Geoff

Lucia is such a wonderful score, the first question is whether they can sing it or not. Sadly she is not someone I have already heard so can't comment but you might find reviews of other performances online.

Sometimes I think I am the only person who found Kasper Holten's production a revelation, the first staging I have ever seen (and I have been going to productions of this work around Europe for nearly 50 years) which deals with at least two major, and very different, dramatic questions:-

i) From the very opening notes the score is nostalgic, even sad - yet the drama starts upbeat, youthful and optimistic

ii) To sing this work in a major house (not as the composer intended but as we tend to get it) one has to have singers of a certain stature and seniority - yet the characters start very young, teenagers even.

My wife votes with the majority view and won't be going back. I however can't wait to see and hear this beautiful show at least another couple of times. I used to love the Gyldebourne production: when they revived it recently I went full of excitement - but kept wishing I was watching something as intelligent and sensitive to the music as Holten's production. A minority view I know, but I post it here in the hope of getting people to give this show a chance, or even a second chance!

There is more to Luke Jennings' review today than comments about Vadim. A couple of points chime with what I thought and felt but had not yet found a way of putting into words.

.The way that performances have slowed down and the effect that it has only becomes obvious when you see old recordings of the same work. I recall some years back a discussion on this forum about the two recordings of Fille that were available one with Acosta and Nunez and the other with Coleman and Collier which raised the question whether the dancers in the older recording had been dancing more quickly than usual for some reason connected with the fact that it was being televised. The answer was quite simply that was the speed at which it was danced in the early 1980's. But any one who thinks that the Collier Coleman cast were fast should look at the BBC recording of the original cast in action.The earliest recording and the Acosta, Nunez recording look like completely different ballets. The recording from the 1960's has a joie de vivre lacking in the later one...If the Covent Garden company manages to give us casts as good as the first night cast of Pigeons and the revival of Fille earlier on this year we may not have too much to complain about

...apart perhaps from speed (again): as it happens we were able to compare the timngs of this year's Fille with the old BBC recording, and the difference was pretty striking. Perhaps conductors these days just don't think to go faster?

In any case, a magnificent and most illuminating post FLOSS: thank you!

Janet,I wasn't trying to wind you up.I do understand that towns and cities north of Watford are not one large undifferentiated place called "Up North". I apologise for my mistake but I was told it was Liverpool. I shall, in due course, take my informant to task.At regular intervals people who post on this site express amazement and concern that ballet programmes that they consider to be well worth seeing fail to attract audiences in the numbers that they expect.I have been to Birmingham on a number of occasions and been amazed by the number of empty seats at both matinee and evening performances of some mixed bills. The Ashton mixed programme was sparsely attended on the day that I went.It isn't just mixed bills that fail to attract audiences the RNZB Giselle at Canterbury had a very small audience at the matinee.Now I know that there is a quip that says you can sell tickets for any ballet as long as it is called Swan Lake but it seems to be increasingly the case that the average non balletomane is rarely tempted to buy ballet tickets and that if they do they are more likely to buy tickets for Nutcracker and Swan Lake than anything else.When companies go on tour their touring venues are usually towns which are hubs in their locality for shopping and entertainment within easy travelling distance of a significant population and yet companies often fail to fill the theatre for the duration of the visit. I know that BRB does smaller scale tours but even then the choice of venue is a town with a theatre which attracts audiences from the surrounding area.Do you think that the failure to attract audiences reflects a general lack of interest in ballet or a failure by companies to sell their product effectively.If it is a lack of interest in ballet when did the interest begin to decline and what, if anything, can be done about it? If it is a failure by companies to sell their product effectively what should they do to improve their ticket sales?

Around 15 years ago Pete Long’s "Echoes of Ellington" toured with ENB doing Ellington’s Nutcracker. They had a few performances in Sunderland and were told by the Arts Council to keep their losses under £100.000 I think it was (those were the days). They sent a ballerina and a pianist into every primary school in the area over a period of two months and then covered the town with posters showing, if I remember right, a ballerina hugging a tradesman. The message was along the lines of "Come to the ballet, it’s only ten quid, why not try it?" Every performance was packed and they made £101,000, so just in the black.

