ninamargaret

12 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

 

I agree.  I can't understand why he has been passed over previously.

His Romeo is my top 'looking forward to' performance. To my mind he's much underused.

Strange how some of the most expensive seats offer the worst view. Beware the most central seats in Stalls Circle. I sat there once and there were a couple of fairly tall.people in the back row of the stalls. My view was very much impeded. Interesting that these problems only arose after the major refurbishment of the auditorium. My seat of choice used to be Row A stalls. Perfect view - feet and all! 

1 hour ago, Richard LH said:

I had the same experience. Weird.

And me! Thought it was just a senior moment.

1 hour ago, alison said:

BTW, is anyone finding the concept of actually booking for a Royal Opera House season, well, a bit strange now ...?

Well, I did find that I'd almost forgotten what to do when I booked my package, and spent a short while cursing the system until I realised that I hadn't confirmed my selection! But my purchase this morning of an extra performance was totally trouble free.

I think it was said, of Peggy Ashcroft, that she was the most convincing Juliet even when she was well into her maturity. The explanation was that age and experience made her performance more credible. Fonteyn, of course, was a prime example. I saw both her Juliet and Aurora towards the end of her career and they were performances to treasure. It isn't always the youngest actors or dancers who have the experience to be able to portray youth on the stage. 

See my post above. It's Bayadere with Rojo/Acosta, not R and J, which is Cuthertson/Bonelli.

There's a 15 DVD/Blu Ray set bring issued in September titled The Royal Ballet: Classic Collection.Mostly older performances - R and J with Acosta/Rojo, Sylvia with Bussell, Bayadere, Swan Lake with Nunez/Soares etc. Most recent is Winters Tale. Could be worth considering if you have gaps that need filling, especially as it's being offered at a bargain price of £94.46 by Europadisc. Not on Amazon yet.

Thanks Richard, Tesco should have said first available package . Booking and talking (or posting)sensibly isn't coming easily after so long. Thanks for correction

Decided to go for 1st performance after the first night. That way I get the pleasure of seeing Bonelli and can see the original cast when it is,streamed. Given the high cost of tickets this year streaming will be very useful.

Managed to get an excellent package at a horrendous cost but consoled myself with the excuse I hadn't spent serious money on tickets for,18 months. Rather embarrassed to note that I had almost forgotten how to book on line - thought the system was playing up and then discovered it was me being daft!

Sorry for typo - should read 'the fact that we seem to be going......'

I very much agree with Floss and Rina's comments about Jazz Calendar. I saw this several times during its early performances and always enjoyed iy. Admittedly, a lot of the fun came from dancers who were well known to us doing what they were best at, or, saving the case of Beriosova,  what you wouldn't expect them to do. I think there's a lot of truth in the fact Thatcher seen to be going through a phase when ballet can't be fun, yet The Concert always produces much laughter and enjoyment. Maybe Ashton's more gentle fun and humour is just not appreciated, or thought not to be appreciated by 'those who know'. After events of the previous 18months or so I wonder how many audiences want a diet of ballets/plays etc showing how dreadful things are? 

Anyone who puts James Hay in a blonde curly wig has, to my mind, committed a particularly dreadful crime!

On 17/07/2021 at 18:57, Meetmeatthebarre said:

(Also I have a soft spot for Pineapple Poll, and the NB have been the only company staging it in recent memory...)

Me too. It was one of the first ballets I saw and I'm afraid to say, it was pretty new at the time. Wish it was done more often - seems as though Cranko is pretty much ignored in this country,apart from Onegin.

The Georgian dancers used to be regular visitors to London and I always enjoyed their performances. Amazing that the men could dance en pointe and still manage to look extremely masculine!

5 hours ago, Ingrid said:

My thoughts exactly! I wish they adapted certain styles/hair colors more often.

I agree about blind wigs looking distinctly odd on darker skins. The Nutcracker wigs are probably not so bad as they are just part of the general glitz of the designs. But for me the worst wig of all is the dreadful blond curled job given to Kolya in Month in the Country. Awful!

For totally confused over start time.  ROH confirmation said 8.00 pm. At 7.31pm I received an email telling me it was starting at that time. The stream, at 7.45, said it would start at 7.30 and there were 19 minutes to go! 

Having said that, I enjoyed the programme, particularly the chance to see some of the younger dancers. I thought Sissens/Naghdi were so well matched, and I hadn't seen James Hay in Bluebird before - a real treat. In spite of the slightly bare looking SB it was good to see some 'proper' ballet again.

Sorry, but my mind is well and truly boggling at the thought of some sort of cross fertilisation between McGregor and hip hop!

Have to admit I was less than impressed by the offerings, although no criticism of the performances. For what it's worth, my cat was fascinated by the Crug piece!

While I loved Sambe on the streamed performance, I prefer Alexander Campbell. The cast in the DVD is,for me,perfect. But that means I miss out on the Hay/O'Sullivan partnership which I thought was perfect. Both casts offer so much in this gorgeous ballet. 

What an interesting evening! As Sim said, the overall tone,was rather sombre - understandably so. But I enjoyed Marcel Sambe's take on Othello. He seems to have some good ideas at how to translate it into dance. Matthew Ball's piece was clever. Liked his choice of music. Zucchetti seems to have a real affinity for music and uses it so well. I couldn't believe I was watching Ed Watson for the first time in goodness knows how long A real bonus. Agree with Sim about the lack of information about dancers - where did Rob S find it or is he a genius at recognition?

Most impressed. Simple to use, highly informative - just what is,needed. Thank you.

Regarding the Onegin recording. I did once see this showing on You Tube. I tried to watch it but it looked as though it may have been one that the ROH recorded for its archives. The quality of the recording was awful, so that even an Onegin addict like me gave up. Think it was Soares and Nunez but wouldn't swear to it.

And of course her Hostess in Les Biches

Excellent news, and congratulations and good wishes to them both. 

I enjoyed Raymonda rather like enjoying a whole meal made up of desserts! Agree about the plumes, although I thought the costumes matched the rather over the top look of the whole ballet.