Don Q Fan

In reply to @myrtle I have only sat in the middle of row seats at the Deutsche Oper. There's no middle aisle there to break up the seating. 

Many theatres offer a ballot system for subscribers where they offer tickets for sale earlier than I ternet booking but the seat choice is not yours you just get allocated a seat in your chosen price bracket as far as I know. 

Munich I found hard to get a decent seat with comfortable view. Of my 3 Onegins in January all my seats despite being front row tier 2 or 1 had an issue of one sort or another. The curse of U shaped theatres!!! 

The Deutsche Oper is probably the only theatre where I will book a stalls seat! Hope you get some good seats. 

@Myrtle

Deutsche Oper Berlin stalls are very good with reasonable rake and off set seats so usually you get a good view. The balconies are so far back and high that you are quite far from the stage so I go for stalls around rows 15-17 in the middle. 

At the Staatsoper u d Linden avoid the first couple of  seats on ends of rows on the tiers as there are high safety rails that interfere with views. The best seats are in the royal box (mitteloge)  if you can get it. Bang in the middle first tier I think. It's a U shape theatre so usual caveats apply. Think stalls are offset as well. I saw Onegin from the rear stalls and think it was ok. 

Thanks for your review I am due to see this cast soon plus 1 other. I have seen DonQ in Paris previously and did like this version. 

Thank you Sabine and Vanartus for your informed views. It's good to hear. It sounds like things will develop under Spuck. I'll keep an eye on the offerings. As you say there is a wealth of past works that could be used again in future. I think I felt Swan Lake and Giselle were just a bit tame when there is more exciting rep in the company eg Onegin or their lovely Bayadere. I appreciate that they have to earn a living, so if the contemporary stuff sells, so be it. 

I think my "problem" with Berlin is that I loved it so much when Vladimir Makakhov was AD. For me it's been downhill ever since 😬

I was a bit disappointed with Berlin's 24/5 offering...a lot of newer stuff which isn't my cup of tea. Had hoped for Onegin and La Bayadere. However if they're doing so well as Sabine says, and 98% tickets sold then fair enough! 

I got in after a wait but the ticket prices are so high, even for the Ashton bills, I've left it for now. £168 for a good Swan Lake ticket is just crazy money now when combined with near £100 for transport it's not value for money. 

16 hours ago, Birdy said:

They only do their Nutcracker every three years. In 2021 they did a livestream that I missed so I’m hoping they do it again this year. 

They are doing the ballet but whether it is live streamed I guess won't be known until nearer the time. I think there is a DVD. 

On 22/03/2024 at 17:14, TSR101 said:

I for one would never have guessed that you would be happy with Don Q being on the programme... 🙂

Glad to hear it ☺️☺️☺️

I'm happy with Don Q and Jewels that'll do me! 

The 24/25 ballet season has been announced, full details here:-

https://www.operaballet.nl/en/new-season-24-25/dutch-national-ballet

I've done a screenshot from their Instagram page for ease of reference. 

Onegin will also be performed on various dates thoughout 24/25 by Bavarian State Ballet in Munich as well. It's getting like No10 buses! 

14 hours ago, Tango Dancer said:

Lovely pictures.  Vadim's costume is a lot more golden than it looks at a distance.  Also Reese Clarke is really tall and I wish he and Yasmin had better costumes. Thanks for sharing.  

It's the lighting made it look more yellow in the photo it was definitely paler more of an oyster/beige I would say. 

I have some photos from the curtain call which you may like to see, I got most dancers except any decent shots of Gareth haw and Sangeun Lee!

So I'll start with my favourites of the night - Antonio Casalinho and Margarita Fernandes - Margarita danced in the Don Q finale hence the white tutu, rather than her green Esmerelda tutu.  This couple are a joy to watch.

Here we can see Francesca Hayward, Olga Smirnova, Vadim Muntagirov and Fumi Kaneko (L to R)

Group shot of dancers applauding Lucia Lacarra as he received her award.

Matthew Golding, Melissa Hamilton, Roberto Bolle, Sklyar Brandt, Herman Cornejo, Yasmine Naghdi, Reece Clarke, Evelina Godunova and Motomi Kiyota

Lucia Lacarra with her award

Giorgi Potskhishvili and Natalia Osipova

Sergio Bernal, Eleonora Abbagnato, Julian MacKay, Bleuenn Battistoni, Constantine Allen and Rhio Sakamoto

Camila Bocca and Osiel Gouneo 

Travis Clausen-Knight and James Pett

The best pic I got of Gareth Haw and Sangeun Lee (at the back with Camila Bocca and Osiel Gouneo in front of them and Graham Watts to their right)

48 minutes ago, Missfrankiecat said:

Skylar Brandt did not do the full fouetté sequence - she replaced part of the music with chaine turns.  Misty Copeland gets roasted when she does that sort of thing.

