annamk

Perfect

£6 it'a an eticket. 

24 minutes ago, alison said:

 

I don't think I'd ever heard the overture taken so slowly ...

“Overture” that’s the word I was looking for  yes it was deadening ....

1 hour ago, Irmgard said:

The otherwise glorious performance by Begoña Cao and Aitor Arrieta in the evening was slightly marred by the unsupportive conducting of Orlando Jopling.  Conducting the score for the first time at the Coliseum, I do not know if he was overwhelmed by its vastness but he appeared to be conducting a concert performance of the score.  There was absolutely nothing wrong with the ravishing sounds coming from the pit but they lacked the impetus needed for MacMillan’s exhilarating but exhausting pas de deux.  However, nothing could diminish the heart-breaking final moments. It is just a shame that the exceptional partnership of Cao and Arrieta only received the one performance.  More about it tomorrow!

It's funny you should say that because I thought the orchestra started very slowly and somewhat tentatively but then I was so swept up in the drama of the performances I completely forgot about it. 

I share other posters mixed feelings about the staging, on the one hand the stage does look a bit empty and I don't love the costumes,, on the other hand it can make me feel the RB version looks overly fussy. But as with issues with the music when the central performances are so powerful I forget about it. 

I have found the two performances by this partnership quite exceptional. It's not only that they are physically well suited, I feel that temperamentally they respond perfectly to each other - they have same level of commitment if that makes sense, so neither is overwhelmed by the other.

Begona Cao's Manon is one of the few I've seen who is utterly convincing in her initial attraction to Des Grieux, and Aitor Arrieta falls for her hook, line and sinker, the intensity between them is incredibly powerful. Her dancing is throughout is beautifully light, fluid and sensuous. 

The choreography made on Dowell is challenging for any dancer and more so for one as tall and long limbed as Arrieta, but he made a powerful impression in his solos and his line is a thing of real beauty. Even more remarkable was his partnering which for a young dancer (not even one schooled in MacMillan) was exceptionally good, he had the confidence to throw caution to the wind and in this he was no doubt aided enormously by Begona Cao's experience. 

Excellent supporting performances from Ken Saruhashi, Crystal Costa, and Junor Souza. 

Great to see the Coliseum packed - even if it was with half price tickets - and the audience were hugely appreciative. 

8 hours ago, balletyas said:

If for any reason they haven’t gone I’d like these please? 

Sorry these have gone. 

I have left only 1/4 D45

Yes they are available, I've sent you a private message.

The following are now taken 

27/2 D7

30/3 D44 

1/4 D44

In the Clore F16 & F17 £14 each. E-tickets.

27/2 eve D6, D7

25/3 eve D50

30/3 mat D44,D45

1/4 eve D44, D45

All e tickets £10 each

1 minute ago, Sim said:

Wow.  I will watch with interest, and hope that he makes a great success of his tenure. 

 

And yes, please leave out the choreography, Carlos (although I do seem to be one of the few people who actually likes his DonQ1!). 

Ha ! exactly my thoughts  

1 hour ago, alison said:

Oh dear   Although Bracewell as the Creature might actually convince me to book for it, come to think of it ...

Not even Bracewell I'm afraid  

23 hours ago, Irmgard said:

I can only reiterate what I said after their performance in Bristol, that I cannot comprehend why such a world-class partnership as Cao and Arrieta have proved to be were only granted one out of ENB’s thirteen performances at the Coliseum.  For those unlucky enough not to be part of the capacity audience yesterday, I would recommend grabbing any unsold tickets for their “Manon” on Thursday evening as fast as you can!

 

Thank you again for another interesting review Irmgard, I agree with all your words about Sunday. This was my favourite performance of the 5 I saw and If I had realised what a superb partnership this would be I would certainly have gone to Bristol too ! 

9 hours ago, alison said:

I'd understood that the Ashton Act IV starts differently from ENB's current one: was I wrong?

I was going to ask Irmgard that question because I thought ENB ACT IV was Ashton but  when I watched some of what I thought was the Aston Act IV (old RB Makhraova/Dowell recording) it looked a bit different from what I've seen at ENB - for example, the corps weren't in single large circular formation just before Siegfried's entrance) instead they're in those little circular groupings like the old Dowell version for the RB. 

Irmgard or anyone else ? 

On 04/12/2018 at 22:43, Irmgard said:

Ashton’s exquisite choreography for Act IV (shrewdly acquired by Derek Deane for his proscenium production) was for me the highlight of the swans’ dancing at all the performances with its haunting melancholy as they all emerge from the swirling ‘mists’, and their uniformity of style and movement perfectly matched the music.  Cao and Arrieta were unforgettable here:  he all remorse and she summoning up supreme dignity as she forgives him.  This was an exceptional performance which I am sure will stay in the minds of the audience for a long time

I can't match your descriptive powers Irmgard, I can only say that I feel the performance today must have been as exceptional today as the one you saw.  

Another outstanding Swan Lake last night. I don't know how the company can dance so many performances in a week and retain such freshness, commitment and energy. 

Cojocaru and Cirio told the narrative with more care and conviction than I've seen before, it was quite exceptional and very moving. I think Cojocaru has always had an aura about her: something poignant, fragile and vulnerable (perhaps why she's one of the best Giselle and Manon) , and my friend and I said we always thought of her as a more natural Odette but last night her Odile was playing so audaciously with Cirio I now think she is equally at ease in both roles. Cirio's dancing was again stunning, in the Act 3 scene where he dances with the 6 brides he threw off 3 such perfect tours (think Muntagirov or Semyon Chudin) I could have cried !  I really hope he stays at ENB for a long time.  Being picky, I would say that Cojocaru has to work against her size as a Swan Queen and that she is no longer possessed of quite the steely technique of the very top principal dancers. But frankly she has so much else to give that you realise it doesn't matter a jot. 

