Geoff

19 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

I remember the News of the World having articles about Anna Anderson in the 1980s and this Wikipedia entry mentions a NOTW article from the 1930s.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Anderson

Almost off the point (but hopefully not totally) it’s interesting to note that important facts behind not one but two MacMillan ballets have emerged since he made the works. Anna Anderson was eventually shown (spoiler alert) not to be who she said she was - and letters from Marie Vetsera turned up in a bank vault which showed what was going to happen at Mayerling and which put to rest over a century of speculation.
 

If MacMillan had relied only on mystery, this would be a problem. Luckily he didn’t.

33 minutes ago, JNC said:

I suppose I meant specific training around de-escalating conflict, communication, how to be proactive etc. I know many ushers already are good at these things and if that training is already happening this is good it does suggest that it is then up to roh to provide clearer messaging and enforcement with the audio announcements being stronger, louder; and played post each interval, as I and others have already suggested. And ultimately if there are repeat offenders suspensions and or bans (this one is a tricky one though I know!).

I agree in principle JNC - however any such training may also have to be guided by Maoist principles enforced by the Arts Council, which the ROH is therefore understandably currently in thrall to (“People who go to theatre/opera/ballet/concerts are OUT, whereas people who have never been before are IN and must be made super welcome so they tell other people that going to Covent Garden is not elitist”).

In other words I see a possible tension between “encouraging new audiences” (who almost by definition have not been brought in the past by people who know what’s expected) and the sort of “enforcement” you suggest.

It’s a sad situation, often discussed here as having a lot to do with the collapse of music teaching in schools. 

Perhaps this is an appropriate moment for a personal story I have told here before? Some five or so years ago I had cause to discuss the current era of the Royal Ballet with Clement Crisp (he was not overly positive). When I asked him for his particular favourites among those in the company he thought for a while and then picked just one name, Laura Morera: “she has everything”, he said.

3 hours ago, Fonty said:

That might have been the case with early films.  If you look excerpts of Pavlova dancing the Dying Swan, these are definitely faster than they should be.  I am no expert, but I would have thought by the 60s these faults would have been ironed out.  

They certainly were by the 1950s, which is the date of the Soviet feature film Ratmansky found.

If people want to start comparing tempi across recordings of the Sleeping Beauty score, a good and authentic place to start - as often recommended on this forum - is Andre Previn's recording with the LSO from 1974, currently on YouTube complete. Aurora's entrance on that recording is pretty fast, as are Tchaikovsky's metronome markings, which have been discussed here in the past. 

1 hour ago, Amelia said:

I tried unsuccessfully to find this clip online. Geoff, can you please provide here the link. Thanking you in advance.

Try this (I apologise for getting the date wrong, which probably misled you):-

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0FR9zP6bFinW6VNQuB87MTWe2LXG2EQNDSxEV9ci9EoSxRexpMsvt6oiiPrdNPr1hl&id=1377723438

19 hours ago, JennyTaylor said:

Ah, Marianela this evening. Was that as close to perfection Rose Adagio as you could ever wish to see?

Maybe that depends on what one considers perfection. Might I illustrate with the story of something that happened after that performance? I had taken a friend who likes the arts - books, theatre, architecture, opera and so on - and who is always pleased to be at the ballet, not that she goes all that often. 

Like some people on here my friend says Sleeping Beauty feels too long (a comment I by the way never heard when the ENB last brought their production to the West End, which might be a clue as to what is going on, see many previous discussions). But she likes Nunez so was happy to join me. And she loved the show, cheering along with the crowd at the end. 

Afterwards I tried an experiment. Over a drink I got out my Ipad and showed my friend two short clips of Auroras from the past. The first was just a minute of film of a Ukranian dancer from 1940, posted on Facebook by Ratmansky. The other was Margot Fonteyn on YouTube, also in black and white, her entrance and adagio. No more than five minutes of footage in total. 

My friend's reaction was immediate, unprompted by me and (I felt) interesting. "Oh" she said "that's completely different. It's so fast, so exuberant, so like a 16-year old girl at a party, bursting with life and enjoying discovering her impact on people. So that's what the scene is really all about, not a star coming on and doing something difficult."

31 minutes ago, Sim said:

On the website it says...  Guidance: Suitable for All.  So some people take that to mean toddlers as well, I guess!!  

That sounds like a possible explanation for the "relaxed" comment by the usher. 

1 hour ago, Candleque said:

I also suggested if they really wanted to understand their hardcore fans, they should just invite all SCS ticket holders to a focus group.   🤣

Great idea! Of course they don‘t really want to understand us…

Last night, in the slips, we had the youngest child I have ever seen at Covent Garden in some fifty years of attending (but maybe others can beat this). It was only just walking, so sat on Mummy's lap, but could chatter, which it cheerfully did, throughout. The child was certainly distracting, though sweet. 

In the first interval I spotted a couple having words with an usher and heard that "our rules are relaxed for these ballets". Someone from the staff popped in to check on the situation when the lights went down again. After the second interval it seems mother and child were either reseated elsewhere or had left. 

I too got the survey and also got the impression they are looking for support to dramatically increase their prices.

Incidentally they ask some weasily questions at the outset about price thresholds but these have been constructed by someone who is not very numerate. I just put 0 in all those boxes so as not to engage with this part.
 

Here is the comment I added, in case of use to others:

>>A free ticket to an event can be a ticket to a great event so this question (and its later derivatives) is mathematically duff. One often worries about the quality of the people who design these so-called surveys.

No conferring needed: there is currently a new dvd copy of the film available on Ebay. 
 

As to the rights question, no Soviet era production magically acquired “rights” on the fall of the regime, that is not how international copyright works. The nature of this particular work would however need examination, precisely because it was a western/Soviet co-production. A complete print of the film (presumably what was used to produce the dvd) should make the position clear. 

