Lindsay

5 hours ago, Josette said:

I was in Row B8 and somehow missed all this.  

It was somebody sitting in the row in front of the entrance staircase on the right - so would have been behind you and on the other side of the stalls

The ushers had a rough night on Saturday.  Somebody near the front of the stalls was taking photos and video on their phone multiple times during the first two acts and a crowd descended on the poor usher at the interval demanding that  retribution be delivered.  She made a general announcement to the section and all was well for the remaining two acts.

I thought Francesca was absolutely beautiful tonight - so much more confident in the role than she seemed on her debut.  She may not have the long limbs that one perhaps thinks characteristic of Odette but she ‘dances big’ and brings a certain old-fashioned glamour to the role which I haven’t yet seen from anyone else this run.  Very dramatically effective.  And Matthew Ball is really a very reliable partner these days.  
 

I felt for Mariko a bit this afternoon - as others have said the partnering was a bit tentative and it must be very hard for a ballerina to do all those backward falls and penchee turns with abandon if she doesn’t feel entirely safe.  But I thought both she and Joseph shone in their solos and they were very promising public debuts.

Kudos also to Meghan Hingis who seems to have covered for endless sisters recently and has a very lively and joyful take on her Act 1 variation 

Thank you

For those of us less gifted with Google might you be willing to provide a link to the source please?

Not much I think I can add to what everyone else said about last night's amazing performance.  I think Odette/Odile may be Fumi's signature role - it suits her down to the ground.  She was already astonishingly impressive and confident on her debut with Bonelli a couple of years ago (particularly as Odile, since I think most of us had already guessed that she would be beautiful in the white acts) but her technique has gone from strength to strength since then and having a partner who can match her on the technical feats really adds to it.  No offence meant to Bonelli, who was one of my favourites and an excellent partner, but I think even he wouldn't disagree that Vadim and Petipa have a particularly 'special relationship'.

16 minutes ago, alison said:

 

Yes, I've seen him at several performances since he left.

I have seen him at Sadlers' Wells too - most recently for the NYCB performances. Good practice for a director to keep abreast of the wider dance world.

4 hours ago, Tango Dancer said:

 

This so much.  If the music doesn't add to the emotion and connect to the dance then you might as well be dancing to muzak.  For me, music is a key component of the ballet.  I agree none of Talbot's music add anything to the way the ballet feels.  I mean they're a not unpleasant background music but they don't do anything to inspire depth of feeling in me.   

 

I know what your quote means,  my ballet teacher tries quite hard to get us to feel the music and respond to it rather than just doing the step.

I totally agree.  Talbot’s music is “very quite nice” in the blandest way possible.  It’s wheeldon’s biggest weakness imho.  I wish he would engage with more complex music more often - it’s not as though he’s incapable of it - Polyphonia to Ligeti was stunning (and still his best work for me).  But for his full lengths he repeatedly picks easy-listening-mush.  It’s baffling!
 

I have never booked for a Wheeldon full length more than once and the music has always been the main factor in that decision - (although the appallingly “literal” and unimaginative translation of source material into dance runs it a close second…,)

I really think he should have remained at NYC making abstract works to good music 

10 hours ago, AnticaFiamma said:

Last summer I saw R&J at La Scala and while the company is not as good as the RB it was such a delight to hear the score played magnificently under Timur Zangiev's baton, I so wish ROH addressed its dreadful brass issue.

That’s interesting because when I saw R&J at La Scala a few years ago the orchestra was lively but extremely “approximate”.  Half of the string section just gave up half way through some of the fast upwards runs.  And I have heard far worse than the ROH orchestra in other European houses, often from much better pits than the cramped hole at the ROH.

That said, I do think ballet gets a slightly poorer deal - perhaps because the repeated very long runs of some works become tedious from the pit and long standing players may try to avoid them (I know that at least some of the more experienced players have a say in which productions they participate in).  The 25th Nutcracker or 17th Swan Lake of the season may therefore not find the orchestra at its best.

