13 hours ago, myrtle said:

Didn't I read somewhere that as soon as a French speaker joins a conversation in Zurich, everyone switches to speaking French, even if they had previously been speaking German (or Swiss German)?  

This never happened to me. But Swiss people do speak many languages, maybe not perfectly, but they switch easily. Everyone who speaks Swiss German speaks "normal" German too, don't worry, and they switch because they know no one can understand them. Whatever normal German may be... I have heard from dancers at Stuttgart who came with well-prepared German words and then people here spoke Swabian and they were lost. We all have a common standard German that we try to use with strangers, but as soon as Swiss people or Saxonians or Bavarians are among themselves, the language gets imcomprehensible. It's like me hearing Scottish or Australian for the first time 🙂 

9 hours ago, myrtle said:

Also, do a lot of people in Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam and Zurich speak English? 

You will always find someone who speaks English to help you, just ask the younger people. Not necessarily at the box office or with the ushers, but normally they know somebody they can ask to help you. Zurich is a very international town, so don't worry. And don't try to understand Swiss German, it's impossible 🥴

9 hours ago, myrtle said:

so a city where the people will laugh rather than get offended

We know how hard it is to learn German, we don't laugh or get offended if anyone makes the effort. On the contrary, we admire you! Most websites of German theatres have an English version to help you with the basics.

At Stuttgart Ballet, after the debut of Swedish dancer Henrik Erikson as Siegfried tonight, director Tamas Detrich announced that he will be promoted from soloist to principal dancer next season. It was a nice debut, but I hope he can show in the rest of the season he really deserves this promotion which I find comes surprisingly early.

The Munich standing room is quite cosy, places are numbered, you have much room and a friendly railing at the perfect height to put your arms on. But yes, the Nationaltheater is way too big for ballet, you need good binoculars to see the details. In the first rows of the stalls, I have a feeling like I need to look up to see the stage, as the seats are under the level of the stage, and the rake is not really steep. Another theatre where I can't find the perfect seat for ballet...

21 hours ago, Sabine0308 said:

Not too much on the side though.

Second Balcony in the middle is excellent for standing room, but third balcony is already too far away for my taste. And I would only take the more expensive standing room tickets, not the cheaper ones, you always miss a part of the stage.

3 hours ago, myrtle said:

Also, please comment on how far in advance Zurich releases casting information?    Is it not advisable to wait for casting?  

 

Is the rake good in the 'orchestra' level for either Zurich or Berlin?   Or should short people always sit in balcony or rings?  

Myrtle, I did not check for the Zurich casting so often, but as far as I remember, it comes rather short before the performance. Maybe you could check when they put it online for the next performances; right now, it's just for the next week.

The Zurich Opera House is lovely, next to the lake - but it has the worst sightlines I know for the highest prices. You're safe when you are in the orchestra level - the rake is not steep, but it is there, and I never had problems. If you can get the first row in the Parkett Galerie, that would be perfect, everything is near enough to the stage, as it is a rather small theatre. For every other seat in the house you have to sit in the middle part of the theatre if you want to see the whole stage - don't got further out than boxes 8 or 7, even there the second row is already bad. Never go in the third row of a box, it's standing room only, even if you have a seat (the fourth row are barstools - maybe you can see if you stand on them 🤪). In the second balcony, you see very well in the middle section (very steep rake) and maybe in the first three seats from the middle in the side sections, don't go further outside. They have seats with slightly restricted views behind columns, "slightly" means restricted, not slightly restricted. Getting a cheap seat with good sightlines at Zurich is really hard work! As it is so small, the acoustics are great, but what does that help if you don't see the dancers. A great house for opera...

My theatre with the best sightlines, by the way, is the Badisches Staatstheater at Karlsruhe, a modern and a little ugly building, but you can see the whole stage from literally every single seat in the house. And it has a huge stage, so much room for the dancers. 

13 hours ago, Henry said:

Is it referenced in the novel or was this device invented by John Neumeier?  

In Dumas' novel, Armand gives Marguerite Abbé Prévost's book about Manon Lescaut, so this was not Neumeier's invention. Also in the novel, Armand and Marguerite meet at the theatre for the first time, so Neumeier makes them meet at a ballet about Manon.

13 hours ago, Henry said:

I expected to see M.  Gautier in white (preferably) with a red camellia or in a red dress with a white camellia. 

