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Jamesrhblack

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  1. Jamesrhblack
    There’s a sadly valedictory tone to the Ballet Association interview with Laura Morera, and a sense of real hurt too, whilst Sarah Lamb isn’t appearing during the Summer season, although I understand she is scheduled to be dancing elsewhere. Also surprised re Bracewell and even more so re Clarke, as although he has had a recent promotion, he has danced more of the principal roles in the Classics with the Royal Ballet than Corrales, although I would imagine that a speedy promotion was part of his starting as a First Soloist having been a Principal at ENB agreement. However, congratulations to all, and particularly pleased re Fumi Kaneko, Nicol Edmonds and Joseph Sissens.
  2. Jamesrhblack
    I would hope to see Fumi Kaneko promoted. Indeed, I was surprised that this didn’t happen after the cinema screening of The Sleeping Beauty.
  3. Jamesrhblack
    Bergsma was also Stella in the ROH’s Schlesinger production of The Tales of Hoffmann. And today is her birthday 🙂
  4. Jamesrhblack
    No, the ROH production La Clemenza di Tito in which Bergsma was Berenice was first performed in 1974... Are you thinking of Death in Venice? That was premiered in 1973.
  5. Jamesrhblack
    It’s a mime role, not included in the libretto but sometimes introduced to help clarify the story. Deanne Bergsma took the role in the 1974 production at the ROH.
  6. Jamesrhblack
    Thanks. Clarke is listed in the second cast so it must be replacing Edmonds...
  7. Jamesrhblack
    Goodness, she’d only just hit back for Dances last time hadn’t she....
  8. Jamesrhblack
    Pajdak and, especially, Campbell too
  9. Jamesrhblack
    No Sarah Lamb in WTGH or DAG and no Tierney Heap either... Can anybody remember who Teo Debreuil is taking over from in the second cast of DAG? I’ve tried some googling but can’t find details of the 2020 second cast...
  10. Jamesrhblack
    At a personal level, I’m delighted that one of the six is on my management roster ...
  11. Jamesrhblack
    Listening to the Merle Park reminds me that my Pa sent me a cassette of this broadcast when I was away at Choir School. I’d never heard any Andrew Lloyd Webber before, whilst the Finlandia was a revelation (turned out my Mama loved it) and I was most taken with the Kwela Joe 🙂
  12. Jamesrhblack
    Thanks for these links. I greatly enjoyed listening to Patricia Ruanne, who had a gloriously eclectic choice of music, and spoke with a sardonic elegance and eloquence that was a joy to hear. Happy memories of her glamour on stage too. Will explore further anon...
  13. Jamesrhblack
    Enjoyed this very much. I thought that Anna-Rose O’Sullivan was showing a new maturity in her style (I mean that as a positive) and I concur with the approval for Leo Dixon. Very interesting to hear Christopher Saunders talking about some of the issues of partnering. Good to see the lovely Romany Pajdak. Has any other dancer made her debut as Clara having been the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet? I think she is a most lovely artist who has taken a long time to find any sort of prominence but I am not entirely sure that management quite knows what to do with her particular talents. For what it is worth, I think she’d be a wonderful Larisch and an interesting choice as Giselle.
  14. Jamesrhblack
    Thanks
  15. Jamesrhblack
    Thought the new Zucchetti commission was first class. Glorious music, great choreography and a real lift to the spirits to see opportunities giving to the younger generation who all looked fighting fit too. Beautiful work from Fernando Montaño on the Ashton too, and Fumi Kaneko and Reece Clarke on the Marston. Will have to go back and find the Balanchine... Does anybody know if the Zucchetti will be performed in either of the upcoming programmes, if we don’t end up going into lockdown? Hadn’t realised both programmes were on sale so have ended up with tickets for the Elite Syncopations one (not a work I enjoy but important to be supportive) and now trying to justify purchasing the Within the Golden Hour one as well.