Yes but I felt it was  because she lost her flow with the fouettes, saved herself from "falling out" of them so she did about 28 fouettes then made the rest up with the turns as you say. Fumin Kaneko also lost her flow in hers on the Grand Pas which was a pity, but it's no mean fear for even experienced dancers to do the fiendish full 32! We did get 35 off Goudanova I think it was though! (I include doubles and triples)  My favourite move for difficulty is the Italian Fouette but none were in the choreography last night. Done right they are wonderful! 

I have to say I was surprised Bolle came but then when he got his award at the end I thought 'aha is that why he came?'. He was quite off with fans at stage door he just pushed past everyone to meet his friends and left not a wave or pose for a photo nothing. Rather disappointing from him as usually he's quite amiable with fans. All the other dancers were very obliging. 

If I had to pick out dancers I would have to say Osiel Gouneo is one of the most charming in my book, every time I have met him he is charm personified. Also his colleagues Antonio Casalinho and Julian Mackay. Must be something in the air at Munich maybe?! Sergio Bernal is lovely too, but really they all are and all are very appreciative of fans' comments/praise for their work. 

4 hours ago, Missfrankiecat said:

 

She is often at Covent Garden - I've seen her multiple times for one production.  She is still a very pretty woman and obviously a huge ballet fan.  I love the novels of Anthony Trollope and always visualise her as Lady Glencora from the Palliser series (who she played in the BBC adaptation).

I met her at ROH once and said I liked her in The Pallisers too! 

Nice rep I'm Interested in La Sylphide and then I love Neumeier's Illusions Like Swan Lake (very appropriate to see it in Bavaria too with Neuschwanstein Castle so close by (if you know the ballet you will KWIM!)) and Cranko's Onegin. It's a nice mix. 

4 hours ago, JohnS said:

I thought these were all organised by the Royal Ballet but I don’t know if individuals contribute to the costs.

@emeralds as well:-

I thought the Ballet Association organised flower throws with contributions from fans?

4 hours ago, Fonty said:

 

It isn't just dance that suffers like this.  Why, why, why is it necessary to have everything SO LOUD?  I went to a performance of Rocky Horror last year, and my friend and I sat there with our fingers stuffed in our ears all night.  And she is hard of hearing!  It was so loud, it was impossible to make out any of the words when they were singing.  Nobody else seemed the slightest bit bothered, which was even more startling.  .   

Exactly what I think too! 

Gift them to a ballet school perhaps?

If no charity wants them you can use the ziffit app and you get a little cash for them. World of Books are behind ziffit I think, and are on a mission to stop books being read only once and thrown, they resell at reasonable prices. I buy a lot of 2nd books from wob as there's no p&p! With ziffit you need min. 10 books to box up and then take to a local drop off point for free post to them. 

Absolutely delighted for Alexander and his new appointment just wow! I'll be very sorry not seeing him dance again. As others have already said, I always felt he was underused at RB, his Bratfisch was brilliant and that arm hat roll was perfection! I've always thoroughly enjoyed every show that I've seen  Alexander dance, whether with RB or Birmingham RB. A thoroughly charming decent young man and no one could deserve this opportunity more than him. Congratulations to Alexander. Commiserations to us on our loss! 

I liked Raymonda. Hated the Miller Les Noces absolutely dreadful piece in every way. Seems I was right to give Creature a wide berth!! 

As for noise I don't know why everything has to be so loud everywhere, I usually have earplugs on me just in case! In fact I often get a much nicer rounded sound with ear plugs in!

I once had to complain at the Barbican about the level of noise for Dust, I think it was(there was a triple bill for the WW1 centenary) . I said it should have come with a noise warning and that any child would  particularly potentially suffer damage. The theatre staff didn't seem bothered! 

On 15/02/2024 at 17:17, Sim said:

Yes and yes.

Nooooo I love the ENB Nutcracker. It's really nice and very enjoyable. I'm surprised so many don't like it much! 

Can't please everyone hey?!