Bruce Wall Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 (edited) Source Ashtons = (i) Sylvia and (ii) La Fille Ratmanskys = (i) New ballet for seven men, (ii) The Shostakovich Trilogy (a couple of ballets from which are now in the rep of major companies throughout the world but sadly are yet to appear at all in London) and a new-to-ABT production of his 'Golden Cockerel' realisation based on the Fokine sketch - such as was originally mounted for the RDB. With Lendorf as a new ABT principal (who graciously is doing the 2015 Winter Koch ABT season as well) it is lovely to see the established NYC/Danish connection continuing to flourish as well as the continued strengthening of the ABT/Ashton link. Edited August 18, 2015 by Bruce Wall 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 (edited) I should have added above that ABT are also reviving Ratmansky's newly (2015) re-constructed 'Sleeping Beauty', a co-production with La Scala ... so that makes four Ratmansky works in the ABT 2016 Met season ... and the second ABT triple bill included in such still to be announced. Edited August 19, 2015 by Bruce Wall 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanartus Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Thanks Bruce for this - if the RB doesn't get its act together re Ratmansky hopefully ENB will take the lead... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barton22 Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Thanks, Bruce. Looking forward to seeing the new ballet and the Shostakovich triptych. I missed that when it was first shown and someone close to ABT had suggested to me a while back that they might not stage all three pieces together again. Very pleased that turned out to be wrong, as it sounds like it is very good indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLOSS Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 (edited) The ballets scheduled for the ABT Met season are mouthwatering Ratmansky's new Sleeping Beauty, Le Coq D'Or and his Shostakovitch triptych plus two Ashton full lengths.It makes the Royal Ballet's 2015-16 season look dull and unimaginative by comparison.With the Royal's programming you know where the full lengths will appear in the schedule and where the mixed bills will pop up a bit like a school timetable which repeats itself year in year out.Yes we get the Two Pigeons and the Winter's Tale and Scarlett's Frankenstein but wouldn't it have been better to quietly dispose of Raven Girl and use the time more fruitfully? Well of course one of the problems is that Kevin seems to be more interested in having new works created on the company by outside choreographers than having their best works mounted for the company.While I understand the importance for dancers of having ballets created on them it does seem rather unfortunate that the company runs the danger of acquiring works that have been made on the choreographer's off days rather than those made when he/she was firing on all cylinders.Perhaps it was because they were choreographers themselves, but the first three choreographers went out of their way to acquire the best examples of an outside choreographer's works as well as the occasional new creation by choreographer's from outside the company.If Kevin wanted a substantial work by Ratmansky he would have to fit in with his availability which means planning several years ahead.Only time will tell whether Kevin is backing the right choreographic horses. Edited August 19, 2015 by FLOSS 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 (edited) Well of course one of the problems is that Kevin seems to be more interested in having new works created on the company by outside choreographers ... Thanks as ever, FLOSS. I just think one has to be careful when both of the AD's (RB & ABT) are called Kevin .... lest any unintended/undue confusion might be raised. That's why I prefer to stick to last names when I can .... Of course you might run into a situation where there are an abundance of Fairchilds. Such things have been known to happen ... happily Edited August 19, 2015 by Bruce Wall 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted August 19, 2015 Author Share Posted August 19, 2015 (edited) Thanks Bruce for this - if the RB doesn't get its act together re Ratmansky hopefully ENB will take the lead... I have a feeling that the odds might favour - in the UK's regard - that the key Ratmansky works might be seen on those occasions when a foreign company is visiting such as was the case with his Concerto DSCH - originally mounted for NYCB but seen here - years later - with the Mariinsky. That choreography was duly celebrated by viewers here during its two performances in a rendering that (to my tastes) sometimes lacked the explicitly focused impact of other executions.. Indeed I raise this only because the UK critical response to Ratmansky's work - and indeed many comments on these boards - have oft been unfavourable - and that includes the response to the one original work he has made for the RB. (Ratmansky, himself, has said he would like to return to create another new work for the RB which is encouraging.) I just think it is a shame that much of his leading rep is missing from the sight of British balletomanes who are understandably not able to travel outside of this nation's cultural boundaries. Edited August 19, 2015 by Bruce Wall 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 The ballets scheduled for the ABT Met season are mouthwatering Ratmansky's new Sleeping Beauty, Le Coq D'Or and his Shostakovitch triptych plus two Ashton full lengths.It makes the Royal Ballet's 2015-16 season look dull and unimaginative by comparison.With the Royal's programming you know where the full lengths will appear in the schedule and where the mixed bills will pop up a bit like a school timetable which repeats itself year in year out.Yes we get the Two Pigeons and the Winter's Tale and Scarlett's Frankenstein but wouldn't it have been better to quietly dispose of Raven Girl and use the time more fruitfully? Just wondering why you have to have another bash at the RB, in an announcement of the season for ABT. Just curious. