ninamargaret

I'm intrigued. I haven't seen this for many years - probably only a couple of times since the Royal Ballet danced it in the days of Dowell/McLeary. what happened to the birth of Apollo? Was this in earlier versions only? 

Agree to a certain extent, but a few good things to watch, together with a gentle invitation to donate, as NYCB, Stuttgart, Hamburg etc have done would perhaps have made me feel more generous.

At the risk of sounding boring, I do feel the ROH could have done more to provide some interesting programmes to keep their loyal audiences interested. So many companies have gone out of their way to provide good things to see, but all we've been offered are a few showings of existing dvds! I'm afraid I've asked for the greater part of my tickets to be refunded and will be happy to donate to some of those companies who are keeping us happy with interesting programmes. I noticed this morning that The Times reviewed the Met opera gala and made the point that we seemed to be lagging behind somewhat. Having said that, I will renew my Friends membership in December unless it looks though the closure will continue.

4 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

1 hour ago, Jan McNulty said:

Thanks BBB.  Autocorrect is such a pain.  I once tweeted about someone whose surname was Goldsmith.  I didn't notice before I hit the send button that it had been autocorrected to Golldfish!!  Fortunately, it was taken in good part.

And I've had some slightly embarrassing corrections, particularly when trying to type foreign words!

Thanks Jan and BBB. And sorry for my sloppiness! I see also that it's shown from noon on Wednesday 29 April. Anyway, it was highly enjoyable and I look forward to next weeks concert. 

They've resumed their Monday evening concerts starting 1915 out time. Last night opened with a Handel aria sung in memory of Peter Jonas, continued with a Mozart piano quartet and finished with Schumann's Dichterliebe sung by Jonas Kaufmann. All very informal, short introduction only in German, but thoroughly enjoyable. I'll be watching this one again - it's available for the a week.

I've had problems too. Managed, with difficulty, to get through Ballo, but gave up on R and J. And I've been totally unable to see any of the Dutch National Ballet. Don't know what the problem is.

10 hours ago, toursenlair said:

 

I believe the cure for this is... see more Balanchine!

Think I am a lost cause! I've seen around 18 of his ballets and while I enjoy them they do not, with the exception of Apollo, go to the top of my list. But I keep trying!

Not a shame at all! If you tell me that this isn't top drawer just think what else lies in store for me. Only problem is I'm unlikely to get the chance to see all the other things you mention. And I appreciated Jeannette's comments. Probably one of the few good things to come out of the horror we are living through is the opportunity we have been given to see different companies  - pretty awful to think that its taken a pandemic to make this happen!

Just watched Rotunda, and what a real treat it was! I hadn't seen any of Justin Peck's work before and after seeing this would like to see more. I loved the way the dancers were continually regrouping, rather like a kaleidoscope, and then reforming for a pas de deux,trois, or whatever. What a super company they are! You Tube also had a short piece about Justin Peck which was interesting.

not a bad way to celebrate! Cangratulations!

It's always interesting how our enjoyment of ballet, drama, music etc alters over the years. I think it's to do with our experience of life, personal circumstances, knowledge of the art form being seen that makes us change our views. I know that what I enjoyed in my teens is very different to what I enjoy now. New works are, of course, essential, and I suppose we tend to be more critical when we get older, because we often have many years of watching/ listening -and living- behind us. I didn't see Mayerling on stage until the last,performance with Koborg, but had got to know it, and love it, through the David Wall documentary and the Mukhamedov DVD. But I'm sure some of the ballets I saw when I was seeing a lot of ballet and dance would not appeal at all - or maybe they would?

I'm not the world's greatest Balanchine fan, but this is absolutely brilliant! The dancing is about as perfect as possible, have watched it three times already.

should be amazing

13 minutes ago, Angela said:

 

The website for Pavillon d'Armide at Hamburg Ballet says this about the work:

The ballet takes place in the sanatorium "Bellevue" at Kreuzlingen, in the pavilion and park area of the institution and in Alexandre Benois' decoration for the ballet "Le Pavillon d’Armide" - and in the memory and imagination of Vaslaw Nijinsky.

