La Scala Manon - Sarah Lamb replacing Osipova

[annamicro]

http://www.teatroallascala.org/en/season/opera-ballet/2014-2015/histoire-de-manon.html

 

Natalia Osipova is not dancing Manon in La Scala anymore. She is replaced by Sarah Lamb.

In the link the statement of the theatre, quite ambiguous IMO.

[aileen]

Is Osipova injured? It's an odd statement.

 

Good for Lamb though (her debut at La Scala and it's one of her best roles).

Edited November 14, 2015 by aileen

[alison]

That *is* a rather odd way of phrasing it, isn't it?

[annamicro]

The other link I posted earlier put it in a less "diplomatic" way, in its last paragraph

 

"Ma le gatte da pelare per il numero uno scaligero non finiscono qui. Natalia Osipova, star del Royal Ballet di Londra, impegnata nelle recite di Manon del 18 e 20, non vuole ballare con lo scaligero Claudio Coviello. Ha proposto di sostituirlo con Sergei Polunin (che tra l'altro è il suo fidanzato), ma per il teatro si tratterebbe di pagare un'altra étoile ospite. Nulla ancora è deciso, se salterà lei o Coviello. Insomma, la sfortuna ha colpito duramente Manon, e la deportazione negli Stati Uniti, come accade nella storia dell'Abate Prévost ripresa da Massenet e Puccini, sarebbe quasi una liberazione."

 

http://milano.repubblica.it/cronaca/2015/11/14/news/polemiche_e_proteste_dopo_la_cancellazione_di_manon_ma_la_cgil_esulta_sciopero_riuscito-127303732/

[Vanartus]

Sarah Lamb's Manon is great - brittle and luscious at the same time - am really pleased for her.

[taxi4ballet]

Sorry - my Italian is non-existent and I can't open the links (over-zealous security on new laptop) - please can someone translate?

[simonbfisher]

But the fish to fry for the number one scaligero not end there. Natalia Osipova, star of the Royal Ballet in London, engaged in the performances of Manon of 18 and 20, he does not want to dance with the Scala Claudio Coviello. He proposed to replace it with Sergei Polunin (which by the way is her boyfriend), but for the theater it would pay another étoile guest. Nothing is decided yet if she will jump or Coviello. In short, bad luck hit hard Manon, and deportation to the United States, as in the story of the Abbot Prévost shot by Massenet and Puccini, it would be almost a relief. "

 

 

    or so the Universal Translator app would have us believe. I hope this helps, Taxi4ballet, but fear it won't !!!

Edited November 14, 2015 by simonbfisher

[Sim]

'For reasons not attributable to the artist'??? What on earth does that mean? IF what they are saying is true and she is refusing to dance with Coviello, then the reasons are entirely attributable to the artist!

[capybara]

'For reasons not attributable to the artist'??? What on earth does that mean? IF what they are saying is true and she is refusing to dance with Coviello, then the reasons are entirely attributable to the artist!

 

This wording was doubtless agreed between the Director and Osipova. The Italian version seems to paint the actual picture.

 

I have to say that words fail me. Please, Natalia, do yourself a favour and think about how (badly) all this is now coming across to your public and to ballet companies worldwide. If I knew you I would shake you and say, "People love you, Natasha, but you really have to get a grip, girl".

[taxi4ballet]

 

But the fish to fry for the number one scaligero not end there. Natalia Osipova, star of the Royal Ballet in London, engaged in the performances of Manon of 18 and 20, he does not want to dance with the Scala Claudio Coviello. He proposed to replace it with Sergei Polunin (which by the way is her boyfriend), but for the theater it would pay another étoile guest. Nothing is decided yet if she will jump or Coviello. In short, bad luck hit hard Manon, and deportation to the United States, as in the story of the Abbot Prévost shot by Massenet and Puccini, it would be almost a relief. "

 

 

    or so the Universal Translator app would have us believe. I hope this helps, Taxi4ballet, but fear it won't !!!

 

Well that makes everything clear then!

