Lizbie1

It may be so in other countries but not in the UK: https://www.ciwf.org.uk/farm-animals/cows/veal-calves/

I don't expect this to be a popular opinion around here, but though I'd love to see a more varied programme of ballet on the BBC, I don't think it's unreasonable for them to show a repeat of the (in my view excellent) Nutcracker documentary. And I'd rather a a few viewers stumbled across this repeat and went to the ballet as a consequence than the BBC gratified what is, let's face it, a rather niche audience. Though I'd far rather it weren't an either/or, of course.

Sadly, it looks like theatres outside London only get one programme each

Any advice as to which pieces are unmissable/missable? Is it worth going out of my way to see more than one programme?

Sorry, very late to this but I read it as the fast-tracking having happened within the year rather than the top roles themselves. It could have been better phrased, though.

I read fairly recently that a lot of the German rail network was reaching the end of its useful life but the money for refurbishment had not yet been forthcoming. Who knows, they might be in our position in 10 or 20 years' time. I'd agree that the scale and length of engineering work has increased hugely in recent years (try living in the provinces if you want to know all about it!) but that can in part be blamed on the extremely low appetite for risk among the general public where rail travel is concerned. The high-profile accidents of the last 20 years, though relatively few in number, unlocked a lot of cash for no doubt necessary refurbishment, at the same time as upgrades and improvements have been necessitated by a huge increase in the number of people travelling by train - see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transport_in_Great_Britain#/media/File:GBR_rail_passengers_by_year_1830-2015.png if you don't believe me. (Whether these works are carried out in the most efficient way is another story.) It seems obvious to me that Christmas (as well as Easter and the Summer holiday season, not to mention weekends and late night services) gets hit in this country as engineering works are planned around people's need to get to work in reasonable time.

And there are no trains at all to or from Paddington between 24 and 27 December (inclusive) after which the service will be much reduced until the New Year. https://www.gwr.com/travel-updates/planned-engineering/christmas2017

But, barring grants or similar funding, releasing a DVD has to make commercial sense, surely?

Sorry, been out for a while. Yes, that's the one: a little more colour can be found at https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/bolshois-onegin-is-lyrical-elegant-and-precise-26373 There's no mention of the role in her Bolshoi website biography, so I assume she never did perform it. Edited to add: I believe that at the time she/her supporters tried to claim that it wasn't Reid Anderson's decision but the Bolshoi management's.

No doubt this reflects badly on me, but I've just spent an enjoyable 15 minutes reacquainting myself with the Zakharova/Onegin kerfuffle. Every cloud...

Given that the tickets are presumably all the same price, that doesn't seem unfair to me. On a related point to RuthE's comment about better seats being made available later, it did raise my hackles slightly when at a recent event at the Clore some prime but apparently empty seats (and which I overheard some very high-ups fretting about) were taken at the last possible moment by a VIP and their train. It would be nice if they were made to take their chances in the Linden, though I suspect a section might be reserved instead.

I'm conscience-stricken now: I forgot to say that musically Tuesday was of a very high order indeed. It would be unfair say that the company doesn't deserve Gavin Sutherland and what he's done with the ENBP, but on every occasion I've seen them recently what's going on in the pit has matched or bettered what's happening on stage. I really hope that ENB value their MD appropriately.

I saw it last night as well: agree that Pedro Lapetra was very fine, but for me the highlight was seeing Dronina for the first time - she's gorgeous, and a very fine actress to boot.

Oh no! That is very sad indeed.

That is very sad news if true.

Is there any word about the Midscale tours in the email? The Japan dates fall at about the same time as the Midscale tours were last year I note.

Just saw that the Musketeers score is by Malcolm Arnold - that pretty much sells it to me on its own!

Is the NB Nutcracker any good?

But the alternatives aren't exactly pushed are they? And that's presumably for good reason, as the side staircases would quicky fill and make egress more difficult for those in the Balcony and Grand Tier if they were to be better publicised. (That's not a swipe at the ROH's attitude to those in the more expensive seats, by the way.) I'm lucky enough usually to sit within easy reach of one or the other, but unless I'm making a dash for a train, the staircases are always on go-slow by Balcony level. And I'm shameless enough to barge through the Crush Room on the way out but I'm apparently one of very few who are a. aware of and b. willing to take that option - not that I'm complaining Does anyone know whether better access to and from the Amphi has simply been ruled out because structural reasons make it impossible? Or is it an opportunity missed?

My recommendation comes with a qualification: in my view there is no doubt that it's a brilliant, thrilling opera but, having seen a number of productions, I won't be seeing it again, probably ever. The relentlessly sordid plot and unsympathetic characters have worn me down. I'd definitely recommend going at least once though.

About half the total capacity is in the Amphi I believe. One thing they should perhaps have addressed but apparently haven't is the access to the amphitheatre - it's not really good enough that 1000 or more people (I know there are a couple of poorly signposted shortcuts) have to make the same painfully slow shuffle down a single corridor.

Just a reminder that general booking is now open for this

I'm very sympathetic - I see BRB infrequently enough that I'm happy to take pot luck with the casting (as others have said, whoever you get, they'll be worth seeing), but it must be very frustrating if you've developed favourites and can't book for more than a performance or two. I just don't think that they relax this policy especially for Londoners, at least not by choice. As an aside, it might be a case of familiarity breeding contempt but there are/have been some RB dancers - including at Principal level - who I more or less actively avoid, whereas there are no BRB dancers who bring out this impulse in me. So there's another reason why I'm more complacent about BRB delaying their announcements than RB

And it's probably worth throwing in here that the casting for the two recent BRB Sadler's Wells shows was announced with barely a week to go in each case (I've just checked).

Could it be that they're contractually obliged to release casting for the RAH performances by a certain date? When the Bolshoi and Mariinsky tour to London they release casting far in advance of their intervening "home" performances (or at least they used to), presumably at the behest of the Hochhausers.