Jamesrhblack

2 minutes ago, emmarose said:

Who are down for the cinema broadcast?

Lauren Cuthbertson and William Bracewell.

3 hours ago, Jan McNulty said:

Hello Florine and welcome to the Forum!

 

I absolutely agree re the fouettés - 30 seconds do not make or break a performance.

I agree with that Jan. My observation was just one of surprise that in two consecutive performances neither principal dancer was able to command that moment. If they are such a hurdle to the dancer, I’d much prefer the alternative DVD Fan suggests (which is what Osipova did when I saw her in 2018 and which Fonteyn did when I first saw Swan Lake back in the day) to being jerked out of story and moment by somebody struggling. My observation was also linked to what seemed to be perceptible problems for both dancers with the attitude pirouettes at the start of Odile’s Variation. 

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Some thoughts on a double show day. All opinions my own.

Massive kudos to the ladies of the corps, unflagging in commitment and poise. The Maestro and the Orchestra also acquitted themselves more than admirably. But why are the tempi in the Act 2 pas deux so slow? The sudden deceleration before the final coda in that Act at Odette’s entrance is also a really bad jolt.

Concentrated viewings bring home irritations with the production.

I really dislike the Prologue, which I suspect is only there for people who can’t “read” or haven’t researched the Act 2 Mime. It also undermines the thrill of the ballerina’s entrance in Act 2.

Rothbart’s dual aspect raises more questions than it answers. Does he never sleep? His transformation at the end of Act 1 seems motivated by Siegfried’s attitude? But why? If he is known at court, why is his daughter unknown? What is his motivation? If power, why abandon the court once he has snatched the crown from The Queen Mother?

Benno? I can understand that for the initial cinema / DVD release as many principals were needed as possible (remember Hayward and Takada as sisters…) However, if you choreograph for a virtuoso such as Alexander Campbell who performs full out, it pulls focus, if you have somebody less technically adroit it all looks intrusive. I do love the choreography for the Act 3 Pas de Treis coda though.

Why in Act 1 does Siegfried suddenly join the Ensemble for a few moments but then stop for no discernible reason (example, the entrechats six during the climax of the Waltz)?

Siegfried’s late arrival for Act 3 (having mislaid his birthday crossbow en route) is nonsensical. Even if he’s been out all night, the Ball is surely not until the evening.

Siegfried being stunned so he misses Odette’s suicide and lies inert seems a colossal blunder. I have no issues with the attempt at a tragic ending (which partly reflects the original scenario) but have the courage of conviction and don’t “sweeten” with a quasi apotheosis of Odette as Swan.

I absolutely accept that if professional and then personal tragedy had not intervened some of these issues might well have been resolved in a supervised revival.

Man of the Match (or day), William Bracewell, who absolutely upped his technical game in Act 3 to thrilling effect and whose emotional honesty and connection read with absolute conviction.

I was perplexed that two principal dancers of real Ashton accomplishment should find the demands of Odile’s variation turns en attitude so challenging. Francesca Hayward’s persistent re-siding of the choreography (also in her Act 2 solo) suggested a decided lack of ease, reinforced by 25 grimly determined travelling foutées that were unwontedly off the music. I’m sure that the memory of her debut mishap will have sat heavy on Anna-Rose O’Sullivan, who in fact began her Act 3 coda brilliantly, but stumbled after the first sequence and then began to travel, falling out to finish early and concluding with a sequence of backward piqué turns.

Both were considerably better suited to Odette, and I was surprised that O’Sullivan found a lyricism that I had not anticipated from her customary soubrette brightness, whilst Hayward’s trademark musicianship and melting eloquence were much in evidence.

Neither performance for me added up as a totality, which is not to say that there were not incidental pleasures, but also a conviction that I want to find out a great deal more about the intentions of the original 1877 production, as well as exploring as much as remains of the 1895 Petipa / Ivanov via the Ratmansky reconstruction.

I appreciate one cannot comment on Generals and am sure If I overstep the mark my remark will be deleted. However, feel I compelled to write that Joseph Sissens in full flight in DGV is a truly joyous sight to behold.

Also hoping that Akane Takada is ok as she didn’t make it back on stage for the Finale which William Bracewell completed on his own marking the partnering.

