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ninamargaret

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  1. ninamargaret
    I think there's a big difference between the pianist of your choice, be it Rubinstein, Richter, or in my case Ashkenazy, playing a selection of pieces in a recital or on disc, and as Capybara says a pianist playing for 70 minutes accompanying dancers and being unable to interpret the music as he may have wished. It's quite a big ask.
  2. ninamargaret
    Interesting to read the comments about the pianist, considering that he is the same Robert Clark who received many favourable comments for his playing in The Concert!
  3. ninamargaret
    I first,saw him in Symphonic Variations, not the simplest ballet in the world, and was impressed by his lovely clean lines. I think he made a very good,Lensky and I look forward to seeing him in the future.
  4. ninamargaret
    yes, those early performances were quite something! Memory is an unreliable thing, but I would say that the performance i saw on 17 Feb was every bit as good. I certainly think that the RB company we have now is probably even better than the company at that time.
  5. ninamargaret
    I rather enjoyed the clip shown above and I think this,was because there were no distractions to watch. I think I got so irritated by people walking around clutching cello cases, music stands, records etc that I didn't focus as much as I should on the main characters. A case of less is more, perhaps?
  6. ninamargaret
    Yes, i thought I would be! In mitigation, may I add that I'm seeing it again next week with the second cast, and my lack of enthusiasm was certainly not due to the performances by the three principals.
  7. ninamargaret
    At the risk of being banned from the forum, I would happily have,seen a repeat performance of DAAG rather than The Cellist!
  8. ninamargaret
    Slight mystery - Bravo man, the silver cane wielding one, was next but one to me in side s/c and was very vocal after Act2, but beat a hasty and silent retreat after Act 3. Are there two of them?
  9. ninamargaret
    I think this performance was even better than their first performance. Naghdi and Bonelli just seem to feed off emotionally from each other - they both seemed very emotional at the curtain call. A tiny part of me regrets not having seen Morera as Tatiana, but I'm certainly not complaining! The Gremin pas de deux was beautiful and I thought Sissens was better than on his first showing- he appeared to be more settled in the role. I have to admit a great fondness for this ballet; wish we could see a little more Cranko.
  10. ninamargaret
    Fine, but the information on You Tube is often wrong - see my post about Fidelio.
  11. ninamargaret
    The SW insight is available on YouTube.In general, the insights are advertised on You Tube a few days before they are due, but as my post shows, times are not to be trusted! I usually, when one is advertised on the web site then check the ROH website to get details. At one time, if you subscribed to the ROH on You Tube you were sent an email notifying you but this is no longer done. It all seems very haphazard.
  12. ninamargaret
    Not ballet, but I despair at the lack of information, or poor information about the streaming of Insights. There is one on iFidelio next week, inevitably sold out, and nothing on the website to say it is televised. Looking at You Tube, we are told it's being streamed on 23 Feb (Sunday) starting at 2330! As it is not taking place until 24 Feb at 1930 this could be tricky!
  13. ninamargaret
    Yes, you could be right. As I've said my only other experience of he work is Victoria on tv, so it could be that i 'm just not keen on her style of choreography. Having said that I loved her work for the three main characters - beautiful. And I still think that DAAG should be longer!
  14. ninamargaret
    As someone who was slightly lukewarm about the ballet I do wonder if some of the more enthusiastic reviews, particularly on this forum, were from people who had perhaps known only a little about Jaqueline Du Pre, and were rightly fascinated by her story. If this is so, then I think the ballet is wholly successful. As someone who was born a little before her ( we shared the same birthday) I enjoyed the parts of the ballet that focused on her artistic career - I just felt I could have done with a bit less of family, teachers, doctors, etc etc. But I'll look forward to seeing it again with the second cast.
  15. ninamargaret
    Thanks for this explanation JohnS. I hadn't taken in the fact that the set was meant to represent the inside of a cello, but I found it very effective without distracting from the ballet. Adding to my previous post I must say that I became almost mesmerized by Sambe - it's a superb performance and somehow he managed to produce a half human/half inanimate object. Can't quite explain it - but hope I make some sort of sense. I still think there are too many people milling around on stage - a problem I found with Victoria, which admittedly I have only seen on tv. But I thinj, in the whole, there's a very good ballet trying to get out!
  16. ninamargaret
    I loved Dances, which I hadn't seen since the original run. I think this cast was near perfect, particularly loved the duet with Campbell/Bonelli, also Nunez and Morera. And I wouldn't short it by a minute! Slightly half hearted about The Cellist. Performances by the three principals were excellent, particularly Sambe. But I found there were too many extra characters e.g.. cello teachers and the corps de ballet seemed to do a lot of busy movement without it getting anywhere!. I did love the scenes using the Trout Quintet - a nod to the other famous Christopher Nupen film I think? I will be interested to see the second cast near the end of the run. But in the main, I think I'd rather have seen Dances again.
  17. ninamargaret
    I'm there too - can't wait!
  18. ninamargaret
    The article in the winter issue of the ROH magazine has interesting comments by both Soares and Bonelli on the character of Onegin.I'm inclined to agree with JohnS and his comments about Onegin. Tatiana wouldn't be the first lady to totally fall for someone who is somewhat unsuitable, and of course her change from being the studious young girl to an assured mature lady is bound to make him realise what he has missed!
  19. ninamargaret
    I am by no means a film buff - last cinema visit was about 7years ago - but I have seen this film and agree that it is a very sympathetic version. And if course Ralph Fiennes helps!
  20. ninamargaret
    I don't think we should criticise any ballet because it fails to completely follow the story on which it is based. I'm thinking particularly of R and J, Shrew, Winter's Tale, Manon, Frankenstein. All of these ( and many others) take from the story the elements that can be translated into ballet, adding their own interpretation to add to what is hopefully a satisfying ballet. The important thing, to me, is that the sense and emotion of the book remain, or are even enhanced. Woolf Works, for example, does not slavishly tell the stories of the three novels, but,IMO, enhances them and tells us much about Virginia Woolf. So Onegin gives us the flavour of the story, and the customs and behaviour of the time in which Pushkin was writing.
  21. ninamargaret
    interesting to see that no mention has yet been made about replacements for Steven McRae in Swan Lake or Prodigal Son.
  22. ninamargaret
    I don't think it's a dissenting voice. One's opinions are influenced by so many things - your empathy with a particular performer, your state of mind/health, even if you've had a lousy journey to get to the theatre! Personally, there are some dancers I just can't seem to relate to , nothing to do with their technical ability, and your preference for one performance over another, especially in a ballet with a pretty high emotional content and four main characters is, to my mind, perfectly justified.
  23. ninamargaret
    Oh for a fully functional and informative web site! Other organisations manage it, so why not ROH?
  24. ninamargaret
    thanks Jan - my contortions were not a pretty sight!
  25. ninamargaret
    One of the hazards of trying to make life a little easier! We've all done it.
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