Raymonda: all three acts?

[Geoff]

The RB gave us Act III of Raymonda relatively recently (just looked it up and it was last on Christmas 2012/13, how time flies). What's the rest like, indeed what was the reason for dropping the first two acts? Most grateful for some background on this.

[bangorballetboy]

The Bolshoi and the Mariinsky do all three acts.  Can be found on YouTube.

[Two Pigeons]

When he came to the RB Nureyev only produced that last act and it is that which has remained in the repertoire of both Royal companies. I understand that doing the full length Raymonda was considered by SWRB. However, not only is the title role a very taxing one but it was thought the full ballet was too unfamiliar to audiences to be anything like commercially successful, especially on tour.

[Two Pigeons]

P.s. It is one of my favourites and I still class the performance I saw by the Bolshoi at the Coliseum in 1999 starring Nina Ananiashvili as the greatest individual classical performance I have ever seen.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Two Pigeons

[jmhopton]

I still class the performance I saw by the Bolshoi at the Coliseum in 1999 starring Nina Ananiashvili as the greatest individual classical performance I have ever seen.

Me too Two Pigeons. Having said that the ballet is by no means a favourite. I (dare I say it) find it rather dull which may be another reason no British companies have attempted the full ballet. Ironically, I think the most interesting dance in it is performed by the villain, Abderachman. I still treasure the 1980s video of the wonderful Gediminas Taranda performing this role and have fond memories of him performing this role and the villain in Golden Age (another fabulous role) in the series of 'ballet suites' the Bolshoi did at the Albert hall in 1982 or 3. The interest certainly lessens when Jeanne de Brienne comes back from fighting the crusades (still in the same immaculately white costume he went in) and kills him and then gets the girl (Raymonda).

[Don Q Fan]

Paris Opera Ballet also do the full version but to be honest Act 3 is the best bit. ENB did Act 3 recently in their Nureyev Tribute I saw Tamara Rojo as Raymonda. Excellent.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Don Q Fan

[nottsballetlover]

I worked in Prague 2000 to 2002 and saw Czech National Ballet about 3 times a week! I think it was in 2001 Makarova came in to bring them the Maryinsky version. It was stunning and I was lucky enough to be at the premiere when Makarova came on to do a curtain call.

[toursenlair]

it's a fairly ridiculous story, and the best dancing is concentrated in Act III. Nureyev moved some of the best variations from Act I and II to his standalone "Act III" so you get the most ballet for your buck.

Beautiful music in Raymonda, though. Shame about the story.

Australian Ballet did a full-length version a few years ago which is set in the 1940s with Raymonda being a Princess-Grace type figure torn between her prince and her rat-pack friends (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin). The rethinking worked quite well I thought, but then in Act III suddenly a bunch of Hungarians showed up and did the regular Raymonda choreography, which of course you wouldn't want to trash . But it seemed a bit incongruous in the circumstances.

[capybara]

ENB should mount it, perhaps. They have several potential Raymondas and Abderakhmans. The company also has the panache to bring off Act 2 as well as Act 3 which they danced so wonderfully three years ago.s

 

However, Act 1 in particular might need some cutting.

[FLOSS]

Raymonda was the first full length ballet that Nureyev staged in the West but according to Clive Barnes it was not the first time it had been seen in the West. According  to Barnes a Lithuanian company had performed it in London during the 1930's while Danilova and Balanchine had staged a reduced version for the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo. Nureyev staged his version for the Royal Ballet Touring Company which appeared at the Spoletto Festival in 1964.Fonteyn should have danced the lead but when her husband was severely injured in an assassination attempt she withdrew and was replaced by Doreen Wells who learnt the role in thirty six hours.

 

Barnes described the plot as " somewhat lacking in the rude essentials of human interest". He went on to say Nureyev "boldly jettisoned as much of the original story as he possibly dared" and that it had been set as if it was one of Balanchine's plotless ballets and looked like one most of the time. He thought that Nureyev and his designer had gone too far in removing the work's period trappings for him one of the justifications for reviving a ballet of its type was its period flavour. He described it as a genuine find choreographically  but disliked the designs. He said that if it was to retain its place in the Royal Ballet's repertory it needed new designs. Nureyev's first production was designed by Beni Montressor. Nureyev subsequently set an expanded version of the third act with new designs on the Covent Garden Company and the Touring Company.