[penelopesimpson]

 

But the fish to fry for the number one scaligero not end there. Natalia Osipova, star of the Royal Ballet in London, engaged in the performances of Manon of 18 and 20, he does not want to dance with the Scala Claudio Coviello. He proposed to replace it with Sergei Polunin (which by the way is her boyfriend), but for the theater it would pay another étoile guest. Nothing is decided yet if she will jump or Coviello. In short, bad luck hit hard Manon, and deportation to the United States, as in the story of the Abbot Prévost shot by Massenet and Puccini, it would be almost a relief. "

 

 

    or so the Universal Translator app would have us believe. I hope this helps, Taxi4ballet, but fear it won't !!!

 

Don't understand a word of this.  Is it some sort of code...?!

[annamk]

If Osipova didn't want to dance with Coviello and the management of La Scala couldn't come up with someone she was happy with then I think it's her prerogative to withdraw. Particularly in a ballet like Manon with some tricky choreography, part of which (the slide) we know has been the cause of an accident to more than one ballerina in the past. 

[Sim]

Who was her partner supposed to be originally for the two Manon performances? Was it Hallberg?

[annamicro]

Who was her partner supposed to be originally for the two Manon performances? Was it Hallberg?

Yes, it was Hallberg. If she signed a contract to dance with Hallberg and ended up with Coviello, I cannot blame her for not accepting that. Not just for safety: firt of all, an artist has artistry to deliver.

[Coated]

...as in the story of the Abbot Prévost shot by Massenet and Puccini, it would be almost a relief. "[/size]

 

I am shocked and abhorred to find out that Puccini and Massenet conspired to shoot a man of the cloth.

Edited November 15, 2015 by Coated

[Beryl H]

Sounds "fishy" doesn't it, good for Sarah Lamb and good for La Scala!

[aileen]

Well, I suppose that it all depends on what the contract says. Does it stipulate that she is entitled to withdraw if her named partner is unavailable and a replacement which is acceptable to her cannot be found? I find the set-up at La Scala odd anyway. Why do they use so many guest artists? Do they operate like many opera companies and bring in the principals from outside rather than use company dancers? Can no-one from the company other than Coviello be found to replace Hallberg? Who *would* Osipova have been happy to dance with (other than Polunin of course - no doubt she was angling to dance with him)?

[bridiem]

If Osipova didn't want to dance with Coviello and the management of La Scala couldn't come up with someone she was happy with then I think it's her prerogative to withdraw. Particularly in a ballet like Manon with some tricky choreography, part of which (the slide) we know has been the cause of an accident to more than one ballerina in the past. 

 

I suppose we must assume that Sarah Lamb has no such concerns about Coviello... let's hope she gives of her impressive best (and no injuries!), in which case the Milan audience should be very happy.

[Andy]

If Osipova didn't want to dance with Coviello and the management of La Scala couldn't come up with someone she was happy with then I think it's her prerogative to withdraw. Particularly in a ballet like Manon with some tricky choreography, part of which (the slide) we know has been the cause of an accident to more than one ballerina in the past. 

Somehow she escaped any problems dancing the same Manon with the same (only younger and less experienced at that time) Coviello two years ago, in 2013 November again

Osipova should have spoken to the management about her concerns more clearly and definitely before the "new" partner announcement time ago.

Not "just before" the performances, otherwise it looked more like blackmailing.

 

Congrats to Sarah Lamb.The winner takes it all!

[SwissBalletFan]

This reads like a Romeo & Juliet style tragedy, with the previously lovely and energetic Osipova, becoming a bit stubborn and unreliable, and now tells an opera house where she is a guest that she refuses to dance with a talent of La Scala, only with her BF?

 

What is the English Phrase...'Have the patients taken over the Asylum'? It seems luckily not at La Scala, where they stuck to their home talent, and an obliging and talented guest in Sarah Lamb. Toi Toi Toi to them both.

[aileen]

When was it known that Hallberg could not dance and that Coviello would replace him?

[annamicro]

When was it known that Hallberg could not dance and that Coviello would replace him?

 

It was announced to the audience a few weeks ago.

