Geoff

That has to be my favourite Forum concern EVER! I am entirely serious (and in agreement).

Fraid so Sim: the listing for the cinema transmission clearly says "Carlos Acosta's staging of Don Quixote, Tuesday 19 February'. Too much to hope that some staff person might do some (always tactful of course) "invisible mending"?

Haven't seen the show (by the new ENO boss) but this review is not encouraging: http://seenandheard-international.com/2018/03/daniel-kramers-la-traviata-for-english-national-opera-disappoints/ The comments about diction suggest there may be something to the pessimistic theory I floated in the ENO Iolanthe thread.

Just back from tonight's ROH celebration.

Thank you Bruce - as above - for sending me off to a great evening in the theatre last year. Having just seen the latest London show by Germán Cornejo (Tango After Dark) might I elaborate on my earlier memory? When I started going to tango shows in London, some 30 (?) years ago, what grabbed me most was the feeling of authenticity. The wonderful dancers were all ages, sizes and shapes, but universally sexy, skilled and seemingly deeply into what they were doing, quietly (or not so quietly) focussed on dancing with each other with a level of intimacy I had never previously seen in the West End. These shows, with changing but always variagated casts, played successfully for several years - but over time, the law of dismissing returns seemed to kick in, and more and more "ideas", "stories", "concepts" (none particularly successful or interesting imho) got added, presumably to try and provide variety for those audiences who by now had seen formless tango shows maybe rather too often. So I stopped going for a while. Bruce got me back last year, and I was glad I went, for the reasons he described so well (although he politely avoided drawing attention to some poor violin playing). So I had hopes of a similar experience with the latest show this year. Tango After Dark certainly wowed the crowd, this (last) night. And the dancing was nothing if not spectacular (and there was a new violinist). But I was dissatisfied. Just as Cirque Du Soleil has taken ancient circus arts - all about danger, sex, fear, excitement - and wrapped them in a prophylactic which is seemingly more commercial but removes most of what makes circus what it is (so circus without circus, as it were), so this style of tango show seems to want to offer tango without the tang of tango. The aestethic is ballroom dancing tango, or iceskating tango, not, as the music insists, the authentic tango experience. Bolshoi lifts, really? Cartwheels? It's a powerful show in many ways but the evening is one of relentless "choreography" (rather than - seemingly - improvised dancing) often with the five fairly similar couples doing simultaneous steps and performing out at the audience, rather than all kinds of folk dancing with and to each other. I am going to stop now to try and find some examples on YouTube of what I saw with such amazement all those years ago. After all, memory is fallible and unreliable.

Two issues were highlighted on the Snowflake thread which maybe deserve a little elaboration: * Some people have said that criticism could hurt the feelings of dancers or whoever. That is probably true - criticism can hurt - but that is no reason not to be (sincerely, thoughtfully, respectfully etc, see AUP) critical. If one chooses to work as a traffic warden, one is likely to be yelled at sometimes: it goes with the job. If one chooses to work as a nurse, one will occasionally see dead bodies: it goes with the job. And if one chooses to work as a performer or other creative professional, one will be criticised: it goes with the job. So to seek to cut out criticism from a Forum dedicated to art and showbusiness seems not only unrealistic but to undermine the very reason to have a Forum. * ENB management and associated matters. I wrote on The Times thread, maybe not quite clearly enough, about the difficulties of relying on the reporting there has been to date, which I need not repeat. But the discussion - both on and off the Forum - seems to be slowly adopting less of a manichean black/white binary cut on how to see things, which is surely to the good. A Forum is - by definition - not the right place to seek to close down all opinion except one's own, however strongly one feels one is right. So, after reflecting on the discussions of the last weeks, come on people: practice listening to others, keep to the rules, but don't stop saying what you think. IMHO.

Just happened to a friend who was trying to get tickets to Hamilton for aging relatives who were visiting London from overseas. The unintended consequences of these new rules made it just about impossible to organise the evening.

