CHazell2

4 hours ago, Richard LH said:

Anyway it was lovely to see this beautiful production once more, for what surely must be the last time for me until the DVD release. I could catch some of the nuances only available from the different angles and close-ups that the filming provides.

Has The Royal Opera House announced that there is going to be a DVD of Swan Lake then? If so, that would be splendid, as it's a wonderful production.

Why such long intervals?

Is the mime intact? Does Odette still have her mime scene?

It is the Hamburg Ballet - they are a splendid company. I love Neumeier's Illusions like Swan Lake

3 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

I was under the impression that they were not part of the original choreographic text but were introduced by Legnani as they were her party piece.

Maybe Legnani did the fouettes as her contribution to the choreography

I shall never understand the decision to delete it.

Yeah, it is a great shame that half of it was deleted. By all accounts, it was a very lovely production - and quite magical too.  I wonder if anybody know of any colour photographs floating around of the production.

I hope that a copy exists somewhere.

I think that it was shown in the States as one of the posters on Ballet alert remembers seeing it. Although he may have been posted here and saw it there. It was mentioned that Christopher Gable introduced it.

Why was the first act erased and not the whole thing?  

Always found Les Noces a bit depressing myself but the choreography is stunning. Les Biches sounds lots more fun

I would kill for the chance to see the 1968 Ashton production of the Sleeping Beauty. I hope that a complete copy exists somewhere.

1 hour ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

 

I saw the RB’s current production in 1989 and loathed it so much I have never wanted to see it again.

 

 

Hi Jan, thanks for your reply. You are quite right. I did miss out NB and SB. 

Just out of interest, why did you dislike the RB?

Hi everyone.

The recent discussion on the upcoming new RB production of Swan Lake has set me thinking about how most people consider Sir Frederick Ashton to be the greatest choreographer and how his additions to Swan Lake are considered to be the best? I just wondered why that was?

So I would like to open the discussion to ask you all, why you think that the Ashton additions to Swan Lake are better and what RB Swan Lakes has everybody seen and what is your opinions on the various productions that you have seen? For the purposes of this discussion, only British productions, e.g. ENB, BRB and RB are to be discussed.

I love ballet history and I want to discover how various productions evolved to the present day in terms of chorographical interpolations etc. set designs and so forth.

Also, I wanted to ask a hypothetical question - if Yoanna Sonnabend had not got her way over the designs, would the Dowell production had been so criticised on here?

I wonder whether it would be better to have a new production with the Dowell choreographical text with the new stage designs. I like Liam Scarlett but I hope that this new Swan Lake does not turn out to be an expensive failure. Still we will see

3 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

That's very interesting, CHazell2. I'd love to see the Ratmansky production.

 

I really really don't like Bintley's waltz - it all looks so messy and cluttered (and maybe that's in contrast to the previous waltz, but I think it applies anyway). And not helped by the costumes and props etc.

Clips of the Ratmansky production are on youtube, I thoroughly recommend having a look. I liked the costumes in the Dowell production but I agree about the scenery - it was very gaudy and dark. Apparently Sir Anthony wanted it to be set in mediaeval times but the designer, Yolanda Sonnabend had other ideas. I like the concept of a Faberge egg but it didn't quite work out.

3 hours ago, Ianlond said:

I’m sure that I have read that both Dowell and more recently Alexei Ratmansky in his Zürich production went back to the original notation in an attempt to restore as much of the original choreography as possible. It would be interesting to compare the two last acts. 

The Dowell and Ratmansky Act 4's are remarkably similar in both choreography and the floor patterns. The main differences is in the final poses. Ratmansky seems to have used the old Royal Ballet floor plan for the final pose of the swans, and he cuts the storm music. The mime is much more detailed than the Dowell's and the style of dancing is in keeping with the 19th Century, low turnouts, legs on ankles. demi-pointe - It is stunning.

