JohnS

I do wonder why there are 6 casts for 24 Swan Lake performances when we have 8 casts for 15 Giselle performances?  I think people have mentioned new production, choreography, rehearsal time etc or perhaps the Giselle pattern isn't great use of resources with one or two performances per cast?  Whilst I'd have been delighted to see Laura and Francesca (if cast), I'm sure there'll be many memorable performance.  28 May looks like being a spectacular double performance if casting is as originally listed.

I see Vadim Muntagirov is ill and is replaced by Federico Bonelli for the opening night Giselle.  Do hope Vadim recovers quickly.

http://www.roh.org.uk/news/cast-change-federico-bonelli-to-dance-in-giselle-on-19-january-2018

Apologies for a website comment in the middle of the discussion but I keep getting caught by the fact that the new comments are now on the second line of the title - pages 1 and 2 on the first line, page 3 on the second line.  In writing this I'll hopefully remember but I wondered if there was a web design solution which might ensure that all page numbers were kept together on one line?  In this case all the page numbers would now be on the second line.  As I say sorry for breaking the flow and many thanks for all the fascinating posts.

Thanks Capybara.  The attached gives some support:

http://www.roh.org.uk/news/watch-marianela-nunez-rehearses-the-royal-balletssylvia-with-darcey-bussell

I was also fortunate enough to have a backstage tour and quite by chance saw Darcey Bussell coaching Sylvia for a few minutes - I hasten to say through the studio window.  I sensed a clear rapport and my guide enthused about the contributions coaches like Darcey Bussell make.

Given the fabulous Sylvia performances we've recently been fortunate to see, are folk being a little ungenerous here?  My understanding was that dancers had very much appreciated Darcey Bussell's coaching.

One or two returns for Akane Takada and Benjamin Ella in Giselle  - I'm delighted to have been able to get a ticket for 20 January!  Well worth checking over the next few days.

I don't think the link works outside Austria but the concert as broadcast on BBC4 is available on BBC iPlayer for the rest of January.

I still recall Riccardo Muti's brilliant conducting of Macbeth at the Royal Opera House in the early 1980s - and the witches cauldron/silver salver catching the spotlight and blinding the amphitheatre audience.

I do sympathise with the comments on the steep increases in prices for Swan Lake.  Whenever the ROH recategorises seats there are bound to be some pretty hefty price increases as some seats get placed in a higher bracket but I am a bit surprised that top priced seats go from £125 to £133 - a relatively modest 6.4%.  Where seats remain in the same price bracket, the top price Amphitheatre seats go from £74 to £79 - a 6.8% increase.  And I do see that some seats are placed in a lower price category so it's worth looking at the detail - indeed some seats are actually cheaper for Swan Lake than for Nutcracker e.g. Stalls A1 £106 to £97.

Many thanks Lizbie1 - that's much appreciated.  

16 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

I've just seen the prices - it's not so much the prices themselves which are high, it's that they've kicked a lot of the lower-priced amphi seats up a bracket or two. I note that these seats remain in the previous (lower) bracket for opera, though fairness compels me to say that they remain cheaper for the ballet then for the opera. I wonder whose bright idea that was. 

 

Really hope this isn't a permanent change.

It would be really helpful to know what the prices are for Swan Lake - I haven't seen any information apart from the opening night celebration special tickets.  

Apologies capybara - I received the opening night information and an unspecified number of Grand Tier, Stalls and Stalls Circle seats are being held for a celebration post performance party.  Prices are £900 to £1,100.  Marianela Nunez and Vadim Muntagirov are the only named members of the cast; Koen Kessels is conducting.

I'm very much hoping that most tickets will be normal price (whatever that is for Swan Lake) so that I too might go as very much an ordinary mortal!

Apologies if this has already been noted but I recall there was some speculation earlier that Odette/Odile may be two dancers.  Very pleased to see that Marianela Nunez dances both on the opening night having just got the opening night celebration publicity in the post.

I do fully agree with the comments about James Hay - he is a wonderful dancer.

As regards Benjamin Ella now partnering Akane Takada, my first thoughts were what a very special occasion that will be for the two of them and I wish I had a ticket.  I remember Akane's fabulous Giselle last time but found Nehemiah Kish's Albrecht brusque to say the least, not really playing the 'she loves me, loves me not' scene and dropping the flowers on Giselle's grave without any thought.  I'm sure Benjamin will be properly attentive!