I'm afraid we might just have to accept the sad possibility that the decision has been made somewhere that RB is, if anything, a MacMillan company these days, not an Ashton one.

If this is true - and although I have no evidence I fear you may be right - it is a disgrace. This will also be v damaging long-term to the reputation of the RB, as Ashton is something we are known for around the world, and we have yet to grow a choreographer of equal stature for the 21st century.

Does anyone know how strong the voice of the Ashton estate is at the RB? I mean as opposed to the power exercised by Macmillan's widow (a complicating factor when it comes to Kevin O'Hare's planning but this may not be the place to discuss that)?

I haven't thought of writing to RB/AD with a wish list since Dowell's days...But I think all of us should do it since e-media does make it so much easier.

Yes, count me in. Who is the right person to lead a petition, who will organise it - and where can I sign?!

Anyone been to this (and indeed the Insight evening)? We have been amusing ourselves finding online comment, here are just a few:-

http://seenandheard-international.com/2015/11/haass-morgen-und-abend-is-a-new-existential-opera-exploring-life-and-death/

https://bachtrack.com/review-morgen-und-abend-haas-royal-opera-london-november-2015

https://operabritanniauk.wordpress.com/2015/11/15/haas-morgen-und-abend-royal-opera-house-november-13th-2015/

http://www.musicomh.com/classical/reviews-classical/morgen-und-abend-royal-opera-house-london

http://classical-iconoclast.blogspot.nl/2015/11/invisible-theatre-made-visible-morgen.html?m=1

An exceptionally interesting collection of comments, certainly more fun to read than another piece of typing about another Traviata (although a great Traviata can be a wonderful thing - my friends who were at the unexpected Ekaterina Bakanova debut in July said that was one such night)

Anyone can bring in a suitcase and leave it at the cloakroom without the suitcase being checked.

In fact - please correct me if I have this muddled - I seem to remember that the planning for the redevelopment of the box office etc area led to an official ROH announcement some weeks ago (ie before Paris) saying that bags were no longer being accepted in the cloakroom. Perhaps this hasn't yet come into force though, can't remember.

There are many audiences for London but we've only really mentioned two till now (those who know more about ballet and those who know less). Let me suggest at least one other division: people who book in advance and people who decide later, even up to the last minute.

I don't know much about the "science" of marketing but understand that even the most untalented marketeers know to segment their audiences into numerous categories, and chase each in ways appropriate. All research shows that London audiences are making up their minds as to what to see later and later these days (so much choice, not enough money or time) so RB may well be factoring this in. As just one example of how tricky things can get, I can think of ROH shows that sold hardly at all until first night and then sold out.

One stunt I hope they don't get into (the ENO are or at least were far too guilty of this): putting up prices in the hope of selling some tickets at premium rates, then discounting to get the rest of the audience in, thus making a bit more in total then if the prices started at the final level. A little too "dynamic" for most of us, I think (at the ENO one got used to waiting for the inevitable and often substantial discounts).

How well the RB people involved are playing the hand they've got, that's a different matter and I am not competent to judge. But I'm going to the Pigeons General tomorrow, the first night and then at least twice more, so am doing my bit!

I use a few examples (whether we like the results or not is another matter) to suggest things have moved on from 2006

Gosh yes, anyone remember that Fire Exercise ballet, where the "backdrop" video was so sensational (all meanings) I for one missed the dancing completely the first time I saw the piece and went back, shielding my eyes so as to be able to concentrate!

Yolanda might of course have argued that it was "visually blind" to try and mix live dancing with such imagary but I was amazed and excited by what I was seeing.

Are ROH cinema relays subsequently shown on TV? ... I'm hoping that this quad bill may he shown on TV in the future seeing as it's been recorded for the cinema relay.

I've heard talk of an Acosta fest coming to the BBC...let's see!

