Lizbie1

And a century previously the publication of Werther led to a suicide craze, or at least that's the story: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sorrows_of_Young_Werther#Cultural_impact

2 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said:

Are they really doing an 1130 start on 16 December?

Pretty sure that time was in the printed Friends' magazine as well.

I have to say that even knowing a good deal of the historical background and having done my homework (including reading the programme) I was horribly confused the first time I saw it and missed out on a lot of detail because I was trying to work out who was who. The wigs don't help, of course!

While I'm not sure how much could be done to remedy it, I do think it a serious flaw that the plot requires explanation, however rewarding the results.

4 hours ago, Melody said:

Then again, I totally agree that adding Elite Syncopations or The Concert would be brilliant. If I was stuck on a desert island, I'd want something to make me smile. Pineapple Poll would do that too.

Exactly what I was thinking after seeing BRB doing Pineapple Poll last night - I don't think anyone left without a smile on their face.

10 minutes ago, Sim said:

From Today's Links today.  I don't know what Exeunt magazine is, but is this supposed to be serious criticism?  I am astonished that anyone would think this foul-mouthed, generalising load of tosh is even worth posting up.  Appalling.  In my opinion.  I wonder if she will have to apologise for causing offence to someone or other, as so often seems to be the case today.  Imagine if someone had written the same words about an ethnic/religious minority? Or the 'working class'?  There would (rightly) be a huge fuss.  It would seem that some targets are perfectly acceptable, others aren't.  Anyway, that's for another forum.  I just hate hypocrisy.  I also think the RB deserves much better consideration than this rubbish.

 

http://exeuntmagazine.com/reviews/review-mayerling-royal-ballet/

 

 

 

It seems this reviewer has form: http://exeuntmagazine.com/reviews/40953/

46 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said:

 

Mary, you could always experiment now with the TWO parts of ANGELS IN AMERICA at the National Theatre.  Suspect the Angel bashing through the ceiling at the end might wake you up though

 

Speaking as an opera goer, the fuss about the length of Angels in America had me thinking that fans of straight theatre must be lightweights

I remember thinking something similar about the speed of Bolshoi ticket sales last year: of course I was wrong. The Hochhausers know what they're doing.

Yes, unless I know of someone who'd like them.

9 minutes ago, alison said:

Now I know why people hedge their bets by booking so many performances!

Indeed - I booked all four Bayaderes and five Swan Lakes, and only mean to go to one of each.

Is anyone familiar with either Sea of Troubles or Jeux, which are being put on in the Clore Studio before some of the Macmillan mixed bills? Is either likely to be worth making an effort to get to London early for?

Also: is Baiser de la fee worth a trip from the provinces (I have Concerto and Elite covered already)?

1 hour ago, Nina G. said:

Good to see the RB Press directing the Times newspaper to focus on another very talented dancer, for a change. 

I think we should give Debra Craine and the Times a bit more credit than that - in my view they and the Sunday Times are streets ahead of the rest of the press in their commitment to and coverage of ballet (and indeed opera) and are quite capable of sniffing out a worthy candidate for an interview by themselves.

I thought it looked underwhelming myself (though not as disappointing as the ballet).  Apart from the Janacek (long overdue), Macbeth and Lohengrin, I'm not excited by anything. There are a few shows I'd be more interested in if they were better cast. Very disappointing that the rumoured Skelton/Bell Peter Grimes isn't happening - it crowns a serious shortage of Britten throughout Kasper Holten's tenure.

I don't know how these things work, but it's almost as if KH's heart wasn't really in it.

While I'm looking for reasons for us to be more optimistic about SL, I see that Kessels is down to conduct the whole run.

With the recent SB having had Kessels for the latter part of the run and Nutcracker being split between Barry Wordsworth and Paul Murphy, it looks like we're seeing a loosening of the grip of Russian conductors on Tchaikovsky ballets.

It's possible we're being a little too pessimistic about the SL designs - John Macfarlane knows his trade.

