annamk

It was a dispiriting evening.

I find DAAG can be hit and miss depending on casting and pianist. Last night was not a patch on previous casts - for starters just thinking Acosta and Kobborg as Brown Boys. Maybe this generation will find their way into it with a few performances. I also thought the piano playing was lifeless. 

The best bits of The Cellist were the pdd as seen in the RB Insight and Ballet Studio. But even the impact of those was lost on a large stage filled with members of the corps milling around pointlessly (as the orchestra and "symptoms" ?)  and moving large items of set around. What a disappointment. 

Seat returned to BO. 

I've replied to you Peter, thank you. 

The standing is spoken for, seat still available. 

D22 standing at the back of the circle £7,

B12 circle £35.

E tickets, message me if interested. 

From the RoH this morning 

Onegin on 12 February 2020. We are contacting you to let you know that, due to illness, Natalia Osipova has been replaced by Marianela Nuñez as Tatiana, and Reece Clarke has been replaced by Guest Artist Roberto Bolle as Onegin. 

The RoH have confirmed the cast change - Nunez and Bolle.

Tickets now spoken for. 

In the Clore Studio. F7 & 8 £20 each. They are e tickets. Message me if interested and post here to say you've done so. 

Kobborg is clearly part of this programme which reminded me that the bill he put on at QEH many years ago was superb so maybe this could be too. 

I will certainly go if she invites Friedemann Vogel to dance Armand !  She could do with a big name to help shift the 100s of unsold tickets (it looks a disaster at the moment) and I'm not sure he's  well known enough here to make a significant difference. 

That’s interesting I’d like to see other casts, I really hope they’ll bring it London. 
In the premiere run the critic Kuznetsova did not like the 2nd and 3rd casts so much. 

I found it hard to believe that these broadcasts have been happening for 10 years. I'm enormously grateful to the Bolshoi for their participation, it's such a pity others don't offer them - thinking the Mariinsky and maybe NYCB just for starters. Maybe the demand isn't there. Sorry mods, I guess this comment belongs in the other thread. 

Anyway, I enjoyed this performance so much. Very happy to see mime restored to a Bolshoi classic ballet, even if like others, I didn't entirely follow all of it. As I understand it, this Giselle doesn't have a weak heart and dies of a broken heart ? So how does Berthe's mime fit with that. Any enlightenment out there ? 

For me the performance of the leads was pretty much faultless. Not only are they blessed with the perfect physiques for classical ballet and look divine together but they dance at the highest level. I was particularly impressed with Belyakov's partnering yesterday. As for characterisation, I thought Smirnova had a charming a quiet mischief about her in Act 1 and is her more natural ethereal self in Act 2. Belyakov gave us a passionate, besotted Albrecht. Considering how young these two are,  this could be a partnership to treasure for years to come. 

Elsewhere too, the dancing was very impressive: the peasant pdd from Kochleva and Putintsev, Vlashinets Myrtha. 

There were some lovely touches in this version: the Act 2 pdd which ends with Albrecht kissing Giselle softly on the forehead and she kneeling with her head in her hands and the choreography of the cross and the Wilis circling around Albrecht. 

The only negative was the audience - how can people think it's appropriate to clap along to Giselle's melancholy Act 2 solo (in time as well ?  I can understand people want to show their appreciation but do it at the end - it's not Don Quixote ! )

15 hours ago, Buru said:

Ballet fans in Moscow are dying to see their old classical Giselle by Grigorovich (Vasiliev would do to). I went to see the Ratmansky production on Friday with Smirnova, Belyakov and Vlashinets. Curious but not the production I’d go to see again. Once is enough. The more classical (not this old-fashioned) version gives many more chances to principals for interpretation which makes it interesting to watch with different casts. So, it’s not so much about politics as preserving the best in the repertoire of the Bolshoi. 

Maybe they can bring this version on tour and leave the Grigorovich at home  

Not really sure why you think this Ratmansky version is not interesting to watch with different casts. I read a few reviews which said that the principals played the parts differently. 

43 minutes ago, capybara said:

 recalled to mind the remarkable performance of the very young Alina Cojocaru 18 years ago or so

 

Watching the mirror pdd last night I was thinking that although it was pretty good technically it had nothing like the electricity that was between Cojocaru and Kobborg, they set the bar so high. 

9 minutes ago, capybara said:

 

I think it's only Stuttgart who are allowed to record Onegin.

The Stuttgart recording with Vogel was a masterclass. 

I am sorted for this thank you. 

