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Geoff

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Posts posted by Geoff

  1. 21 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

    I'd suggest that the "rules" haven't changed and their understanding of them was imperfect.

     

    It does seem a bit heavy handed but I've always taken it as read that you should only use the tables if you have bought food and drink there. If I'm eating something I bought elsewhere I'll just perch on a chair or bench that doesn't have a table - it's perfectly doable. Tables are in quite short supply at ROH and are clearly positioned so as to be associated with the bars and café - it seems reasonable that people who've bought from them take precedence over those who haven't.


    That reads like - perhaps logical but nonetheless - assumption, rather than house rules. Or have you seen any such signs over the years? I haven’t ever seen one. Hence my question about rules. 

  2. Might I shift the focus of the discussion slightly? Sticking with how to appeal to younger audiences, has there been a change of policy at the ROH recently with regard to bringing in one’s own food?

     

    Just had a message from a couple of young people, happily enjoying the MacMillan triple bill from seats they can just about afford on a budget, and (as they have before) sharing something from a Pret A Manger bag in the Amphi bar. They are not (yet?) superfans (ie going more than once a week) but one certainly goes more than once a month and so knows the rules. Or used to know the rules.

     

    Tonight he writes that nearly everywhere was “reserved” and that there are now signs saying “We request that only food and drink purchased from one of our bars or cafe may be consumed at this table”. Leaving aside the sadly rather typically ROH clumsy choice of the word “consumed”, how long has this been the way the Amphi bar is run?
     

    Apparently the outdoor section of the Piazza terrace is still free for one’s own food and drink. But in any case these two young people were told off by staff, allowed I suppose as the rules have obviously tightened up, but this does not signal much of a welcome when people in their twenties need to be careful of the difference in cost between overpriced ROH sandwiches and what they can bring with them. 
     

    What do people think? Will this kind of staff behaviour damage the chances of building the future long term audience - or is the short term profitability of bar sandwiches what matters most at the moment?

     

    • Like 2
  3. 8 hours ago, Tango Dancer said:

    I've been in two minds whether I wanted to see this or not as Different Drummer sounds very depressing and I'm not massively keen on the source material.  


    For anyone else thinking along these lines, I would just like to point out that the longer of the two pieces of music this ballet is set to - Verklärte Nacht - is one of the most gorgeous and greatest pieces ever written for orchestra, always worth hearing live. 

    • Like 6
    • Thanks 1
  4. 15 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:


    Thank you. At least this is in time. But again, as so often these days, a combination of overdone yet not pointed properly. To quote myself from January:

     

    https://www.balletcoforum.com/topic/28067-a-balletdance-miscellany-thread/?do=findComment&comment=428116

     

  5. 5 hours ago, Amelia said:

     Even when the Directorate of the Imperial Theatres was negotiating with Tchaikovsky about staging his ballet, Marius Petipa had already made sketches with black and white swans long before the opening night.


    This is interesting Amelia, thank you. I must check the books but might I ask a simple question? Tchaikovsky died in 1893 (the Swan Lake score having of course been composed many years before). My understanding is that discussions about mounting a new production did not start until after the composer was no longer alive, with the first night two years later. Is that right?

    • Like 1
  6. 4 hours ago, Timmie said:

    It was the ROH Diana Damrau recording of this production that got me into opera and, before I see it live for the first time, I have some questions if I may.

    In another thread Geoff said that there had been some changes in the recent revivals, any more detail on this please?

    The production has some split screen effects with a divider allowing different sets either side, does this mean there are any parts of the auditorium where views may be less good?

    I’m booked to see Nadine Sierra but planning on getting another ticket. Any thoughts on Liv Redpath as Lucia? Or stick with another Nadine Sierra? I did like Sierra very much in L'elisir d'amore.

     

    Edit: would it be helpful to read the book beforehand?


    I love bel canto and so it is wonderful to hear it was this tremendous work that got you into opera @Timmie! The scenery is more or less the same, and actually pushes the action towards the front of the stage (which improves the acoustic) so I wouldn’t fuss about where you sit/stand in terms of sight lines. Best to choose somewhere where the sound is great, in case the voices are on top form (so perhaps best to avoid under the balcony overhang, for example).

     

    The changes relate more to anti-operatic silliness, of which the most notorious example was a loud sound effect of water going into a bath during an entire aria. It will be me booing if they dare bring that back for this revival (it hasn’t been there for a while so I hope we’re safe). 
     

    Just as with ballet, one can learn a lot from seeing different performers within a short period. So I would definitely go for a Redpath ticket (she comes recommended but I haven’t heard her). 
     

