Geoff

15 hours ago, Tufty said:

Realised that Different Drummer is not recommended for under sixteens so planning to take my daughter for dinner during that hour and 45 mins. 

You don‘t say how old your daughter is Tufty, and you know her best of course, so I am sure you have made a wise decision. But in general your comment raises an important issue. 
 

ROH has put a 16+ age limit on this show, obviously because of the MacMillan. One can argue about whether this is one of his finest works or not, whether he was starting to try and shock for the sake of shocking or was sincerely responding to his source material, and so on. But objectively speaking, what are we presented with that is quite so problematic?
 

As has been discussed earlier in this thread, the story of Woyzeck is a classic. Perhaps no longer as familiar as say Faust or Romeo&Juliet or Carmen (all pretty shocking stories when taken seriously, eg devil worship, suicide, erotomania) Is it the content or the images on stage (adopts Molly Sugden voice “didn’t think it was very naice”) or somehow both, particularly when set to disturbingly gorgeous music?
 

Lots of people didn’t like this ballet, for a variety of reasons, ranging (if one reads through all the comments) from thoughtless philistinism to epicurean disappointment at MacMillan not hitting the spot. Good to warn audiences that this isn’t the sort of holiday tutu fare some people identify with “ballet”, but at what point does a refusal to engage with aspects of the troubles of the 20th century shade into over-protectiveness? 
 

I have no answers (thinking back I would have judged the best age for seeing this show differently for each of my children) but the conversation has been interesting. 

The General rehearsal was last night. We don't review rehearsals but I think it is worth noting for those who are still undecided as to whether to get a ticket, there is no gorilla in the new production by Damiano Michieletto.

In fact this show feels almost like a companion piece to the same director's Cav and Pag. As Amazon might say, if you liked that, you may like this one. 

8 hours ago, CCL said:

Looking forward to seeing this in July

Those of us with memories of the RB production may feel differently…

1 minute ago, Roberta said:

It has only just begun now!  https://iumusiclive.music.indiana.edu/#/

Thank you, got it now! 

I have come in a little late (apparently the matinee started 20 minutes ago) but I still can‘t find a working link. Sorry but what should I be clicking on? 

@Roberta thank you so much, I’d love to see this. It is not yet 6am in the UK - but when I click on Schedule I only see events coming up later today and in the future. Have the links already been taken down or am I doing something wrong? 

News just in about a robust response to the Arts Council:

https://slippedisc.com/2024/03/has-wigmore-hall-just-kicked-out-the-arts-council/

As one of the commentators writes:

an absolute necessity in this day and age to avoid the stringent, unartistic and frequently non-sensical reporting requirements and investment principles set out by a puppet quango which utterly fails our industry on a near daily basis.

1 hour ago, Fonty said:

I am really interested to know why people hate Different Drummer so much?  I thought it was very powerful.  I have sat through things that felt far worse, usually new pieces by current choreographers.  

+1

Welcomw to the Forum Miles! I think this is a great idea for a thread, thank you very much. I am looking forward to lots of suggestions from others.
 

Let me start by plugging the videos by the Cecchetti expert Julie Cronshaw. Here is her channel:

https://m.youtube.com/@juliecronshaw7013

As to my special interest I have a thing for the history of classical ballet so hope to learn more. 

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 hours ago, Emeralds said:

didn't see her as Mary Vetsera

She was great. One of the Osipova Vetseras was as powerful a performance as I have seen on stage in over 60 years of going to the ROH. 

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?

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. 

ROH opera Lucia. Special offer widely promoted across the internet: 40% off “the best seats available” using code ALISA40 on nights 19, 22, and 25 April only. Limited time. 

6 minutes ago, Roberta said:

Remember folks, none of this is real, it's all a figment of the imagination! 

Oh I don‘t know. As Danny Kaye would sing: 

"A swan? Me a swan? Ah, go on."  
He said, "Yes, you're a swan. Take a look at yourself in the lake and you'll see." 
And he looked, and he saw, and he said, "I am a swan! Wee!"

15 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

Happy Friday!

 

https://www.facebook.com/bhamroyalballet/videos/1750924235107844/

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

41 minutes ago, FionaM said:

@Geoff regarding my primitive writing, what words would you prefer me to use to express my displeasure and disappointment?  
 

and my comments did not only apply to her fouettés.  

@FionaM, although you linked to me @Geoff, I am not @Geoff W nor he, me. Just to be clear. 

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?

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. 
 

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. 
 

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

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

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

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. 
 

8 minutes ago, Balletbloke said:

Sorry Geoff, but you'll have to explain what "non-idiomatic emotionalism" is.

Have to? Well, perhaps it would be interesting to see what other people understand by what I wrote. For those with an interest in Petipa and Ivanov I don‘t think it is obscure. 

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.