The ENB orchestra, when conducted by Gavin Sutherland as they were again last night, bring the score vividly to life they deserved the huge ovation. Yesterday the lights barely went up between Acts 1 & 2 and as a result there was far less talking when the orchestra starting playing again. 

All round a perfect evening. 

8 hours ago, Darlex said:

Thanks for your detailed review Annamk. Talking of fouettes, did Cojocaru get through hers? The few times I have seen her, she petered out, although I haven't seen her fouetteing recently. 

Cojocaru delivered 32 neat singles, no problem. I assume it was 32 although I don't actually count but she finished on the music so I kind of presumed it was. 

There are a lot of performances - a whopping 17 ! I like Don Q but I don't like this production; IMO in trying to make it more real and human, Acosta has sadly managed to make it pretty tedious, it really drags in places, how can you do that to Don Q ? Only the debuts attracted me to buy tickets and now the most exciting of all - Corrales - is off

I am love love loving this run of Swan Lakes  

I think the production is sublime : from the score, to the absence of the annoying Benno and his annoying friends, to the ending as it should be, and to exquisite choreography, particularly in Act 4 - I am stunned by the beauty of the corps forming what looks like a giant flower petal before Siegfried runs on distraught. 

I saw two casts so far and there is plenty to admire at all levels of the company. 

I knew Cirio was an excellent dancer but given his height and having seen him recently as a very mean Lescaut I had wondered whether his Siegfried would be princely enough. I need not have worried, what he lacks in height he more than makes up for in everything else: beauty of line (funny how this isn't actually the preserve of the taller dancer), elegance, precise dancing, light landings, charm and tons of commitment. A terrific performance and his control in the Act 1 adagio solo sent me straight home to buy a ticket for his Des Grieux. I wasn't quite so bowled over by Cojocaru's Odette/Odile, there was nothing wrong, it was a lovely performance but I wasn't moved and I wanted to be but it didn't happen. Maybe it was me, maybe it was where I was sitting. Notable also in that performance was McCormick in the pd3, Arrieta in the Spanish, Costa & Drummond in the Neapolitan. The ensemble and corps dancing all looked well coached and tidy, and both nights the Cygnets were properly co-ordinated. I don't know if it's me but the orchestra does seem to take some sections at great pace which is a positive as far as I'm concerned. 

Yesterday evening saw the partnership of Hawes/Arrieta. I haven't seen her in principal role before and I was surprised how tall she was, although I think a taller dancer has an inherent majesty that works for me as a Swan Queen. I wasn't sure about Hawes in Act 2, nothing wrong just nothing outstanding either.  Her Odile though was terrific - okay she didn't quite make 32 fouettés but everything else was commendable. In Act 4 I found her incredibly moving with some moments of real poetry in her dancing. I always book for Arrieta's performances, for me he's one of those dancers who has everything: he's tall, elegant with a fine line, he dances beautifully, he partners well and he has a charming presence. He ticked all these boxes last night and his account of the black act variation with his tidily landed tours would put many more senior dancers to shame. Hawes/Arrieta had great chemistry, displaying heartfelt tenderness towards each other in Act 4 and Arrieta rivals my memories of Bonelli, the absolute master, in the last desperate run of Siegfried on stage in Act 4 (although sadly the new RB version has toned that down). The pd3 was beautifully danced with great charm by Kanehara, Khaniukova and Woolhouse, never stepping over into unnecessary showiness. 

11 hours ago, bridiem said:

This is a spectacularly beautiful production - pure and clear and classy, enhanced by Peter Farmer's magnificent designs; and it was spectacularly danced. For me, this is the real Swan Lake. I'm afraid it brought home to me all the more the problem/s with Liam Scarlett's production for the RB, much as I enjoyed it at the time. This production brings the ballet to its proper climax; Ashton's Act IV is stunning, and builds to its great, urgent, cathartic, triumphant apotheosis. Swan Lake is not the story of a prince who is tricked into declaring his love for the wrong person and so loses his real love for ever; that would be a tragedy (or at least a sorry tale), and it's clear from the music that Swan Lake is not a tragedy. At the risk of repeating myself, it's about the triumph of good over evil, love over hatred, sacrifice over the lust for power, the (apparently) weak over the (temporarily) strong. And every note of the music expresses that. ENB's production matches it, and rises with it. I could hardly breathe during the last act, and had to fight back the tears to ensure that I didn't miss anything. And I've seen Swan Lake dozens of times; this was like seeing it anew. Such power and profundity, that for me can only be expressed by the perfect union of music and dance since there are no words to tie them down, to make them particular to one culture, to make them specific. Swan Lake at its best expresses the eternal truths, and this production is Swan Lake at its best.

 

 

I only saw the rehearsal so far but I completely agree with you about the comparison with the RB Swan Lake - which I also enjoyed at the time. The RB production may have gained glossy sets but it has lost the heart and soul of the ballet - if only Scarlett had left the choreography and the ending alone  

If anyone has a ticket they can't use for 8/1 or 12/1 please message me. Any part of the theatre. 

Thank you 

D46 now spoken for. 

Will return to the BO shortly.

Bumping this up D46 still available. 

Huge huge thanks to you guys for all the hard work you do  and a very Happy New Year.