  16. Jamesrhblack
    That moved me very much in the theatre and on screen too. From dust we come, to dust we shall return. ”Now of my threescore years and ten, Nine lost months won’t come again, And so, with longing, I implore, Let me watch the dance once more.”
  17. Jamesrhblack
    In the circumstances, should we not all just give thanks that the Royal Ballet was back on stage and that, vicariously, those of us at home were able to enjoy that?
  18. Jamesrhblack
    I’ve read the article and the author’s principal complaint seems to be that David Ross supported Brexit and votes Tory. Neither is a criminal charge, although interpreting them as that is exactly what you’d expect from a Grauniad paper. What would the response have been if the headline had been in The Times as “Labour donor in charge of the ROH.” I fail to see how his appointment can be regarded as “a farce.” Nowhere does the author make reference to the fact that a his Nevill Holt Estate he initially supported Wasfi Kani’s Grange Park Opera ‘Young Artists’ Programme and in 2013 setting up Nevill Holt Opera who are described as having “a clear mission to enrich lives, and empower young people through the power of music and the Arts.” In 2018, he opened a new theatre on the site, designed by Witherford Watson Mann, which has won multiple awards including a RIBA National Award. There’s a stunning horse statue in the grounds too (I won’t attach a photo in case it infringes copyright) It’s just possible that the ROH Board, who may be better informed than many of us on here, or indeed Catherine Bennett, felt that, if nothing else, his combination of artistic experience and proven philanthropy were a good match for the position.
  19. Jamesrhblack
    Yesterday was my first proper trip to London since 12 March. I am attending the Opera Holland Park concert this evening to support three of my artists who are singing and decided to accept an invitation to go to yesterday’s Heart’s Delight concert as well to support friends and colleagues who were performing, as well as OHP who have shown such initiative providing live music opportunities for both performers and audiences. I didn’t have much time at check in to my hotel so literally washed my hands and face, dropped my bag and headed to Holland Park. Returning later after the concert and dinner, I was concerned to find that the duvet cover had stains on it (and this was a reputable Hotel) and asked to move rooms. Face wash, teeth clean and bed. Waking up this morning I was astonished to see on the wall a photograph of the famous statue of David Wall by Enzo Plazzotto on Millbank. He was my hero when I was a Junior Associate at the Royal Ballet School and I was completely astonished at the serendipity of the situation.
  20. Jamesrhblack
    I’m sure the Moderators will advise if I’’m writing inappropriately, but is Fumi Kaneko the most sheerly glamorous ballerina (apart from possibly Tierney Heap) that the Royal Ballet has had since Deirdre Eyden? She’s a ravishingly charismatic dancer of musical and technical abundance but she radiates that something else that is extraordinary to behold.
  21. Jamesrhblack
    He was a lovely dancer. First noticed him in DGV but also particularly liked him in Age of Anxiety, Frankenstein and Symphonic Variations. I’d noticed he’d not been on stage during the curtailed 19/20 season and wondered if he might already have left. Very best wishes to him for his future.
  22. Jamesrhblack
    I’m sure that is the way forward. I thought Ashton’s Act 4 was truly beautiful, although I’ll stand up for LS’s Act 3 Pas de Trois and Spanish Dance (especially for Tierney Heap). One shouldn’t speculate, but does anybody else think we are now unlikely to see Lauren Cuthbertson return to the role of Odette / Odile? Did she ever dance it after those wonderful debut performances with Rupert Pennefather?
  23. Jamesrhblack
    Interesting. Back in my singing days, I can remember a director telling me the trouble she had raising any stage spark from a Figaro and Susanna who were a couple, and later seeing a sensationally full-on Coronation of Poppea where both leads liked each other very much, were very happily married elsewhere and, as a result, were able to go as far as the action needed without any personal compromise at all. It was, indeed, dynamite.
  24. Jamesrhblack
    Many thanks for as typically informed and illuminating response. I always really enjoy reading your thoughts.
  25. Jamesrhblack
    It was an interview in The Stage. Does she therefore not have her sights on La bayadère or Don Quixote?
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