I can see why they've done it, but the collaborative programmes are annoying me: I was quite ready to travel to see BRB and NB for their triples but now it turns out that it would only be for the sake of Penguin Cafe and Las Hermanas respectively, which, as it happens, are the bits I'm most interested in!  I'd ditch the ROH programmes if it weren't for the Clore shows and Judas Tree (I'm hearing all your reservations but I've never seen it!).  I'd be content with the Judas Tree/Song of the Earth double bill except that I want to see ENB's Sylphide and have no interest in le Jeune Homme.  Add into the mix Scottish Ballet's Baiser de la Fee, which is programmed with Concerto and Elite (appearing pretty much everywhere else), and which I wouldn't travel to Scotland for but am intrigued by, and I'm plain frustrated by the way they've arranged it all!

Aargh!

I make it 2 and 1/3 Wheeldons to 1 and 1/3 Ashtons (and in my view M&A hardly counts) - I'm not sure who would view that as being the correct way around

4 hours ago, alison said:

Yes, but with Villazon *and* Alagna?!

I wouldn't fork out for Villazon these days, even if he weren't such a cancellation risk. And Alagna is on again in Turandot, which has featured less than the Donizetti recently (though you could argue that Nemorino is a better fit for him).

Agree it's a lovely, sunny production, though, and definitely worth seeing.

I think Luke Jennings' (very thought-provoking) review in the Observer was quite negative as well, though it was only published online the morning after the tweet.  Dawson may have had early sight of it, though, or guessed from the tweet linked to by Duck that he wasn't going to like it.

https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2017/mar/19/crystal-pite-flight-pattern-royal-ballet-review-triple-bill-dawson-wheeldon

From the website:

Robert Fairchild is scheduled to perform at all performances until Saturday 25 March 2017 (with the exception of the matinee on Saturday 25 March). From Monday 27 March 2017, he is scheduled to perform at all Tuesday to Saturday evening performances and Saturday matinees until 17 June 2017. At all other performances, and from 19 June 2017 onwards, the role of Jerry Mulligan is scheduled to be played by Ashley Day.

Leanne Cope is scheduled to perform at all performances until Saturday 22 April 2017. From week commencing 24 April 2017 onwards, she is scheduled to appear at all performances except Wednesday evenings, when the role of Lise Dassin is scheduled to be played by Daniela Norman.

Principal casting is subject to change at all performances. The producers cannot guarantee the appearance of any particular artist, which is always subject to illness, injury and statutory leave entitlement.

Cast Holidays:

Robert Fairchild will be on holiday from Monday 17 to Wednesday 19 April 2017 inclusive and from Monday 8 to Wednesday 10 May 2017 inclusive.

Leanne Cope will be on holiday for 2 weeks from 31 July 2017.

I think the Arts Desk critic was over-harsh, and did have a vindictive tone to say the least.

It was strongly worded but I didn't hear any vindictiveness.  I think, rather, that there was frustration that certain choreographers continue to display their female dancers in ways which can be seen - and are seen by many, including me - as demeaning. This criticism, which isn't new, has tended to be shrugged off by choreographers, who simply say that the dancers are happy, as if audience and critics' perceptions aren't valid as well (and that's leaving aside questions about the power balance between choreographer and dancer).

While it's unfortunate that Dawson has reason to feel that he has been singled out for stronger criticism than others, it's my strong opinion that this reviewer's point needs to be made again and again until choreographers and ADs start taking it seriously.

Many thanks MAB: advice about Bayadere casts would be most welcome too!

Bayadere's up now - I've managed to get the same Nikiya twice   Wish they'd put this up before mailing-list booking started this morning!

ROH is generally pretty good about returns and only take a £2 fee as long as they re-sell your ticket, which I don't expect will be a problem for the Mariinsky season. Or are there special conditions attached to Mariinsky performances?

Also: in my experience, as long as they haven't dispatched your ticket they can be pretty flexible about things if you phone them.

Advice please: now they've announced casting which Swan Lake should I go for, assuming I can only get to one?

Definitely new, I've been checking frequently!  Thank you!

They've just updated the ROH website: it's Magri, with Hirano replacing Golding in Diamonds

http://www.roh.org.uk/news/cast-changes-jewels-on-3-8-and-18-april-2017