I have heard some very good playing for opera - but then I like (for example)  how Pappano conducts Wagner and not everyone agrees.  Everyone is entitled an opinion but I think saying that this is the worst opera house orchestra in Europe is ridiculous - I know many repetiteurs and musicians working in European opera who consider the ROH orchestra to be very decent - not Bayreuth, but undeniably high standard.  And top conductors would not want to work with them if it were as bad as many here seem to think.
 

Having top level professional musicians audition every year is insulting and would mean that all the best players went elsewhere.   British orchestras already have way less rehearsal time than European orchestras (hence they have to be demon sight readers!) and increasing turnover would not help with that.  If people are slacking off and constantly sending in deps to rehearse, that obviously needs to be managed but you achieve nothing by denying security of employment - the classical musical industry in the UK is on its knees already without providing even more incentive for good musicians to leave …..

Wow @sophoife we must be leading parallel lives.  I have read literally everything on your list - with the exception of more than a couple Elsie J Oxenham which remain primarily my mother’s passion.  Books were sourced mostly from my Mum’s collection, libraries and intensive scouring of the second hand bookshops in Hay-on-Wye.  Charlotte Sometimes was my absolute favourite amongst my “own” as opposed to inherited discoveries and I also loved the Trebizon books.  And the hunt to re-buy lost favourites continues - I recently found a full set of Dimsies (not the 1980s rewritten abomination!) in Oxfam and am happily working through them.  I do actually read “grown up” books too but am increasingly finding that the standard of writing in some new fiction is lower than that served up to “children” last century. Which conclusion truly lets me know that I am getting old…….

23 hours ago, Sophoife said:

Is it The Attic Term when Lawrie, a droning singer, volunteers to conduct so she can "be Sir Thomas Beecham and hum"? I don't have access to mine in order to check. IIRC she then suggests André Previn as his hands go like Concorde's nose. 

 

@Lindsay @DelphiumBlue @CCL?

Haha yes it is! When they are preparing their Form's contribution to the Carol Service.  But after Lawrie has a theatrical attempt at conducting they (correctly) decide that her talents would be better used in a dramatic reading of Kipling's Eddi's Service 

@Sophoife It's a close-run thing!  And the Nicola-Tim growing apart and then 'coming back together' to arrange the carol service in the Attic Term is so subtly done.  They are such quality novels, disguised as 'standard' school stories.

22 minutes ago, Sophoife said:

 

@DelphiumBlue is in our hood.

Apologies for crashing the party but am also a huge Antonia Forest fan and hence very excited by this thread - although Autumn term is my favourite, mainly because of the Christmas play

7 minutes ago, Roberta said:

Yuhui Choe is missing also, maternity leave, always joy and a reliable, versatile  First Soloist. 

True.  And I suspect Mariko Sasaki (who was a beautiful big swan on opening night of this run) has been focusing on her Odette/Odile debut so we haven't seen so much of her in soloist roles recently either

I do also find myself wondering a bit these days if regular RB goers were spoiled at the 'soloist' (i.e. in the sense of soloist roles rather than actual ranking) level a few years ago, when there were so many clear principals-in-waiting at that level and newly minted principals were still dancing soloist roles.  It felt as though, even when not seeing the opening night case, one was almost guaranteed a technically secure, musical performance in key solos.  First soloist cohorts of the quality of Kaneko, Magri and O'Sullivan don't come along all that often and I think Calvert's absence on maternity leave has perhaps highlighted the need for reinforcement at that level (although credit to Gasparini for covering almost everything and doing it beautifully!).  It will be interesting to see which of the very technically strong cohort of young dancers currently at artist and first artist level can turn their skills into consistent soloist performances across different roles.

14 hours ago, Buru said:

Apologies, I didn’t mean to be disrespectful. You are right that I meant that the cygnets were not bouncy enough, which is all about technique, not the weight. 
 

By “disaster” I meant that the big swans were not in sync and their jumps were very slow; and that emotionally this was a low point of the afternoon for me personally. 
 

I stated at the beginning of my post that I actually enjoyed the performance and found it interesting to compare with my previous experience of other productions. It was not perfect or the best I have seen, but it had many nice moments.
 