I know Akane/Benjamin do regularly dance together in galas etc and I wouldn't be surprised if they have performed some Giselle scenes but I'm afraid I dont know.

It's also not clear who has been understudying Albrecht.

Whilst the ROH website gives the change of cast news, only 20 January has been updated.  5 February still shows Steven McRae as dancing but I assume this is still to be updated.  A number of top price tickets have also been released for 5 February.

I see Steven McRae is injured - I hope he quickly recovers.

Not just Nutcracker but Giselle where Benjamin Ella will partner Akane Takada - I'm sure that will be very special for them and wish I were going.

http://www.roh.org.uk/news/cast-changes-the-nutcracker-and-giselle-2018

A couple of points.

Posters often use different names for the Ballet Forum and Royal Opera House so whilst I can see some overlaps, I'd be struggling to say how many of the 100+ comments are made by Ballet Forum members.

I wouldn't be too cynical about the ROH's PR exercise: I think it's good that the ROH asks for such contributions and very much hope the winners enjoy their tickets!

Delighted to read Shya100 and bridiem's posts about last night's performance - it must have been a wonderful performance.  Barry Wordsworth was back conducting the Royal Opera House Orchestra after Paul Murphy's stint over the Christmas period with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia and I just wonder if folk fortunate enough to attend both (ie last night and the matinee on 30 December) might have any views?  I must say I find Barry Wordsworth extraordinarily sympathetic.  

Without passing any comment on ninamargaret's post, I am intrigued to know what ballets might complement the Ring.  I too have tickets for the Ring and am wondering whether to make four separate trips from Cumbria or see whether one or two trips might be extended and combined.  For my part, and without much thought, I'd plump for Fille.  I await with great interest the full Royal Opera House programme which I'm sure will provide many delights.

I'd like to see Frankenstein given a second run, particularly if Liam Scarlett has an opportunity for some reworking.  I recognise this is unlikely to gain much support as I do appreciate that many people might put Frankenstein on their list of ballets not to be performed - it's good that the Forum doesn't show 'dislikes' as well as 'likes'!

Final Nutcracker performance for me this Christmas time with Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball, Anna Rose O’Sullivan and James Hay, and Bennet Gartside.  Another exhilarating matinee and I do so agree with Bruce Wall’s comments in his wish list for 2018/19 about James Hay - simply fabulous.  He and Anna Rose made for an ideal couple and I do hope they will have many more opportunities to dance together.  I very much liked Benn’s thoughtful, glitter free Drosselmeyer - the final reunion with Hans Peter was very moving and I thought helped by a slightly later curtain as in some performances the curtain seems to have come down perhaps a shade early?  Yasmine was radiant but I was not as convinced by Matthew who seemed less secure in places.

That leads to PenelopeSimpson’s question about the point of the PDD.  In the Royal Ballet production, isn't the PDD the realisation of the ideal that Clara and Hans Peter can aspire to?  The Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince represent the highest levels of artistry, beauty, partnership, trust, support, love.  We would I’m sure hope that Clara and Hans Peter will achieve this ideal for themselves or at least enjoy the journey together towards realising the ideal.  And perhaps we might reflect on how we also have sought or seek similar ideals in our journeys.

So for me Nutcracker is fabulous, magical, enchanting and in Peter Wright’s Royal Ballet production I find Nutcracker also wonderfully life affirming because of what we see in Clara and Hans Peter and the hopes for the future.

Like others I very much enjoyed seeing Dancing the Nutcracker - a Christmas Day highlight in 2016 and for me again a television highlight this Christmas time.

Back to the dancing and a final highlight must be David Yudes - Apprentice, Russian Dance.  He really has lit up the stage throughout the year in all his roles.  On reflection I realise this is true of so many dancers and it’s good to see all the comments in highlights of 2017 about the Royal Ballet reaching a peak and it’s strength in depth with people wanting to see all casts.

Back home from a fabulous Nutcracker matinee - Francesca Hayward and Alexander Campbell as Sugar Plum Fairy/Prince, Gary Avis as Drosselmeyer, and Anna Rose O’Sullivan and James Hay as Clara/ Hans Peter.  I love this production and the more I see it, the more impressed I am with how it works as a magical piece of theatre combined with a compelling narrative.  

