annamk

10 hours ago, Sim said:

Gosh, that's a surprise!  Sadly I don't have tickets for that cast as the dates don't fit.  I am quite surprised that they didn't put James Hay in there, considering what a great partnership he and Akane made in Sleeping Beauty.  Or what about Alex Campbell, after the amazing Manons they have just done?  As there does seem to be a Principal pecking order, wouldn't Alex have priority here?    Does William already know the role from his BRB days?  Mind you, this is a new production so I guess even if he knows the basics there is still a lot to learn.  I hope it works really well!

Disappointed that yet again an unexpected opportunity hasn’t gone to James Hay especially since, as you say Sim, he and Akane Takada danced that fabulous Beauty together. 

I hope Reece Clarke is feeling very pleased with himself for an excellent debut yesterday. With his beautiful looks and gorgeous line he's always going to be a pleasure to watch but the pleasure was much enhanced by his fine execution of those fiendish solos. Particularly notable was his control in the adagio sections and his light landings, they've been the downfall of much more experienced dancers.

The partnering came off brilliantly - the pair looked well rehearsed and the mishaps mentioned by others were insignificant (I've seen worse from established partnerships). What I found especially impressive was that the partnering was risky in the way that Macmillan needs to be, it's part of what makes me sit on the edge of my seat with my heart in my throat. Good for Lauren Cuthbertson who didn’t appear to hold back to accommodate her junior partner - she was as quick as she always is so he had to be absolutely on his game to grab her, and good for him he didn’t miss a trick. 

Lauren Cuthbertson just gets better and better, she's at the top of her game, I loved her interpretation and I loved her dancing. 

Gary Avis as Monsieur GM was outstanding, is it me or has he toned it down ever so slightly ? 

Although I enjoyed Ryo Hirano's Lescaut the other day, yesterday I found him uncomfortably close to turning the Lescaut drunk scene into a pantomime piece. 

I'm going but now have 2 spares D7 & 8. They are e tickets & free to good home. message me if interested. 

2 hours ago, Richard LH said:

(Cinema viewing).

Like some others, if I am reading correctly,  I thought Lamb and Muntagirov progressed throughout, from a rather  underwhelming Act 1,  to a more convincing Act 2 and a suitably powerful and emotional Act 3, where they really gave it all they had, and a bit more.

 

Live viewing here and I agree with you. 

First time I've seen Muntagirov's DG and maybe I was expecting too much of his opening solo but I was disappointed, likewise with the Act 1 pdds.

I was underwhelmed by Lamb's brothel solo, she lacked Osipova's sensuality. However, from then on Lamb/Muntagirov pulled out all the stops and it was worthy performance. It seemed to me that whereas Osipova chose to portray Manon as a girl who ultimately cared more about the money than DG, Lamb chose the alternative, both work with such thoughtful dance actresses. The end didn't move me to tears but I can't remember when Manon last did that. 

There are compensations in not spending most of the ballet eyes glued to the main man, there is the opportunity to appreciate all the terrific little cameos going on around the fringes : James Hay's beggar chief, Stix-B and Kaneko's courtesans arguing over Ball. 

Hirano impressed me, I don't usually warm to him but I enjoyed his powerful Lescaut. Some people might have found it a bit OTT but I thought it worked. 

I only went for M & A last night and am very glad that I did. What an electrifying partnership (more of them together please), what a fabulous performance, full of passion but nothing overdone. Matthew Ball danced and partnered beautifully but much more than that, he poured his heart and soul into a principal worthy performance. Lauren was the perfect Marguerite, cool and curious in the opening scene then swiftly abandoning herself to Ball's ardent and romantic Armand; the scenes between Marguerite and Armand's father (superbly portrayed by Gary Avis) were heartbreaking. 

I thought Richardson/Ball were terrific in Obsidian (Sissens/Ella at the rehearsal were equally powerful) but I agree with Sim that Bracewell lacked the leader's presence - I think he has yet to fully develop the McGregor style. I also thought that in the rehearsal cast Hay and Sambe had far more impact than their first cast equivalents - can't be sure who was who because the order is different on the rehearsal cast sheet. 