 

Nureyev's production of Raymonda Act III has recently been seen in London performed by the Royal Ballet during the 2012-13 season. by ENB in a Nureyev Tribute and finally by the RBS during their main stage matinee in 2014. Of the three revivals the RBS gave the best performance both technically and stylistically. Neither the RB nor the ENB came close to capturing the essential elements that had made Nureyev's staging so impressive. As I watched the RB's dancers l remembered a performance danced by Sibley and Wall towards the end of their careers when neither was what they had been technically but where they gave an extraordinary demonstration of how much can be achieved by dancers who have total command of epaulement and dance as much with their eyes, head, neck and arms as they do with their legs. They brought a generosity expansiveness and grandeur to their performance Their finesse and  nuance revealed those elements which are essential to a great performance of Act III.. I have no idea who coached the RB for the 2012-13 performances but I  found them small scale. lacklustre and unsubtle. I had high hopes of the ENB's  as they had so recently given a series of  performances of Sleeping Beauty in which they outdid the RB as far as nuance and style were concerned. Foolishly I expected  some of that stylistic polish to have transferred over to their account of Raymonda . It did not. Instead we got performances which, for me, were totally lacking in grandeur and seemed more concerned with technical display than finesse.

Edited June 24, 2016 by FLOSS

[Don Q Fan]

ENB should mount it, perhaps. They have several potential Raymondas and Abderakhmans. The company also has the panache to bring off Act 2 as well as Act 3 which they danced so wonderfully three years ago.s

 

However, Act 1 in particular might need some cutting.

In my mind I have ENB lined up to do Don Quixote (preferably the Bolshoi's last version) when I win the lottery   - I believe that staging a new ballet needs about £1 million.  So Raymonda would have to take second place in the queue please  Of course ENB don't know my plans for them at this stage!!

Edited June 24, 2016 by Don Q Fan

[capybara]

Did you see the performance of Raymonda Act 3 led by Elena Glurdjidze, FLOSS? For me, it was one treasure for ever.

[Two Pigeons]

Please may I say that I also remember Sibley dancing Raymonda when she came back after her initial retirement. It was utterly glorious.

[Beryl H]

I saw Nureyev's full length production for the Australian Ballet in 1965 at the Apollo Victoria, wonderful night, Nureyev danced Jeanne de Brienne and Doreen Wells replaced Marilyn Horne (I think) as Raymonda, it was only my third ballet performance, I've always wished a British company would dance it, think it would suit them more than Don Quixote.

[Naomi M]

One of the most glorious Raymondas was Miyako Yoshida dancing in the Covent Garden reopening gala with Johan Kobborg. It was just the coda but even though, her commanding musicality and brilliance shone.

 

National Ballet of Japan has a full Raymonda in their repertoire, and a DVD is retailed in Japan with Svetlana Zakharova (and Denis Matvienko). Although I admit there are some dull moments in this ballet, Glaznov's music is so beautiful and I just enjoy listening to the CD of it. National Ballet of Japan's production has beautiful costumes and stage design by Luisa Spinatelli, and overall an enjoyable one. National Ballet of Japan has a video archive in their library and we can also watch the full performance by Yoshida and Ethan Stiefel. 

 

I also love the Nureyev version and have seen it in Paris. It is a shame that it is out of their repertoire now as the Georgiadis costumes and sets became old and I believe they have been destroyed. 

[LinMM]

I've only ever seen the third Act of Raymonda.

 

But when I saw it for the first time around the mid seventies.....may well have been Merle Park the very first time...I loved the music so much that went straight to main library in Acton where living at the time and ended up with the full ballet music not just the last Act ....I really love it .....and luckily I was on the ground floor of the house I was in .......(thought I'd hit the big time having the room with French windows onto the garden) .....as spent hours making up dances to this music!

 

Perhaps there is a case for looking at the story and seeing if something sensible could be made of it ....perhaps a two Act ballet ....picking the best of the music?

[stucha]

La Scala have a version which is a reconstruction by Vikharev of the 1898 production.

Below is a review of it.

 

https://next.ft.com/content/98f35814-0146-11e1-b177-00144feabdc0​

 

 

It was controversial in Milan at the time because if its enormous cost.

 

 

It can be found on line in its entirety.

[DrewCo]

This past year the Mariinsky toured the Sergeyev production to west and east coasts of the U.S. I saw it in D.C. and loved it, but it's for hard-core fans of nineteenth-century ballet-spectacle. (I had seen full length Raymondas before--Nureyev's, Holmes's, and Grigorovich's--but not live in the theater for some years...)