Without wanting to go further (and I am certainly not encouraging others to do so) Jose Martin's name appearing as a source for this story complexifies things, rather than simplifying them. So, as I tried to do before, I would urge caution.

I am stuck in the 20th century John..!

I'm not on Facebook but have had no problem watching it (full screen and without comments) via this page: http://www.roh.org.uk/news/watch-the-royal-ballets-manon-in-rehearsal-on-7-march-2018

Yes, and no doubt many of us as well. Two other observations of her during those curtain calls: she gave Matthew Ball a well deserved kiss on the lips. And she wanted to applaud her conductor, although there are apparently "rules" against this. By the way, those who want to know more about this arcane subject can read the scratchy comments here (the sight of Osipova wanting to applaud Kessels wildly and then holding herself back was very touching): http://slippedisc.com/2017/12/covent-garden-to-singers-do-not-applaud-each-other/

How embarrassing, yes of course (I am still rather in a daze after last night). Apologies all round.

But also louder. Not to be ungallant but it wasn't long ago that Precious Adams thumped her way through Myrtha at the Coliseum, yet this seemed not to impact at all on the highly positive comments she received for the role.

A friend I respect recently told me how much they liked this show. This prompted me to check more widely, by reading all the way through the now nearly three hundred comments on the two ROH boards (split between one for what-did-you-think and another for what-did-you-think-at-the-cinema). This broad sample - deeply divided on the merits or otherwise of the show - triggered two observations. * As so often, those who disliked the show seem far more capable of providing detailed comments than those who thought it was "wonderful" (which tells one something). * And there is a notable difference: on the "live theatre" page, there is a strong majority against, whereas on the "live cinema" page, a majority in favour. Which also says a lot. Anyway, reviewing the show I saw a couple of weeks ago now with the benefit of some distance (i) the conductor will be welcomed back, and (ii) I wouldn't mind seeing the mezzo in something else. Just in, a thoughtful new review: http://seenandheard-international.com/2018/03/anna-goryachova-beguilingly-stares-down-the-camera-for-royal-operas-carmen-in-cinemas/

This morning's Daily Mail:-http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5480365/Artistic-director-English-National-Ballet-having-love-affair.html

Yes please! I'll send you a PM now.

Yes please - for the matinee - will send you a PM now

In terms of criteria, it seems like only the day before yesterday the Forum was discussing what seemed to some to be a catastrophic funding crisis at BRB. If that was and is true, the next appointment will inevitably have to deal with it in one or more ways. Just saying.

Not to take this too far off-topic, but although Angela may well be right re ballet vs opera performance in Italy, it is an open secret that Italian operatic singing training has collapsed. There are just no teachers in Italy any more, say my opera friends. So while opera is certainly an Italian art form, it seems it isn't currently being properly protected for the future.

Ticket gone now

£17. Eticket so easy to email. Please send PM if interested, as well as posting here (travelling so will be slow to reply). If unclaimed by the end of the weekend I'll give it to the Box Office on Monday.

Here's a snapshot of the programme (hope readable enough). There was an extra piece in the second half, not listed here. Does anyone know about this (it got the beginnings of boos, at least where I was sitting)?

Sticking with John Curry, has anyone seen the new documentary which is just opening? There was a middling review in the paper yesterday.

I may need to revise this point: a singer tonight told me the ENO still carries that sort of support staff. If so then they aren't doing much of a good job, at least not so far as this Iolanthe cast.

That is not unusual, at least so far as two kinds of music lover are concerned. There are the only-go-to-Glyndebourne-and-ROH-dress-circle types (controversially identified by critic Anna Winter) who tend to look down their noses at ballet, despite often falling asleep during the shows they favour. And the more "exquisite" and "knowledgeable" a musical friend is, the more I have sometimes had to fight to defend ballet as a fine art equivalent to their preferences for string quartets, harpsichord recitals and Monteverdi. This may have something to do with the injection of circus which arrived with the Italians in the 19th century.