JohnS

Many thanks Peanut68. I was intrigued by your post and found Bernard’s story very touching. It’s some 29 minutes into the programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0007qd7

Many thanks Bluebird. If I follow one of your links, I can then search the old website which is good, although I find some pages identified from the search are not then accessible - ‘page not found’. It all seems poor to me that the new website still only provides a fraction of the functionality of the old website, albeit I quite like the new design. If you take out all the old links which are not offered on the new website and are available only because of previous bookmarking which posters have kindly shared, I’d have thought the new website gives less than 5% of what used to be available. The new website was set up months ago but I don’t get any sense that much has happened to sort problems.

I keep hoping the old calendar is made available on the new website as it really is so helpful - if I’m planning a trip I want to see what's on around the time of a trip (and ideally who’s scheduled to perform) so I know what I can fit in and whether to stay one or two nights. I don’t think that’s asking too much. Without the old calendar it takes ages moving between webpages. Has anyone found a way of accessing the treasure trove of past news articles - all seemingly lost since the new ‘News’ design?

Thanks Tony - I too had heard that this may well be Bernard Haitink’s last concert in the UK and the ‘sabbatical’ was something of a fiction. I will listen to the broadcast, disappointed that it’s not televised (either live or recorded), and recall so many wonderful evenings at the Royal Opera House as well as some memorable concert performances. And of course he did so much to ensure the continuation of the Royal Opera House Orchestra and Chorus during the closure and redevelopment of the House, addressing the Proms audience after the 2002 Ring and urging people to write to the Department of Culture (or whatever it was called then).

The ‘no apparent effort’ is key - just thinking of so many times last year when Vadim Muntagirov delivered technical challenges way beyond those of others, exquisitely, musically and in character.

Condolences to John’s family and friends. I didn’t know John but very much appreciated his impeccable judgement as a moderator on Ballet Forum. Uplifting to read the many tributes paid - I wish I had known him.

I’d just add that I doubt if Francesca Hayward had any input to the lines being taken by Vogue or its guest editor and has responded with tact and diplomacy to questions asked which may not have been of her choosing. No doubt she will have further opportunities to show her admirable ability to deal effectively with media interest in the build up to Cats. But I absolutely agree with capybara and am looking forward immensely to Francesca’s Royal Ballet performances.

You need to book a full package and put it in your basket before moving on to a second package if you’re wanting more than one package. I ‘lost’ my first package this Autumn when trying packages fur the first time but fortunately was able to rebook pretty much the same seats when I realised what I’d done. There’s a great deal of flexibility about packages - seats don’t need to be in the same price category for each performance in the package (although they’ll need to be in either stalls/stalls circle or amphitheatre).

I agree that rehearsals can make the most of a visit to London at little extra cost. There’s also the ‘surprise’ factor for ballet rehearsals as it’s not at all clear who might be dancing. You can probably rule out the opening night’s cast if the rehearsal is on the same day but having spent time choosing which casts to see for advertised performances, it can be very satisfying seeing a cast who I might not have chosen and coming away even more impressed by the strength of the Royal Ballet. I’ve been less taken with some Opera rehearsals, in part because singers are much more likely to mark their parts, but I’d still chose to go to an Opera rehearsal if it fits conveniently as part of a London visit.

Congratulations Francesca Hayward - and very good of you to give Judi Dench and Ian McKellen such a boost to their careers.

We really are spoiled - I’ve gone for Hayward, Morera, Osipova and Takada (alphabetical order). If I had to choose just one I think it would have to be Morera but only because there may not be many more opportunities to see her (although I very much hope there’ll be several more years, including another Anastasia run).

A late congratulations to all - came home last night to no phone line/broadband, no internet on the train to London, and only just catching up on messages now I’m in my hotel room. Excellent news and looking forward to many debuts this Autumn.

I think the annoyance about the lack of information is shared by Box Office staff - they must find it extremely dispiriting not to have information to hand so that they can answer questions from audience members.

Agreed - it was also the case that the Autumn magazine didn’t include Winter performances so it looked as if the ROH was not performing between 23 to 28 December when there are a couple of Traviatas. The heading is quite clear - Autumn (or Winter) performances in a date range but it’s useful to know what is going on when planning trips without having to go to the website or another magazine.

Extraordinary - and another needless hit to Box Office revenue. One of the risks of having a dynamic pricing policy, with different prices for each production rather than a reasonably standard grid, is the greater chance of cock ups.

I think the information on the website has not been updated (possibly for some time). I had always thought Orchestra Stalls packages were the two highest priced tickets in the centre block, not sides. This has clearly changed and the whole of the Stalls/Stalls Circle have been included in packages, certainly for total ballet packages. I’m not sure when the change was made. I asked Box Office staff about what seats were included in the forthcoming packages on a number of occasions prior to booking opening and staff were offering their apologies and having to say that the information was not available - not a good reflection on management putting front line staff in such an invidious position. It was only when booking opened that I could see what seats were available. Availability we now see is much broader than the description on the website. And a package is not restricted to seats in the same price category - Sleeping Beauty side seats are not charged at the highest price as for the three other ballets. My understanding is that the only stipulation is to select a performance of each ballet for a total ballet package.

Guillem Cabrera Espinach dances William Frankenstein on the dvd - he is shown as year 10. I’m pretty sure there was at least one other ‘William’ from the recent revival but I’m afraid I don’t have my cast sheet to hand.