I know that 'shewhoshouldnotbenamed' and her man have decided to guest with ENB

Is that a typo for Bolshoi (or Sadler's Wells) or am I missing something?

Oh dear, I owe Yolanda a great deal. A thousand years ago, when I was just starting out in the creative world, she tutored me for a while. I will never forget her generous inspiration and guidance - and the visual overload of her home. RIP

Just out, Ismene Brown's review of Carmen (and Connectome / Raven Girl) in The Spectator, based on several viewings, as befits a name critic:-

http://new.spectator.co.uk/2015/11/carlos-acostas-incoherent-carmen-is-a-disaster/

Actually, have any of the professional critics given Carmen a good review? I haven't found one yet.

Just in case some people don't read the ROH's own comment pages (they can be hard to take, particularly when ROH staff post marketing language blah or patronise the punters, Kasper Holten being an impressive exception) in the interests of balance I thought it might be useful to quote one recent response to Carmen someone has posted. It is by an obviously knowlegeable if perhaps not entirely objective person, and so might interest people here (as I am one of those who thinks Acosta's Carmen is mostly junk, I am apparently automatically designated a "fuddy duddy" who is against "innovation" but nonetheless):-

Jakegee responded on 30 October 2015 at 8:55am

I wish to dissent with many of the opinions given above in criticism of Carlos Acosta's "Carmen". I was at both performances and the audience gave a most enthusiastic response at both. I felt the second one was better, since, in my opinion, Laura Morera was a much more accurate Carmen, and I felt Carlos better suited the role of Escamillo than Don Jose.

I did feel that it was occasionally a bit 'gimmicky', but no one can deny that it was wonderful dance, great theatre with a very simple but hugely effective set and lighting, and, above all, a wonderful piece of entertainment to end a very enjoyable quadruple bill.

It vexes me, and indeed annoys me, that it is always the same critics and reviewers who assume their roles as judges of what WE, the audience, must enjoy! As I've said above, the audience gave a huge response to "Carmen". Elena above decries "the fiasco that was Don Quixote" Get your facts right, woman, Don Quixote has been a huge success for Royal Ballet. Last year it packed the house for 16 performances in its second season and has had world wide acclaim.

Additionally, for those who say that Carlos Acosta is not a choreographer, remember that his "Tocororo" held box office records at Sadlers Wells for years (and perhaps it still does?) His choreography for "Guys and Dolls" at Chichester Festival Theatre has had great praise and is now about to tour.

Sadly the world of ballet seems to be too much influenced by the fuddy-duddies who will not accept anything outwith the realms of classical ballet, and cannot appreciate any change or innovation. The same critics shouted down Hofesh Shechter's "Untouchable" and Wayne McGregor's "Woolf Works" - but audiences LOVED them.

The goal and purpose of the Royal Ballet is to entertain audiences with a range of tastes, not just those few elitists who consider their opinions to be the final judgement. We other mere mortals must also be heard. I congratulate Kevin O'Hare on his courage to introduce new exciting pieces to the Royal Ballet repertoire. I visit the R.O.H. frequently and see every production at least once each season and rarely leave feeling less than happy. Yes, I do occasionally think " That one was not for me." However, the solution to that is not to attend that production in a future season. It is not my right, nor that of anyone else, to sit in judgement as to what audiences should watch.

"One man's meat is another man's poison", but too much poison is whispered and sometimes shouted by the few who consider their opinion to be gospel. I hope many others will share my view.

Thank you, Royal Ballet. Thank you, Kevin O'Hare. Thank you, especially, Carlos Acosta, for all your wonderful performances and dedication to your admiring audiences.

Ballet to opera, that's hard! Maybe widen the question to ballets which have gone into films? So not just Red Shoes / Black Swan type films but for example that Brian de Palma film which (rather oddly) has lots of Afternoon Of A Faun as part of the plot, can't think of the name.

Three glorious ballets (and performances) followed by, what, expensive pointless tosh? Why was Acosta allowed this indulgence? With heavy promotion it may fool the ignorant but Acosta's work on Carmen belongs more in some deadly West End "musical" than on the stage of Covent Garden.

