Jump to content

Beryl H

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,530

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Beryl H

  1. Beryl H
    I've just seen some excerpts and it's looking very good indeed, after Carmen and Strapless the RB really need a success and I think this could be it. Like the music too, was worried I wouldn't after Viscera. I often notice Liam Scarlett when I watch RB DVD's!
  2. Beryl H
    Much better than this current Season but as others have said, lots of ballets that we have seen recently and always do see, The Dream, Fille, M and A for example, would much rather see Daphnis and Chloe for a change, also Anastasia seems rather odd now that there is no longer any doubt as to the fate of the real Anastasia, like the two Tchaikovsky acts but not the last. I was really hoping that Woolf Works would be back, was expecting 3 casts but let's hope there will be 2 completely different ones this time. Looking forward to Mayerling, and the triple bills look very interesting, especially the Strapless/Tarantella/Forsythe/Scarlett one.
  3. Beryl H
    There was also an interview with Lillian Hochhauser in Saturday's Times, I'd forgotten that they were responsible for all those wonderful Nureyev Festivals, 12 in all. She said the reason for the lack of Bolshoi casting was because the new Director hasn't had time to settle in yet. Good news was that the Mariinsky will be back in 2017.
  4. Beryl H
    It is Alexander Campbell, the full cast sheet is already on the ROH website.
  5. Beryl H
    I think Marianela Nunez gave the most exciting performance I've ever seen as Myrthe on Tuesday, followed by an equally brilliant Natalia Osipova, Matthew Golding had a hard time keeping up with them but I thought he put as much into Albrecht in the second act as I have seen from him, I'm sure he will remember this one, nice he got to dance one Giselle with Osipova!
  6. Beryl H
    I've always liked the original ending, where the music doesn't fade away but ends with full orchestra, as Giselle sinks into the grave she shows Albrecht the royal party who have come looking for him, I'm not sure if I have ever seen it or just read about it.
  7. Beryl H
    I've always wanted to ask if people have a favourite dance that they would like to do themselves, mine are Odette's second act solo, Myrthe's dances in Giselle, Nikiya's very first solo, and the Papillon solo from Fokine's Le Carnaval.
  8. Beryl H
    Untouchable is the worst I've seen for a long time.
  9. Beryl H
    It's so interesting to read different views of the same performance, especially Coated's above, but as the saying goes you pays your money and you makes your choice and for me Marianela Nunez was a little bit too mature and sunny for Giselle, personally I prefer a more fragile nervous type, but her dancing was glorious. As for Vadim Muntagirov, in the final scenes he was so exhausted and distraught I was thinking "Nureyev is back", he had the same intensity, and his dancing throughout was heavenly! Imagine the cinema relay on the 6th April with close-ups of the final scene!
  10. Beryl H
    The number 15 bus is a short historic ride from Trafalgar Square to the Tower, then you could get the RV1 bus back from opposite the DLR Tower Gateway station, which goes across to the South Bank and finishes at Covent Garden. I like doing this sometimes, you have to make sure you get the RV1 that says Covent Garden and not Waterloo though.
  11. Beryl H
    I got both magazines today too, as usual lots of beautiful large photos in Dance Europe, including the Wheeldon triple bill, I think there is as enough coverage of ballet in The Dancing Times to make it worth buying, I will continue my subscription for another year anyway.
  12. Beryl H
    I also enjoyed last night's Giselle very much, thought I might be getting tired of it but it looked well danced and fresh, pleased to see Iana Salenko and Steven McRae , ever since I saw Iana in Two Pigeons I had been trying to get a ticket for her Giselle and was not disappointed, she looked so pale and fragile, she obviously brings out the best in Steven McRae who was very moving at the end. Great cast all round, Akane Takada and James Hay leading the pas de six, Helen Crawford in one of her best roles as Myrthe, and leading Wilis Emma Maguire and Yasmine Naghdi, whose short solo was a perfect vision of the Romantic ballet! I was surprised to see Valentino Zuchetti as a younger than usual Hilarion but it made a change. Glad I have several more casts to see now, and from the lovely reviews of Sarah Lamb I hope to see her if Natalia Osipova is still injured.
  13. Beryl H
    I wanted to see the Lamb/Hirano cast but it's Easter Monday so I decided not a good idea, should be a very interesting rehearsal.
  14. Beryl H