 

I saw Osipova with Coviello a couple of years ago in Swan Lake and he looked very young and promising. Then I saw them in Manon and it was an acceptable but not great show, but they had like 10 days of rehearsal and that's is really too little for a double debut.

When I saw them in Romeo and Juliet, the partnership really didn't work, at least for the standard I expect from a great dancer as Osipova is: she seemed to dance on her own. He was quite insignificant.

Later I saw him as Albrecht (his second season in the role) with Maria Eichwald: she was a wonderful Giselle, he didn't exist on stage (even if he has a quite strong individual technique).

He did quite well with Rojo in Don Quixote, but you don't need to act that much when dancing Basil. His Manon pdd with Hamilton in the Etoile Gala is something to forget.

IMO he is an excellent and elegant dancer, but is shortish (too short for Hamilton or Osipova), not physically strong and not a great partner; he is quite bland on stage, without a great personality and modest acting skills: think to a young Bolle without his mass.

Why should Osipova accept to dance with him, after a few not exciting performances, when she was actually hired to dance with her favorite partner, Hallberg?

It could be that the discussion went on for a while, we just know that the result was announced yesterday (and just with a quite hidden note on La Scala website), not when the decision was taken.

 

I wish that every great artist will consider who she/he is dancing with when accepting a guest appearance: nothing is so depressing as watching a relevant artist perform under the expected level due to an unfortunate partnership. Dancing machines are always the same, but those who have something to say, need somebody to talk to.

[Tony Newcombe]

With her recent injury, surely Osipova had the perfect opportunity to decline when she knew who her partner was going to be

[Sim]

Very true Tony, but as Annamicro points out, we don't know whether Osipova declined immediately and La Scala has only just announced it (maybe they delayed whilst finding and confirming a replacement), or whether she has just made the decision.  It would be interesting to know, but I don't suppose we will.

 

I haven't seen Coviello dance so can't comment, but in Sarah Lamb the La Scala audience is in for a treat in their Manon.

[capybara]

Interesting, isn't it, that the Director involved in this is Makharbak Vaziev who will be taking up the reins at the Bolshoi just as Osipova begins her significant guesting contract with them.

[Fonty]

Does anyone know how tall Osipova actually is?  After all, she has danced sucessfully with McRae in the past, and he is not the tallest male in the company. 

[Naomi M]

Osipova is quite petite. In this quote of an article from the Times that is beyond paywall

 

http://balletalert.invisionzone.com/index.php?/topic/18563-tall-vs-short-ballerinas/page-3

 

She was mentioned 5ft 5in in the article, and people have the impression that she is shorter, so it is unlikely Coviello is too short for her.

Edited November 16, 2015 by Naomi M

[Fonty]

I wouldn't consider 5'5" to be quite petite!  To qualify for that, she would have to be a good three inches shorter. 

 

Her height is within the normal range for a dancer, I would think? 

[ferrylights]

Natalia being around 5'5" sounds right to me, as I had flats on when I met her once, and we are exactly the same height in the picture of both of us together.

I always forget that ballerinas gain many inches of extra height when they go en pointe. There is a recent Telegraph article about Francesca Hayward mentioning that though she is a petite 5'2", she is about 5'7" en pointe because her feet are so long.

(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/dance/what-to-see/Francesca-Hayward-royal-ballet-as-Juliet/)

[Naomi M]

I also met Natalia once almost 10 years ago and she did seem exactly the same height as me who is 5'4" (of course she is much better proportioned with a small face!) .

But I felt she was rather small compared to other Bolshoi Ballerinas (and she was still a soloist then) 

[annamicro]

It's not necessary to know how tall Osipova is, or Coviello: if you Google Osipova and Coviello, you can see a number of photos of the two together and make your own idea on how they look when dancing.

[Fonty]

It is quite difficult to tell anything from a photo, I find, as frequently the female is bending backwards or forwards.

 

I was just asking out of interest, as I find that these days many female dancers are referred to as petite, when in fact they are about 5' 5" or 5'6", which I would consider to be tall.  Especially for a ballet dancer. 

[taxi4ballet]

For those currently in training, I believe the average height for girls is now about 5'4" - 5'6"