JohnS

Friends booking opens next Tuesday June 27 (Premium 2) so I assume Patrons are already able to book. But I haven’t seen any pricing maps nor is there any extra casting information (eg Clara, Hans Peter, Drosselmeyer). I’m hoping there’ll be a Friends e letter this afternoon as they tend to be emailed on Fridays but they’re normally fortnightly and one was sent last Friday. All seems a bit disconcerting to me.

From the awards entry I see the ROH is the client and a couple of senior ROH marketing staff are ‘credited’ alongside three Altair Media staff and two Partners from Immerse Agency. As the client, I assume the ROH commissioned something (but goodness knows what and surely not the awards entry) and is paying for whatever services have been provided. I wonder what this is costing the ROH - both for the external consultants and any ROH staff time? What has been delivered and, as others have asked, with what benefits?

I’m sure Anna does appear at the start of Act 1 but it is brief and it would help if it were more explicit (and reiterated at the start of Act 2). I think this was discussed in the 2016 Anastasia thread.

In response to bridiem’s post above, as Anna believes she’s Anastasia, it seems reasonable to me that we see Anna ‘reliving’ her childhood. Don’t we briefly see Anna at the outset of Act 1? And I’d have welcomed a similar appearance at the start of Act 2. Perhaps thinking of the ballet more as ‘Anna/Anastasia’ rather than ‘Anastasia’ would help.

Blue skies dominate Acts 1 and 2. There’s a major change of scenery for Act 3 which in the General Rehearsal overran the second 25 minute interval by several minutes - hopefully the scene change will be smoother for opening night. Acts 3 and 4 are internal. As others say it’s a pretty traditional production in period costume which supports the singers. I don’t think I’d seen Werther since 1980 with Jose Carreras and Frederica Von Stade, Colin Davis conducting a John Copley production, so I hadn’t seen this Paris co-production.

Given your list @Emeralds does that mean you weren’t able to see Laura in Emeralds (Jewels), Lady Elgar (Enigma Variations), and as Cinderella? I do hope you were.

I couldn’t help but notice the contrast between Laura being asked to oversea MacMillan’s works and the heartfelt acknowledgment of the importance of Liam Scarlett to Laura Morera and how creative that relationship had been but sadly no suggestion that Laura should be overseeing his work for the Royal Ballet. As I’ve said earlier, I find it difficult to understand what’s going on as the Royal Ballet is happy to revive Liam Scarlett’s production of Swan Lake and sells DVDs of Frankenstein etc and I do wonder whether to ask Alex Beard/Kevin O’Hare for an answer.

I was very pleased to see yesterday’s General Rehearsal. With engineering works on Saturday, I’d travelled down on the Friday and saw Il Trovatore. Astonishing that Tony Pappano was conducting Friday evening and then Saturday morning and it’s only a few days since the end of his Wozzeck run. He conjures such wonderful music making from singers and the orchestra - he’ll be hugely missed when he steps down. The auditorium announcement rightly emphasises the working nature of General Rehearsals and that singers may mark their parts and I’m sure that Jonas Kaufmann was at times holding much in reserve. But there was a fair amount of disgruntlement from some audience members sitting near me during the intervals. The rest of the cast were fully throated and I was very impressed by Aigul Akhmetshina (Charlotte), Gordon Bintner (Albert), Sarah Gilford (Sophie) and Alastair Miles (The Bailli). I thought Act 4, Werther’s death, incredibly moving: Jonas Kaufmann and Aigul Akhmetshina certainly had me in tears. I’ll be very interested to see first night reviews and I may well be Friday rushing.

I’ve found the Triple Bill more engaging for each of the three performances I’ve seen (the first being the General Rehearsal) and am very much looking forward to tonight’s whole bill. I’m quite sure there’ll be an impressive send off for Laura, including the flower throw. I’m rather surprised it’s a 7:30 start rather than 7:00, particularly given Laura’s send off, and it will be a shame that some audience members will understandably be checking the time and needing to get transport home.