M & A was a disappointment. Yes Nunez & Muntagirov danced beautifully (although in his case not without a few little wobbles) but no raw emotion reached me from the stage. Nunez seemed far too overwrought, perhaps her choice of portrayal, perhaps with the effort of trying to extract a Nureyev from Muntagirov.  I'm sure Muntagirov poured his heart and soul into the performance but for me he's simply not a natural passionate presence. I felt that he could learn something from Bonelli/Shklyarov about transmitting to the back of the auditorium a hugely intense emotional fervour simply in the way they run on stage, even just stand still; and then there's the outpouring of grief as the curtain falls. 

It's a physical ticket but I will be there myself. Message me if interested. Anna

13 minutes ago, ninamargaret said:

well, many of us have thought so for some time.F irst noticed him in Month in the Country when, if memory serves me right, he then went on to appear in Symphonic Variations,, both danced beautifully

And then he was superb in Two Pigeons and quite outstanding as Prince Florimund. I really hoped he would have got a shot at Albrecht or Des Grieux  

28th has gone. 

13th back to the box office.

19th still available.

I'm selling 

13/4 D10 

19/4 D52

28/4 D43,44 

All e tickets £9 each

Message me and post here to say you've done so.  Anna

15 minutes ago, Saodan said:

.McRae gets the Cinema (and dvd?).

I hadn’t clocked McRae Mayerling was being filmed. So disappointed it’s not Morera/Bonelli after their extraordinary performances last season. 

For me, last night was terrific. Not perfect, but I didn't go expecting it to be so given that it was Shklyarov's debut, I think not only in Manon but in any MacMillan. The opening Des Grieux solo, so exposing, was decently enough delivered (I've seen many more experienced dancers RB dancers wobble horribly through all the arabesques) but with some uncharacteristically heavier landings. Shklyarov has one of the most beautiful lines in ballet and those Des Grieux solos in both Acts 1 & 2 gave him the opportunity show off them off which he did to great effect. The first pdd was slightly hesitant but I thought the bedroom pdd (end of Act 1) was much better executed and any nerves seemed to have been cleared out. The final pdd didn't feel as though all the choreography came off entirely as it should - a couple of places appeared slightly fudged but it didn't matter to me. Shklyarov is always committed to the character on stage & yesterday I found him so intense I barely looked at anyone else, apart from Osipova. I loved Osipova everything she did was quite brilliant and her act 2 brothel solo was outstanding. They seemed to have great chemistry, without which it's impossible to make any sense of the story's trajectory. Naghdi was for me an unexpectedly excellent Mistress, great characterisation and I don't remember seeing those solos danced more convincingly but Sambe's Lescaut was not a patch on Hay (albeit at the rehearsal). The audience response was enormously warm and the two of them looked very happy & relaxed at the calls.

They have been returned to the BO. 

E-tickets happy to sell individually. Message me & post here. Thank you. Anna

Tx all spoken for. 

I can no longer use these E-tickets, I am happy to sell individually. Message me if interested. Anna

43 minutes ago, Mary said:

I do feel that 3 male contemporary choreographers monopolise the ROH stage (while new women choreographers tend to get the Linbury, if anything.) Some of this mainstream work is found to be- by lots of posters on this forum, not just me - not all that great. Some of it, I feel,  is quite cliched.  So I would like to see some different choreographers given much more main stage time, and I would like more of them to be women. I would hope this could happen, without quotas etc, which don't usually work in my view.

But why it doesn't happen- why we get repeat viewings of not very good pieces like the recent case of Age of Anxiety,-but others spring to mind- instead of a new work, I don't know: I suppose it's mainly financial..but not entirely.

4 minutes ago, capybara said:

I would have thought that it was perfectly reasonable for Kevin O'Hare to sign up with MacGregor, Wheeldon and, then, Scarlett for a few years but not for eternity and not with too many guarantees of new commissions or repeat showings. The Royal Ballet now feels a bit boxed in by its obligations to these three choreographers and widening its net (more) would be no bad thing - in fact, judging by the Pite, a very good thing.

3 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

I think that's very true, capybara. Given that there are never going to be that many new (and revivals of new) works in a season, having 3 people who are all given some sort of priority is far too much. And I personally don't think that any of them really justify the status by the works, much as I've enjoyed some of the works by all of them.

Hear hear hear !!!!! 

Too many new works by the same three for years and years and unfortunately another new work from the mediocre Marriott in the new season  ! I'd love to see more variety in commissioning generally including more from female choreographers.

