FionaM

My thoughts on Coppélia in Münich Saturday 26 October 2019 Sergei Polunin excels in dramatic roles (Mayerling, Spartacus, Manon, Giselle, Marguerite & Armand, Rasputin ..... aa well as the pure classics Swan Lake, La Bayadère, Nutcracker, Don Q, etc) and so it’s been a wonderful year for me to see other facets to him, including the more romantic carefree young Romeo in Johan Kobborg’s R&J in Verona and now his comedic side in Coppélia. And he was very good - great comic timing and fun interplay with Virna Toppi as Swanilda ... along with his usual commitment to the character and technical virtuosity on show too. Virna is a new principal at Bayerische Staatsballett joining from La Scala this season. They were a good partnership as her technique is both secure and accomplished - beautiful lines and arms, turns and jumps, and so she could fully inhabit her role and they could play off each other. The energy and sheer fun they were having in their roles bounded out to the audience. Congratulations to Bayerische Staatsballett in bringing this ballet and this partnership together in Munich 👏 Javier Amo as Dr Coppelius was refined and sad as a man just trying to find a woman to love him. He danced the most wonderful and hilarious waltz with his Coppélia doll (before Swanilda inhabits her). I loved the Roland Petit version for its simple stage design and limited extras. Six friends for Swanilda and just 12 couples of townspeople (ladies) and their military partners. It highlighted for me how cluttered many of the Royal Ballet productions are, with unnecessary extras and invasive stage sets. We are there for the dance and the story - give them space so we can see it. My new mantra 😉 A joyous and uplifting evening of wonderful ballet. As one Munich local alongside me remarked ‘at last a principal dancer to match Sergei’ and ‘we hope he will dance here more often’

You have found some wonderful words to express your impressions, thank you so much.

so thrilled to read this , for both of them 👏👏. I would have loved to see this pairing. Do tell more ....

ok good! it is not easy to be so smooth, calm, unhurried and in sync with the ballerina 👏

Anna Rose O’Sullivan

Absolutely loved the triple bill in cinemas last night. I won’t be able to attend any performances at the ROH so have none to compare to, and thought the entire company were on excellent form. Reference the cinema screenings , I do so wish they would ditch Darcey from presenting ... she is still awful (uncomfortable and messes up, too much giggling) after so many attempts over so many years. Time to move on surely, please. Anyway back to the show, there were so many fabulous performances .... CONCERTO I loved the lively Anna-Rose O’Sullivan, but was disappointed by James Hay who I usually like. I didn’t think he had the same sparkle in his personality, nor clarity of movement nor technical surety that AR did. And he usually does. Mayara Magri was accomplished and confident in the solo role. The second movement is a wow and Yasmine Naghdi brought wonderful serenity to it, but I have seen Marianela Nunez online and she is supreme in this role. I though Ryo Hirano was a classy partner as the role is best if the male partner ‘disappears’. In order to do so the partner’s movements must be seamless and unrushed, and performed calmly to highlight the ballerina. This is not easy to do, and he achieved it, I believe, because no one has mentioned him! ENIGMA VARIATIONS It does help if you take this as a series of vignettes of Elgar’s friends, and are willing to accept it for the period piece it is. The bulky and/or frilly costumes can be a distraction. Francesca Hayward was outstanding as Dorabella - charming and lyrical in a fast paced solo. Other commendations to Calvin Richardson, Luca Acri, Matthew Ball for their clear technique and interpretations. Also enjoyed Bennet Gartside’s Nimrod interpretation. Understated and perfect. RAYMONDA ACT 3 The set was applauded even in my local cinema. Reece Clarke made a fine Hungarian lead, maybe not as showy as a Russian performer would do it, but he is making strides (pun intended) with both his long legs on show and in portraying characters. I was disappointed with Itziar Mendizabal as his partner. Needed someone taller and more demonstrative, I felt. The soloists were all very good. I knew Fumi Kaneko would be - she is just a lovely dancer and so serene. Meaghan Hinkis is usually not my favourite but she was very accomplished and pure technically last night. Claire Calvert was just dreamy, perfect and controlled. Wonderful. Special mention also to Beatriz Stix-Brunel who had soloist roles in all 3 ballets, and did a super job in the different styles. I noticed Isabella Gasparini in the trio - would like to see her taking on more solos. And also noticed Cesar Corrales’ superior technique in the pas de quatre. I liked Natalia Osipova’s interpretation even though I don’t like her technique. I admire her commitment and interpretation. Her personality shines through. And Vadim Muntagirov managed to make Nureyev’s technically difficult choreography look easy. He was obviously enjoying himself, as it seemed were all the cast. Joyous!

