bridiem

Tweet from ENB: Principal casting update for today’s matinee: Fernanda Oliveira replaces Katja Khaniukova as Clara; Aitor Arrieta replaces Ken Saruhashi as Nephew; Henry Dowden replaces Miguel Angel Maidana as Nutcracker; and James Streeter replaces Giorgio Garrett as Drosselmeyer.

Wow! Will be very interesting to see what she does with the company. But yes, I hope she might keep her ties with the RB to some extent.

Well, yes. But we are discussing a production to be mounted in London.

And now! From the Coliseum: 'We are sorry to announce that due to a water supply issue at the London Coliseum, today's matinee performance of English National Ballet's Nutcracker has had to be cancelled.' The evening performance will go ahead as planned.

Tweet from ENB: Principal casting update for today's matinee performance: Sangeun Lee replaces Katja Khaniukova as Clara, Gareth Haw replaces Ken Saruhashi as Nephew, Junor Souza replaces Miguel Angel Maidana as Nutcracker, and Fabian Reimair replaces Giorgio Garrett as Drosselmeyer.

They probably won't have heard that particular statement before!! You could always try explaining why it matters, maybe demonstrate a few significant moments whilst humming the music, etc. 😁

I hope you can go, Dawnstar! And that they help about your eye this evening.

It always seems to do that. I just ignore the wait time now!

It's partly about the regularity of conducting, but more that the MD should have a great familiarity with the company, its musicians, its dancers, rep, history etc in order to really contribute to its - er - musical direction. I'm not sure that can really be attained by someone who drops in and out. I don't think it's like dancers guesting overseas - more like being a principal dancer or director in more than one company. Having said that, Bintley managed (?) to direct BRB and the National Ballet of Japan at the same time, which I always found bizarre...

That's wonderful! I'd thought that for various reasons it couldn't be shown again. I'll definitely record it!

A couple of themed possibilities: - a variation on a real and brilliant ENB triple bill: No Man's Land (Scarlett), Dust (Khan), Gloria (MacMillan). - and, a bill fit for a King that could perhaps have been performed round the time of the Coronation: The Dream (Ashton), The Firebird (Fokine), The King Dances (Bintley).

I'm so sorry to hear that, LinMM! I hope the op happens soon as goes as well as possible.

Are there really so few talented conductors/potential music directors around?!

I'd love to see all of these too, @MAB!

Oh dear.

Oh dear! That must have been so disappointing. I hope you can find a better venue for the next one, DoctorDerry.

So sorry to hear this, Dawnstar. We just lost sound for about a second two or three times, so really not a problem.

Full house tonight at the Curzon in Wimbledon. I thought it was an excellent performance and I really enjoyed the interviews etc. (Funny seeing the beautiful snowflakes stomping off backstage in the interval! Not that they really stomp, of course; but a combination of pointe shoes and turn-out does lead to a rather amusing walking style...). Fantasy cast, from current dancers: Sugar Plums: Nunez/Muntagirov; Clara/Hans Peter: Hayward/Campbell; Drosselmeyer: Avis; Rose Fairy: Kaneko.

I had not booked for Lamb in Manon partly because of the prices and partly because of her original partner, but reading and contributing to this thread has made me realise that I really must see her again... so I've just booked another Manon... oh dear. But I am now very much looking forward to seeing both her and Hirano!

I think that Sarah Lamb is a magnificent dancer in every way. Unfortunately I have rarely felt that about the partners with whom she is so often paired. (I do like Hirano, but I think that his acting doesn't always carry as far as the Amphi, and he is no longer at his peak technically.) Amongst the most superlative performances I have ever seen have been Lamb with Muntagirov in Romeo and Juliet, Manon and The Sleeping Beauty. How I wish they had danced together more often. But yes, I imagine that she has a good deal of input about who partners her, so the frustration must be on my part rather than hers. Either way, I feel privileged to have seen her and so grateful that she came to the RB.

I think that might result in a nuclear explosion!

I couldn't name only one perfect triple bill, but I would book without hesitation for any of these: Concerto/The Dream/Symphony in C Rhapsody/The Firebird/Les Noces Enigma Variations/Symphonic Variations/Gloria Scènes de Ballet/A Month in the Country/Requiem Serenade/Winter Dreams/Raymonda Act III i.e. opening with something engaging, followed by something more dramatic or thought-provoking, and ending with either joy or reflectiveness. Balancing narrative with abstract, and sometimes with a music 'theme'.

I'm sure that the works are well known to the person/people who programmed them, so it should be possible to cast at least a few main roles in advance. Tickets are too expensive now for regular audiences to be willing to take pot luck with casting.

The ticket has now been returned to the ROH box office.

I have a ticket for this rehearsal, Amphi F76, £25. Please post here and DM me if interested.