20 minutes ago, AnneL said:

Just home from today’s matinee and it was a wonderful performance. Great dancing from the principals and all the rest of the cast. As others have said, we had two Von Rothbarts! I am hoping Gartside will recover soon. I loved Magri’s Odile: she didn’t overdo the ‘evil’ side, instead appearing to be really charming until the deception was revealed, and then she was transformed. It really worked for me as an interpretation. 

I absolutely agree with you AnneL. I thought it was one of the most intelligent portrayals of Odile I have seen in recent years. I’d also agree with Sim that Act 4 was really moving and with Blossom that Joseph Sissens was a total delight. Ashley Dean caught my eye too, particularly in Act 1. 

The very interesting Leigh Witchel review mentions that after the suicide jump Osipova was seen no more until the bows. Does she cut the final apotheosis image (which I happen to dislike) or was it simply omitted as she’d not been feeling well at that performance.

I don’t know if I’m allowed to post this here and a Moderator will no doubt remove if I can’t, but the NHK broadcast of Swan Lake with Federico Bonelli partnering Akane Takada has now surfaced in excellent quality on You Tube.

1 hour ago, bridiem said:

 

I suppose they're Odile's henchgirls (?), so they've gone wherever she's gone. And since Von Rothbart thinks at this point that he's won a great victory, he must think he won't need any of them again...

It’s interesting how we all see things in different ways. I read that as a nightmare multiplied manifestation of Odile to Siegfried, rather as the Corps de Bayadéres are an opium induced multiple vision of Nikiya for Solor…

21 minutes ago, bridiem said:

I normally (nowadays) print off a cast sheet before I leave home. Last night, I left home too early and the cast sheet wasn't up yet. I took a photo of the cast list that was up in the ROH foyer en route to meeting my companions for a meal before the performance, but the light was poor and that and the sizing made it difficult to 'read' the photo. When we went back to the theatre for the performance, I tried to read a digital code with my camera so I could see a proper cast sheet (inc synopsis, intervals etc) but all three codes I tried didn't work. I don't think the problem was with my camera since I've often used it for signing into venues etc (inc at the ROH) and I did ask an usher if I was doing something wrong and she tried but said that the code just didn't seem to be working. Very poor.

I have found that typing ROH Cast Sheets into my Browser usually brings up the full page of choices if that is any help…

Some thoughts, all opinions my own, on the contested opening and closing moments of this production. I dislike seeing Odette turned into a swan at the start, essentially because it mitigates against the impact of the ballerina’s first entrance. I imagine it is there for the perceived benefit of those who cannot “read” the much loved mime scene in which Odette explains her situation. As with any foreign language, my recommendation would be to learn at least some of the basics. Once you begin to “read” that, so many other things begin to “read” as well. 

I think the ending is a compromise. Rereading John Warrack’s Guide to the Tchaikovsky Ballets, the original scenario concluded,

”The Prince begs Odette’s forgiveness, but she dies of grief in his arms. He casts her coronet on the waters, which rise and engulf the lovers. As the scene calms, the swans are seen gliding across the calm surface of the lake.”

John Warrack writes,

”…the triumph of love over the malevolent forces of Fate has something of the hollow ring of over-assertion which marks the comparable major-key triumph at the end of the Fifth Symphony. For Tchaikovsky, the truer ending is the enigmatic close on a long hel open unison B, neither major nor minor.”

Within the context of this production, I am moved by Siegfried carrying the dead but redeemed Odette at the end, but irritated by the beatific vision that appears during the very last moments. The ballet was not conceived as one of redemptive love, rather the failure of idealised love, a factor alluded to by Zenaida Yanowsky in the splendid recent Insights evening. 

For those who haven’t seen the Nureyev film, the ending is extraordinary, with Rothbart dragging Odette away still under his power, Siegfried “drowning” in yards and yards of blue silk and Fonteyn gliding away across the lake still a swan at the end.

1 hour ago, AnticaFiamma said:

The cast sheet says nothing about tonight being Bonelli's farewell performance... odd

I too was surprised that there was no reference on the cast sheet. Admittedly, it’s not, technically, his last performance but the Twitter announcement did state that this evening would be a celebration of Bonelli’s time with the company.