I don’t think there’s a thread as yet for the Royal Ballet School’s end of year performances at Opera Holland Park and next Sunday at the Royal Opera House although I’m sure somewhere I’ve seen some approving comments about the students’ choreography. First visit for me yesterday to Holland Park and I very much enjoyed the matinee (mainly White Lodge) and evening (mainly Upper School) performances. A great location and a feeling of being outdoors despite the substantial marquee giving an excellent auditorium with I thought good raking in the Stalls providing a clear view of the stage. The Holland House facade gives a splendid ‘backcloth’ and perches for several pigeons (not two white ‘pigeons’). Good to have live music (a piano) for one item, ‘Let’s Begin’, all the rest being recorded. Scottish and Irish dance was well represented - ‘Scottish Dances from Flowers of the Forest’ was danced at both performances with two casts showing great panache (although one sock could have done with some support); and I very much enjoyed White Lodge’s ‘Celtic Voyage’ and ‘Coimeasgadh’. Different excerpts from Paquita were presented in both performances, giving plenty of opportunity to the Upper School girls, and ‘Bottega’ was performed twice. The matinee included ‘Coppelia Suite’, rather whetting the appetite for next season’s Coppelia. The evening began with a very impressive ‘La Valse’, as was ‘Pulse’ for 50 students which started the second half. Two brief extracts from Mats Ek’s Swan Lake and then ‘Untied, Undone’ with 15 of the Upper School’s boys showing real strength. Good to see some familiar faces on stage - Frankenstein’s younger brother, Cesar Corrales’ brother, and many faces from previous years and visits to see classes at the Upper School. Standout for me was the opportunity given to showcase some of the students’ choreography (as suggested above). I thought Year 9 Tianie-Finn Granger’s ‘Classified’ very impressive and was very pleased to see a good photo included over two pages in the programme. A great double performance and very rewarding to see such talented students excelling - a tribute to their dedicated hard work and skill, and reflecting so well on the Royal Ballet School. Looking forward immensely to next Sunday's Annual Performance and hoping that much of the material seen in Holland Park will be included, together with more live music.

I see the Royal Opera House’s ‘News’ is being ‘upgraded’. Currently I find I can’t access anything other than the handful of very recent news teams appearing on the front page. And for these items there’s hardly any information eg only 9 tweets for ‘what did you think of Romeo and Juliet in the cinema’ - I’m pretty sure this news item had 50 comments when I last looked? There used to be a wealth of items which were readily accessible but I can’t find these at the moment. https://www.roh.org.uk/news https://www.roh.org.uk/news/your-reaction-what-did-you-think-of-the-royal-ballets-romeo-and-juliet-live-in-cinemas Commenting simply as a website user I find it hard to believe that what is going on is sensible. Surely any upgrade should be planned, tested, and problems sorted before being launched? We had a functioning webpage giving full access to a treasure trove of items built up over many years. Now we have one home page with access to pretty limited information on 6 items, albeit in the new Open Up website style which for balance I should say I like. But yet again it appears functionality is a casualty of design style and has been discarded. I’d be delighted if I’ve missed something and my inability to access information is simply down to my own ineptitude.

Apologies Richard and MJW (and anyone else) - I knew what I meant by ‘Friends booking opening from today’ but should have been a bit more careful. It’s bad enough when booking actually opens without being panicked into thinking I’ve missed the date. Not having booked a package before I blithely booked a second package without having added my first package to my basket. When checking out I realised my mistake, rebooked what I thought was my first package, but then found I’d booked neighbouring seats for my second package. Fortunately I was able to rebook pretty much the seats I’d originally tried to book so was pretty pleased with the end result. I still find the website a trial and seemed to spend a fair bit of time resetting the filters. In the past I’ve often finished booking by 9:10. Today confirmation of my final order came through just after 9:30 but 10 minutes would have been down to my own ineptitude. Wishing everybody stress free booking over the next few days/weeks.

Not sure if there’s a need for a new thread but with Friends booking opening from today, I thought it worth saying that the packages are pretty flexible, include my favourite seats (H Sides Orchestra Stalls), and offer significant discounts. They are only available in certain areas but I was very pleased to book a couple of ‘all ballet’ packages and a few other performances. Would I have booked without the discount? Probably although perhaps I might have booked cheaper seats for one or two performances given recent price increases. But the discount has in effect taken prices back to what I was paying a number of years ago. I do wonder why the Royal Opera House has given such discounts and particularly how they can be justified for the more expensive seats in the Stalls/Stalls Circle (20% for Opera, 18% for Ballet) when Amphitheatre packages offer discounts of 12% Opera and 10% Ballet. With pressure to increase Box Office revenue, I do hope someone has looked at all this and has the necessary analyses to provide appropriate assurances to management and Finance/Audit Committees.

On re-reading, I can now see it is the Royal Opera House and the comparison is with a number of unspecified northern venues but I was thinking about Hull and the Halle which I couldn’t get to work. I’m slightly reassured that it wasn’t just me.

I’m afraid I can’t think what ROHH stands for and Google hasn’t offered its usual help. No doubt I’ll kick myself when told!

The only ballet I’d vote for being performed every year is Nutcracker. It is so very much part of Christmas and Clara’s recognition that she has her necklace from the Sugar Plum Fairy is always a very special moment. Whenever I see a performance I like to think that for some of the audience this is their first Nutcracker. Whilst the Royal Ballet aren’t doing Nutcracker this year, I’m very pleased there will be a cinema encore.

‘Too long, didn’t read’ ... or in this case didn’t click Nogoat’s link at the very top. I’d never heard of TLDR and find acronyms off putting, a throwback to an earlier time when working for an organisation that would not allow any acronyms in published reports to help the reader.