By no means I purport to claim that I have seen as much as late Clement Crisp or have any similar expertise. Ballet is my passion and there were times when I went to see Swan Lake three times a week and cried in Act II as it was so perfect it hurt. But I do appreciate that it cannot happen often and still go and try to find new nuances and look for smaller details I like. I clearly identified that in yesterday’s performance these were the dialogue between Odette and Siegfried and Jo Jun as Benno. 

 

I see that most posts on the forum are written in superlatives which is fine but makes it a bit one sided. Though I appreciate that as Sim said, for each their own. Will keep it to myself going forward. 

I didn’t see Saturday’s performance Buru but saw the same cast on Wednesday - I posted about the lead performances but not in detail about the supporting cast partly because I shared the same disappointment as you, particularly with the Big Swans who were not in sync and frankly looked tired and lacking any elevation in the jumps.  I had some sympathy for the cygnets because there was a last minute unannounced cast change and the heights and spacing looked off but I assumed that was down to not having rehearsed as a team.  The conductor also took their dance very fast (by contrast to one of Siegfried’s sisters in Act 1 who seemed thrown by an unusually slow tempo).  So I gave the benefit of the doubt to all concerned - but will be interested to see how this cast goes in the cinema relay.  Other than Jun as Benno, I would have thought there were some stronger casting choices that could have been made for soloists in such a public event 

11 hours ago, Sophoife said:

 

@Lindsay, Gloria 

was in it for the training in order to make money, as was Marcia Rutherford. Lorna Hill, a vicar's wife in the 1950s, used her own daughter's training at the Wells School as background for the books. Of course they're written from a certain POV, and a lot of the content is dated, but we're reading from now 70 years later. Caroline is my favourite character. Mariella giving up her vet course to marry Robin is STUPID.

Oh yes! Marcia Rutherford became a big star in « Dance for Poppa”.  And I remember really wanting to be Mariella living in a mansion flat with a famous ballerina mother and critic father and meals appearing ready-made from the kitchen downstairs.  In fact I would still quite like that!  Thanks for the reminder Sophoife!

8 minutes ago, Sophoife said:

 

Mariella's thighs? Most likely. There was someone in Veronica who had big thighs too, I'm pretty sure. @DelphiumBlue can you remember who it was?

Wasn't it one of the girls in the scenes in the dressing room while Veronica was still a student at Barons Court who was told that their thighs were not right for the "Theatre Ballet" so they went off to become a show girl instead? I seem to remember some rather pointed class assumptions around that scene too - maybe a character called Gloria who was definitely coded as not quite "respectable"? I must re-read.  For all their dated assumptions, I LOVED the Wells books!

I'm somewhere between Sim and Shade (so to speak).  I think Naghdi is hugely improving as an actress.  Her technique has always been top notch (imho best in the company after Marianela) but I used to find her a little 'coldly competent'.  She has introduced much more musicality and nuance into her performances, and I think is now absolutely stellar in the minxy/flashing smile roles - as Odile of course and I first noticed this when she absolutely owned the stage as the lead in Elite Syncopations a few years ago.   She is now such a safe pair of hands in things like Sugar Plum or Kitri that you just know the steps are easy for her, so you can sit back and enjoy it with her as she plays with the music.

However, I still find it really difficult to see her as vulnerable, in the way that makes a really good Odette.  There is a sort of 'competence' about all of her performances that is always there (whether it is the rock solid technique, the facial expression or quite what else I can't quite work out).  I also felt this last time I saw Yasmine's vision scene in Sleeping Beauty - there is something about her expression that means I can't forget that she is "acting" in those kind of roles.  Marianela of course also has solid technique but somehow manages to make me feel her vulnerability.  Maybe it's something to do with the way she uses her head as Odette? If it were that easy to work out the 'magic formula', then everyone would be doing it!

None of which should detract from what was an amazing performance last night and I think (the leads at least) are well worthy of the cinema performance.   We are so lucky in London at the moment to be able to nitpick our preferences between really incredible dancers and none of this is in any way intended as a detraction of anybody! Yasmine would always be one of my top choices when choosing which casts to see.  