 

If you enjoy Petipa and Petipa-derived classical pageantry--the whole shebang (mime, character dancing, vision scene, pas d'action, variation after variation after variation)--and, too, enjoy late nineteenth-century Medievalist fantasy, lushly pretty music, leisurely pacing -- if you enjoy all those things taken almost, I might say, to the edge of decadence...well, then seeing Raymonda is like dying and going to classical ballet heaven. As I say, I loved it.

 

It's also a stupendous ballerina vehicle: as mentioned earlier in the discussion, the ballerina has one set piece after another, each one requiring different qualities--and each one, in a different way, a killer. 

Edited June 25, 2016 by DrewCo

[Jan McNulty]

We saw the Nureyev production in Paris about 8 years ago - I was bored rigid at both the performances I saw.  I thought there were too many steps and not enough story.

 

I saw the Bolshoi production in Manchester in 1986 and absolutely LOVED it!!

[MAB]

I saw Fonteyn and Nureyev dance it in his production for the Australians in '65 too, most of the story had been pruned though.  He did a full length version for the RB touring company around the same period for the Spoleto Festival, but it never survived.  Raymonda was one of Fonteyn's best roles and for me no one has surpassed her, but I also adored Deanne Bergsma and Monica Mason as Raymonda too.

 

In my opinion Grigorovich's version is the best, a great pity the Bolshoi no longer tours it.

[FLOSS]

The fact that the full length Raymonda did not enter the repertory of the Covent Garden company may seem strange to some today but why should it have done so ? The company was created to be one which made new works rather than merely curating them. De Valois' working model was, after all the Diaghilev company. Her company had the ballets that  de Valois had asked Sergeyev to stage for her.. At the time that she made her selection she could have chosen any of the works recorded in the books that Sergeyev had brought out of Russsia with him. Not surprisingly de Valois selected those ballets which she knew  to be the most important ballets of the nineteenth century repertory as her company's gold standard. Her choice of ballets of historical significance for the development of the art form both choreographically and musically gave the company a ready made tradition..

 

 We need to bear in mind that in 1964  no one was to know that Ashton had created all of his full length ballets . The company was being run by one of the great choreographers of the twentieth century and at the same time it had another major  choreographer making ballets for it. In 1964 MacMillan was a choreographer of potential that was still unfulfilled. He had not created his Romeo and Juliet which was premiered in 1965 let alone  Manon (1974) and Mayerling (1978). Why should the company have felt the need to acquire another nineteenth century work when it could quite reasonably expect new works from both of its in house choreographer's ?

 

Does the company need another full length nineteenth century work? I don't really think so as the company still has not got regular revivals of its Ashton repertory sorted out and it now needs to accommodate Winter's Tale in its revival schedule  The only nineteenth century ballet the company needs  is a replacement for Kobborg's La Sylphide which I fear we shall never seen again. Apart from that I am not persuaded of the need for more nineteenth century full length works to enter the repertory. If you want more then the restored Esmeralda has a strong local claim as the original  version of the ballet was premiered in London  while the Paquita performed in Munich would, for me, be of real interest as the entire second act has had its mime restored. Any way none of this fits in with Kevin's plans for 2020.

Edited June 25, 2016 by FLOSS

[Jane S]

According to Sarah Woodcock in her history of the SWRB/touring company, when the question of acquiring the Spoleto 3-act Raymonda arose, "Ashton felt that without the drama the ballet lacked heart, that the designs were dull, and it would need drastic re-thinking if it were to go into the repertory, so Covent Garden dropped the idea of buying it in for the Touring Company".

[taxi4ballet]

May I pick your collective brains for a recommendation please? We have Raymonda on CD but we don't have a DVD of it and I would like to get one - not just for me as I haven't seen it, but for my dd (who is in vocational training) so she can watch & learn from the famous variations.

 

There seem to be several DVDs available - which would be the best/most suitable one to buy?

[Naomi M]

My personal recommendation is the Bolshoi Semenyaka/Mukhamedov/Taranda Raymonda (1980). 

 

https://www.amazon.com/Glazunov-Raymonda-Bolshoi-Semenyaka-Moukhamedov/dp/B0006A9HUS

 

Semenyaka's Raymonda is sparkling here, and both Mukhamedov and Taranda has shown such strength and character. There is one more Bolshoi Raymonda with Bessmertnova, Vasyuchenko and Taranda which is a little newer(1989) and the filming quality better but I prefer Semenyaka.