You see her in white in act II in the country, without camellia, where white suggest summer, love and bliss. You see her in a deep red velvet dress at the end, with a white camellia, when she goes to the theatre for the last time. I think Rose wrote in his memoires that Marguerite has 15 different costumes in the ballet.

On 26/03/2024 at 18:56, Tattin said:

It seemed to me that some of the music was repeated.

Only one piece of music is repeated, the Largo from Chopin's Piano Sonata in b minor - it is Marguerite's leitmotif. We hear it at the very beginning at the auction, when the pianists tries out the piano and unknowingly evokes the woman whose belongings are sold. We hear the full Largo for the white pdd in act II where Marguerite and Armand are happy and blissful, and we hear the beginning of the Largo as the last music of the ballet, when Marguerite dies. Then, it is not played in the orchestra pit, but from behind the stage, very far away, already making her a memory - for me, that is one of Neumeier's most heartwrenching ideas of the whole ballet.

Zurich Ballet season 2024/2025:

https://www.opernhaus.ch/en/spielplan/ballett/#154051

Berlin State Ballet Season 2024/2025

On 06/03/2024 at 16:57, Angela said:

The premiere of John Neumeier's "Lady of the Camellias" will be live streamed from Vienna on March 24th at 18.30 CET

https://play.wiener-staatsoper.at/event/4dfb69e2-63b2-4be0-9ded-6af3a9a56fa1

Just a reminder that Kameliendame will be live-streamed in 10 minutes - VOD for three days, no fee

Daniel Proietto has tried something similar before at Ballet Flanders in 2020: https://danielproietto.com/rasa

On 22/03/2024 at 19:00, Emeralds said:

not quite sure what convoluted editing you've done there,

No idea how this happened, I'm sorry.

Isn't it interesting that these recontruction fetishists and titans suddenly go for modern/newly choreographed versions? First Ratmansky with his Coppelia at Milano, where almost every step was his own choreography, and now Doug Fullington with a kind-of-modern Bayadère. What would Sergei Vikharev have said...

On 22/03/2024 at 10:38, alison said:

Not to mention that the sets and costumes have to be borrowed, don't they?  Unless the company has their own, which the RB doesn't, I believe.

There are several options with the Onegin sets and costumes, you don't have to use the Jürgen Rose design - but if you want to use it and need to make the sets from scratch for a production, then it's very expensive in the meantime, as all the sets are painted by hand, not printed, as most sets are nowadays. It's simply a question of money - as is Neumeier's Lady of the Camellias, which unlike Onegin cannot be played without the Rose costumes, which makes the production horrendously expensive. Rose insists on a certain quality of the fabrics, that's why it looks so gorgeous.

On 22/03/2024 at 06:48, Emeralds said:

Isn't the Cranko estate notoriously very stingy with allowing performances? 

[Moderators: The quote immediately above was originally from lady emily (1542 on 21 March)]

Onegin has been staged in almost 40 companies worldwide, I would not call that stingy.

Debuts in Stuttgart's Swan Lake by Cranko:

6.4. Henrik Erikson as Siegfried (with Elisa Badenes) Clemens Fröhlich as Rotbart

13.4. Matteo Miccini as Siegfried (with Anna Osadcenko),  Ciro Ernesto Mansilla as Rotbart

Hamburg Ballet season 2024/2025:

"The Times Are Racing":

“Adagio” by Pina Bausch, “Variations for two Couples” by Hans van Manen, The Thing with Feathers” by Demis Volpi and “The Times are racing” by Justin Peck

“Slow Burn”:

World premiere by Aszure Barton and "Blake Works 5" by William Forsythe

(Hamburg has not seen a Forsythe ballet in the repertoire ever)

Revival: Death In Venice. A Dance of Death by John Neumeier

Creation: “Demian” by Demis Volpi after the novel by Hermann Hesse

https://www.hamburgballett.de/en/schedule/overview_2425.php?type=premieren&season=2425

https://www.hamburgballett.de/en/news/editorial.php

Download the brochure here

Principal Karen Azatyan is leaving the company to go to Zurich, Futaba Ishizaki, Charlotte Kragh and Daniele Bonelli are following the company from Ballett am Rhein as soloists

https://www.staatsoper.de/en/inhalte-staatsballett-home/spielzeit-2024-25

On 11/03/2024 at 18:46, Sabine0308 said:

And my guess is he will get about 5 minutes to do so AFTER all the Opera and concert stuff have been presented at length.🙄

Well it was 15 min for Hilaire, but yes, the opera and the concert stuff had 75 min. 😒

