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Note: Capybara's post that I quote above appeared twice on my computer, so I deleted one, and they both seem to have disappeared. My apologies.

I thought that was the whole point? He knows that Rudolf is at desperation stage, and he is trying his damndest to distract him and Mary from doing anything silly, and perhaps even to cheer them up a bit. He keeps trying, and each time he stops to see if it's working, and it isn't, he tries even harder to get them to look at him. I don't think Campbell is a 'look at me' type at all, and I didn't get this feeling at all last night. The feeling I got was of a loyal friend and servant trying to cheer up his miserable prince, and the only 'look at me' he was after was from Rudolf!

You are so right, Mary. How could I forget that? I will add that to my post.

I have never seen Osipova give anyone a flower either. Sarah Lamb always does, and I noticed last night it looked as if she were going to pull a flower out but then didn't....maybe she didn't want to show up Osipova, who wasn't doing so. As for the performance, I'm afraid it never caught fire for me. I think Hirano has loads of potential, but poor chap was making his debut in this most difficult of roles in the most difficult of circumstances. He did very well, all things considered. A couple of nervous wobbles at the beginning, but his dancing and partnering were very solid, as always. What disappointed me was the lack of characterisation. I felt nothing for Rudolf, neither pity nor anger. Just blank. Things got much better in Act 3, but if there is no narrative arc to take us from where he started to where he ended, it doesn't make much dramatic sense. Now that he has a performance under his belt, he may relax more and be able to develop the character more. Hopefully this development will continue throughout his career, as it does with the best Rudolfs. I have talked in a post above about the superb Larisch of Sarah Lamb. That, and Francesca Hayward's beautifully nuanced Princess Stephanie, were the only two aspects of last night that moved me in any way.....as did Alexander Campbell's Bratfisch. His desperate attempt to engage with Mary and Rudolf in Act 3 was so miserable, and pitiful in the true sense of the word. We knew that this was futile, but it was so sad to watch him try. Campbell is one of my top three Bratfisches. I am not a fan of Osipova's Mary.....the youthful exuberance is overdone for my taste. This Mary steamrollered Rudolf instead of seducing him, and I prefer the latter approach. Finally, what a joy to watch Corrales. I don't know what his acting is like or whether he is good at the 'danseur noble' roles, but he has certainly set out his stall for any of the virtuoso roles, and I am sure the other RB men will be upping their game to keep up with him (if that's possible!).

I agree. The best of the past ten years, and one of the best ever. She breaks my heart each time. No one else can convey, like she can, Rudolf's tragedy. She is the only one who truly cares about him, loves him even, yet is treated like something the empress would scrape off her shoe. Her despair at Rudolf's condition, and how he in turn is badly treated by his parents, is deep and yet so apparent to the audience. If she is dancing Larisch, I don't care who is dancing the other two lead roles, I will always go to that performance.

I really don't like the way they have reduced everything to levels. As others have indicated, this renders the opera house to sounding like a car park, or an office block. If this is part of their attempts to make the place seem less elitist, it's ridiculous. I had the same thought as someone above....do they think so little of their potential new audience that they feel they wouldn't be able to deal with 'Balcony, Amphitheatre, Grand Tier', etc.? It is so patronising. They want to get rid of names that make up a large part of the tradition of the ROH? I wonder if this is the same marketing company with a bunch of young kids coming up with complicated data analytics and graphs explaining why people are too stupid these days to deal with anything more difficult than 'Level 1". I like much of the new place, but this is totally unnecessary. It was good to walk straight in, but quite frankly I would rather have the bag checks and queue for a little bit. The total lack of security is worrying in this day and age. However, since they seem to be doing all they can to reduce the ROH to a shopping mall, maybe it won't be such an elite target in the future.

Thank goodness for the ROH we can only die once instead of multiple times. Unless of course we bequeath them money, in which case they would welcome our constant returns.

That's a shame; I've always really liked them! Best wishes to Richard in his future endeavours.

Her funeral took place today in Barcelona, attended by Jose Carreras, the Queen of Spain, the Spanish Prime Minister and the Catalan president. I am sure it was a lovely and fitting farewell.

Welcome, Nogoat! Great name indeed! There will be lots of forum members there tonight, so we can say hello if you are about on the terrace on the amphi level....there is usually a large crowd there. The documentary to which you refer is one my favourite ever ballet documentaries. How times have changed....can you imagine choreographers and dancers smoking in the studio during the creative process nowadays?! I interviewed David Wall in 2005 and he talked quite a lot about creating the role of Rudolf. I have posted it up here quite a few times, so do have a search for it. If you can't find it, let me know and I will re-post it if you are interested. Either way, enjoy tonight! I am so looking forward to the season starting again.

Welcome to the forum, Whiteduvet! You have come to the right place, and I am sure you will get lots of good advice.

Thanks for your lovely review, Northstar. I look forward to seeing this bill.

Dear Forum Members, We are delighted to let you all know that we have just had our 5000th member sign up. This is a very encouraging milestone for the forum, which has now been going for almost seven years. Please be assured that we treasure each and every one of you and your contributions to this site. Without you all there would be no forum, and it's great that there is such an active interest in ballet and dance. So, we would like to thank you for being members, for taking the time to participate and educate, and for being so supportive to us, especially during the difficult moments. With very best wishes from us to you, The Moderators

Ah ok....that makes sense! I will look forward to reading your blog tomorrow. Please keep them coming!

Hello Squadron, and welcome to the forum! We are very happy to allow links to reviews to be posted here, especially regarding companies such as SDT with whom many of us are unfamiliar. Although you say you have put the links to the Dance Europe reviews up, you have actually linked to your blog. That is absolutely fine, but just pointing it out in case you want to add the DE links too. We look forward to hearing more!

Absolutely, and as I mentioned I totally understand art in limited edition being expensive. I just mean that it would be very nice if something were produced for the Ed fans who can 't afford such art.

Quite. But it is being made more and more clear that 'poor' dedicated ballet fans count for nothing. Of course I understand that limited edition works of art will be expensive, but I will be interested to see, as Odyssey says, whether Ed's numerous fans are also treated to some lovely photographs of him, maybe in a sensibly-priced commemorative book when he retires from dancing.

Except, it would seem, for those of us who have been stepping through those very doors for years and decades.

Has there been any response at all from the ROH regarding the contents of the article?

I can see them....they are laughing emojis!

The great singer died today at the age of 85. Thanks for the beautiful music, and rest well.

She clearly needs professional help. Fiz, we are already looking into the IP thing.

Just to let you all know, this troll has been banned.

Well said, Saodan.

Yes. We do have a lot of experts on this forum who really know what they are talking about.