ChrisG

I agree - I'm assuming it was the arrangement by Arnold Schoenberg who did chamber versions of a number of Mahler's works. I also agree with the comments about Dame Sarah, who seems to have come through her health problems with her wonderful voice completely intact.

Here are details of the ballet element of the show on June 27th, as just emailed: Saturday 27 June, 7:30pm BST Ballet First Soloists of The Royal Ballet Fumi Kaneko and Reece Clarke will perform the lyrical central pas de deux from Kenneth MacMillan’s Concerto. Created in 1966, Concerto is set to Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto no. 2 in F. Royal Ballet pianist Kate Shipway will accompany the dancers, together with soloists of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Principal Matthew Ball and First Soloist Mayara Magri will perform a pas de deux from Christopher Wheeldon’s Within the Golden Hour. First created for San Francisco Ballet, Within the Golden Hour has been part of The Royal Ballet’s repertory since 2016. Music Director of The Royal Ballet Koen Kessels will be conducting.

Signed. A choir colleague of mine is organising a petition asking for clarity on government policy on getting people back performing and there have been open letters from Sir Mark Elder and Sir Simon Rattle and from the choral directors of the country's major choirs to the same effect. I would say the more we push the better!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=8&v=BL8I11GsM7U&feature=emb_logo

It's also now on YouTube -

Fantastic news - a great line up of singers and a Wayne McGregor premiere to boot!

Just watched the livestream of The Cellist having missed it when it was on at the cinema. As a result my only experience of it had been from the front row of the Amphitheatre, and seeing it close up was a revelation. By the end I'm afraid I was in floods for various reasons - because of the beauty of the music, the tragedy of the story and the sensitive way in which the story was told, and the sorrow that we likely won't see these gifted dancers again for some time yet. It was the last thing I saw at the ROH before the lockdown and I'm missing the place very, very much. P.S. What I missed from up high was the fact that you see from the LP cover that the recording that inspires Jackie is Paul Tortelier's Elgar recording. That is such a wonderful detail and gave me an added frisson because one of my earliest classical musical memories is seeing Paul Tortelier perform the Elgar with, I think, the Hallé sometime in the mid 60s in Chester Cathedral. I would only have been about 10 at the time but I remember it vividly.

I've heard from a reliable source that the Berlin Philharmonic have been experimenting with how they might be able to introduce social distancing in their main hall. The usual capacity is 2,400 but the largest audience they have been able to model with proper effective social distancing is just 400. For most halls a financial break-even audience figure is usually about 50% of a hall's capacity so obviously in pure financial terms 400 would be totally non-viable other than simply as a means to re-establish a live presence. These are tough times for anyone involved with the arts. I'm a member of the Hallé Choir up in Manchester and I've already written off returning to singing in 2020 and am beginning to think the whole of the 2020/21 season may have to be written off. Things were different after the 1918 pandemic as can be seen from this New York Times article - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/06/arts/music/1918-flu-pandemic-coronavirus-classical-music.html . However, we now know so much more about viruses and the way they spread and I can't see anyone going against the science and pursuing a similar path to 1918/9. I hope I'm wrong, but if I am it'll only be because an effective vaccine has been deployed or some form of herd immunity has been reached (which judging by the latest government advice may still be some people's objective). Keep the faith!

Did anyone else like me love the inspired choice of music, Gustav Holst's Moorside Suite? Beautifully optimistic music to match the optimistic mood of the film. Does anyone know of any other ballets that have been created to the music of Holst?

I saw the penultimate Richard Alston Dance Company show yesterday afternoon (no thanks to the chaos on the West Coast mainline!), and it was absolutely wonderful. It's so sad that basically for no fault of his own he's having to wind up the company and I just hope his works continue to be seen in some form. I thought that the last work in the programme, Voices and Light Footsteps,set to the music of Monteverdi, could easily find a place at Covent Garden. To me he is the most classical of contemporary dance choreographers (apparently he was much influenced by Ashton) as well as the most musical, and this work demonstrated both those facets in abundance.

