. I agree that you would get a better sense of Nureyev the dancer by watching him on Youtube. If your local cinema is charging high prices, I wouldn't bother.

As a Facebook 'refusnik', I do hope that information about performances etc. will continue to be available to those of us who don't use social media.

Just a tiny correction - it was John Drummond, not Ian. Also, back then there was not so much competition from other television stations and other media. The BBC is under constant threat now and feels it has to fight harder for larger audiences than it did in the 80s and earlier to justify its licence fee.

I saw the last Putrov production at the Coliseum - really pretty awful! Maybe this one will be better - but I'm hesitant to buy tickets.

I saw Fonteyn during the first performances of the ballet and I believe she was as old in years as Tait, and she too was totally convincing as a young girl.

Dear Angela, Thanks for this information. Unfortunately I shall be at performance by the Trocks! Do you happen to know if there is, or is to be, a dvd of the documentary? I see it is only an hour long. Julia

looks great - but no indication of how much it will cost!

Most recordings of theatrical ballet performances will have up to six cameras in position. The cameramen have to take the shots the director asks for - so the Bolshoi performances owe everything to the director, not to the cameramen.

totally agree. A genuine masterpiece.