I was very pleased to see Friday’s Il Trovatore and remain hugely impressed by Jamie Barton’s Azucena and Ludovic Tézier‘s Count di Luna. Rachel Willis-Sørensen replaced Marina Rebekah as Leonora, a lovely tone if perhaps not as precise in the coloratura. I wasn’t as taken with Riccardo Massi’s Manrico. The chorus and orchestra under Tony Pappano were fabulous and I was just very surprised that the chorus didn’t appear at the curtain call. I still find the production very hard to take, particularly as regards the chorus. I like the simplicity of the design. I think the dancers make an interesting contribution. But the chorus to me is most effective when stock still (there are some terrific tableau where the presentation is absolutely compelling) or off stage as for the nuns. The jokey movements just get in the way, undermining the drama. I think we’re supposed to be thankful that Luna has left his pink costume in Zurich but the gold lame substitute still looks ludicrous. It’s almost as if Monty Python should have been credited - anvils, clouds, enormous cut outs for the front piece replacing the curtain, gold lame and crowd antics.

Huge congratulations to Laura and enormous thanks for countless performances over the years. Laura so inhabits the role that she touches the soul of every character she dances, making her performances so memorable, utterly compelling, and at times gut wrenching as in Anastasia. And not forgetting the humour of The Concert and Queen of Hearts and the wistfulness of Green Girl and Lady Elgar. I’m so pleased Laura will be coaching the Royal Ballet and I hope we’ll soon see Liam Scarlett’s ballets performed by the Royal Ballet with Laura overseeing the productions.

Apologies - this was more for accessibility/re-reading.

I thought I’d refresh this thread as we approach Laura’ Morera’s final London performance this evening - some fabulous reflections and very good to re-read.

Many thanks @Rob S - that’s astonishingly detailed.

A remarkably ungenerous comment - I wonder if Rupert Christiansen ever saw Laura Morera when the full 3 Act Anastasia was last performed?

Interesting to see the separate comments about the Board’s role and Liam Scarlett’s classical talents as choreographer. The Royal Ballet happily revives Liam Scarlett’s production of Swan Lake, including his significant choreography, and the ROH has Liam Scarlett’s DVDs on sale. But reviving Liam Scarlett’s ballets seems to be a non starter. I’m not aware of any ROH public statement but does anyone know if the Board has taken any decision on Liam Scarlett’s ballets?

I largely agree with this save for the continuing use of greased hair which as far as I’m concerned rather masks the dancers. I find it becomes much harder to identify who’s dancing and it’s almost as if the designers are determined to strip away the dancers’ individuality. And not just in Untitled, 2023 but Corybantic Games too where the hairstyle for women I find equally concealing. It’s good to see so many references in this thread to Dances at a Gathering, including Laura Morera’s Green Girl. And how refreshing to look back at those costumes, the lighting, and the dancers’ natural looks, with women wearing their hair down. Such a contrast with recent trends.

I don’t recall seeing anything for the Triple Bill. The Friends news letter 2 June had an offer for Il Trovatore - 25% of Orchestra Stalls seats for performances on 5, 8 and (still to come) 16 June. Delighted to see a number of bouquets for Laura Morera on her first night. Here’s hoping for a celebratory flower throw as well as armfuls of bouquets on Saturday.

I enjoyed last night’s performance seeing the second cast who’d also danced the General Rehearsal. It remains a demanding evening but I’m pleased to say I’m finding the McGregor and Wheeldon more satisfying on further viewings. Last night it was good to have the wider perspective from the Balcony. I like the McGregor stage design and costumes and I find interest in the dance. Wheeldon provides elegance and wit albeit not helped by the costumes. And I do wish it were easier to identify who’s dancing more readily. I preferred opening night’s Anastasia Act 3: in part that could have been because I was so much closer to the stage but Laura Morera’s opening night performance was mesmerising and I’m pleased I have my favourite seat for Saturday’s final performance.

