Dawnstar

I can only think that I am less discerning than @capybara about movement because I found all the Des Grieuxs I saw (six live plus Clarke at the cinema) to be very moving in the Act II Scene I solo. I couldn't pick just three of them. I feel we've been very spoilt by Des Grieuxs this run (though admittedly I did skip seeing the two who I didn't think would do it for me). My mother asked me after Friday's performance who my favourite leads had been in this run and while, after some thought, I said that Lamb just edged it for me among the Manons, I couldn't even begin to try to select a favourite Des Grieux.

I pretty much didn't look away from them. I was riveted by the drama going on between Manon & GM. It was completely different not only from the other GMs & their Manons but also from Avis with the other Manons he's appeared opposite. Hayward's Manon was unhappy & withdrawing from GM far earlier in the scene than any other Manon. Avis's GM was exasperated & not understanding her behaviour. Just before her solo it felt like he was saying "You don't want to play with me? So what do you want to do? Dance?" Even the diamond bracelet only seemed to make her happy for a minute. Afterwards I felt like I should apologise to the Gentlemen & Courtesans, whose dancing I barely noticed, and Campbell, given I should really have been focusing on him. Further to the discussions a few days ago about the Beggar Chief, Lescaut & GM's watch, it was interesting to see last night that Zuchetti not only watched the Beggar Chief picking GM's pocket but immediately afterwards they had a short conversation. Which I felt indicated that they were plotting something together about the watch so the giving it back to GM & getting money in return could have been pre-planned. It also looked like the lucky Beggar Chief might have got 2 coins off GM this time, as there was the sound of one hitting the stage but it also looked like Masciari caught one!

I couldn't because from where I'm sitting I can't see Des Grieux until well after he's entered.

That was rather a surprise when Lescaut lifted her veil! No entrance applause for Campbell either.

I'm not generally in favour of entrance applause for Des Grieux, as he doesn't make an entrance as such but wanders on while 2 of the Courtesans are dancing, but given tonight is Campbell's last performance I'm thinking an exception should/will be made?

Yes thanks @JohnS. I do usually get what I want, or near it, with Friday rush. I just wish it wasn't often so stressful to do so!

If I was in that position then I'd certainly rather finish with playing a nice leading character than an unpleasant supporting one!

If it was intended as a vehicle for Campbell then wouldn't he have been cast in the main role of Woyzeck rather than the subsidiary role of the Drum Major?

Yes, they were paired together for the 2020 Swan Lake. I wondered in 2022 why various pairings had been changed from 2020 but since those 2022 pairings have been retained for this run evidently they're now the preferred ones for whatever reason. I'd love to see them together in Manon or Mayerling. I wonder if Corrales would have made his Des Grieux debut in this run if he hadn't been injured? Maybe now Hayward is losing Campbell as one of her main partners she could dance more with Corrales? I thought Corrales was excellent as Siegfried in 2022 so it's a pity, though totally understandable, to hear that he evidently had to be more careful last night. Hopefully it will pay off & he will be able to continue to perform going forward, rather than the one-performance-then-off-again that happened last January.

The ROH website was all over the place for today's Friday rush. It took me 5 minutes just to get onto the seating plan, not because there was a queue but because every time I clicked on the Buy Tickets button for that performance it took me either to a blank page, or back to the main information page for Swan Lake, or told me my basket was empty (hardly a surprise!), or on one occasion told me I'd exceeded my ticket limit at all membership levels, which is a new error message for me. Since when I finally got onto the seating plan most of the Friday rush tickets were still available I can only assume that other people hadn't been able to get onto it at 1pm either.

Which may as well be the case, given how terrible trains tend to be between any 2 places that aren't London. For instance there is a direct train between Cambridge & Birmingham but it's so slow that it takes about the same amount of time to go from Cambridge down to London & then up to Birmingham.

I had the same reaction, especially at the cinema with the close-ups, not quite so much when I saw him live on Tuesday.

