CCL

I can’t see any reference to this statement anywhere else on the internet, or indeed in NSCD’s mission statement on its own website. Perhaps the Telegraph has misinterpreted the story?

I was at the opening night and I was really impressed. I’m quite an opera newbie so I hadn’t seen either of these two operas before. The staging, linking the two, was excellent- I loved the crowd scenes, the Easter hymn, the children’s chorus and the passion play. SeokJong Baek was superb as Turiddu and I felt very fortunate to be able to see Roberto Alagna as Canio - such an impassioned reading of ‘Vesti La Giubba’. As for Alexsandra Kurzak - the way she inhabited two such different roles was awe-inspiring and her singing was beautiful. An evening to remember for a long time!

Back to the dancing…Friday evening’s performance was an absolute tonic after a long, hot and tiring day at work. It was utterly joyful and I felt spoiled by how much bravura dancing was on display! Momoka Hirata was a delight and had wonderful chemistry with Matthias Dingman, who I don’t feel I’ve seen dancing enough before now. It was just wonderful to see them and the entire company so clearly enjoying every minute of being on stage. I loved it all and the rapturous audience response was hugely well deserved. Bravo BRB!

 Sorry for all concerned. Hope you are able to rebook. I had tickets for tomorrow too but sent them back last week as I thought something like this might happen.

Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball’s performance in ‘Giselle’ was an outstanding highlight for me - and what an added bonus to have Marianela Nunez as Myrthe! It was a very special evening all round. Marianna Tsembenhoi caught my eye at this performance too and I look forward to seeing more of her. My second choice would be the beautiful Ashton mixed bill. Looking forward to the new season and my first Mayerling and wishing the dancers a restful break.

Huge congratulations to both - richly deserved. 

I just booked for the opening night of Cavalleria/Pagliacci. Did you book, Timmie? There are still tickets available in the amphi, that was definitely all I could afford as I’m taking my daughter, too. 

I just booked for Madama Butterfly using my phone and it was super- easy. Quite a relief!

Just got home after tonight’s performance. Very glad I managed to see it after last week’s disappointment at having to miss the matinee (and thank you Sim for your kind message last week when I posted). I’m so grateful that I got to see it and particularly that I got to see Laura Morera - such a beautiful and poignant Natalia Petrovna. But overall a gorgeous evening. I’ll try to post more tomorrow.

Unfortunately I had to return my tickets for today’s matinee to the box office this morning as I woke up with a streaming cold. I’m very disappointed. I look forward to reading reports of the performance later.

Thanks Dawnstar! The lack of flowers surprised me too - and the relative brevity of the curtain calls. I wanted to cheer the cast for longer!

15 minutes ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

IMO Tannhauser is a really good place to start with Wagner - and I don't think I'll ever not be thrilled by the overture. It's also Very Good News that Davidsen will be singing in it at ROH next season.

Thanks Lizbie. I’ve been listening to the overture over the past 24 hours and it really is gorgeous. I noticed Lise Davidson’s name in the lineup and that was a definite plus point!

I came looking for a thread like this a couple of weeks ago and I found it very interesting and helpful.  I’ve seen Carmen and La Boheme a couple of times each in the past, but have never pursued the idea of getting into opera any further and had never been to the opera at ROH until last night. After reading this thread, I booked for the Angel Blue cast in La Traviata. I ensured that I listened to some different recordings (Spotify makes this so easy) and that whetted my appetite so that I was ‘ready’ for last night. I know that there are many very experienced opera goers on this forum who have probably seen many Traviatas, but oh my goodness, I really loved it all - the singing, the staging, the music, the audience response- I was on a total high when I got home and couldn’t sleep for ages because I was replaying the whole thing in my mind! I thought Angel Blue was gorgeous as Violetta, she took me with her the whole way through. I was grinning with delight during ‘Sempre Libera’, shaking with sobs when she soared in ‘Que fai?…nulla’ and in pieces for ‘Addio del Passato’. Popov as Alfredo was charming and earnest and Stoyanov as Germont sounded absolutely wonderful in the ‘Dite alla Giovina’ duet, and got rousing applause for ‘Di Provenza il Mar’, quite rightly. I also loved the party scene in Act 2, scene 2 - very dramatic and compelling.  One thing that surprised me was how unlike the curtain calls were to the ballet - principals only, no flowers. …? It was a wonderful coincidence that the new season announcement came out yesterday, as I plan to see lots more opera. I definitely want to see Tosca, Turandot and the Magic Flute, for starters. I watched the Insight Masterclass with Pretty Yende, which I found fascinating, and it piqued my interest in Tannhauser - ‘Oh du, mein holder Abendstern’ is certainly beautiful but perhaps attempting Wagner is running before I can walk! Any thoughts?

I didn’t attend the ROH for a number of years (children, lack of income, etc) but started to come back about a year before Covid- and kicked myself  for all the productions I’d missed out on. So I’m really happy at the thought of being able to see Mayerling and Woolf Works and delighted at further opportunities to see Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty. In fact I’m pretty excited at everything on offer. Furthermore, as an opera newbie, I’m very interested in what’s on offer there - so many operas I’ve yet to see! This announcement has really made my day.

I was also in two minds about booking but the cast details are tempting. I’ve just downloaded the book on iBooks for 99p to whet my appetite (no pun intended!)

Dawnstar, I’d very much like to hear your thoughts on Friday’s performances. A persistent back problem has prevented me from attending any of the recent Swan Lake shows so everybody’s comments on this run of performances has been extremely welcome. 

My first ever opera post…I’ve booked for Angel Blue on Wednesday 6th. I’m really looking forward to it!

Re Sadlers Wells performances, I booked very quickly as I really want to see this production and thought it might sell out quickly. I really don’t mind who I see but Singleton/Gittens would be my dream pairing for the two main roles.

@NogoatThank you for that utterly heartfelt review- your words were beautiful and true

I’ve booked for the Saturday matinee and must confess to being tremendously excited. Of the three pieces the only one I have seen previously is ‘Rhapsody’ and that was a long time ago, so I think this will be a real treat! I’m really happy with the casting, too.

1 hour ago, Ian Macmillan said:

Re the Paywall:  Try copying the article title from the FT site into Google and there's every chance that you'll be able to get in, possibly via answering a question or two.  No idea how putting Google in the loop helps, but it frequently does for me. 

It worked for me, too! Thank you for the tip, Ian!

My view is that an incestuous affair is not canonical. In such a strict patriarchal and Catholic society it would have been scandalous. Tybalt is the Capulet heir as Lord and Lady C have no male children. There’s no mention of Tybalt’s parents so it’s possible that he is seen as a surrogate son. When Lady C mourns for him, it’s not only for the death of her brother’s child but also for what he represents, the future of the Capulet family.  In Shakespeare’s time, there was no ‘in law’ distinction, I believe, so your brother in law was considered your brother, son in law was your son, etc, hence ‘my brother’s child’. All that being said, I like MacMillan’s representation of Lady C’s overwhelming grief as it underlines the terrible human cost of the brawling. 

Juliet’s soliloquy where she weighs up taking the potion makes reference to the bones of her ancestors and of plucking ‘the mangled Tybalt from his shroud’. I’ve always assumed that the bodies were interred in the tomb uncoffined. 

I’m really happy that Serrano made such an impact as Mercutio. I was really impressed with him at the Wednesday matinee, and there was great chemistry between him, Hirano and Donnelly

Thank you, Rob! I couldn’t quite make out facial expressions at the curtain call from my eyrie in the Amphi, so these are lovely to see!