The Royal Ballet: Anastasia, October 2016

[MAB]

Two cut symphonies...

 

I really like the Martinů.

 

Yes, but they only find that out after they've bought the tickets.

 

I like the Martinu too.

[CHazell2]

Me too. In fact I love Act 3. So powerful and intense

[aileen]

It had sold well before the run opened. I think that it's all the factors that Alison mentioned plus there are multiple Nutcrackers and Beauties coming up and some people may have had enough of them (and may also have given Fille a miss this time).

[JohnS]

We tend to plan trips to the Royal Ballet well in advance but having seen an earlier stage rehearsal decided to take in an extra performance - Saturday's matinee with Laura. What a tremendous tour de force and still playing so vividly in the memory! And such a wonderful cast: Ben's husband, delivered with such care and accomplishment; the three officers, all brilliant and promising so much for the Royal Ballet's future; the Tsar and Tsarina, Gary and Kristen appropriately regal, and you could carry on listing the cast.

 

I found the three Acts worked really well with the first two Acts setting up the visceral third Act. My one slight reservation is the Act 2 Mathilda pdd which looks fiendishly difficult and didn't quite convince me. I've since seen the 1993 Viviana Durante/Bruce Swanson recording which in my very much non expert opinion sets an incredible benchmark - is this fair or are there some embellishments (the one handed lifts)? But unless the pdd is stunning, I think it becomes hard to make much of the various observations on court relationships and it may be more difficult dramatically to justify the introduction of Mathilda and her partner.

 

I must though reiterate how compelling Laura was, a truly memorable performance, and so generous when we congratulated her at the stage door. Can't wait for the cinema relays and we're fortunate enough to have tickets for the last two performances.

[alison]

I don't think there are any one-handed lifts in the current run, are there?

[Sim]

Not that I have seen. I just have to say that Lauren Cuthbertson delivered a visceral, deeply emotional and affecting Act 3 tonight. She was also excellent in Acts 1 and 2, as was the rest of the cast. However, I just can't like those first two acts. Someone standing next to me who is quite new to ballet said she was bored in the first two acts but liked the third. Try as I might, I just can't get past my feeling that the first two acts are merely window dressing for the third. I look forward to seeing Morera next week.

[capybara]

 I just have to say that Lauren Cuthbertson delivered a visceral, deeply emotional and affecting Act 3 tonight. She was also excellent in Acts 1 and 2, as was the rest of the cast. .

 

I agree. And Lauren really conveyed the youth of the 14 year old and the 18 year old Anastasia beautifully. She also managed to remain within her own world in Acts 1 and 2 even though some of the dancing is presented towards the audience.

 

We are so fortunate to have three such wonderful Anastasias/Annas on this run.

[Lynette H]

Is this run the first time Simon Hewett has conducted at the ROH  ? Does he conduct regularly for ballet ? 

[bangorballetboy]

Is this run the first time Simon Hewett has conducted at the ROH  ? Does he conduct regularly for ballet ? 

 

I think it's his first time at ROH.  He is Principal Conductor of Hamburg Ballet so I suspect the answer to the second question is yes (even if he is extremely noisy in the pit)!

[Duck]

Is this run the first time Simon Hewett has conducted at the ROH  ? Does he conduct regularly for ballet ? 

 

I think it's his first time at ROH.  He is Principal Conductor of Hamburg Ballet so I suspect the answer to the second question is yes (even if he is extremely noisy in the pit)!

 

Simon Hewett also conducts for POB from time to time e.g., Romeo & Juliet earlier this year, Balanchine's A Midsummer Night’s Dream next spring.

[capybara]

I've now sat in various places in the house for Anastasia and, somehow, the Tchaikovsky comes across as a bit underpowered. I appreciate that the early symphonies (with which I am familiar) haven't the pzaz of, say, the Fifth, but a 'certain something' seems to be missing.

[Quintus]

Well I was planning to watch the live streaming tomorrow, but I'm damned if I'm paying either £20 or £22 for a cinema ticket in our two local places   .  Ridiculously greedy; it was £15 last time I went to one of these.

