Jump to content

The Royal Ballet: La Fille mal gardée, September 2016


Recommended Posts

Thanks so much for the code Naomi M. I’m now going to both performances next Friday. Reduced from a total of £180 to £70. Yay.  :D

 

I just need to find a voucher for Pizza Express and I’m sorted for a bargain day!

 

(Can I also suggest whoever does the first review starts a new thread rather than have the reviews several pages in on this one).

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 279
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

I was a bit annoyed: because of lack of availability, I'd had to book amphi standing for a couple of performances, then had upgraded them once when something better came online.  If I'd known there were going to be offers, I might have waited :(  Oh well ...

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not till next week for me I hope everyone enjoys tonight's performance will be interested to read what people think of these two dancers in Fille. I could only afford to go once this time and it was a toss up for Hayward or Choe as have seen neither in role of Lise so went for the best day in the end!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good to be back at the ROH for Fille and I enjoyed the evening very much although not unconditionally. There seemed some tension in Act 1, understandably as it was the first night of the ballet season, and even some unwonted overplaying which turned to coarseness. Alain's bottom wiggling with the flute is simply crass (and it's not what Alexander Grant did originally as can be seen on the original cast recording now available) and some of Thomas' groping of Widow Simone was heavy handed indeed, literally. I was surprised to see the normally fastidious Gary Avis indulging in this. The problem with such exaggerations is that they distort the tone of the ballet. Yes, its touch is light but its emotions (not just between Lise and Colas) run deep at times and if an audience is conditioned only to see comedy even such tender moments as Lise's little bourrees en l'air as Colas lifts her through the farmhouse door raise an unwanted laugh. That Alain is genuinely hurt by the denouement is shown very clearly in the extraordinarily twisted forwards and back lunges that Ashton choreographs as Lise and Colas plead with Simone; it's not just funny.

 

Something seemed to go awry on two of the big lifts too, one in the first scene in a dismount and a second in the Essler coda which didn't happen at all. Nevertheless, after the interval things seemed much more settled and here the affectionate relationship established between Laura Morera's feisty Lise and Thomas Whitehead's pleasingly unguyed Simone achieved moments of real intimacy adding resonance to the emotional truth of the evening. There was a lovely moment in the first act when in mutual frustration they struck the same pose in mirror form on the bench. This Lise was indeed her mother's daughter.

 

I was pleased to see Morera in a leading role again. She can certainly bend and the neatness and detail of her placement and the sincerity of her acting are always a real pleasure to watch. Her frustration, boredom, then almost rapturous tenderness in the Act 2 mime scene were absolutely beautiful and her embarrassment on being discovered read true as well. For me, she did not, on this occasion, match the sheer technical exhilaration and brilliance that I recall from Collier, Jenner, Marquez and Nunez but her partnership with Muntagirov had true sincerity and connection. I imagine it would be hard for any Lise to dominate dance wise against the wonderful Muntagirov whose effortless virtuosity allied to long limbed lyricism and a joyously natural stage personality seemed to glow ever more brightly as the evening progresssed. Previous preferred Colases (Baryshnikov, Campbell, Jeffries, Mukhamedov, Wall) have been more compact physically: indeed, I don't think I've ever seen such a tall and 'leggy' dancer in the role but his technical command is absolute, his stage manner winning.

 

I'm anticipating a greater emotional frisson at Marquez's farewell (nobody can say goodbye like a ballet audience and her partnership with Campbell, rather like Collier's with Mukhamedov, is one of those that I'm truly sorry not to have seen able to be developed further), but for all the niggles, it was a lovely evening from the red in the morning, whose warning comes true in the storm that interrupts the harvest festivities, to the singing exit and Alain's delight in finding his umbrella, and the orchestra seemed on notably positive form under Barry Wordsworth's always affectionate, sympathetic baton.

Edited by Jamesrhblack
  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...