 

Also the Kirov Kolpakova /Berezhnoi/Selyutsky one is fabulous, she is 47 years old at the point of filming but nevertheless she is brilliant. Although the production seems a little dated it is a gem. 

 

The recent La Scala Vikharev one is not my cup of tea, the costumes are very heavy and the whole production looks awkward. And the most terrible thing is the filming of Raymonda's 3rd act variation when half of the screen shows the piano instead of the stage...

 

And there is the "Dancer's Dream" documentary of Nureyev's Raymonda at Paris Opera Ballet but this is a documentary and although very interesting, I wish they had filmed the whole performance available for DVD. 

[toursenlair]

. And the most terrible thing is the filming of Raymonda's 3rd act variation when half of the screen shows the piano instead of the stage...

 

 

 

truer words were never spoken!

[taxi4ballet]

Thanks for the tips - I shall have a look (and avoid the piano one) - I might go for the Bolshoi recording.

 

RBS perform the Nureyev choreography, is that right? Which version of the choreography did ENB use or would it have been their own variations?

Edited July 13, 2016 by taxi4ballet

[Jamesrhblack]

Raymonda was the first full length ballet that Nureyev staged in the West but according to Clive Barnes it was not the first time it had been seen in the West. According  to Barnes a Lithuanian company had performed it in London during the 1930's while Danilova and Balanchine had staged a reduced version for the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo. Nureyev staged his version for the Royal Ballet Touring Company which appeared at the Spoletto Festival in 1964.Fonteyn should have danced the lead but when her husband was severely injured in an assassination attempt she withdrew and was replaced by Doreen Wells who learnt the role in thirty six hours.

 

Barnes described the plot as " somewhat lacking in the rude essentials of human interest". He went on to say Nureyev "boldly jettisoned as much of the original story as he possibly dared" and that it had been set as if it was one of Balanchine's plotless ballets and looked like one most of the time. He thought that Nureyev and his designer had gone too far in removing the work's period trappings for him one of the justifications for reviving a ballet of its type was its period flavour. He described it as a genuine find choreographically  but disliked the designs. He said that if it was to retain its place in the Royal Ballet's repertory it needed new designs. Nureyev's first production was designed by Beni Montressor. Nureyev subsequently set an expanded version of the third act with new designs on the Covent Garden Company and the Touring Company.

 

Nureyev's production of Raymonda Act III has recently been seen in London performed by the Royal Ballet during the 2012-13 season. by ENB in a Nureyev Tribute and finally by the RBS during their main stage matinee in 2014. Of the three revivals the RBS gave the best performance both technically and stylistically. Neither the RB nor the ENB came close to capturing the essential elements that had made Nureyev's staging so impressive. As I watched the RB's dancers l remembered a performance danced by Sibley and Wall towards the end of their careers when neither was what they had been technically but where they gave an extraordinary demonstration of how much can be achieved by dancers who have total command of epaulement and dance as much with their eyes, head, neck and arms as they do with their legs. They brought a generosity expansiveness and grandeur to their performance Their finesse and  nuance revealed those elements which are essential to a great performance of Act III.. I have no idea who coached the RB for the 2012-13 performances but I  found them small scale. lacklustre and unsubtle. I had high hopes of the ENB's  as they had so recently given a series of  performances of Sleeping Beauty in which they outdid the RB as far as nuance and style were concerned. Foolishly I expected  some of that stylistic polish to have transferred over to their account of Raymonda . It did not. Instead we got performances which, for me, were totally lacking in grandeur and seemed more concerned with technical display than finesse.

I still remember that Sibley, Wall performance really vividly. There's a wonderful Manon Bedroom Pas de Deux with them also late on showing exactly what Floss mentions: you might quibble technically but the performance is so compelling so scarcely notice....

[Geoff]

Thanks to everyone who added comments to my enquiry from months ago. This week I finally saw a three-act Raymonda, in Vienna, a Nureyev production from the 1980s:

 

https://www.wiener-staatsoper.at/en/season-tickets/detail/event/965108779-raymonda/

 

I much enjoyed it all: unlike those who felt the best bits are in the last act, this version seemed to spread the treats out across the whole evening. But this Vienna version dates from 1985, which is over twenty years since Nureyev first did a production of Raymonda (in Spoleto) so no doubt there were changes over the years.

 

All in all I loved the ballet, though found myself, and not just out of patriotic loyalty, often wishing I was watching (say) the RB or the ENB. My summary would be: everyone did well but most could have done better.