I hope that won't stop him from getting in cast in leading roles as well going forward.

I'd been wondering if there would be any new Von Rothbarts for this run, with Gartside still being out. The answer is yes. https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/43/swan-lake-by-liam-scarlett/cast-list/54702 I hope Braendsrod will be appearing with other casts as well, as I'm not seeing this one.

I see ENB have noted Manon's 50th birthday. https://twitter.com/ENBallet/status/1765764064158863488

Far fewer British Principals? Apart from Sissens, it doesn't feel as though there are many British dancers coming up through the ranks looking like possible potential Principals. Perhaps Leo Dixon, but other than him I'm struggling to think of many obvious contenders.

These are the only photos I can find of her in that dress. I think it looks the same but I'm not certain. Anyone else? 2011 run https://www.flickr.com/photos/royaloperahouse/6419002173/in/album-72157691182819572/ 2019 run https://www.flickr.com/photos/royaloperahouse/49065383852/in/album-72157711190565203/ (Apologies for the double post. I tried to add to my previous post but I ran out of editing time.)

As Cuthbertson's performances this run were only her 7th & 8th in the role (assuming nothing's missing from the ROH database) then it feels like general wear & tear shouldn't be a problem if her dress was new. Of course when she debuted she could have used an older dress that other dancers had used previously, in which case it wearing out could be more likely. I suppose what we need is to find photos of her 2011 debut & photos from this run to see if the dress looks the same!

I wonder why the schedule wasn't arranged so as to have a performance of Manon tonight then? Given there are 2 performances this week it presumably should have been possible. Thanks @Lizbie1, though I'm not sure if it's logic or pedantry!

Shouldn't hers be the oldest, given she's been dancing the role for the longest? (According to the ROH database Cuthbertson debuted in November 2011, Hamilton & Hayward both in September 2014.)

I was not suggesting that the first night casting was misplaced in performance terms, just that it would be nice to be able to read (newspaper) reviews of other casts given Nunez & Muntagirov have been reviewed several times previously.

The ROH have done another tweet about the MacMillan triple bill but I'm not sure it's that helpful in terms of information about the pieces given the text is fairly vague. I suppose at least it's some publicity (I'm not sure if the comments about a lack of social media posts are somewhere on this thread or the booking one).

I meant to say more about last night's performance sooner but I think by now most of what I was going to say has already been said, and doubtless much better, by others. I think the only point I was going to make that no-one else has (that I can see) was Manon's demeanour in the first scene. When she was supposed to be listening to the Old Gentleman's blandishments she already started to look bored & just before he took her over to sit down she was checking out GM in what looked like a calculating "Is he richer than this chap?" sort of way. Having Manon as well as Lescaut eyeing up GM & his wealth in the first scene made her succumbing to his fur coat & necklace in the second scene follow more coherently rather than seeming to come out of nowhere. She was also more obviously interested in Des Grieux in the first scene than many Manons, to the point that when he danced his solo it felt like he might not actually have needed to have done such a lengthy display since she was already pretty interested! Also one more point on Richardson's Des Grieux: I found him very human. That probably sounds like a daft thing to say, but I mean that some Des Grieux can be a bit Romantic Hero stereotype whereas Richardson's seemed more like a fairly ordinary young man who got caught up in less ordinary events that he didn't always know how to deal with, or that he had to deal with by doing things that he didn't want to do. He looked utterly sick at having to cheat at cards and later having to kill the Gaoler.

Then perhaps they should invite all the critics to a performance other than the first night. Otherwise four sets of reviews of the same Principals in the same piece in 6 years doesn't feel like it's that helpful to either contemporary readers or for posterity.

Both of them have also done the Nutcracker Prince, though I suppose it's debabtable if that really counts as a full length lead role when he only appears in Act II! Back to Swan Lake, am I right in thinking this is the fourth first night that Nunez & Muntagirov have done, every one for this production? I know they are two of the best dancers in the classics but I wonder if by now the critics are wishing that they could see someone else?!