fadedhour

I wonder if ENB is ever going to post who is dancing some of the other roles in the ballet, as they did with Romeo and Juliet (where they posted who would be playing Mercutio, Tybalt &c. as well as Romeo and Juliet). I'd be interested to find out who's dancing what.

Ha, your story sounds familiar. I first saw them in 2004 (this was my first ballet other than a couple Nutcrackers when I was younger), with Alexandre Riabko performing Nijinsky. What an introduction! You're right - he really does become the character. I love that ballet - every time I see it, I discover some new reference or allusion that I hadn't noticed before. It's a crime that it's not on DVD (although quite a bit of it's been recorded now, fortunately). I'm really pleased that the National Ballet of Canada picked up Nijinsky (and they're doing it again this year!). I was wondering whether someone might, given that lots of Neumeier's ballets are performed elsewhere. I'm really impressed that they've done it because it's a complicated one and it's not for everyone. Did it get a good reception in Toronto? I'm jealous that you got to see their Sleeping Beauty - I don't think they've done it in a little while because I can't really find any information about it. I did find this clip which I just put on YouTube recently. What was it like? I would love to see it. If you ever get the chance to see Alexandre Riabko as Iago in Othello, definitely go for it. I wrote a review of it here if you're interested, but basically I was just amazed at the depth of his characterization, having not seen him in anything like that before. So cold, so cruel, and even quite funny. It was astonishing. I was surprised about Hamburg (the place), also! The first time I went, I just spontaneously arranged a trip without knowing anything about the city. It was hard coming back to snowy Boston after a beautiful week in Hamburg. Are the people in your group familiar with the company? They're in for a real treat.

Wow, that sounds like a great Onegin cast! I bet Alexandr Trusch makes a wonderful Lensky. And I think he and Riabko play well off each other - I saw them in Othello, as Cassio and Iago, a few months ago. By the way, I don't know if you've seen Riabko in any villainous roles - I hadn't until this season, and he's actually amazing at it. I would never have chosen those roles for him but he's been great. And I always like seeing him and Azzoni together Please let us know what you think of the performances!

Thank you - yes, I'm still waiting for the rest of the world to catch on to how wonderful they are! Maybe part of it here is the very puzzling fact that in 40 years they've performed in 30 countries, but never the UK. Here's hoping that changes soon!

Ah, so this is where the Hamburg Ballet fans are! I almost never see any reviews or information on them in English, so I am pleased to see this thread. I first saw them when they toured the US some years ago (they were my introduction to ballet) and I am lucky enough to now be able to see them every few months or so. This season, I've seen Romeo and Juliet, Othello, and The Little Mermaid, and I'll be heading to Hamburg for the Ballet Days in the summer as well as seeing Lady of the Camellias in May. On the topic of new dancers: I think there are a few promising names. In the corps, I like Sasha Riva, Lennart Radtke, and Marcelino Libao, and Emanuel Amuchastegui shows promise as well. I don't really know the rest of the corps men well enough individually to say. I just saw Sasha Riva in The Little Mermaid last month and I don't think he could have been any better. Of the women, Xue Lin performed the lead in The Little Mermaid recently, which must mean someone has confidence in her - I didn't see it, so I don't know how she did. Emilie Mazon, who is an apprentice, impressed me in Othello. I think Alexandr Trusch is just wonderful and I'm really pleased he was promoted. I saw him in Romeo and Juliet last year and he was amazing (with Florencia Chinellato who was also great). As Angela and annamicro point out, though, they have some really special principal dancers at the moment. I'll be so sad when pretty much any one of them retires. Especially Alexandre Riabko who is my favorite. I do think, re: the earlier comment on younger vs. older principals, that Edvin Revazov is pretty great - I've seen him in roles as different as Tadzio and Romeo and Diaghilev and he was great each time. I haven't seen Anna Laudere in that much so I don't really have a strong opinion, but for the one lead role I did see her in, I admired her dancing but found her acting to be lacking. Anyway, my point in all this is that I feel that while Hamburg does have some legendary, irreplaceable principals, I do have faith in the future of the company from the younger dancers I've seen so far.