53 minutes ago, Rob S said:

 

🤨 I suppose what I meant to indicate was a lot of fouettes were done unlike two years ago when she did maneges

I loved those: Odile “consecrating” her unsacred place. It’s also what Fonteyn did the first time I saw Swan Lake (although I don’t imagine so quickly)….

27 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

Heaven forbid ............. 😱

Doesn’t that go back to the first performances of the Petipa / Ivanov Swan Lake…

The ROH website is currently listing both Bonelli and Bracewell for 30 April …

Very pleased to have just secured a return for 4 March, especially as 30 April, marked as a red letter date in my diary when casting was announced, is now impossible for me to attend.

2 hours ago, bangorballetboy said:

To be honest, I think it's rather disrespectful to refer to a professional by a name that she herself does not use in public (or, for all we know, at all).

I’m sorry if you consider it disrespectful. I have the highest regard for Zenaida Yanowsky. One of my artists coaches regularly with her husband and it’s how we always refer to her in conversation when discussing his sessions. Indeed, he actually appeared with her in her last Royal Ballet project at The Barbican.

I enjoyed this very much. Always good to see Lady Keenlyside with her wealth of insight and good to hear her flagging up musical issues too. I remember as a child being very confused as I tried to match what I heard on the LP’s I’d been bought (Antal Dorati conducting the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra on Fontana Special for the record) with my memories of the performances we’d been watching.

Good memories too (Deanne Bergsma / Donald Macleary, Monica Mason / Rudolf Nureyev and Alfreda Thorogood / David Ashmole, plus Lesley Collier’s debut, rather sniffily received at the time although she did get a Sunday Times Magazine cover the week before).

https://www.crazyaboutmagazines.com/ourshop/prod_4566264-The-Daily-Telegraph-magazine-Lesley-Collier-cover-27-July-1973.html

Such a pleasure to see the ever growing assurance of the oh so glamorous Fumi Kaneko and, most moving of all, to see Federico Bonelli, only a couple of shows away from retirement, still looking for ways to refine both his presentation and that of his ballerina.

I’m now on the hunt for a couple of tickets for 4 March…

I’ve suggested before that I think this is a role that could really suit Nicol Edmonds….

Now allocated.

I have a spare ticket for Raymonda on Saturday afternoon. Upper Circle Row A13 (Restricted Leg Room) £32.50. I will be using A14.

Campbell and Naghdi this afternoon. Breathtakingly beautiful and moving. The final curtain came down in absolute silence. Says it all.

Gosh, they work the dancers hard. Having been Clara and Hans-Peter this afternoon Sophie Allnatt and Joshua Junker have no time to rest on their laurels, but are back as Colombine and Harlqeuin. I know lots of others are also changing roles, but it’s salutary that even an afternoon as principal doesn’t get you a Saturday evening off at a busy and challenging time.

I see that Melissa Hamilton, having done the Arabian Dance this afternoon, is back as a Lead Flower (not even Rose Fairy). I think it’s been several seasons since she danced The Sugar-Plum Fairy (I’m not a Nutcracker aficionado and am here this evening essentially to see Laura Morera while I still can) and it reminds me of a time many years back when there were not enough performances for what were even principal dancers and you’d get to see Laura Connor as a Big Swan and Wendy Ellis as Zulme.

3 hours ago, Henry said:

I see that in Saturday 8th Jan evening's Nutcracker, the Russian dance is danced by the soprano Haegee Lee.  I suppose that staff absences are biting hard and flexibility is required.  Anyone noticed other unusual castings?  Is this a role debut? 

 

 

Haegee and I had a good laugh about this (she is one of the artists I manage). She loves the ballet as it happens (and, indeed, we were at Laura Morera’s second Giselle together)…

1 hour ago, alison said:

There are currently some  

I managed to get one !!!

31 minutes ago, MJW said:

 

I managed to grab a ticket for the last performance on Saturday 8th with William Bracewell and Laura Morera so that's something to look forward to during the current gloom. I've already seen two Nutcrackers this season but I couldn't resist !

Well done, I’ve been trying without success to find one (and haven’t seen any Nutcrackers thus far)