Jamesrhblack

6 minutes ago, RobR said:

Well, am I glad I had a ticket!

Tonight's cast were terrific and the dancing/acting of all the cast and particularly Vadim, Yasmin, Fumi and Itzi will linger long in my memory - they were all that good. 

 

Apart from the debutant(e)s mentioned above there were about twenty debuts including; David Donnelly, David Yudes, Teo Dubreil, Lukas BB, Nadia Mullova-Barley, Julia Roscoe and, with apologies to anyone I’ve omitted, others. 
 

They really were that good. 
 

 

 

And Samantha Price …

I’d agree with Dawnstar that tonight wasn’t perfect (with so many debuts I guess it was always going to be work in progress) but it was very moving. I’ll be bold enough to state that Fumi Kaneko (even en debut, multi-faceted, glamorous, cynical, scheming, heart-broken), Isabella Gasparini (a Stephanie who fought back), Itziar Mendizabal, David Yudes and Claire Calvert (a MacMillan dancer with Ashtonian épaulement) were about as good as you’d hope to see with a dazzling quartet of Officers led by William Bracewell too. Yasmine Naghdi had an unfortunate stumble in Act 2 which, understandably, seemed to throw her and I didn’t think her Vetsera achieved lift off, although her brooding, obsessive intensity suggested a different take on the character that will reap richer rewards on another evening. Vadim Muntagirov was more Slavonic melancholy than monster which made for some memorably moving moments. His sheer physical agony became ever more palpable and there’s a thrill to seeing the sheer splendour of his physical execution of choreography created for a great dance actor who was also in his day no technical slouch. The whole of the last Act gripped me and tears were shed more than once. 

55 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

Samantha Price as Katherina Schratt (I think she might also be debuting?).

Indeed she is 🌺

1 hour ago, RobR said:

Very much looking forward to Vadim’s debut as Rudolf tonight 

Am in a huge state of excited anticipation: the pictures of this cast on Flickr are so beautiful and, in addition to the announced principals, I am so pleased that Hannah Grennell is Louise, as well as looking forward to my artist’s debut as Katharina Schratt.

I’m not entirely sure that Aurora, Lise or Titania work as “pretty” either. Petipa’s choreography for Aurora shows her growing into a woman; Lise is headstrong; and Sibley has been very clear in interviews that Titania is a very sensual, wilful being, all borne out in the choreography.

I can’t buy into the notion of Vetsera as a young innocent either historically (she was apparently known as the “Turf Angel” and Rudolf was not her first lover despite her young age) or in MacMillan’s ballet. Yes, the choreography shows her being “groomed” by Larisch, but she turns up for a first private assignation with a coat thrown over her nightdress (which is, apparently, historically accurate) and pulls a gun on her new beau fairly early on in their encounter for a start…

10 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

 

Because you've clearly seen far, far more Mayerlings than I have so I think your reaction is far more valid than mine.

 

Yesterday I spent some time looking up most of the Mayerling historical personalities. While I had assumed that MacMillan had taken some artistic licence with reality, I didn't realise he'd taken quite so much artistic licence! Finding out Archduchess Sophie had actually died nearly a decade before Prince Rudolf's marriage was certainly a surprise.

Not at all. Each artistic response has its validity. Indeed, a fresh one may have more validity than that of an old lag.

There are a couple of interesting books around the scandal at Mayerling. Greg King and Penny Wilson’s Twilight of Empire is very well researched and reaches conclusions that may surprise those of us whose greatest awareness of this part of history had hitherto been via the ballet.

As with Anastasia, I think MacMillan isn’t necessarily looking for historical accuracy but is using episodes with an historical origin more widely to explore themes that interested him, such as identity and the outsider. Shakespeare and Schiller have similar approaches in their own history plays.

Why apologise? As my first sentence makes clear, I find it interesting to see the completely different reactions of people to the same performance. And I acknowledged that I was probably in a minority.