Bavarian State Ballet season 2024/25:

Premieres:

„La Sylphide“ by Pierre Lacotte

Triple Bill „Wings of Memory” with

Jiří Kylián, Bella Figura

Sidi Larbi Cherkoaui, The Faun

Pina Bausch, The Rite of Spring

the third edition of “Spheres”

curated by Sol Leon and Paul Lightfoot

with one piece by them and three young choreographers they chose

Revivals:

Peter Wright's Giselle

Illusions – Like Swan Lake by John Neumeier

Guest Company at the ballet week in spring:

Lucia Lacarra's company with  “Lost Letter”, choreography by Matthew Golding

Dresden Semperoper Ballet season 2024/25, the first under new director Kinsun Chan:

Premieres

Kinsun Chan and Martin Zimmermann: „Wonderful World“, Premiere at the Playhouse Dresden

John Neumeier’s “Nijinsky”

Double Bill “Vice Versa” with “Noetic” by Sidi Larbi Cherkaouis and a creation by Imre and Marne van Opstal

At Semper Zwei, the experimental, smaller stage at the Semperopera, there will be a triple bill celebrating 200 years of dance at the Semperoper with works by Francesca Frassinelli, Julian Nicosia and Giovanni Insaudo. For the same occasion, there will be a Ballet Gala called “Dresdance 2025“ with all companies of the town.

Repertoire: Swan Lake and Peer Gynt by Johan Inger, a triple bill “Classics” with George Balanchine, Justin Peck and Twyla Tharp, and the old Nutcracker by Aaron S. Watkin and Jason Beechey after Petipa

https://www.semperoper.de/interim/ballett-2024-25.html

5 hours ago, Sabine0308 said:

And my guess is he will get about 5 minutes to do so AFTER all the Opera and concert stuff have been presented at length.🙄

Well, all these opera directors, music directors and playhouse directors still think that Germany is a land of opera, classical music and spoken word. WE KNOW DIFFERENT 💪

On 06/03/2024 at 17:25, Lizbie1 said:

when might we expect the season announcements to start coming in?

The Bavarian State Opera will livestream their season presentation 2024–25 of the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Bayerisches Staatsballett and the Bayerisches Staatsorchester on Saturday, 16 March 2024, 10 a.m. CET

Go to https://www.staatsoper.de/tv/ to see Laurent Hilaire present the next season

On 09/03/2024 at 17:32, Tattin said:

I was, however, absolutely shocked by his "Midsummer Night's Dream", which I saw on stage at the Granada Festival of Music and Dance last summer.  It was  incomprehensible even to those of us who are very familiar with the complex narrative. There were too many dancers on stage, also at times obscured by the admittedly extremely beautiful, moveable trees. I felt sorry for the dancers and longed for "The Dream"!

To be honest, Tattin, I find Neumeier's version very clear and rather easy to understand - I mean, Shakespeare's comedy is as complicated as it gets, but in Neumeier's version you get introduced to all the characters, you have a very clear musical distinction between the court (Mendelssohn-Bartholdy), the fairies (Györgi Ligeti) and the amateur players who make their music on a barrel organ by themselves. The costumes for the court are historical, the costumes for the fairies are very modern - you always know in which world we are.  Neumeier's trick is to combine Theseus/Oberon and Hippolyta/Titania in one dancer respectively one ballerina. That was not his idea, but the famous British director Peter Brook invented this in 1970 for his staging at the Royal Shakespeare Company. I don't think you have to feel sorry for the dancers, except maybe for the extra-difficult lifts for Oberon and Titania. I guess it's the same problem that an American audience has with Neumeier's works - I read reviews about his Lady of the Camellias where the critic just did not get the story. If you're used to the old classics like Sleeping Beauty and to abstract, neoclassical works, it may be a little bit difficult to understand drama ballet or "literature ballet", as Cranko, MacMillan or Neumeier are called in Germany. With Neumeier, you have to watch very closely, but then everything is clear and you can understand it all.

6 hours ago, Tattin said:

but maybe when I have registered and /or paid to see something.

Tattin, I don't think you have to pay for arte concert, as far as I know it's for free. Or geoblocked 😔

Tattin, I'm sorry - no idea how they distribute the availability on arte concert. Former arte links seem to have worked in Britain, at last. There's a DVD, but I'd only recommend it if you like Neumeier's religious works very much.

https://hamburgballett-shop.de/p/dona-nobis-pacem