theorist

This is a revival of David Dawson's 2016 production for SB. The plot is stripped down almost to vanishing point. Siegfried isn't a prince, his mother doesn't make an appearance and there isn't a crossbow (or any other swan-shooting device). There is no von Rothbart. The non-swan characters wear modern dress (men in T-shirts, complete with sweat marks) and the swans wear leos (no tutus or tights). Act 1 consists of uneventful dancing round at Benno's place, with Siegfried looking a bit mournful from time to time. In Act 2 he meets Odette and the other swans, although there's nothing I could see to suggest that it's at a lake; at the end of the act she gives him a broach. In Act 3 we're back at Benno's, where Siegfried dances unenthusiastically with three women, then enthusiastically with Odile (no fouettés), who has turned up with 4 masked minders; without von Rothbart it's unclear who the minders work for; the nearest to a national dance is when they dance to the Spanish music; at the end of the act Siegfried gives Odile Odette's broach. Act 4 is back at the not-quite lake, where Siegfried expresses his regret to Odette for giving away her broach. With no von Rothbart to defeat, the climactic music doesn't have much on stage to climax about, although the 10-swan corps runs around a lot in a (largely unsuccessful) attempt to create some drama. The choreography contains a fair number of lifts for Siegfried (as is Dawson's wont) but I found it otherwise unmemorable and samey. The music was played well, and it was good to see Sophie Martin again (former SB principal now at Karlsruhe but back guesting with SB for this production).

I am very grateful to those who have voiced on this thread their disappointment with much of the 24/25 programme. I find it therapeutic to know that I am not alone. I certainly don't envisage going to the ROH as often as in previous seasons. I'll just have to spend much of my time looking forward to the Balanchine triple, I suppose.

A quote from Gramilano's review of a performance of Jewels: "The English opera director Anthony Besch once told me that lifting the tabs on a predominantly red set was a guarantee of applause."

Ditto Jewels, on one occasion I remember, for all three acts.

I think Maddison Pritchard replaced Chisato Katsura in Danses Concertantes tonight.

The page on the ROH website for the second Ashton mixed bill is strikingly uninformative. For instance, it doesn't say who composed any of the music for the programme, except that Brahms is unavoidably mentioned as he is in the title of the piece. I'm inclined to think that a more informative "background" section on the webpage might help to sell tickets.

The ROH has just posted on Facebook that the Dante Project is a "brand new ballet". Who writes this stuff?

This conforms to my impression of last night's performance by Osipova. I was sitting closer than I usually do to the stage (Stalls Row E) and from there her performance came across at times as a sort of triumph of will. She was very evidently nervous during the Rose Adage. I was also struck later on by a larger than usual number of alterations to the choreography I am familiar with. (I'm not referring to the variations and codas, where alterations to suit individual dancers are relatively common, but to the main pas de deux.) I'm used to the fact that she's an idiosyncratic dancer, and in some roles that's what makes her so watchable. But in the classics the scope for idiosyncracy is inevitably more limited. Elsewhere on stage there was much to enjoy. I loved Olivia Cowley's facial gestures as Carabosse, although I'd be interested to know how many of them carried to the Amphi. And Mullova-Barley lit up the stage as the Lilac Fairy.

Alas, last night's showing at the Edinburgh Cameo was cancelled for technical reasons, By the time I had got my refund it was too late to get to another cinema.

I was at yesterday's matinee too. I agree with many, but not all, of the comments. I agree that the choreography in Act IV is excellent, certainly better than Scarlett's for RB. And I like that the princesses get solos in Act III (although I don't think their interactions with the Prince are well handled). I'm much less sure about Act I, which seems to me to be confused. I think that Rothbart's costume looks like something a harassed parent might cobble together for their child's dress-up-at-school day. However, I think the white make-up is rather effective: indeed I would have preferred it if he hadn't had a helmet at all.

I was at the opening night on Monday. The choreography struck me much as I remember it from the last time I saw it. There is a fair amount to enjoy, e.g. the interesting season fairy solos and the use of the corps in the ballroom scene. The step-sisters irritated me rather more than I recalled from last time, probably because (like some Widow Simones I have seen) they played it too much for pantomime-dame laughs. The new production (set, costumes, lighting, special effects) I thought mostly very disappointing. I found the season fairy soloists' costumes particularly rebarbative.

The Opera North website has an announcement of a staged production of Mozart's Requiem at the Leeds Grand next May in collaboration with Phoenix Dance Theatre...to be directed and choreographed by none other than Dane Hurst. https://www.operanorth.co.uk/whats-on/mozart-requiem/

I thought it a woefully vapid production.

Has Pajdak been injured recently? I don't think I've seen her on stage for quite some time.