Perhaps it’s worth mentioning that Mark Monahan writes about Christopher Wealden in the programme.

I found the Triple Bill General Rehearsal and opening night impressive if pretty hard going. I was very pleased to get a programme before the evening performance and there’s an excellent piece by Emily Steer on the McGregor, including some quotes from McGregor. The final paragraph states: “The spontaneous, personal responses invited by Untitled, 2013 are akin to those one might feel viewing a painting by Herrera. ‘Dance is an ambiguous art form, it’s not concrete. The body allows us to say things … that we just inherently know. … The endless possibilities of a Herrera painting are extraordinary, and I want dance to have that feeling too.’ [Quoting McGregor]” A great shame that the cast sheet has nothing to say at all. I rather liked the set and costumes but I do wish there was a moratorium on greased hair which does nothing for the dancers and makes it much harder to recognise who’s dancing. I found Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s Catamorphosis and Metacosmos certainly interesting. But I’m unsure about the claims made regarding collaboration as regards the music. Surely McGregor has taken the music as a given and any programmatic element in the music is not in itself relevant? Unsurprisingly the choreography includes much that is typical McGregor. But I wondered if there was more of a nod to ballet particularly towards the end and whether Ed Watson as Repetiteur had been influential. I wish the cast list were presented more meaningfully rather than in alphabetical order. There is clearly a group of lead dancers who have their curtain call but much better would be to indicate who’s dancing in order of appearance or in chronological sections as is done for Corybantic Games. And I think all the costumes were unique so photos of the cast in costume would be an added help. I’m afraid I haven’t as yet got an answer as to what it all means to me. I found Corybantic Games more interesting than last time, and was aware of more colour, although the costumes remain a distraction and again I really don’t like the greased hair for the men and uniform hairstyles for the women. It makes me long for the natural simplicity of Dances at a Gathering. Bernstein’s Serenade is demanding and was impressively played by Sergey Levitin. Act 3 Anastasia is a difficult piece as a stand alone and I’m afraid a few people in the Stalls decided to leave fairly soon after it had begun. I think it works much better as a full three Act ballet, a great evening with the context and characters fully established in the earlier Acts. Nevertheless last night Anastasia Act 3 was the highlight of the evening for me, with Laura Morera simply astonishing in her commitment and characterisation. Lovely to see her dancing with Bennet Gartside (Husband) and Riyochi Hirano (Rasputin). I’m looking forward to tonight’s performance with the second cast and then a week today for Laura Morera’s last London performance.

Just to say the monitors were working for the General Rehearsal, switched specially on for me. And I managed to get my Friday Rush ticket. It’s good to be so well looked after.

Given the timings, I think I might miss Corybantic Games as I’d like to be trying Friday Rush at 1:pm. Does anyone know if General Rehearsals are screened for latecomers etc? From the General Rehearsal cast sheet, I see there’s a short synopsis for Anastasia but sadly nothing for the other two ballets.

The Guardian’s critic gave 5 stars and includes the statement: Adele Thomas’s staging finds ways to be entertaining without diminishing the tragedy. I’m afraid I thought the tomfoolery was at odds with the drama but I’ll give it a second go.

Opening night was Friday so I thought I’d start a thread as I saw Thursday’s General Rehearsal. Much to admire musically with Tony Pappano conjuring his magic from soloists, chorus and orchestra. Jamie Barton’s Azucena is a must see, simply astounding. But I’m afraid the production did little for me with soldiers, gypsies etc seemingly having escaped from a cartoon strip which I thought undermined the drama, the pathos of the final scene shattered by the chorus’s cavortings. That said I’m planning to see a performance towards the end of the run if all goes well, largely for the musical excellence but I’m also hoping a second viewing will be easier on the eye as at least there shouldn’t be too many surprises.