It’s always interesting to see how different people react to a performance. I was impressed at Steven McRae’s partnering (the Stephanie pas de deux was gasp inducing) and I thought his world-weary, brooding interpretation much more nuanced than the 2018 broadcast but with Sarah Lamb I felt he was operating in a vacuum. She is, of course, an exquisite dancer but everything seemed too safe, too controlled, even calculated. I’m probably in a minority here as the audience cheered them to the echo but for me it was the least moving Mayerling I have ever seen. I’d agree with the praise for James Hay, a most beautiful dancer and stage presence, and was also very taken with Annette Buvoli’s Elisabeth. However, this afternoon the only moment that tugged at my heart strings was Larisch’s realisation that Rudollf was lost to her, danced with passionate abandon by Yasmine Naghdi in a role that suits her onstage sophistication and elegance very well indeed. 

In case anyone remains interested, Naghdi not only wore gloves to the Emperor’s birthday party, but made a point of pulling them up as she entered…

I can’t properly speak for Steven McRae’s Rudolf as I’ve not seen him dance the role live, other than that I found his cinema performance in 2018 rather one-dimensional. However, such a huge role can only grow with further performances and it’s good to read the positive words above.

More importantly, I have nothing but the highest admiration for an artist of relatively slight stature and build coming back from major injury with the sheer strength and stamina to master a role that makes such enormous physical as well as emotional demands of the dancer.

2 hours ago, Sim said:

I liked her.  A lovely clear voice with excellent diction.  I also liked the way she moved around the stage instead of standing still the whole time.  It made it very obvious who she was singing to.  

Good to read these positive words about one of the artists I represent. The other mezzo, Samantha Price, is also JBM 🎼

7 hours ago, Emeralds said:

There also seems to be a trend now of giving the role of Marie Larisch to a soloist or principal early in their career and giving them the role of Mary Vetsera some seasons later, which is rather baffling as they’re now older when they dance Vetsera who is a 17 year old teen. The choreography for Mary Vetsera is very athletic which does suit a younger dancer, and the acting for Larisch is more complex than that for Mary Vetsera, as Larisch can’t rely on a lot of props like the gun, skull and letter to convey her emotions, so I would have thought it suited an older dancer. 

 

I know some dancers are alternating both roles, and that MV is supposed to be the “star” role opposite Rudolf even though she arrives in the ballet quite late (like Florimund in Sleeping Beauty), but dancers taking on the role of MV are usually principals or first soloists, so not significantly “junior” to the dancer portraying Larisch. 

 

What with Rudolf’s mother being portrayed by dancers much younger than Rudolf and Larisch being portrayed by dancers younger than Mary Vetsera, I hope it’s not too confusing for people watching it for the first time!

Also, worth remembering that Larisch was created by Merle Park, a real virtuoso, or virtuosa, of a dancer, still dancing Giselle and Aurora at Mayerling’s premiere. Later, she did a few performances as Vetsera.

But very sad not to be seeing Arestis…

23 minutes ago, mart said:

struggle with the high arabesque á la seconde, 

Jamesrhblack please enlighten me what is a high arabesque à la seconde !!!

I’m probably not using the correct term. Perhaps it’s better described as a devlopée (it’s a long time since I was in class). It’s the moment at the start of Giselle’s solo at the beginning of the pas de deux when she raises the right leg high.

8 minutes ago, PeterS said:

Yes she was

Cast sheets were projected at the entrances.

My photo won’t upload,  file size is too big 

Thanks. I looked and even asked but didn’t see them.

Joy continued post interval. Muntagirov, solicitously guiding what seemed a nervous partner, showed yet again his meticulous technique and elegance even when negotiating Nureyev’s turning pas de chats in the Coda. I have vivid memories of Nureyev completely out dancing Patricia Ruane (with whose beauty I was in my teenage years rather besotted) at this point. His really is the art that conceals art.
 