I must have been one of them - very nice to meet you! Although I was seeing them both for the first time, having deliberately avoided seeing the cinema relay, I agree with you on both works. I've wanted to see Dances at a Gathering since reading about it in Jennifer Homan's Apollo's Angels, and while I got the cool classicism I was expecting, I wasn't expecting the humour until I remembered that Robbins also created The Concert! As for The Cellist I was also intensely moved by it. Having seen her work for Northern Ballet and Ballet Black I knew what to expect in terms of style and as a result actually really liked the busy-ness of it, but what really got me was the sad beauty of the last scene, so sensitively portrayed. I for one hope it's a ballet that has legs and gets revived before too long

Wonderful night tonight at the Grand Theatre, Leeds with Northern Ballet's 50th Anniversary Gala. Not a single tutu in sight and just for once at a gala a Petipa, Ashton, Macmillan and Balanchine-free zone, and none the worse for that! The dancers were a mixture of current and former Northern Ballet dancers and some well chosen guests from ENB, RB, BRB, SB, Phoenix Dance and Joffrey Ballet.I'll let those more familiar with NB's history comment on how well they covered the breadth of their work, but I particularly liked the excerpts from 1984 (with Laura Morera replacing the originally advertised Lauren Cuthbertson), Jane Eyre, The Boy with the Striped Pyjamas and Casanova, and the two outside excerpts, Darrell's Ruckert Songs from Scottish Ballet and Windrush from Phoenix Dance Company. For those interested here's the complete list of what was done and who by. WORK SECTION CHOREOGRAPHER DANCER ROLE COMPANY The Great Gatsby Charleston David Nixon Artists of the Northern Ballet Northern Ballet Five Rückert Songs Solo Peter Darrell Marge Hendricks Scottish Ballet Cinderella Fireside Duet Christopher Gable Ellise de Andrade Cinderella Central School of Ballet Matteo Zecca Prince Central School of Ballet A Simple Man The Golden Room Gillian Lynne Tamara Rojo Mrs Lowry English National Ballet Jeremy Kerridge Lowry Northern Ballet A Christmas Carol Belle & Young Scrooge Duet Massimo Moricone Antoinette Brooks-Daw Belle Northern Ballet Jonathan Hanks Young Scrooge Northern Ballet Romeo and Juliet Balcony Duet Massimo Moricone Federico Bonelli Romeo Royal Ballet Abigail Prudames Juliet Northern Ballet Dracula Dracula & Harker Duet Michael Pink / Christopher Gable Sean Bates Harker Northern Ballet Mlindi Kulashe Dracula Northern Ballet Carmen Bedroom Duet Didy Veldman Minju Kang Carmen Northern Ballet Lorenzo Trossello José Northern Ballet Madame Butterfly Wedding Night Duet David Nixon Momoko Hirata Butterfly Birmingham Royal Ballet César Morales Pinkerton Birmingham Royal Ballet Casanova Masquerade Kenneth Tindall Steven Wheeler Casanova Northern Ballet Artists of the Northern Ballet Northern Ballet Windrush: Movement of the People Duet Sharon Watson Aaron Chaplin Phoenix Dance Theatre Vanessa Vince-Pang Phoenix Dance Theatre 1984 Countryside Duet Jonathan Watkins Laura Morera Julia Royal Ballet Ryoichi Hirano Winston Royal Ballet Jane Eyre Proposal Duet Cathy Marston Amanda Assucena Jane Eyre Joffrey Ballet Greig Matthews Mr Rochester Joffrey Ballet The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Twin Souls Duet Daniel de Andrade Filippo Di Vilio Shmuel Northern Ballet Matthew Koon Bruno Northern Ballet Casanova Casanova & Bellino Duet Kenneth Tindall Dreda Blow Bellino Northern Ballet Giuliano Contadini Casanova Northern Ballet Wuthering Heights On the Moors David Nixon Tobias Batley Heathcliff Northern Ballet Harris Beattie Young Heathcliff Northern Ballet Martha Leebolt Cathy Northern Ballet Rachael Gillespie Young Cathy Northern Ballet Cleopatra Cup Duet David Nixon Abigail Prudames Cleopatra Northern Ballet Joseph Taylor Mark Anthony Northern Ballet A Midsummer Night's Dream Jive David Nixon Artists of the Northern Ballet Northern Ballet

And if I recall correctly doing the central pas de deux from 1984 at tomorrow’s Northern Ballet 50th anniversary gala.

