librarianne

For me, the highlight of last night were Ball and Hayward, who I thought were both excellent, not only technically but also artistically. I also think Ball would make a great Onegin and I hope he will have an opportunity next time. Clarke was better than I expected him to be in this role, and I think he has potential to become a great Onegin, but I don't feel he is quite there yet. At times, I felt he looked like a caricature of Onegin, rather than a real person. And Onegin - despite all his arrogance - is a very human character. I didn't feel that Clarke managed to convey that well, especially in Acts I and II. Nunes was impeccable in her technique, but I found her Tatiana stiff and unconvincing in Acts I and II. She didn't look young or vulnerable or in love, and her interactions with Onegin just felt wrong. There should be awkwardness there but not a lack of emotion. She was much better in Act III, especially with Avis who was great. Overall, it was a mixed experience for me. Truly great Lensky and Olga, but they weren't enough to make this a memorable performance.

Fair enough, I should refrain from judging him until I've seen him as Onegin (which I am hoping to be able to do this run) and not let my experience of seeing him in other roles bias my opinion. Part of the problem, I think, is that I have a rather rigid idea of what Onegin is like - hopefully, seeing a couple of different casts this time will let me see it from another angle.

I thought Naghdi would be good as Tatiana, but reading these amazing reviews makes me regret not booking for her debut. I will definitely try to see her in February! She has always been a beautiful dancer, but it's great to see her also doing so well in a more dramatic role. To be honest, I've never been a fan of Bonelli and really can't see him as Onegin, but who knows, maybe he'll surprise me!

Pushkin never specified how old Gremin was and his interaction with Onegin right before he saw Tatiana again would suggest they were fairly close in age. My guess would be he is around 40.

It is in anticipation of Onegin that I decided to write my first post (having been an avid reader of this forum for quite some time). Onegin is among my favourite books, so my interest in the ballet is very much grounded in my love of the book. While I have read it many times, I have only seen the ballet once, a few years ago in Paris, so I am very much looking forward to seeing RB perform it in a few weeks' time. For me, in Onegin it's all about casting and characterisation. Of course, quality of dancing is important, but if I had to choose between between a perfectly danced but not so well cast/characterised performance and the opposite, I would choose the latter every time. (Although that would not be the case for most other ballets.) And the roles of Tatiana and Onegin are, of course, the key. Unless these two characters have the right balance of the right qualities (Tatiana, shy but intense; Onegin, jaded and sarcastic but with a touch of nobility underneath), the story, for me, stops making sense. For this run, I booked Osipova/Muntagirov, purely because of the reviews of Osipova's performance last time. I was debating between her and Naghdi (I may still try to go and see her as I think she may be really good in this role), and unfortunately Onegin wasn't really a factor as I couldn't see either Muntagirov or Bonelli in this role. And now Muntagirov has been replaced with Clarke and I am even less keen... To be honest, I don't think he currently has the acting skills to pull it off, although I really hope he will prove me wrong. While there are a few ballerinas I would like to see in the role, I don't really see any male RB dancers as a good fit for Onegin. But if I had to choose, I would probably pick Ball, purely based on his Rudolf in Mayerling. Well, maybe next time...