mshovelt

So, having had the privilege of seeing Anna Tsygankova and Matthew Golding on Monday, I had the opportunity, last night, to see Marianela Nunez and Thiago Soares. Aside from the fact that seeing the same ballet twice in the space of three days has simply strengthened the belief, in my wife, that I am insane, this was fantastic. Having been blown away from the moment Anna arrived on stage on Monday, I was a little underwhelmed by Marianela's entrance and opening scene (maybe I went in with higher expectations). However, after a slow start, Marianela got stronger and stronger and her second and third acts were near perfection, in my eyes; she just seemed a lot more comfortable once she got into her tutu :-). In the third act, her balances were exquisite and her fouettes faultless - Anna T seemed to drift quite a distance during her fouettes; so much so that I wondered whether it was meant to be like that. Marianela corrected me on this point! Thiago put in a decent enough performance, but he is no Matthew Golding - the gulf in power and technique between them was plain to see. I liked Nehemiah Kish and Claire Calvert as Espada and Mercedes but, in my opinion, Ryuichi Hirano and Laura Morera own those roles; there's just no touching them. Talking of Hirano, he surprised me greatly as Gamache - I thought he was excellent and showed another side to his considerable abilities. Finally, my thoughts on the music: Seligman conducted on Monday and Yates last night. To my somewhat uneducated ears, I honestly couldn't distinguish much of a difference between them. I though the pacing was more or less the same and the orchestra played fantastically on both nights.

Aileen, the conductor was Tom Seligman last night.

From Sadness (Osipova injured), to Intrigue (Tsygankova announced), to Anticipation (found out who Tsygankova was), to Amazement (on the night). From the moment Tsygankova flew onto the stage, she projected such joy; it was a delight to behold. She absolutely lit up the stage and I feel really privileged to have witnessed her debut at the ROH. I would be the first to admit that I'm no ballet expert, but I am simply astonished at how she managed to learn the steps in such a short period of time; irrespective of her history with Matthew Golding or past experience of other Don Q productions or the fact that she is a seasoned professional, that must still count as some achievement. Ok, it wasn't technically flawless (and I did notice a couple of mistakes in the corps as well) but any slight imperfections were eclipsed by her enthusiasm and passion. Last night was also the night that I finally took to Matthew Golding. After being somewhat underwhelmed by him in Sleeping Beauty last year, I thought he was fantastic last night and his partnership with Tsygankova was lovely. Other highlights for me were: Hirano as Espada - he is just fantastic in that role; curiously, he is cast as Gamache on Wednesday and I just can't see him in that role. Francesca Hayward was brilliant as Amour and Gary Avis a wonderful stand-in Don Q. I still am desperate to see Osipova's Kitri (and Nikiya for that matter) though; so get well soon Natalia!

A few firsts for me last night: first ZooNation show, first hip-hop dance show, first time in Linbury Studio Theatre. So, I went in not really knowing what to expect; but wow! I have to say it was absolutely brilliant. I found myself grinning throughout - it was just that entertaining. Amazingly talented dancers and musicians and a really cleverly put together show. Though they were all brilliant, a special mention should be made for Tommy Franzen as the psychologist and his "descent into madness" dance at the end of Act 1 which was just astonishing. Anyway, enough superlatives. Did anybody else go?

I went to see the Somova/Zverev performance on Tuesday night and, in my opinion it was good, but not great. This was only the second time I’ve seen the Mariinsky’s production (incidentally, the previous time, in 2011, also featured Somova – pure coincidence as on both occasions I booked before the casts were announced) and I think I just don’t like it as much as the RB’s production. The highlight for me were the corps. As many have said, they were excellent; the scenes at the lake were just mesmerising and I really liked the addition of the 8 black swans at the end. I thought Somova was very good, but unspectacular, in both roles. Zverev was also very good though he was a little outshone by Xander Parish who featured as one of the Prince’s friends (an unexpected bonus!). Grigory Popov, as the Jester, was also excellent – Swan Lake can be a bit light on male dancing and he certainly provided some impressive work in this area. There were two things that irritated me (a bit): firstly, the pacing of the music seemed to be all over the place. Some parts were played sooooo slowly and some played at breakneck speed (the Mazurka comes to mind in the latter category – it just ended up sounding messy and rushed). This will be, partly, because I am used to listening to Previn’s recording; I appreciate that this is performed at concert pace rather than danceable pace – but still. Secondly, I just hate it when they stop the performance immediately after the 32 fouettes. I have a feeling this is a Russian trait (?) as the Bolshoi also did this – they certainly didn’t do it in the RB production. For me, the spontaneous applause mid-performance is far more special than just another curtain call where the audience could almost feel they are obliged to clap. Also, this unnecessary stoppage means that they have to restart the music in the middle of the piece and it just sounds all wrong. Having said all that, it was still a very enjoyable evening (as Swan Lake always is) though perhaps not as memorable as other performances I have seen.