What happened to Brandstrup's Invitus Invitam ? It was a gem for the main stage a few years ago which has been buried since and he hasn't been invited back. Ratmansky's 24 Preludes for the RB may not have been his most successful piece but much of what he's done for ABT and NYCB has been brilliant but I don't suppose we'll see anything by him again. Forsythe's Blake Works for Paris was terrific as was Pite's The Seasons Canon.

It seems to me that not only would a wider range of choreographers give the audience more variety in dance style but different choreographers come into the company afresh and maybe focus on different dancers which surely is a benefit for the company too. 

16 minutes ago, zxDaveM said:

I did very much enjoy the performance last night - Fumi Kaneko so poised and elegant as Hermione, and Akane Takada so exuberant as Perdita in act 2. Class will out, and all that! 

Spot on , both of them wonderful !

In fact it was the first full performance of WT I've seen since the opening run and to my surprise I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought Fede's Leontes was terrific. All the darkness & madness were there but in a less is more way that I personally find more effective and appealing than OTT tortured grimacing.  Tierney Heap's Paulina was very moving.  Campbell deals easily with all the quick Florizel steps choreographed on McRae and he has a more attractive warm and sunnier stage presence. He and Takada made those awkward Act 2 lifts looks as natural and attractive as I suspect it's possible to make them. Sambe and Magri were on fine form - what a great Basil and Kitri pairing they'd be. I didn't think there was a weak link in the cast last night and the corps looked great, dancing with all out commitment. 

12 minutes ago, Sim said:

Or, Osipova with special guest Shklyarov.....he is a sensational Solor (just as I am sure Vadim will be!).

Yes please and I'd also love to see Shklyarov in Mayerling and MacMillan's Romeo & Juliet, neither of which he has danced before. We can hope  

I also agree that Corales will make a terrific Solor ! 

I SO wish I could have seen him perform live.  I have to confess that I only knew the headlines until recently when I read Julie Kavanagh's excellent biography. I found him such an extraordinary and fascinating man that I couldn't resist buying the Diane Solway and Clive Barnes books ! 

On 3/12/2018 at 17:09, Sebastian said:

Might I ask if other people have had trouble getting e-tickets for Covent Garden? A couple of times recently I got to the end of the booking process but no button for choosing the e-ticket option was provided. Both times I had to contact the box office to ask them to change my order to e-tickets (which they helpfully did).

 

Am I the only person to suffer this issue with the booking process? 

You are not alone, it keeps happening to me - my latest paper tickets arrived this morning ! Is it because the option to select a delivery method is not very prominent and if you don't click the link which takes you clearly to the e-ticket option then it defaults to a paper ticket ? 

This triple gets a meh from me too. 

I liked the McGregor very much, possibly helped by the fact that at 19 minutes it could hardly outstay it’s welcome. The movement was more lyrical than much of McGregor’s past work for the RB and it was very effective. I liked his choice of dancers, it’s good to see some new faces in there. When I watched the insight it felt to me at times that Sarah Lamb was being parcelled around rather too much by the men but somehow the loose fitting costumes made the those movements look more attractive than they might otherwise have done. 

I hate Age of Anxiety: I watched the general just in case I could find anything redeeming in it and although I thought Campbell a definite improvement on McRae, I still felt it should have been strangled at birth. How on earth did the RB management conclude it was worthy of revival ? It’s like a second rate West End song and dance production without the singing. 

I had mixed feelings about the Wheeldon - I should say that I was on the sides so not a great viewpoint. It was probably unfortunate to have seen Ratmansky’s sophisticated and musically responsive choreography for the same Bernstein. In comparison Wheeldon felt at times like a poor relation. I thought the opening movement involving Ball and Bracewell was strong. Parts of the corps sections were also very attractive. But it seemed to me that the principal couple - Cuthbertson & Hirano - were underused. They deserved a more substantial pdd which might also have helped the sag I felt 3/4 of the way through. Much of what they did have to dance was in semi darkness, competing for attention with two other couples. Also, although Magri and Sambe were impressive in their section, the choreography here wasn’t the most interesting I’ve seen for a pair of fast, dynamic dancers. 

I love Erdem but the costumes didn’t live up to hopes. I’m not saying they were ugly just that they could have been better. What did the bits of black tape flapping around randomly mean ? Was there a programme note to shed any light on this ? 

Shklyarov will be fabulous and I’m beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to see him in MacMillan. 

YEs please will pm you. 

I am sorted thank you