[zxDaveM]

Well I was planning to watch the live streaming tomorrow, but I'm damned if I'm paying either £20 or £22 for a cinema ticket in our two local places   .  Ridiculously greedy; it was £15 last time I went to one of these.

 

same here - think it was £12-13 when I last went - they want £18 now for a multiplex seat. I'll pass

[Bruce Wall]

same here - think it was £12-13 when I last went - they want £18 now for a multiplex seat. I'll pass

 

Again because of the production pricing of transmissions largely being in dollars - this is, I fear, the effect of the plunging pound.  Sadly, I think we all are going to have to get used to this ... and all of our lives are about to change from what we used to think of as normal in the vast majority of areas in our lives in the UK (i.e., with incomes in Sterling) ... and it is ONLY NOW JUST BEGINNING.  (Booking for my travel for work into early next year has already hugely increased ... and the Airbnb rates too have shot up just because of the exchange.)  With UK energy costs said to spike within the next couple of months to 15% over the already inflated prices currently charged I think a lot of people in this country may be struggling just to keep warm - not that many didn't before.  That, core transport and health costs are, of course, crucially important.  

 

There will be, as I said, a new normal for us to adjust to.  Ballet will, I fear, for many - OF NECESSITY - become even more of a luxury expenditure.  I keep thinking when booking now - and I bought seven tickets to the ENB Skeaping Giselle today - that I had better get these tickets now while I still can ... or at least while I still THINK I can responsibly ... as I may not be able to afford the abundance of such luxuries in the future ... (and I only ever go for standing room at the ROH and the cheapest fares elsewhere).  Certainly I will want to keep these memories to cherish for as long as possible.  For me at least - for NOW - this (i.e., the ballet purchases) still can be a priority.  I consider myself to be very fortunate ... and I do sincerely thank God for being born when I was.  That was, I think, merely luck.  

Edited November 2, 2016 by Bruce Wall

[alison]

same here - think it was £12-13 when I last went - they want £18 now for a multiplex seat. I'll pass

 

Is that Vue, Dave?  I've sent you a PM.

 

Drat, and did I get a copy of the Telegraph when they had the 2-for-1 offer?  And is it still valid?

[zxDaveM]

Yes, that is Vue over by the Ikea complex. (and I've PMd back)

[trog]

£18 here in Brum, and it's not in a multiplex. If I go to the multiplex it's £12.50, but I'd have to go on the train, which means I wouldn't get home until who knows when. Supposedly, it is on at another multiplex, which is very easy to get to, but it isn't listed on their site.

[Colman]

€20 here, is that more than £18 yet? But this is in the nice boutique cinema, don't think multiplexes charge quite as much.

[alison]

I may have to come back on the train, but it's far quicker than alternative public transport options.  And anyway, the price saving may be worth it

[Pulcinella]

Even at £20 it's still far cheaper than most tickets at the Opera House and, for those of us who live outside London and have to factor in a train fare as well, much cheaper with a close up view included and we get home a lot quicker. My husband now far prefers going to see the cinema relays to going to the ROH as he prefers the closer views to those from the Amphi where we usually sit.

[MAB]

A friend recently emailed me this quote:

 

 

The American critic, Arlene Croce, wrote in 1974:

 

"Of the three full-evening ballets MacMillan has provided so far, Anastasia seems to me the best, not so much because of what it achieves as because of what it attempts.  In Romeo, MacMillan had before him both Leonid Lavrovsky's version for the Bolshoi and Cranko's for the Stuttgart; in Manon he is working a la Cranko.  But in Anastasia he produced a personal fantasy about a global cataclysm entirely from nothing.  I don't think he was being pretentious, and the insults that were showered upon him for missing the mark themselves missed the mark.  MacMillan's taste, musical instinct and technical skill place him first among those British and European choreographers whose careers began in the fifties."

 

Croce was however referring to the original production not the one shortly to be seen on the big screen

[bangorballetboy]

 

A friend recently emailed me this quote:

 

 

The American critic, Arlene Croce, wrote in 1974:

 

"Of the three full-evening ballets MacMillan has provided so far, Anastasia seems to me the best, not so much because of what it achieves as because of what it attempts.  In Romeo, MacMillan had before him both Leonid Lavrovsky's version for the Bolshoi and Cranko's for the Stuttgart; in Manon he is working a la Cranko.  But in Anastasia he produced a personal fantasy about a global cataclysm entirely from nothing.  I don't think he was being pretentious, and the insults that were showered upon him for missing the mark themselves missed the mark.  MacMillan's taste, musical instinct and technical skill place him first among those British and European choreographers whose careers began in the fifties."