Whilst I agree that popcorn is not to everyone's taste, I think "antisocial" is a bit strong; after all, it is a cinema, not the ROH. The Royal Ballet, it appears, agrees: they tweeted this, the other day: "You've got your ticket+read up, but one issue remains... Salt or sweet popcorn for #ROHTale in cinemas tomorrow!? roh.org.uk/cinemas"

Kevin O'Hare came on before the Prologue and his appearance was a clear indication of how seriously the RB was taking this. With respect to the lateness of the announcement, I imagine they were making absolutely sure that Osipova couldn't dance; I suppose they were just hoping that she would make a miraculous recovery. It's entirely understandable. As for Choe, as I indicated before, I thought she put in a fantastic performance. What with the pressure of performing in front of a potentially (though not as it turned out) unfriendly audience, at the last minute, with an unfamiliar partner; if that doesn't earn her promotion then I'm not exactly sure what else she has to do! This was the first time (I think) that I have seen Choe dance (certainly in a principal role) and I thought she was lovely. It was also the first time I've seen Matthew Golding. Goodness, he looked tall! and he gets considerable elevation on those jumps. To my uneducated eyes, he looked technically great though perhaps a little detached...? Could be to do with last minute partner change of course, so willing to give him the benefit ...

Very relieved to see Choe perform a faultless Rose Adagio and was very enthusiastically applauded. Rightly so!

Interval time at SB. Kevin O'Hare came on stage pre-performance to explain Osipova's absence. Apparently she had a fall in rehearsal yesterday and landed on her back, ending up in hospital! No bones broken but soft tissue damage that did not heal in time. Hope she gets well soon. Audience largely appreciative of the situation though there was what I can only describe as heckling from at least one person! I know it's disappointing (I am gutted) but there really is no call for that kind of behaviour (IMHO). Sent from my iphone; hope this works...

Tweet from @RoyalOperaHouse last night: "If you're enjoying #ROHgiselle and fancy watching again and again (and again), it'll be on DVD. Keep an eye on our feed for release dates" DVD sounds certain. Can't wait!

Young girl killed by rival in love rectangle; then lover turns to drugs and everybody dies.

Coated, that sounds amazing. I am now quite annoyed with myself that I didn't book to see both the Osipova and Nunez Giselles. Oh well, I have already ensured that I won't be making the same mistake with Sleeping Beauty :-). Experience is showing me that you only ever regret missing a performance; I have never come out of a show wishing I hadn't been. So now, if there's any doubt, I just book the tickets :-). The trick is knowing how far I can go before my wife (not a fan) divorces me ...

How funny that this thread should crop up now, just a couple of days after I went to the Stage Door for the very first time! So, on Wednesday I had the considerable privilege of attending the wonderful Osipova/Acosta Giselle. After the performance (indeed, after all the well deserved curtain calls ;-) - btw, what does anybody have to do to get a standing ovation at the ROH?!?) I decided to wander round the corner and check out the Stage Door. In the days running up to the show, I had been talking myself into doing this: "... Giselle's quite short ..."; "... it'll be finished by 10pm and I'll still be able to make my train ..."; "... it's Osipova AND Acosta!". Anyway, the time came and I was half expecting that there would be a huge crowd gathered outside the door and I would say to myself: "oh well. that's far too busy" and then walk on by and off to Victoria. Besides, wouldn't it be embarrassing to actually meet them? what would I say? etc. etc. So, I was quite surprised when I got there and found about half a dozen or so people waiting just inside the door. No excuses then, in I go. I stand in the corner and start idly reading through the programme, wondering how long I would actually be prepared to wait. A steady stream of people are leaving the ROH and it becomes apparent that some of the people are just waiting for friends/family members - oh no, I think; am I the only person waiting for an autograph?!? I glance around the room and notice a few people clutching programmes and, more importantly, pens. phew! not the only one then; that would be mortifying. After about 30 minutes of waiting Mr. Acosta appears and is quickly surrounded - by this time there must have been about 15 or so people waiting. He seems quite happy to sign programmes and pose for photographs though maybe a little non-plussed. Very shortly afterwards, Miss Osipova appears; she is showered in compliments and seems almost embarrassed to be receiving so much praise. Again, she was very happy to sign things and pose for photographs. What struck me was just how humble they both were; they just seemed to be genuinely nice people. There is no "magic"; these are ordinary people who do extraordinary things. In my mind, that justs elevates them further and certainly doesn't diminish the performance. So, for me, it just capped off a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Would I do it again? Well, maybe. It would be good to get a sense of what the dancers really think about it all though ...

One comment I would add re. the stalls in the Coliseum is that, as I remember it, the rows of seats are arranged so that each seat is directly in front of the other rather than offset half a seat sideways (if you see what I mean) as they are at the ROH. That can make quite a difference to your view. Personally I like being in the stalls, but not too close to the stage. All that said, I am quite tall and so lack of view has never been much of a problem for me ...