There are a couple of short scenes in the shared hotel room, one where it’s implied Nureyev/Ivenko is looking at Soloviev/Polunin’s naked body/bottom (!) and another scene when they are setting up the train set and Nureyev leans on Soloviev who shrugs him off. Polunin fans will be disappointed by how little there is to see of him in this movie. As you say he is in a few scenes, but most are short and he has little to do as the focus rightly is on Nureyev and his story. It’s an interesting movie to understand Nureyev’s motivation, and also as a reminder of the restrictions on Soviet people at the time.

yes sorry don’t know what I was thinking there, I did know that!

Was Olesya Novikova in Akimov’s class? I thought I saw her? (She would classify as a first soloist that dances principal roles. Should be a principal if not for politics.)

I am so sorry autocorrect kept changing it and I did not notice the final version. Thanks for spotting it and for the information. #learningallthetime

Thank you for confirming my thought. I have been wondering whether the Allash class was pre-recorded as I saw Elizaveta Kokoreva in the class and I know she was in Yekaterinburg that evening to dance Don Q pdd with Leonid Sarafanov as part of Sergei Polunin’s tour.

Really enjoyed the Roland Petit COPPÉLIA in Munich last night. It is a treat .... as it has so much dancing for the lead couple. Only 1.5 hours long plus an interval and you will not feel short-changed. Joyous. Javier Amo was a delightful Dr Coppélius - portraying both brilliantly comedic moments and a sad older man just wanting someone to love him. Maria Baranova, new principal at BSB previously principal at Finnish National Ballet, was delightful with secure technique. https://instagram.com/mariaelisabaranova?igshid=vpka95e5yo69 Stand-out performance of the night was Dmitrii Vyskubenko. Only 21 and already a first soloist with BSB. Lovely comedic talent and beautiful lines, jumps and spins. One to watch. He’s already debuted as Jack in Wheeldon’s Alice, Lensky in Onegin amongst others. You can sense his trajectory 😉 https://instagram.com/ballet_force_97?igshid=1d5yq195mnqpj

First soloists at Bolshoi dance principal roles almost exclusively, so I consider them in the same bracket. Unlike at RB where first soloists do principal roles occasionally and soloist roles more often. So in Akimov’s class we saw Ovcharenko, Belyakov, Tsvirko, Motta Soares and Anna Tikhimorova. As well as others in Alkash class that I am not familiar with. I think that’s a pretty good representation as any that performed on the previous night couldn’t be expected to be in class at 10am .... an hour earlier than usual. There obviously is a timing overlap of the normal day between Bolshoi and RB. The organisers of WBD need to have a rethink about timings. My suggestion would be to show pre-recorded rehearsals ahead of classes at normal time, and then a few live rehearsals afterwards.

I only saw a brief section of the Akimov class and noticed principals/first soloists Artem Ovcharenko, Anna Tikhimorova and David Motta Soares. There may have been more - it switched over to the Allash class and also I’m not so familiar with all the faces. Was Lantratov there too?

I use this list from ROH website to help choose: Saturday 18 January at 1.30pm Cuthbertson*, Soares#, Hinkis, Donnelly*, Mock* (Tatiana, Onegin, Olga, Lensky, Prince Gremin) Saturday 18 January at 7pm Osipova, Muntagirov*, Hayward*, Ball, Avis Tuesday 21 January at 7.30pm Nuñez, Hirano*, Takada, Edmonds, Clarke* Friday 24 January at 7.30pm Naghdi*, Bonelli, O’Sullivan*, Sissens*, Gartside Friday 7 February at 7.30pm Osipova, Muntagirov, Hayward, Ball, Avis Saturday 8 February at 7.30pm Nuñez, Hirano, Takada, Edmonds, Clarke Wednesday 12 February at 7.30pm Osipova, Muntagirov, Hayward, Ball, Avis Friday 21 February at 7.30pm Naghdi, Bonelli, O’Sullivan, Sissens, Gartside Saturday 22 February at 7pm Cuthbertson, Soares, Hinkis, Donnelly, Mock Monday 24 February at 7.30pm Naghdi, Bonelli, O’Sullivan, Sissens, Gartside Thursday 27 February at 7.30pm Nuñez, Hirano, Takada, Edmonds, Clarke Saturday 29 February at 7.30pm Cuthbertson, Soares, Hinkis, Donnelly, Mock Lots of debuts *

I’d be interested in views of which cast to see in Onegin. I am interested in seeing Thiago Soares as I assume he is retiring from principal dancing soon ...

It’s disappointing to hear that the RB orchestra/conducting is sub-standard. Our brilliant dancers deserve better.

thank you. Very helpful. Both could be cut in my opinion!