So yes, it's some kind of sequel to his "Nijinsky".

Thank you for this I'll have a look tomorrow.

Hamburg ballet in Death in Venice. Weird and almost wonderful. I do wonder what a ballet by Neumeier made for Ed Watson would have been like. Lloyd Riggins  is totally mesmerising and I noticed that Alexandre Riabko who danced the name part in Nijinsky is in it.Looking forward to their other programmes

7 hours ago, Jane S said:

Even earlier than that, perhaps? I think they came over for the first time in 1947, to work with Metropolitan Ballet - Beriosova was about 15 - and by the early 50s she'd already moved on to the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet.

yes, you're right, it could have been very late 40s or very early 50s As a ballet mad little girl I remember being totally entranced but please don't ask me what she danced! I'm sure it involved a white dress of some sort, what else!

I too thought that Armide would be done sort of 18th century pastiche and was quite surprised when the characters were listed. Must look into it more closely and also watch the DVD of the Hamburg Nijinsky again.I wonder if Neumeier was trying to do a Nijinsky trilogy?

And doesn't the Met just love its horses! Peregrine would be jealous!

To go back to an early memory of Beriosova. I've got a very hazy memory of seeing her when she first arrived in this,country. It was in a TV programme and she was introduced as just having arrived here with her father. Must have been early 50s

20 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I found the Vienna Nutcracker interesting when I watched it the other day. I've seen various doublings of roles in different productions but this is the first one I have seen th have Drosselmeyer & the Prince played by the same dancer. I found myself wondering what Freud would make of Clara dreaming about being romanced by a younger version of her elderly godfather! Unfortunately I had what looked like an interlacing issue with the picture for the Nutcracker so movement looked rather odd. I've not had this for any of the other Vienna streams I've watched (over 20 of them) so I don't know why that one had an issue.

Try again! Liked this,production when the Royal did it, but agree there is something a bit creepy about the doubling of Drosselmeyer doubling with the Prince. The Arabian Dance in it was originally,danced,by Alexander Grant and I think was choreographed by Ashton, but I may be wrong. The version in the Vienna production was much changed. And I do love the costumes for the snowflakes! 

19 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I found the Vienna Nutcracker interesting when I watched it the other day. I've seen various doublings of roles in different productions but this is the first one I have seen th have Drosselmeyer & the Prince played by the same dancer. I found myself wondering what Freud would make of Clara dreaming about being romanced by a younger version of her elderly godfather! Unfortunately I had what looked like an interlacing issue with the picture for the Nutcracker so movement looked rather odd. I've not had this for any of the other Vienna streams I've watched (over 20 of them) so I don't know why that one had an issue.

Particularly like this production and enjoyed it 

Alison , I find their website confusing to say the least. I took out a subscription in December and watch it through my tv via Amazon Fire stick, where it appears as Wiener Staatsoper Live at Home with the www address you give. I think as I subscribe it takes me straight to the calendar page. According to the wiener-staatsoper.at website it looks,as though you may have to register (free). I sympathise - I have been unable to see any of the offerings by the Dutch National,Ballet. I'm on a particularly steep learning curve with all of these wonderful ways of seeing things, but let's hope we get there in the end!

Very much enjoyed the Armide/Sacre streaming last night. My knowledge of it was nil and it took me a while to sort out who was who. Sacre is a highly imaginative version, especially from the point of view of lighting, and I thought the whole ballet was extremely well danced. It has made me even more keen to see Hamburg's Neumeir offerings. I've only seen his Midsummer Night's Dream on stage, so the chance to see more is welcome.

14 minutes ago, alison said:

And I thought Matthias Heymann had more fun and pleasure dancing A Suite of Dances than anyone I'd seen previously.  Do catch this bill, folks, if you can - it's available for another couple of days yet.

Yes, I should have mentioned him. A real tour we force, and I loved the interaction with the cellist. Many years ago I saw the Dutch National Ballet do a pas de deux accompanied by the same Bach suite with the cellist also on stage - wonder if it gave Robbins ideas?