On 16/12/2022 at 09:22, Sebastian said:

New readers might like to know of a wonderful (and most unusual) film of Dame Beryl dancing the Black Swan. Here is a link to the Forum discussion, which includes a clip:

 

 

Beryl Grey in this impossibly rare 3D Black Swan film is now on disc, available here:

https://www.flickeralley.com/classic-movies-2/#!/3-D-Rarities-Volume-II/p/170617337/category=12445053

Congratulations and thanks to the company for issuing this. Anyone here seen the result?

46 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

The gist of the comments I've seen from him is that RB productions of the classics should aim to be reasonably authentic to Petipa/Ivanov and that SPW's Nutcracker doesn't.

That's a fair summary. AM makes a number of other serious points as well (and justifies what he says). Anybody having trouble finding his comments, feel free to send me a private message (I think the Forum will not let me copy and paste them here, but if anyone knows better than happy to do so)

4 hours ago, Florine said:

Does anyone else feel a distinct 'absence' of snowflakes in the post lockdown ROH Wright production? They seem to have diminished from 24 to 16. For me this makes a big difference in terms of evoking snow gathering momentum and drifting, and definitely loses a chunk of the magic.  This is the ROH stage that can easily take 24 corps ... There seems to be too much scenery and not enough dancers. Ditto the toy soldier's diminished numbers - disproportionate to the mice. 

There is a lot wrong. However as the tenor of this thread is universal delight it seems churlish to mention anything negative. But one place to start might be the comments just made on Instagram by Alastair Macaulay (scroll down the comments here, his appear near the top, also in discussion with others):-

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CmGp8Kysc7A/

34 minutes ago, Jamesrhblack said:

I imagine it’s not allowed to post the actual links, but do check the YouTube of Dame Beryl at The Bolshoi. Newsworthy then and still dazzling today. 

Yes and we are also so lucky that several recordings of her incredible Lilac Fairy are available, at least sometimes (for example in the dvd of the 1950s Sleeping Beauty)

As an addendum re her Lilac Fairy, I never saw her dance this live but I was privileged to see her discuss it in the Clore during an anniversary event, referred to here:

https://www.balletcoforum.com/topic/21011-has-ballet-got-slower/?do=findComment&comment=295639

An unforgettable evening. RIP Dame Beryl.

2 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

If you're referring to some of the brass section, this is not new and has been speculated to be related to long-serving members of the orchestra who are tok expensive to replace. On the bright side, I amd others have noticed an improvement this season so maybe the situation has been resolved.

I find that band - brass included - is still, um, variable. Depends on what night you go...

1 hour ago, Lizbie1 said:

I saw a clip once of her rehearsing some of the Lucia mad scene and she was asking the conductor: "how do you want me to phrase this? I can do it (demonstrating) like this or like that" - and each was immaculate and somehow fresh and surprising but at the same time as if it was exactly how it was intended by Donizetti. That can only come from a rare combination of technique and musicality.

That sounds most interesting. Lizbie1, any tips for what to search for to find this online? 

Many thanks. As I have a Mastercard I thought I would see what was available this morning. As someone who has done his fair bit of complaining about the ROH website/ticketing in recent years, it is only fair to say that this wasn’t great either.
 

Logging on dead on 10am for the start of booking I - with a bit of fiddling about (one is taken through a succession of sites and pages to reach a booking page) - managed to use this to get a cut price ticket.
 

But then at 10.15 I thought I would splash out and get another for another performance: chaos now ruled. It seemed the whole of the UK was trying to access the pages. Sites crashed, pages froze, eventually a screen came up which said they had too much traffic but would let me in due course. It was 10.45 before I got back in, but found plenty of sale seats still available. 
 

So, in summary, slow but good cheap(er) seats still to be had for certain performances (not weekends or end of weeks). Lizbie1, I appreciate the tip, never having known about this before. 
 

On 07/09/2022 at 19:00, Jan McNulty said:

 

 

Meg Howrey - They're going to love you (due to be published in November)

The Times just reviewed this, and, with some reservations, liked it:-

a glossy, fast-paced, moreish family drama set in the rarefied world of New York ballet. Think family quarrels, sex and betrayal, against the backdrop of the Aids crisis. 

11 minutes ago, Sim said:

I notice there is a bit called 'Rudolf Undecided' during the Mayerling sector in Act 3.  Do we therefore infer that there was a moment's hesitation after he killed Mary as to whether to go through with his own death?  That has never occurred to me before...

Depending on who is dancing the role, this can feel a fair bit longer than a "moment" Sim. Although overall I was not convinced by much of his performance Hirano got a lot from this earlier in the month. 

One RB principal (a great star but no names, no names) told me she had to stop doing Cinderella as the stepsisters "mucking about" - unmusically and against Ashton's intentions - made it impossible to bring out the beauties of the ballet.  

7 minutes ago, alison said:

Just updating, a bit belatedly, to say that the RMT has cancelled the strike on November 3rd as it clashed with Poppy Day.  They're adding one on 9th November instead

And what's happening to the "linked-yet-separate" tube strikes?

3 hours ago, alison said:

What is this new hell the ROH website is inflicting on us?  I can't book anything!  Literally.  When I click on a seat, the picture comes up with seat number and pricing details, but no button to put it in the basket.  I've watched as other standing tickets vanish before my eyes, but can't do anything about it

Alison, I sympathize. At the risk of repeating myself, here is what I posted elsewhere more than a month ago. This might be a similar issue:-

52 minutes ago, Candleque said:

The Empress (German: Die Kaiserin) — a 2022 historical drama series on the life of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. (Haven't seen enough to know how historically accurate it is.)

Not very accurate at all.