    The book is not essential, and actually potentially confusing. But a good familiarity with the characters and the plot, as well as studying the music to the extent you are interested, will increase your enjoyment. And if you want a deep dive, there was a hilarious investigation on this very Forum some years ago about the history of women going mad while dressed in white, from which I learned a lot about performance traditions. 
     

    • Thanks 2
  7. So sorry @JNC People with something to hide tend to behave badly. There was a scandal with the ROH red programmes a few years ago. This (which I can’t say more about) involved various kinds of incompetence and stupidity, impacted internally on ROH staff/departments and involved at least one “reverse ferret” (as Fleet Street calls dramatic reversals of policy). I suspect that even if the particular members of front of house staff know exactly nothing about any of this, there may well still be something of a neurotic attitude clinging to the programmes as a result.

     

    The rude (and counterproductive) way you were dealt with certainly suggests you should send in a complaint. As always I recommend the main customer services email address to make sure this gets to those who manage front of house. 
     

    • Thanks 1
  8. 45 minutes ago, Geoff said:

    No more guessing, no more assumptions about "Maoism", no more gossip or backstage rumour. The Arts Council has just issued a lengthy report telling us what it thinks about opera (spoiler alert, basically the Arts Council hates opera). Their report can be accessed here:

     

    Lets Create_Opera and Music Theatre Analysis_Full report.pdf

     

    I can't claim to have read the whole thing yet but I notice with a smirk that one of those involved is a well-known dodgy person operating inside the arts, who was once characterised in print as "the worst executive I have ever dealt with". So the Arts Council clearly chose carefully when putting together their team of writers and advisers. 

     

    For those who would like a quick guide, the Observer newspaper has an article about the report out today:

     

    In the name of anti-elitism, Arts Council England has declared war on opera and excellence | Catherine Bennett | The Guardian

     

     


    Better links to the report, apologies:

     

    https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/lets-create-opera-and-music-theatre-analysis

     

    https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/media/22340/download?attachment

     

  9. No more guessing, no more assumptions about "Maoism", no more gossip or backstage rumour. The Arts Council has just issued a lengthy report telling us what it thinks about opera (spoiler alert, basically the Arts Council hates opera). Their report can be accessed here:

     

    Lets Create_Opera and Music Theatre Analysis_Full report.pdf

     

    I can't claim to have read the whole thing yet but I notice with a smirk that one of those involved is a well-known dodgy person operating inside the arts, who was once characterised in print as "the worst executive I have ever dealt with". So the Arts Council clearly chose carefully when putting together their team of writers and advisers. 

     

    For those who would like a quick guide, the Observer newspaper has an article about the report out today:

     

    In the name of anti-elitism, Arts Council England has declared war on opera and excellence | Catherine Bennett | The Guardian

     

     

  10. 2 hours ago, Jamesrhblack said:

    I’m not fond of Scarlett’s Prologue as I think it diminishes the impact of Odette’s entrance and I think there are incongruities within his revised scenario that might well have been ironed out if he lived to supervise a revival.

     

    There is an intriguing (maybe new) credit for this run of SL:

     

    >>Staging: Gary Avis, Laura Morera and Samantha Raine

    >>Artistic Supervisor Scarlett Estate: Laura Morera

     

    I am on the record on this Forum as seeing most of the performances of the initial run of this production, loving the magnificent work of designer John Macfarlane but by the end of the run growing steadily ever less impressed by the choreographic initiatives of Liam Scarlett. Years have since passed and things are changing for the better. Although there is presumably little that can be done about the unimaginative faux classicism - particularly acts 1 and 4 - Scarlett added to the production, there are undoubted improvements throughout. It‘s cleaner, less fussy, closer to a classic SL. 

     

    So I think we owe congratulations to Morera, who has years of artistic experience and maturity (and artistic sensibility) Scarlett sadly never accumulated. Her supreme delicacy, intelligence and what in days gone by one might have called ‘taste‘ is now in evidence throughout, for example in trimming Benno’s anachronistic “method” acting into and across the pastiche ensemble work of Act 1. Long may she be supported in, let‘s call it, discovering the changes Scarlett would have made had he been able to. 
     

    • Like 2
  11. 3 hours ago, bridiem said:

    Swan Lake at its best is not so much emotional as transcendent, which is ultimately even more powerful. 


    Nicely put. Frankly there is something of a muddle at present.  We are offered performances of the 19th century classical repertoire danced at demonstrably the wrong tempi, with audiences (and company) trained in naturalistic narrative, psychological complexity, non-idiomatic emotionalism and 21st century extensions and technique. 