Yes I spotted that too! Can I just say how much I enjoyed Tom’s conducting yesterday - the ROH band aren’t always the world’s most together orchestra but he managed to produce a passionate, committed performance of Delibes’ glorious music. Ten years ago when I joined the Hallé Choir he prepared us for an award winning performance of Elgar’s Kingdom. At that time his career could easily have gone in a choral direction, but although he’s taken us for the odd rehearsal since, choral singing’s loss appears to have been ballet conducting’s gain. Jonathan Lo appears to be following a similar trajectory following his recent appointment at Northern Ballet and his relinquishment of Manchester Chamber Choir.

Dodgy indeed - I guess this is a small sample of what's in store for us post-Brexit

Hayward and Campbell in Manon x 2 (I saw the Friends' Rehearsal and a regular run performance - both were outstanding!)

Splendid news!

Well, the reviews are now in for Cats. I won't repeat any of them because they're almost universally pretty brutal, suffice to say the Telegraph thought it so bad they gave it no stars. The only exception appears to be the Daily Mail but that doesn't surprise because it's always struck me that the target audience for any Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is a Daily Mail reader. Part of me feels pretty smug as I loathe his musicals with a passion, but at the same time I feel really sad for Francesca who I wanted the world to love as much as we do, though she does get a few honourable mentions in otherwise scathing reviews.

Christopher Hampson is obviously on a roll. Barnaby Rook-Bishop was just promoted to principal on stage at the end of tonight's performance of The Snow Queen. On the basis of tonight's performance, it's well deserved, and what's more he got to dance with three strong female leads. I'm surprised no-one's written up anything about this new Scottish Ballet production. Apart from a slightly underwhelming denouement (which is however followed by a touching final pas de deux), it's a wonderful festive offering, full of beautiful dancing, powerful set pieces which include a couple of nods to Fokine (Petrushka) and Ashton (Two Pigeons), a glorious stitched together Rimsky Korsakov score (including a virtuosic on-stage fiddler), and stunning designs courtesy of Lez Brotherston. Well worth escaping England for on election night!

There's a feature on Francesca Hayward (described as Meghan Markle's favourite ballerina), promoting the new Romeo and Juliet film, in the new Christmas edition of Radio Times. It's accompanied by a lovely photo of her on the Millennium Bridge and one of her aged 10!

Yes! They probably understood that once the orchestra starts playing the performance has begun, unlike most of the adults near me in the Stalls Circle who seemed quite happy to continue their conversations until dancers actually started dancing.

In total agreement about this afternoon - Anna Rose was magnificent. She couldn’t have wished for a better stand-in but it must still have taken nerves of steel!

I'd agree that given the reduced resources Scottish Ballet have that this is probably how it will work. I think it's probably relevant that they're not calling it 'Mayerling' but 'The Scandal at Mayerling' and are talking about it as a 'world premiere'.

Scottish Ballet has just announced its full programme for 2020. Alongside revivals of Swan Lake and Nutcracker, by far the most intriguing prospect is what is described as a 'reimagined and redesigned' version of Kenneth McMillan's Mayerling. The full season details can be found here, but I've done a copy and paste below of the blurb about Mayerling. The year is 1889 and, in the woods outside Vienna, the Empire must hide a terrible secret. At the royal Mayerling hunting lodge, Crown Prince Rudolf is found shot dead alongside his teenage mistress. We rewind the clock to watch this desperate young man, the heir to the throne, plunge into his own paranoia. Trapped by the stifling opulence of the Habsburg court, Rudolf’s mental turmoil envelops all those around him. In a series of increasingly intense duets with his mother, his wife, and his mistress, Rudolf descends deeper into his obsession with death, and hurtles towards tragedy. Rudolf’s morbid fascination, sexual appetite and ultimate violence make this real-life anti-hero as compelling as Hamlet, while Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s breathtaking choreography takes us on a physical and emotional rollercoaster. The sweeping intensity of the ballet is matched by the sumptuous music of Franz Liszt, performed live by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra. Reimagined and redesigned by Scottish Ballet, this dramatic world premiere will be the first time MacMillan’s iconic ballet is produced in the UK outside of London. Recommended for audiences 12+ Content warning: please be advised that this production includes themes of mental illness, sexual violence, addiction and suicide. For more information, please contact us. #SBMayerling

I was on row C of the Stalls directly behind the conductor and can confirm that yes, that was exactly what he seemed to be doing! He certainly had his eyes on her the whole time.