The orchestra was heavily amplified throughout, which I found extremely alienating, especially as I was in the Stalls: it was very difficult to get emotionally involved in music that seemed to be coming from somewhere above my head. It wasn't at all clear to me why it was felt necessary to amplify at all. Perhaps the singer needed amplification for purposes of balance, but why the whole orchestra? If you go to West End musicals a lot, you may be inured to this, but I confess that I am not. The score also seemed in the most part very bland and repetitive to me. As others have indicated, if you've seen Act 2 of Winter's Tale, you'll know what to expect. As for the choreography, there were some superb moments, including the ending, but there were also longeurs (although perhaps for me these were more the fault of the music). I found the characters somewhat uninvolving.

I'm not suggesting that there is only one orchestral balance that's "right". Different conductors can sometimes bring refreshingly different approaches. On the other hand, my choice of the word "odd" (rather than just "different") gives you an idea of what I thought on this occasion.

I was at last Wednesday's performance, conducted by Jonathan Lo. (The pre-Christmas performances were conducted by Koen Kessels or Barry Wordsworth.) I was sitting at the back of the stalls, which I usually find is the best place for listening to the music.At many points in the performance (not just the Waltz of the Snowflakes, where current performance limitations obviously make a difference) the orchestral balance sounded very odd indeed to me. Did anyone else have the same experience, either on that occasion or another with the same conductor?

Annoying for many reasons, not least (for me) that although I'll not be out of pocket for the theatre ticket, I will for my pre-booked train ticket for tomorrow, which it is now too late to cancel. Oh well...

She is listed as Moyna on the cast sheet for the Schools Matinee, but not subsequently as far as I can see.

Does the "we" here refer to all the moderators? Comments that are specifically about mask wearing at performances of R&J in the current run at the ROH seem to me to be clearly within the scope of a discussion thread on performances of R&J in the current run at the ROH.

I went to "Creature" yesterday. Both in the foyer beforehand and in the auditorium only about 10% of the audience wore masks. This was despite an email sent out the previous day saying that "we strongly recommend and encourage" mask wearing. I mention this because some others on this forum have expressed concern about returning to theatres and I wouldn't want such people to feel reassured by reading the stated policy of the theatre, as it doesn't match the reality. If you don't want to sit next to unmasked people, don't go. I was particularly struck by this because I have been in Scotland throughout the summer, where of course mask wearing is still mandatory in shops, theatres, trains, buses, etc. At the last concert I went to there, the ushers requested people to put their masks on if not exempt as they entered the auditorium. The result was 100% compliance. There was no similar request made by ushers at Sadler's Wells. The tannoy announcement when the lights went down did request people to "keep wearing" their masks throughout the performance, but since very few people were wearing them in the first place, the "keep" seemed inappropriate. (It's also the case that the practice at Sadler's Wells of encouraging people to buy drinks at the bar and take them into the auditorium gives anyone who doesn't want to wear a mask a convenient figleaf.)

Some others have praised "Anemoi" highly. I thought some of the pas de deux work danced by Mariko Sasaki was exquisite, and the shapes created by the corps at the back of the stage towards the end were inspired. (I suspect they would have looked even better from a seat lower in the auditorium.) But overall structure of the ballet seemed to me to be too disjointed: dancers come on for a few seconds, then disappear into the wings to be replaced by other dancers doing something different. No mood is established for long enough that we the audience can begin to share it.I was a little unsure what to make of "Morgen" on a first viewing. The music is ravishingly beautiful, but I am uncertain what role the male dancer is supposed to be playing."Winter Dreams" is one of my least favourite ballets in the Royal's heritage repertoire. There is not enough interesting choreography for the running time, and none of the Chebutykins I have seen (Avis, Whitehead, Saunders) has been able to make his supposedly comic entanglement with a chair anything other than grimly unfunny. I wondered whether perhaps the pas de deux without its surrounding longeurs might be worth seeing. However, there is always a risk in extracting an emotional pas de deux from its context, and on this occasion I felt that although Nunez and Muntagirov were good, the piece fell flat.Every time I have seen it I have thought "After the rain" was utterly lovely. Kaneko and Bonelli did not disappoint.. Magri threw everything she has at "Woman with water" and it entertained well enough, although I'm not sure how many viewings it would sustain.O'Sullivan and Sambé delivered "Voices of Spring" with the charm we have come to expect from them.The final act of "Beauty" suffered a little from the scaling back of the surrounding retinue, which reduced the sense of occasion. In the Bluebird pas Magri and Acri looked a little ragged at times. I greatly enjoyed Hayward and Campbell in the grand pas. Hayward, in particular, adopted a rather unshowy manner which came across well.

One thing I appreciated about this show was that although the other dancers in the auditorium applauded each piece vociferously, they always waited until it had ended. If only other audiences would do the same.

I've just watched it twice. Really enjoyed it. Very well edited. And good to see so many of the Royal Ballet dancers involved.

In previous runs, with Avis or Gartside as Gremin, I remember being very moved by the pd2 with Tatiana. Not, I'm afraid, with Brændsrød this evening, when I saw little tenderness on display.