Jamesrhblack

A good turn out in The Rye Kino this afternoon, albeit in the smaller room. The cast sheet being distributed is inaccurate listing both Cuthbertson and Ball for Requiem. 

I have referenced before the original ending: Siegfried tears the crown from Odette’s head, she dies, the waters overcome them, the swans are seen on the lake.

Human aspiration is flawed and fails.

Nureyev had an effort at refashioning this ending and although people quibble at its execution the message of the imagery remains indelible for me, possibly because I saw the film at a young age, but had already seen the ballet in the theatre and been encouraged by my parents to discuss and evaluate what I had seen and found this suited both music and message as I understood them.

I like much of what Scarlett is trying to achieve in Act 4, but agree that a supine SIegfried isn’t the best solution, whilst thinking the final image is a moving one but would be improved without the vision of Odette.

All opinions my own.

3 hours ago, Linnzi5 said:

Yes. The soloists and chorus were beautiful, weren't they? As were the orchestra. Though Sanctus, Pie Jesu and In Paradisum are my favourites musically, I particularly enjoyed the baritone, Josef Jeongmeen Ahn, in Libera Me -  I thought he was absolutely superb. I felt very, very fortunate as well, though I do whenever I attend ROH - my bank balance, not so much! 😂

Delighted you enjoyed Josef’s singing. He’s the latest addition to my General Management roster 🙂

14 minutes ago, RobR said:

Thanks James, and absolutely no need to be respectful, although I appreciate the courtesy, but as I hope I made clear, I’m not overly keen on opera but had thought I should try to see what others get from it and have seen a number of operas that I have enjoyed and two by Mozart, both of which I clearly misunderstood but which offended me, or my sensitivity. 
 

It’s possible that others in the audience, similarly unversed in the nuances of Mozart’s 18th century storylines will also have taken the ‘literal’ approach. 
 

I’m afraid I can’t see the relevance of the comparison with Onegin, and I am familiar with the ballet and, despite considering it further in the light of your comment, have never seen in it any behaviour that I would describe as mysogynistic. 
 

Still, I don’t imagine that we’re going to agree and, for the sake of other OF members (who’ve probably read enough of our views) and in a spirit of detente, perhaps we should leave it there. 

Fair enough. My Onegin reference was not in terms of misogyny but in terms of the wider exploration of the the theme of Cosi fan tutte that sometimes we fall in love with the wrong person and how we deal with that.

2 hours ago, RobR said:

I have to accept that my views on opera may well be naive and that I may have missed the subtleties to which you referred but the thrust of my poorly made point is a concern about the way, in the opera, the two poor heroines' emotions are manipulated for the sake of a bet.

 

They are told that their beloved men have to go war. This is a 'humorous' ruse and the men go nowhere near a war.

 

The women do not receive any message(s) from the beaux for whom they are pining. Nor, in accordance with the bet, do the two men feel the need to send any message. 

 

The two men (manipulated by the obnoxious rake) return to the presence of the two women. They are heavily disguised and, for the sake of the bet, are happy for the rake and his assistant to try to persuade each of the heroines to give succour (I assumed both physical and emotional) to the 'other' beau rather than their own.

 

Each woman is bereft and very upset at what is happening yet their emotions are manipulated to cause each greater distress and the rake and the beaux seem entirely happy to pile indignity and stress onto the women they profess to love and cherish.

 

When I saw it, my prevailing feeling was not what a comic caper the plot is, not that in betting against the rake the beaux are defending their loves but that this 'comic' plot displays no sympathy for the feelings of the manipulated women and is, accordingly, abusive and misogynistic. 
 

You are entirely right about the fact that I didn’t get the subtleties of the plot.

Again, with respect, I think you are taking an overtly literal approach to a plot which is an examination of human emotion. One thing that the music seems to make very clear is that the relationship between Fiordiligi and Ferrando has an intimacy and reciprocity that it is not there with her original lover and Mozart’s music shows that he has every sympathy with Fiordiligi’s situation.

Don’t forget also that the sisters are encouraged by their maid Despina to amuse themselves whilst their men are away before Don Alfonso introduces Ferrando and Guglielmo in disguise. As she, to paraphrase, says, “Have some fun while they’re away. You can bet they will be.” Is that also “abusive and misogynistic?”

Sometimes, we fall in love with the wrong person. And, sometimes, we find an accommodation with that. Tatyana in Eugene Onegin loves Onegin but keeps her marriage vow. Sometimes, we don’t, which is a fact of human existence. Is it significant that the couples “in disguise” match the opposite way to their original pairings? Sometimes, deep down, we long for what we cannot have.

Is it not one of the values of art that it enables us to explore and discuss these things? If everything were “just as it ought to be,” whatever that might be, would it actually be a true reflection of human reality?

The plot of The Magic Flute is, indeed, a problem, not helped by the fact that the librettist seemed to switch tack about a third ot the way into Act One with the moral positions of the principal antagonists, the Queen of the Night and Sarastro, switching.

Così fan tutte is a different matter and the plot is, with respect, much more subtle than presented above. It may start from a male assumption that women are emotionally vulnerable, but, by the end, has shown that both men and women are emotionally vulnerable; that as human beings we make assumptions about relationships that are not necessarily sustainable; and that love is a complex issue. For me, it is one of the most fascinating operas in the repertoire, and there’s nothing misogynistic in the music Mozart writes for Fiordiligi in ‘Per pietà’ or ‘Fra gli amplessi.’

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

I think the wig is for the ringlets and to reflect the original Titania's hair colouring. Of course, they could do the ringlets in different hair colours- would have to get permission  from the rights holder, Anthony Dowell.

In Recollections of a Ballerina, Antoinette Sibley writes,

”I had a wig but Fred wasn’t happy with that so I dyed my hair green…Yes, the first night I wore my own hair dyed green.”