Bracewell, so musicianly and elegant was the only one tonight (or so it seemed to me) to show some of the emotional vulnerability, even ambiguity, that could be part of Nureyev’s stage personality. For me, Trusch, opposite a glacially imposing Cojocaru, was the only one seemingly subservient to his partner, perhaps not inappropriately given the scenario and it was good to be reminded of the haunting originality both of Neumeier’s choreography and Gluck’s music (the interpolated Victoria was very beautiful too). Finally, Corrales again at his most scene stealingly astonishing.

As for the Ladies, “God bless them,” for me, Cojocaru made the strongest impression, although Makhateli and Hawes had charm in abundance. Naghdi glittered, although her foutées travelled in what I thought an uncharacteristic manner and not for the first time I was niggled by technical issues (a struggle with the high arabesque á la seconde, some awkward entrechats) from Hayward who floats through the technical issues of Ashton but can seem oddly unsure in the classics. 
 

Yes, the orchestra on stage could be a distraction; yes, the stage area was compromised; but it was still a wonderful evening and the spoken words of the dancers in the film after the interval made me want to revisit the legacy of Nureyev, both as dancer and man. 
 

Surely, a celebratory Gala should seek to do exactly that.

Bravo to Kish and his team,

There were no announcements and no cast sheets. It was certainly Corrales for Sambé. Does anybody know if Emma Hawes was back?

In the interval of an absolutely joyous evening.

Fittingly, in an evening celebrating Nureyev the repertoire is letting the gentlemen shine (and soar) and I thought Frola absolutely outstanding with a charm to disguise the difficulty, Ivenko charismatically charming and Corrales possibly closest of all to the hero of the hour with his shamelessly extrovert brilliance. Some have expressed disappointment with Parish and I did wonder if he might be just past his prime years but the strength and eloquence of his partnering (such attention to arms and hands with his ballerina) were exemplary and testament to his schooling and experience. Looking forward to Part 2.

I have booked three seats in the front row of the Upper Circle Box further from the stage for the premiere, which seems a bargain at £50 a seat, even if there may be a viewing restriction.

On 31/07/2022 at 12:14, capybara said:

Yes, that would be another good mix up.

 

Some partnerships have been ‘set’ for a long time now. Time for Kevin O’Hare to ‘stir the pot’ a bit and, possibly, excite regulars to book for more shows.

Absolutely. Antoinette Sibley's partnership with Anthony Dowell was legendary but seeing her with David Wall brought out something different in her (and there's a very dim video from the Met of them in the Manon Bedroom pas de deux that shows their extraordinary chemistry)...

3 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

I was expecing there to be more SB casts so that's good from a financial perspective, especially as 3 of the 6 Auroras are the 3 I saw in the last run. So I only want to see Magri/Corrales (very pleased they are both debuting & handy that they're doing so together) & Kaneko/Bracewell. As for Woolf Works, I'm not sure if I want to see that at all, though I suppose as I've never seen Ferri live it might be worth going just so I can say that I've seen her?

Given the absence of some of the expected names (Cuthbertson, Lamb, Naghdi, Osipova, Ball, Clarke, Hirano for a start), it will be interesting to see how much scope there is for debuts when the later performances are announced. Does the plethora of Nutcracker casts suggest there could be some interesting new castings? It must be so disheartening for long standing First Soloists not only not to make the last leg of the promotional ladder but to find themselves uncast in principal roles that they had previously performed for a couple of runs.

I would prioritise Matthew Ball. There were outstanding reviews for his last minute debut last time around and he will be dancing with Laura Morera whose debut Vetsera with Federico Bonelli is seared into my memory as one of the most astonishing things I hve ever been lucky enough to see.

I am fairly confident that Leticia Dias’ Autumn casting to say nothing of the excellence of her recent performances suggests a double promotion is on the cards.

The love was palpable. An evening ever more memorable in memory….

6 hours ago, FionaE said:

@Richard LH

 

 

- I’ll never forget the stunned silence from the audience after a mesmerising R&J from Yasmine Naghdi & Alex Campbell. 

yes, that was astonishing indeed.