 

I had the benefit of sharing a stage box with a local regular (easy to recognise as she arrived armed with a flower throw) and during the evening she shared her experience. Konovalova was clearly having an off night as well as suffering from some bad luck: I was informed she is usually far better. An undignified fall in the first act was followed by various wobbles and stumbles (and scarf issues), as well as her being the victim of some weak partnering.

 

All the other roles were well taken, the Italian Alice Firenze (playing one of Raymonda’s two girlfriends) particularly catching the eye with neat, focussed and musical dancing. I am happy to report that local boy, James Stephens, exRBS, did just fine.

 

Three acts went by fast enough, I didn’t sense it dragging as some had warned: I loved the gorgeous costumes (Nicholas Georgiadis) but unlike the recent Anastasia did not find myself looking at the costumes rather than the dancing. The sets were nothing special, rather tired and old-fashioned, so for those imaging a UK transfer, maybe a black box staging using those costumes and some good lighting. There might still be a problem these days though: the “baddy”, the Saracen prince Abderachman, could trigger a fair amount of discussion, as he is clearly presented as a Muslim (his court carry crescent moon banners) and is undoubtedly a wicked character, only brought on to be defeated by the crusader forces of good. Not so politically correct these days, perhaps, though in an odd way topical.

 

The wonderful score was beautifully and skilfully played by the Vienna Philharmonic, fresh from New Years’ concerts. In describing their luxurious sound (which I yearned for during much of the recent ROH Rosenkavalier) I wanted to single out the luminous and powerful string sound; then found myself wanting to draw attention to the fabulous brass sound; then the perfect woodwind, not forgetting brilliant solo playing: you get the picture, this is a very classy band, ably conducted by American guest Kevin Rhodes (why not invite him to the RB, on this week’s showing I think he would be a great asset and much appreciated by both dancers and an audience that wants to hear music played a tempo?)

 

The auditorium thinned out a bit after each interval (perhaps the house was full of tourists only in for a quick look see or perhaps the plot encourages early departure?) but the crowd at the end was enthusiastic. The Moldavian Mihail Sosnovschi, dancing the Saracen for the first time, received an exceptional flower throw and we left happy.

 

For those who might like to compare, here – as already posted elsewhere – is a link to a complete recording of this company dancing Corsaire last year (they look better than on the Raymonda evening I experienced):

 

http://www.arte.tv/guide/fr/065868-000-A/le-corsaire

Edited January 6, 2017 by Geoff

[now voyager]

I saw the Vienna production, as well-- the Paris Opera Ballet retired their production of Nureyev's Raymonda several years ago (about 8, if memory serves, which nowadays it doesn't always), and I wanted another look at it.  I caught the first performance of the run.  

While I generally don't much like Nureyev's choreography, this production does not contain much of it (mostly a few new variations for the men), and it remains my favorite of all his classical productions.  I found the Georgiadis sets and costumes stunning (the POB's were not in good condition on their last run, hence the stated reason for their production's retirement). The performance, itself, however, was a disappointment to me.  Due to injuries (both Konovaleva and Yakovleva were still out), the Raymonda was, I believe, the 3d cast.  While she was up to the role technically (only a couple of minor glitches in what is a killer ballerina role), I saw neither warmth nor charm. The Jean de Brienne was very young and showed promise; I suspect that over time he will develop more stage presence.  One or two of the soloists were very good; I found everyone else rather lackluster, and the company's dancing overall not as strong as in the Corsaire I saw them do last year. I second--with my whole heart--Geoff's comments about the music: a glorious score gorgeously played.

And, as with the performance he saw, the audience thinned out substantially at mine, although I really only noticed it for the last act, when the theatre was almost half-empty.

[Don Q Fan]

Thanks for the two reviews. Sounds like I saved my pennies by going to Vienna. Shame POB Raymonda has been retired, but I don't recall it being very captivating. I'll go check out the online recordings.

[Two Pigeons]

As far as I know there isn't a full recording of the POB production. There is only the documentary linked to the creation of it. That is interesting in itself but there is a disappointing amount of footage of the actual ballet.

[now voyager]

As far as I know there isn't a full recording of the POB production. There is only the documentary linked to the creation of it. That is interesting in itself but there is a disappointing amount of footage of the actual ballet.

I believe you are correct.  If I recall correctly, there was some talk about releasing a DVD of a televised performance (with Gillot?), but it never happened.

[stucha]

If you are prepared to look on the usual video search sites you will find the full length POB Raymonda with Gillot, Martinez and LeRiche as Abderam.  This is the recording mentioned above.  Good luck!