    Saw this programme again yesterday, 3 times within a week but the prices were cheaper and I was really looking forward to it, in fact have got one more to go, think the first cast in general has the edge, Marianela Nunez and Thiago Soares seem perfect in After The Rain, and liked seeing Tierney Heap, David Donnelly, Claire Calvert and Nehemiah Kish too, they looked well matched as a quartet. Probably my imagination but there seemed to be more dancing in Strapless, or else the first cast are really getting into the roles now, this was an improvement on opening night, Edward Watson has a short solo, and the pas de trois seemed more clearly defined. I have a feeling that this is the way narrative ballets are going though, much more emphasis on the visuals, lighting etc, less attention paid to the most important thing, the choreography, non-linear seems to be obligatory too. The composers also are good at creating a mood but fail to supply emotional depth or character, I feel this about The Winter's Tale and Alice, the unusual thing was how good Woolf Works was, a real surprise in this respect, very moving music in the first and last ballets. Last night felt tighter as a programme, think it finished a tiny bit earlier, thank goodness for Giselle next, one 30 minute interval is fine!
  15. Beryl H
    I saw this triple bill again last night, enjoyed Strapless much more, even started to like the music, but there really isn't enough dancing for JSS and Belleroche, strange that the only real pdd is for Dr. Pozzi and Amelie, I get the feeling the ballet is one long solo for her, Lauren Cuthbertson and Valeri Hristov were gracious and elegant, and Reece Clarke is a star, his performances in such different roles in After The Rain and Strapless (he at least did deserve a 30 minute break) were amazing! In general I found After The Rain starting to bore me, even Within The Golden Hour didn't look quite as good, this could be due to the lengthy intervals taking their toll of my patience and increasing boredom, the theatrical momentum does need to be kept going even in a triple bill!
  16. Beryl H
    Within The Golden Hour seems to be the favourite, that doesn't surprise me although it didn't have anything like the same effect that it did when I saw SFB dance it, I think the RB are more lyrical, I remember it being full of energy, the music sounded quieter too, perhaps I was bound to be disappointed. Beautiful though, really does produce a golden glow, Steven McRae, Sarah Lamb, Marcelino Sambe and Luca Acri were more forceful. Think that After The Rain and WTGH are too similar in style to work on the same programme, probably will look better in separate ones, the pdd for Marianela Nunez and Thiago Soares was heartbreaking! I already had the Strapless book from seeing the portrait in the past so at least I understood the synopsis, think it needs more performances to settle in, Edward Watson seemed a little subdued, the best role and the most dancing is for Amelie Gautreau and Natalia Osipova did very well (see the Bolshoi will be staging it next year!) Federico Bonelli splendid as the larger than life Dr. Pozzi. The ending was very good, where the real life Amelie fades into obscurity as the portrait gains life, would have preferred Amelie to have a period wispy nightdress at the end though!
  17. Beryl H
    There's a nice picture and article on ROH Twitter about Strapless today, could be a wonderful evocation of the Parisian art world of 1884, the other 2 ballets are abstract although After The Rain is quite sad, from what I remember after seeing Within the Golden Hour only once at SW it's a really beautiful abstract ballet with 3 fabulous pdd, great casts too!
  18. Beryl H
    And Steven McRae has also featured in this section, Thiago Soares sounds very sensible, not too sure about Cash ISA's though!
  19. Beryl H
    The times have changed a little bit today, the first ballet is 30m followed by a 30m interval, second interval 25m, finish time 10.20pm. Getting out of the theatre will be a bigger problem in June when the revolving doors are shut and everyone has to use the old entrance, the E-mail for now says please use all available fire exits, so perhaps some of the old side exits from the amphi will re-open. Thank heavens I only buy aisle seats and can dash out.
  20. Beryl H
    The Times Review today has an interesting looking article about Christopher Wheeldon and the new work, and the running times are on the ROH website as 24m, 50m and 35m, overall 2hr.52m, in other words 3 hours, my E-mail also advised that getting out of the theatre will be a bit tight near the cloakroom!
  21. Beryl H
    For anyone who missed the programme at Christmas, Nureyev:Dance to Freedom is being repeated Friday 12th February on BBC2 at 11.35pm - 1.05am.
  22. Beryl H
    I've been looking for this book, I've put it away but can't find where, I have books in boxes under beds, on top of wardrobes, must have another look as I want to read it, enjoyed the Julie Kavanagh biography.
  23. Beryl H
    That's interesting, good to see that Alexandrova and Lantratov are dancing the premiere tonight, I hope they will dance the first night at the ROH too.
  24. Beryl H
    I really think Two Pigeons would be better paired with an abstract astringent ballet like Agon, thought Rhapsody was a better partner than Monotones though.
  25. Beryl H
    Last night was technically even worse than expected, apart from dire lighting in Two Pigeons there were continual glitches where the picture broke up for a few seconds, I think the cinema you see these relays in matters a lot, I'm hoping for a Blu-Ray (PLEASE) so I can really see it! Two men were the standouts for me, Steven McRae's outstandingly clean fast technique in Rhapsody and Vadim Muntagirov's totally different style of dancing and charm in Pigeons, and the birds of course, bless them, Vadim was the best bird handler of the 3 men I saw.
×
×
  • Create New...