8 hours ago, FionaE said:

The standout performance for me of all 3 casts was David Donnelly as Lensky.  His final solo before the duel was incredibly moving.  I knew he had fabulous technique (beautiful developpes, pirouettes and jumps, luscious movements), but I didn’t know he could portray emotion like this.  So so wonderful.  I will never forget it.  I can’t stop thinking about it.  

Thank you FioneE. 

So glad someone has posted about Donnelly, I wasn't able to make the performance so was really keen to hear  how he did. He's had very few opportunities in soloist roles, his last big one was The Invitation in which I thought he danced neatly with musicality and gave a thoughtful and intelligent character  portrayal. 

If anyone has a spare for 7/2 or 29/2 I'd love it please. Or I could offer a swap for 29/2 SCS D44. Please message me if you can help. Anna

I was at the cinema (no transmission problems) and I thought it was an excellent all round company performance - casting up the variations really does show even though one understands younger dancers must be given opportunities. The corps danced with commitment and musicality, the Cavaliers were synchronised. the soloist roles all well taken - the exception being the Lilac Fairy where I think the dancer can get away with the role with either a technique that can surmount the challenge of the variation or a beneficent radiance but when they have neither ..... 

Bonelli was a generous, secure partner who put huge effort into his well delivered solos.

But the evening belonged to Fumi Kaneko who was simply dazzling. It was a triumph for her to to deliver a performance of such quality having stepped into the shoes of a principal, at the last minute, in one of the most important and challenging roles in the rep for a live relay. Brava. 

2 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I'd've loved it to be Mayara, as I didn't manage to see her do it, whereas I've seen Gina 2 out of 3 live viewings so would have quite liked to see someone else! When did Marianela last dance the role? She hasn't for a few years, has she?

I would like to have seen Magri's Lilac this evening as it was lovely,  and surely it would have made more sense, Storm-Jensen had yet another unsuccessful attempt at the variation yesterday evening ! 

D6 no longer available. 

D7 is taken. 

E-tickets. Message me if interested and post here to say you've done so. 

On 13/01/2020 at 09:04, Estreiiita said:

This year we'll celebrate the 100th anniversary of the rejoining of Southern Jutland and Denmark. On the 10th of January in the Royal theatre  there was a Gala performance dedicated to that event where it was possible to see the new pdd of John Neumeier to Beethoven's music  " Persistent persuasion" , created especially for this event, danced by our leading ballerina Ida Praetorius and Alexandr Trusch from Hamburg ballet (approx.10th minute of the recording) as well as Pas de sept, from Bournonville's "Folkesagn" , danced by Caroline Baldwin, Kizzi Matiakis, Holly Jean Dorger, Emma Riis-Kofoed, Gregory Dean, Jon Axel Fransson and Jonathan Chmelensky, all them, but Emma are leading dancers of the company and Emma is considered to be a new rising star ( approx. 59th minute of the recording). Unfortunately I can't say, how long will be this kept on the Danish tv site:

https://www.dr.dk/drtv/program/genforenings-galla_162378

Thank you for posting, I really enjoyed watching it, especially the Bournonville  

1 hour ago, oncnp said:

Still waiting for the explanation as to why it took them so long to make the cast change announcement (which I still have not received despite having  booked  2 performances. Thank you Forum!). As has been mentioned elsewhere there are pictures on the ROH Flickr page of Clarke rehearsing dated 12 December.  

Maybe Clarke only just started rehearsing when those photos were taken ? 

To be honest I think we are lucky to get the advance casting info we do from the RoH - many companies don't announce casting until a few weeks before the performances - Paris and Stuttgart to name just two. 

I asked the box office on Saturday afternoon and this is what they told me .....

Muntagirov started rehearsing Onegin and he realised that he was not ready to dance the role, but he hopes he will dance it at some point in his career. 

That's it. 

It can't be a secret and as anyone can ring the box office and ask them I assume it is ok to post it here. 

Saturday afternoon matinee: Nunez and Muntagirov gave a performance of such easy assurance and such effortless refined virtuosity, it was impossible not fall under the spell of their combined perfection. Magri’s Princess Florine variation had all those same qualities (she needs to do Aurora next time). Bluebird Corrales impressed too and he looked happy to be sharing the stage with her.

I haven’t seen McGorian’s Carabosse for a while and it was a pleasure to watch such a class act. 
 

Gasparini, Sasaki and Donnelly gave a neat and musical account of the pd3. 

I wish the Lilac Fairy had been more widely cast in this run- I’ve seen Storm -Jensen nearly every time. Maybe it’s because she’s young and inexperienced but her dancing is somehow too small and contained to convey the munificence of the Lilac Fairy. This would matter less if she was in command of the technicalities but she hasn’t really conquered the challenges of the variation.