Agree, I saw this in the House last night and while Grigorian was by far the strongest singer (and really this IS Butterfly's opera!) some of the supporting performances, especially Suzuki and Sharpless, were excellent too.  I wasn't so sure about Pinkerton and this production has nothing particularly interesting about it but at least the director is not undermining the tragedy of Butterfly's story and the music sounded beautiful!

15 minutes ago, Sebastian said:

Different Drummer is based on what was once very well-known source material, the play by Büchner. Over the years it became almost as ubiquitous a story as Faust or Romeo and Juliet. A useful list of just some of many versions is given on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woyzeck#Adaptations 

 

Back in 1984 MacMillan may have assumed his audience was familiar with the stark outlines of this drama and so felt free to work variations on it. Some of the comments here - and overheard after the performance - suggest this is no longer the case. Seen in the correct context it is a shattering work, among the most successful of his later creations, as indeed I felt it to be yesterday. 

I thought so too.  But there are a lot of references that benefit from familiarity with the imagery - for example Marie’s Magdalene-like washing the feet of the soldier wearing the crown of thorns with her hair.  That idea of interiority as if stuck in a nightmare has gone out of fashion on the stage today too - audiences seem to prefer their stories more literal 

14 minutes ago, Sim said:

I agree wholeheartedly regarding how much this improvement started with Ms Stock and her vision for the school.  An absolute tragedy that we lost her so young.  But she has left a wonderful legacy....for now, at least.  Credit also to Kevin for concentrating on dancers from the school.  

Indeed.  I think he was very lucky to be able to do so.  Mason (and her predecessors) really did have to cast a wider net given the state of the school pre-Stock, and although that brought us glories in the form of Acosta, Zanowsky, Cojocaru, Kobborg, Rojo, Bonelli and (not least!) Nunez, the corps de ballet could look very disparate and ragged at times....

51 minutes ago, Beaker said:

@Lindsay yes, exactly that. As someone ‘coming back’ it’s really very striking the difference. 

Yes, you have an interesting perspective there.  In my view, a lot of credit for the change over the last decade must go to Gailene Stock for hugely raising the standards at RBS.  She brought through most of the current principal 'class' under her tenure, including Hayward, Bracewell, Ball, Naghdi, Clarke and O'Sullivan (plus Sissens on the principal-in-waiting side) who all attended White Lodge.  I think mixing that strong 'homegrown' pipeline with the introduction of technically brilliant dancers in the Upper School (Sambe, Magri, Acri, Richardson etc.) has borne considerable fruit for the company. 

It would be very interesting if one were now to take a similar break to imagine what the company might look like in 2035 (!), with the school having shifted the balance to a much larger proportion of international prizewinners...

8 minutes ago, Beaker said:

 

The other - and I noticed this in Manon on Saturday as well - is that the corps and actually all the dancers are so much more consistent from when I last went. There is a greater depth to the dancing, which as a viewer leads to a confidence when watching and a greater ability to totally lose oneself in the dance. 

I agree Beaker.  I remember seeing some really good principal performances at the end of the 'Mason years' but often being a bit on edge for the pas de trois (in the 'old' swan lake production) or the pas de six in Giselle, Myrtha's solo, Lilac Fairy etc. because there were quite a few soloists where I could sense their nerves about getting through the difficult bits.  Very rare for me to feel that nowadays - there is much more technical strength in depth.   Of course artistry is what we are all looking for but, if dancers are visibly uncomfortable with the steps (not having the odd slip or fall from really pushing, which is fine, but struggling and/or 'cheating' all the way through a variation ), I find that ship has pretty much sailed.....

9 minutes ago, emmarose said:

I get it, I'm kind of in the mind of if you're bored of life, go to Paris.

 

 

Coincidentally, I am at this very moment taking this wise advice literally.   I noticed that I have a free evening on a work trip to Paris in a couple of weeks and have just managed to nab a ticket for Don Quixote at the Bastille.  Hannah O'Neill and German Louvet that night so very much looking forward to it!