Yes, delighted to see Romany Pajdak returning, although a single performance looks ominous. Essentially pleased with my castings (Kaneo, Muntagirov for Les Rendezvous and Hayward, Sambé for Dream in Programme 1; In Programme 2, I think Osipova may bring out some of the feral wildness that Sibley used to bring to Titania, Bracewell is always a pleasure, and delighted to see Pajdak. Would have preferred Hayward, Bracewell for Hamlet and Ophelia and am getting Magri, Acri twice in Rhapsody but with a programme like this the choreography is the thing above all else). Great opportunities for Sae Maeda, Taisuke Naka and Daichi Ikarashi.

4 minutes ago, Roberta said:

 

Copy and paste the text?  

I've scanned and uploaded as a PDF. I hope it works...

AshtonCasting.pdf

Just hand an email from ROH with the Ashton Casting, but not sure how to share it on here...

The original scenario has Odette dying in Siegfried’s arms and Siegfried drowning with the last image being of the swans on the lake which is what Nureyev sought to emulate. Ultimately, Siegfried fails as, however inadvertently, he breaks his vow. As with Orpheus. The confrontation of our own mortal inadequacy in the face of temptation and challenge is humbling. I’m not fond of Scarlett’s Prologue as I think it diminishes the impact of Odette’s entrance and I think there are incongruities within his revised scenario that might well have been ironed out if he lived to supervise a revival. I’m writing from recollections of 2020 and 2022 as not seeing a performance until June, and agree that a prone Siegfried for much of Act 4 doesn’t work, but I think his effort to match the originally intended tragic failure an imaginative solution as the music returns to the hammering B’s of the Swans’ B Minor theme (although I could do without a spirit Odette rising up). All opinions my own.

Which is where Alexander Campbell, and before that Laura Morera, always seemed to be so particularly special.

Although Lescaut is a principal role created by David Wall. He and Anthony Dowell used to alternate the roles of Lescaut and des Grieux …

“…the anguished facial expression was there but the movement itself felt more contained and so didn’t ‘speak’ the turmoil as effectively.”

That’s such a good observation. It is when the dance is expressive not just the face that the art form “sings.” 

30 minutes ago, Scheherezade said:

First thing that came to mind. 

Undoubtedly. As with Laura Morera…

32 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

That was in my wider list if I was allowed 8 roles instead of 3, Fonty  😉-  Franz, Colas, Hans-Peter, Brown Boy, Troyte, Oberon, Young Man in Two Pigeons, Mercutio.  I liked the fact that he changed his Franz slightly when he covered for McRae (who was injured) to partner Hayward.

 

With Morera they were like a funny bickering long-time couple and he was constantly trying to get back into her good books after she caught him out, but you knew they were destined to be together, while with Hayward whose Swanilda was different to Morera's he was more the carefree young lad who thought flirting was harmless but became more responsible and tender when they got married. I must admit Morera and Campbell's Swanilda and Franz, and their Titania and Oberon, are among my all time  favourite  performances. 🪜 🧚‍♀️ 

His Romeo with Naghdi was astonishing: the curtain came down in shocked silence. His Des Grieux, not just this last week, exemplary. Albrecht, Florimund, Colas, Young Man (Two Pigeons), Lescaut all superb. Brown Boy in Dances, one for the ages. Basilio was pretty good too. As with Morera, I will never understand why such a complete dance actor, with a virtuoso technique, was not allowed to explore the whole repertoire. 

1 hour ago, lady emily said:

 

Troyte: so brief but the epitome of excellence!

 

It was hard to multi-task! 

And turning to the left. I actually cannot think of a role that he didn’t illuminate…

Beautiful photos indeed. Wonderful souvenirs of a very emotional, but also heart-warming evening. The feeling was palpable in the auditorium: here was an artist not only admired and respected by his colleagues and audience but loved too. 

An exceptionally moving performance last night, emotion heightened by the fact that it was my penultimate opportunity to see one of my five favourite dancers of the last ten years in what I think one of his best roles (although, favouritism apart, I can’t think I have ever thought him other than outstanding in everything I have seen him do) in one of my two favourite full length works in The Royal Ballet repertoire.

I have a ticket for Friday, so will write more after that, but realise how lucky I am to be seeing his last two performances, just as I was lucky to see Laura Morera (another of those five) in her last two Giselles.

On both occasions, quite by chance, each was dancing with the partner with whom they seemed to have the closest onstage connection: Morera with Federico Bonelli (another of those five), Campbell with Francesca Hayward.

And a shout out for Valentino Zucchetti: it was great to see him back on stage and in such viciously scintillating form.

For me, a deeply affecting dance-actor (which is not to mitigate his virtuoso technique), a superb partner, a wonderfully musical performer, amongst my four or five favourite Royal Ballet dancers of the last ten years. 

6 hours ago, Beaker said:

Hopefully catch you later (short, blonde and most likely in a green dress 😁)

Really enjoyed chewing the cud with you in the intervals. Thanks for saying hello

6 minutes ago, Beaker said:

@Jamesrhblack - I will be there this evening. I used to be on the forum many, many moons ago but this is my first ballet in 12 years ( hoping the first of many). Be very happy to say hi ( but equally not offended if not as my ballet knowledge is definitely dated …😁) 

hi, I’ll lurk with intent in that corner of the Hamlyn Hall. Blue jacket, white jumper, glasses and quite possibly a red wine too 🍷

Will any Forum members be present this evening and, if so, is there an accustomed place to say hello?

As in, I have a Grand Tier ticket for tomorrow evening for sale, as managed to secure two returns for 8 March…

Managed to get two tickets for 8 March and now have 1 Grand Tier for 2 March if anybody wants to pm me.