Regarding the music, it seemed to me that there have been a few extra ‘pieces of music’ unrelated to the MANON score spliced in inbetween scenes. One was before the bedroom pdd in Act 1 and one before the gaoler’s pdd in Act 3. They seemed to be there to allow the scene changes to happen but were not really needed. Anyone have any info on this?

personally MG didn’t work for me either, but at least he can do the lifts. He looks great in videos elsewhere. Don’t know why ROH seemed to stifle him. I’d like to see him do Onegin with Osipova. I can’t see that Vadim is up to doing that role yet. Happy to be proved wrong. (sorry - going off topic)

I watched the double Manon showing yesterday ... I had booked the matinee ages ago, and then stayed for the evening on a whim. I’ll start with the worst ... imagine the killing of the gaoler scene as follows: David Hallberg as Des Grieux .. oh-shock-horror ... hand-over-mouth ... look-what-I-have-done .... in a ham acting way .... and then next moment all prissy upright dancing. I nearly guffawed out loud it was so awful. I noticed he (she?) altered some of the Act one bedroom pdd lifts - I assume he hasn’t the strength. His lines are beautiful but it seems to me he has lost lots of muscle tone. The lyrical solos were not musical, no soft extending plies and too many rushed adagio movements and noisy landings. Natalia Osipova was authentic to her interpretation throughout and it was convincing. It may not be true to MacMillan’s original. She is allowed liberties, which may be a good thing? We don’t want to see copycat ‘acting’. But oh for a stronger and more convincing partner for her. Bring back Matthew Golding, Vladimir Shklyarov.... Someone is going to have to tell her that David is undermining her impact. Back to the matinee. It proved to be the dream cast for me. All four main dancers were special. Frankie captivates throughout. Such an exceptional portrayal. She has strong technique (not at the Nuñez level - who does!) but boy can she send over a convincing character journey. The revelation for me was Alexander Campbell - where has he been hiding that super liquid adagio technique? Soundless soft landings, multiple slow turns with control and ease, fully using all the music, high extensions, long lines (yes really ... has to be seen to be believed). Wonderful musicality added to his cute young lover portrayal. Totally convinced by their partnership. So emotional, sigh. As an aside, I thought Nuñez danced a wonderful Manon last weekend too - Bolle really transports her to a better level, although his Des Grieux is beautiful but unemotional. He does try and his beauty carries us along. Almost forgot to write about Cesar Corrales who was utterly brilliant ... superb comedic timing in the drunken solo and pdd and fully immersed in his cunning plans. If I hadn’t been to the matinee I would have been thrilled with Ryo Hirano’s Lescaut. I love his range of emotions - both comedic, conniving and scheming. However, Cesar is technically amazing as well as grabbing one’s attention with his character that he far outshone Ryo and Marci Sambe in this role. I loved all the Lescaut mistresses I’ve seen. Mayara Magri at yesterday’s matinee had the edge, her accomplished technique allows her to enjoy the role and play with her interactions with the other characters. Impressive debut. Claire Calvert (last night) has good comedic timing and expressions and Yuhui Choe (at Nuñez/Bolle performance) was coquettish and had gorgeous sensuous soft arms. Bravo all. Are we not blessed with the best ever character artists? They are all brilliant. I preferred Thomas Whitehead’s M.GM (with Frankie) and can’t chose between Bennett Gartside and Gary Avis as they gaoler. They are so hardworking too, appearing in almost every performance as there are so many roles (the old gentleman, brothel clients) for them, Christopher Saunders, Philip Mosley and others (Enrico Montes I noticed). i will never forget this special matinee performance of Manon. Wonderful. .

agree. I absolutely loved Yuhui’s interpretation, so much more lyrical light and coquettish than others. Such beautiful soft flowing arms. Brava 🌟👏

There were parallel streams last year, in addition to subsections within the main host sections. I can recommend running multiple devices simultaneously ... if your WiFi can cope... to see the dancers / rehearsals you prefer. Personally I’ve found the RB school section too bland and usually switch over at that point.

Poor poor Steven McRae. My heart goes out to him. He is having a very tough time having been out for so long with multiple surgeries and now another injury on his first performance back. Reminds me of David Hallberg’s calf injury in Giselle on his first performance at ROH after 2 years out. There can be a better future 🤞 Thrilled to hear of how wonderful Akane was (she is perfect IMO) and also of how good was James Hay’s interpretation of Lescaut. I agree he has been under utilised from my first seeing him replacing Steven McRae in Les Lutins 10 years ago in Cuba. So talented. My congratulations to Reece for stepping in, though the height difference between Akane and Reece is rather incongruous. Surely one of the other ‘smaller’ principals could have been on standby. I believe that is what other theatres (eg Mariinsky) do.

Wed design agency might be based in Bristol? I did get this response to my feedback that a calendar was of the utmost urgency .... “Thanks for your feedback on the calendar. We are aware of the need for it and we're working on redesigning it for the new platform as we speak.“