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 If Kevin wanted a substantial work by Ratmansky he would have to fit in with his availability which means planning several years ahead. Perhaps he is? After all, before he became Director he was in New York, discovered from Ratmansky's people that he had a slot available in the diary and decided to grab him, on the assumption that whoever the new Director was s/he would be glad to have a Ratmansky piece. It could well be that he wants Ratmansky back, but has to wait because the man is, deservedly, so popular. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mallinson Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Thanks Bruce for this - if the RB doesn't get its act together re Ratmansky hopefully ENB will take the lead... 24 Preludes, Feb 2013. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanartus Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Yep. Saw it. Like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted August 19, 2015 Share Posted August 19, 2015 Saw it. Didn't like it: dull and over-long. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 You have to blame Chopin for the latter part Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bangorballetboy Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Saw it. Didn't like it: dull and over-long. Same here. Couple of nice bits but mainly unoriginal and dull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 You have to blame Chopin for the latter part Dances at a Gathering, also a Chopin ballet, is one hour long and could go on forever, if you ask me. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 What we need now is the programming for NYCB's Paris tour then I can plan properly as I have to see Vienna Waltzes again and it's on in NY just as ABT's season starts which is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLOSS Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 zxDaveM Sorry that you think that I am "Royal Ballet bashing".It is just that as I read what ABT was serving up it seemed to me that it made the programming at Covent Garden seem overly predictable. Of course it could be that it is a case of "the grass seeming greener.." but the range of ballets that the Royal Ballet performs is far narrower than it needs to be and too many of the new works created for it seem to me far from inspired. A pretentious title and atmospheric lighting don't make a great ballet.I will come clean. Ratmansky's Le Coq d'Or and the Shostakovitch Trilogy look far more enticing than the Raven Girl programme and I am someone who thought his Cinderella a waste of good dancers. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denver Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 What we need now is the programming for NYCB's Paris tour then I can plan properly as I have to see Vienna Waltzes again and it's on in NY just as ABT's season starts which is great. Perhaps others here know more details, but there is a problem performing the complete Vienna Waltzes anywhere other than North America, as NYCB only obtained North American rights for the Richard Strauss music. In the 2008 tour, they got some sort of last-minute agreement from the R. Strauss estate, but they would need to do that again for a 2016 tour to Paris. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barton22 Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Same here. Couple of nice bits but mainly unoriginal and dull. Agreed that this one piece was not terribly successful, but I think his good material is so much better than the new work the Royal has put on recently. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Perhaps others here know more details, but there is a problem performing the complete Vienna Waltzes anywhere other than North America, as NYCB only obtained North American rights for the Richard Strauss music. In the 2008 tour, they got some sort of last-minute agreement from the R. Strauss estate, but they would need to do that again for a 2016 tour to Paris. In 2008 they pulled the Vienna Waltzes from the Paris tour (I was gutted) as they were not allowed to have the music in Europe. I doubt they will attempt to bring Vienna Waltzes to Paris again, hence why a trip to NY is required to see this rarity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aileen Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Why are the rights owners of music so precious? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denver Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Why are the rights owners of music so precious? It's valuable intellectual property. When you acquire rights, you pay different amounts for North American vs. worldwide, live performance vs. recordings, etc. The Balanchine Trust is very fussy about unauthorized use of their copyrighted choreography, as are the copyright owners of work by Robbins, Ashton, MacMillan and others. It's all valuable property. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted August 20, 2015 Share Posted August 20, 2015 Richard Strauss music is only allowed for ballet if it was written for ballet - that is four pieces out of his huge oeuvre, if I remember correctly. Not the Four Last Songs, not Zarathustra and nothing from the operas. Sometimes his heirs make exceptions when ballets were created long ago, but it happens rarely. This should end in 2019, 70 years after his death. We'll see a flood of Strauss ballets then, I'm sure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLOSS Posted August 21, 2015 Share Posted August 21, 2015 Is it a blanket ban? Did not Jacobson use Richard Strauss' suite of music from Der Rosenkavalier in his Viennese Waltz? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted August 22, 2015 Share Posted August 22, 2015 FLOSS, there are many Strauss ballets, all created some decades ago. I don't know when the heirs decided to ban his music for ballet, must be some 10, 15 years ago. I'm not 100 percent sure, but I think that choreographers are allowed to use The Legend of Joseph, Schlagobers, Couperin Dance Suite and Verklungene Feste, nothing else. There seems to be a similar ban with Bartok music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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