What a way to remember him, aspiring to be a choreographer but in fact flailing about as if trying to recapture the energy and invention of half-remembered pieces he has danced. The work lifts for about ten minutes at the point Escamillo arrives (which leaves 50 minutes of head in hands tasteless whatnot) Perhaps just that section could be salvaged for galas etc in the future, saving face for Acosta.

Thanks very much for the report. I have to smile a bit at the thought of people making special trips to Vienna for the ballet though: how things have changed! Back when I went in the 1970s - and again in the 1980s - the company was not worth a visit. All the effort went into the opera, which had (and has) a grand and proud tradition, much public interest and state support. The ballet seemed like an afterthought, with dancers seemingly drawn only from the (very small) local pool - Austria is a country of only 8million - and, rumour had it, often hired for corrupt reasons, a favour to a politician who had a niece who liked dancing and that sort of thing.

Everything changed when the borders to the east opened at the end of 1980s/beginning of 1990s. Wonderful Soviet trained dancers became available, at rock bottom prices, with bodies like racehorses and a technique the locals had never seen. And happily Vienna recognised the opportunity, which led, it seems to me, to essentially a new start for the company. Hence the current competitive standard. I agree they are worth visiting now, and saw many exciting shows when we lived there in the noughties.

If anyone knows more I'd love to hear, as the only people I have tried to discuss this with have been Austrians, not known for their objectivity when it comes to their country.

The apparent confusion between this news and the RB position is likely to fuel the rumours that her absence has other reasons, not to do with her foot. Let's hope all gets cleared up, and that she is back dancing in London, just as soon as possible.

As someone who lived in Vienna for a few years, let me tell it like it is. Yes there are two stage doors: one is the major one, the other being more of a sneaky side door although superficially similar in look.

The form is simple: one goes to the proper stage door (out by the side doors by the new cafe inside the house / to the square where the outdoor projections take place / where the staff tell you the "Buehnentuer" - stage door - is) Those performers who leave that way know that people may be waiting for them. If you go to the other door, you will ambush those performers who have chosen that door precisely because they don't want to meet anyone (maybe they have something to do, aren't feeling great or whatever)

By the way, by waiting patiently by the correct door my (then) 7 year old daughter got not only an autograph, but a picture and a nice conversation with the charming Polina Semionova, who she subsequently met up with in London. Happy days!

People may be aware of the various reviews this show has attracted. Given my comments above here, in the interests of balance, is a wholly positive review from a popular site:-

http://seenandheard-international.com/2015/09/imaginative-and-perfectly-executed-orphee-et-eurydice-at-covent-garden/

Also, friends sitting in other parts of the house tell me the sound is not awful everywhere. Maybe I shouldn't generalise from my own experience.

Gluck operas a rarity?

This French version? I think it can be fairly described as rare: it's not that often performed.

Well, having asked the question, here is my take, for what it's worth. I thought the production was chaotic garbage, uncertain whether it was satisfied by being merely "decorative" or whether really to engage with the material. But then Fulljames (on the strength of his other work at the ROH) is an over-intellectual beginner with little handwerk, whereas Schechter (as others have commented) was miscast.

Musically, the production (not uniquely at ROH) tried hard to work against good acoustics. Placing the band on a moving platform halfway towards the back wall did nothing for the sound, in fact it over-exposed some playing and deadened the rest. Florez, as a critic or two has already published today, was not as exciting as perhaps one hoped. The chorus and Lucy Crowe sang their hearts out to great effect.

Definitely more for Gluck enthusiasts than dance types, unless you are a Schechter completist. As a rarity, it's good to have this much effort (money?) thrown at this work. Shame the result isn't more compelling, to me anyway.

Anyone else at ROH tonight for the General rehearsal of Gluck's Orphee, co-directed by Hofesh Schechter? What do people think of his work on this show?

Interesting that London is currently home to both Guillem and Ferri

Does Ferri LIVE in London, Geoff? I had thought otherwise.