I know I'm repeating myself, and others have very different views, but to me the whole narrative works because we see Clara and Hans Peter becoming a young couple on the cusp of adulthood.  They play a full part in the Act 2 celebrations, being encouraged to join in by Drosselmeyer and the dancers.  What is the better reward for this young couple - being passive spectators, sit and be quiet, or join in and enjoy the dance?  When you have such engaging couples as Anna Rose and James, (and Francesca/Alex in the cinema relay and in other performances I’ve seen in the theatre), I find their actions and dancing in the Kingdom of the Sweets compelling and very hard to understand the criticisms of Clara/Hans Peter being tiresome.  Because Clara and Hans Peter have played such a part in Act 2, it also means that those two short final scenes work so well and for me herald the magic of Christmas: Clara and Hans Peter outside the house and their puzzled half recollections, with Clara's affirmative recognition of her pendant; and Drosselmeyer’s reunion with Hans Peter.  

Some have commented that Drosselmeyer is too controlling and dominates the production.  I don't agree. Yes he is magician, master of ceremonies, and he has a plan, but he is critically dependent on Clara exercising her moral agency, be it caring for the Nutcracker doll, dispatching the mouse king, and falling for Hans Peter (and quickly forgetting her dancing partner at the party).

I also love the detail in Act 1 where all dancers are characters, with plenty of opportunities for partying, flirting and squabbling.  And then the fabulous magic of the Christmas tree, battle, Clara and Hans Peter’s pdd and the snow flakes.  Brilliant.

As regards the matinee performances, I just think both couples are so well matched and look forward immensely to their future performances in other roles.  Fabulous dancing from all, silver quick Anna Rose, James so elegant, sparkling Francesca, and Alex a wonderful Prince and partner.  It must be so reassuring for dancers to know that their partners can be relied upon to support at all times as Francesca alludes to in her Instagram post.  Finally thanks again to bangorballetboy for such fantastic photos.

I'm sure people will see but just in case, the Royal Opera House is asking audience members to submit their Royal Ballet (and separately Opera) highlight for 2017.  As usual there's a prize draw for both ballet (Winter's Tale) and opera (Salome) - 4 January closing date.

The Royal Ballet link is:

http://www.roh.org.uk/news/what-was-your-royal-ballet-highlight-of-2017

The Royal Opera House news website is leading with the Opera:

http://www.roh.org.uk/news/what-was-your-royal-opera-highlight-of-2017

Thank you  Capybara.  I'd just add a couple of points.  It was very interesting to hear Tamara Rojo saying how difficult she found interviewing George Osborne and I think she referred more generally to the guest editor role being pretty hard work.  In defence of Nick Robinson, he did apologise for his slip and he has attended at least one Royal Ballet performance - I noticed him in the audience for Mayerling.

Many thanks Floss, Fonty and Ivy Lin.  It's always interesting to read others' views.  Whilst I for one very much welcome Clara and Hans Peter joining in Act 2 to make for a stronger narrative, I hadn't appreciated that others might find this an unwelcome intrusion.  I would just say to Fonty that whilst I was musing on the possibility of Clara/Hans Peter being taught the SPF/Prince PDD, I did immediately go on to say:

"But I guess this would break the wonderful PDD and we do after all see Clara/Hans Peter entranced by the glorious dancing and can imagine what lies ahead for them."

I shall look forward to the 30 December and 1 January matinees, transport etc permitting, but I imagine I will be very much wanting to see Anna Rose and James Hay enjoying Act 2 as eager participants, not simply observers, and I'm sure I won't be disappointed.

I do understand Ivy Lin's point about the camera focus on Clara.  In the theatre I always feel that it is undoubtedly the Rose Fairy's solo and that Clara's joining in doesn't distract at all but helps sustain the strong narrative of what i think is a magical production.  I do hope Ivy Lin has opportunity to see Nutcracker at the ROH and that LinMM enjoys New Year's Day.

Thanks Ivy and interesting to read a different perspective.  For my part I really like Clara and Hans Peter taking full part in Act 2.  In light of Luke Jennings Nutcracker article in yesterday's links including Gary Avis's comment about the Sugar Plum Fairy/Prince representing the ideal that Clara/Hans Peter should aspire to, I was mulling over how SPF/Prince could teach Clara/Hans Peter, as the Rose Fairy teaches Clara, so Clara/Hans Peter conclude the PDD.  But I guess this would break the wonderful PDD and we do after all see Clara/Hans Peter entranced by the glorious dancing and can imagine what lies ahead for them.