I love Dowell because he consciously tried to go back to the notations whenever possible and he included what was known at the time. We have to bear in mind, that not many people actually knew how to read the notations at all in the 1980s and Roland John Wiley and Sir Anthony did a very admirable job given those circumstances.

I do like Bintley's waltz personally and I have to wonder if it is hated because it replaced Ashton's waltz? I wonder why it wasn't thought possible to reconstruct the Act 1 Waltz though as Ratmansky seems to have done it. Was it because the floor plans were sketchy?

I am looking forward to seeing Cinderella on the telly. Been wanting to see it for ages. Can I ask a question, do you think that everybody does not like Sleeping Beauty because Matthew Bourne had the temerity to tamper with the ballet text?

I like the way that Mr Bourne did Sleeping Beauty, but I can understand why some people wouldn't.

34 minutes ago, penelopesimpson said:

 When I crossed over Regent Street the atmosphere was horrible.  If you weren't waving a flag or had your face painted, you were jostled and jeered at.  Quite horrible.  All, apparently, in the name of equality.

I am sorry that you had a dreadful experience. I wouldn't have treated you like that. Trouble is, these days society has become so polarised and there is a sense that if you aren't with us, you are against us.

That is totally wrong, we must treat everybody's point of view with equal respect. I think that today's gay community have achieved so much that they are reduced to bickering over trivial things - but I think that it is wrong that they treat people like they treated you.

Yes there is a DVD, but it is very hard to get hold of. Amazon is probably your best bet. The making of the film was deeply troubled for complicated and also political reasons. My memory is a bit hazy on this but I think that it was Michael Powell's last film and originally he wanted it to be a TV mini series.

I read some time ago that the film was being restored and that extended footage was being filmed and spliced back in. But so far, there hasn't been a dicky bird about it so I have to assume that it is still knocking about somewhere.

I feel so sorry for Mr Polunin, by the sounds of it, he have had a pretty sad childhood. However, he doesn't seem to be professional in his dealings with the world - perhaps, he needs time to sort out who he really is?

I know most people are mourning that such talent is going to waste but at the same time, Mr Polunin is not a trained monkey - he can't be forced into something that he doesn't necessarily want to do. I wish him well in the future and I dearly hope that he will find something that he is truly happy doing. I hope that Miss Osipova will help him and support him.

Sounds a bit of a cad quite frankly

I wish that I had learnt German at school - as Birgitte Hamann is very hard to find in English.

15 minutes ago, Fiz said:

One final piece of information about Vienna in the 1880s and 1890s is that the city had a very high teenage suicide rate. It was almost as if it was fashionable.

That's really interesting - I didn't know that. So Mary was just following the current fashion as it were?

Sorry, I didn't mean to be flippant. Why was there such a high rate of teenage suicide?

Hi Johnpw. Thanks for all the historical information on here - very fascinating and as a fellow historian I salute you. Please can you tell us more about Mary Vetsera and her family - they seem to be a fascinating family?

Was Mary Vetsera really a femme fatale or just a young girl who bit off more than she could chew?

I attended the evening performance on the 2nd of May and I have to say that Mayerling more than lived up to my expectations. I have always wanted to see it - and it was the first time that I've ever seen Natalia Osipova in the flesh. Although I was way up in the Amphi - her performance as a young girl, who perhaps found herself trapped in a situation that she helped to create but wanted to fulfil the suicide pact more than willingly - came across vividly - especially in the last desperate Pas de Deux.

Edward Watson has always been one of my favourite dancers and he more than lived up to my expectations. His portrayal of Rudolf was heart-breaking and his attempts at trying to get through to his mother- was very moving. Zenaida was stunning as the Empress - she came across as a woman who wanted to be a mother but felt constrained by the strict etiquette as well as her own personality.

As someone who studied history at university - I am more than delighted to see that this ballet is more closer to the actual events than most other portrayals.

The other dancers were stunning and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.