     

    Ugly, boring and anachronistic misunderstandings between stage and auditorium should be the predictable result, so it’s a surprise that anything works. Imho. 
     

    • Like 8
  12. On 13/03/2024 at 22:18, Emeralds said:

    Just a word of warning if @JennyTaylor is considering seeing the ROH production of Lucia di Lammermoor- have a look at Sim's thread on this forum. It's quite a radical production concept and might either be a refreshing change or far worse than enduring the worst excesses of Aida and Boheme put together.


    Lucia update. That thread is probably out of date now. The production has since been revived more than once, and with each one nonsense has been trimmed and more thought expended on what matters. I would now say it is a fine looking, basically traditional production with marvellous sets and costumes. I am much looking forward to going again. 

    • Like 3
  13. On 13/03/2024 at 16:47, Dawnstar said:

     

    Have you read the reviews for ETO's new productions? Manon Lescaut sounds pretty terrible & The Rake's Progress not that great either so I don't think I'd recommend either to someone just starting to explore opera, and especially not someone who has just been watching the lovely RB Manon production. Unfortunately with their new AD ETO's production style seems to be changing significantly, and in a direction that I personally do not want to see. I've been seeing ETO since 2005 but not this season.


    +1


  14. Don’t worry @JennyTaylor - it’s not you, it’s them. I will go further than @Dawnstar The issue is not really “traditional” or not, the issue is that the shows you have gone to so far are not really very good. The Bohème is poorly done (replacing a much loved and powerful production); the Aida is a flop (I will be surprised if it comes back again now that it has been revived, unless ROH books a world class cast); the Butterfly is no more than ok; only the Tosca will do (and there are better productions of that opera around).

     

    Then there is a different dynamic as to how many times one needs to see an opera to feel comfortable with it. Ballets often give you a lot quite quickly, and this deepens as one goes back and sees it again. An opera, in my experience, can be slower work. The first time one finds something in it one likes, and then that gives you an access point on which to build with later visits. Listening to an opera before seeing it for the first time is always worth doing, as is doing some reading. 
     

    The whole opera thing is so risky, it is a rare experience when it all comes together - the voices, the orchestra, the staging and the work - but when it does, it is unbeatable, which is why we keep going back, with fingers crossed. This is a difficult era, as there far too many talentless people (who seem to hate music or at least not know much about it or trust it) putting on operas but there are still a few times a year when the experience is really exciting.
     

    What are planning to try next, would you like some tips?

    • Like 4
  15. 2 hours ago, Silke H said:

    - The princesses (Katharina Nikelski, Charlotte Tonkinson, Isabella Gasparini, Yu Hang)

     

    We don’t often discuss make up. So here is a perhaps silly question. Was it me or did Katherina Nikelski have a light sheen of gold body paint last night? Perhaps it was just a heavier foundation base than this very light-skinned dancer normally uses and that caught golden lustre reflected off the magnificent palace walls, but in any case it looked very fetching and appropriately exotic for the character. 

  16. 4 hours ago, Mary said:

    Was it this slow last night?


    Almost inevitably. As has been discussed on the Forum many times the RB has got slower over the decades, at least from the 1950s (there are recordings that can be checked) to the late 1970s and then far worse from then on. There are occasional exceptions (I can think of one guest conductor who even made public comments about how much faster the company was in earlier recordings) but he has never been asked back.

    • Like 7
  17. 1 hour ago, Beaker said:

    The marketing department at ROH is relatively underfunded.


    Speaking as a professional in this space, budget is only one constraint among many. More money might mean employing more people (who might trip over each other and/or duplicate poor practices) or it might mean employing more expensive people (also not a guarantee, for example I have some sense of the considerable budget allocated to the new website and we all know how that worked out).

     

    In general arts organisations and other non profits can tend to arrogance and ideology mixed with less than stellar technical competence. We hope ROH (having suffered from some shockingly dim decisions in the recent past of this department) is giving serious consideration on how to do better. 

    • Like 6
  18. On 02/03/2024 at 17:59, Emeralds said:

    It is indeed baffling how ROH marketing department consistently emails discounts to the wrong people though. It's like someone has searched through our buying history, analysed the choreographers/composers and cast, and picked the shows we would NOT want. 


    Reading through recent years of negative Forum comments about ROH departments suggests that the two areas in greatest need of improvement are marketing and the website/online bookings. Given recent improvements in the functioning of the website (I hope I am not speaking too soon) is it too much to hope that senior management will now at last get round to bringing ROH marketing up to a professional standard? 
     

    • Like 3
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