 

Croce was however referring to the original production not the one shortly to be seen on the big screen

 

 

Your final sentence is rather ambiguous.  Just to be clear, Croce is referring to the three-act version of Anastasia.

[MAB]

Your final sentence is rather ambiguous.  Just to be clear, Croce is referring to the three-act version of Anastasia.

 

She was referring to the original 3-act version, not the current one.

[bangorballetboy]

She was referring to the original 3-act version, not the current one.

 

Well, yes; it would be very difficult to comment in 1974 on something that didn't come into being until after then.  Having said that, the overall structure of the 3 act piece and the vast majority of the choreography remains unchanged and so I would say that her comments remain valid.

[capybara]

She was referring to the original 3-act version, not the current one.

 

Please could you remind us of the changes? I am aware that the designs changed in 1996, that Rasputin was written larger then (to provide more for Mukhamedov to do, I recall), and that the end of Act 1 has been 'trimmed'. But I have also heard comment that a fair bit of the choreography is attributable to D rather than K MacMillan! Are you able to illuminate?

[MAB]

Please could you remind us of the changes? I am aware that the designs changed in 1996, that Rasputin was written larger then (to provide more for Mukhamedov to do, I recall), and that the end of Act 1 has been 'trimmed'. But I have also heard comment that a fair bit of the choreography is attributable to D rather than K MacMillan! Are you able to illuminate?

 

Actually Capybara, me and a couple of other old timers are arguing this out in email exchanges right now.  I would say that the radical changes to the sets tend to be so overpowering that the other changes diminish in comparison.  Memories fade over time but there is an uneasy feeling that something isn't right without being able to precisely put your finger on it. 

 

Biggest change is the cut back in the revolutionaries who were on stage at the start of act two.  There was a far stronger feel of the underlying unrest as a contrast to the hedonistic life styles of the elite.  Of course as a Russian fan pointed out to me there were no balls during the war years and the grand duchesses were working as nurses at the time.  I've written before about the set and costume changes and yes I appreciate that the originals deteriorated over time, but what happened to the original designer's working sketches?  Were they eaten by mice too?  Why was Anastasia's iconic sailor suit ditched and why has act one gone from the distinct Russian landscape to the deck of a ship?  It could be any old royal yacht, all the European royals had one.  Were it not for the crest on the smoke stack, it could just as well be the Kaiser's.  Of course from day one there was discussion of 'padding' to act one when the soldiers paraded in front of the royal family and perhaps from a dance point of view a cut wasn't a bad idea, but from the point of view of the score it is a bad idea.   There have been changes to all of MacMillan's work, some definitely by the choreographer himself and some changes were pragmatic ones, but I don't want to see his ballets watered down by various relatives to the same extend as Isobel Fokine has trashed her grandfather's legacy.

 

When I've researched this a little more I'll comment further.

[alison]

I look forward to the results of those exchanges, MAB: I'm still trying to work out what has changed since the 1996 production - more of which later, when I'm not rushed off my feet.

 

The reason why they didn't recreate the original Kay sets, though, I believe, is because they took an age to set up - I seem to remember a reference to intervals stretching to 45 minutes.  1996 was pre-closure, so they didn't have the backstage space which is now available - if they had, I wonder whether the original sets might have been resurrected.

[MAB]

I look forward to the results of those exchanges, MAB: I'm still trying to work out what has changed since the 1996 production - more of which later, when I'm not rushed off my feet.

 

 

 

Well they've changed the women's costumes in the ballroom and ditched those bloody beads that you could hear clattering all the way up to the amphi.  Historically accurate, yes, but totally unsuitable for ballet.

[Fiz]

I've been looking forward to seeing this for months via live stream and guess who has a cold, killer sore throat and swollen glands? Yes! I'm the lucky winner. I'm not going so I just pray that there is an Encore screening on Sunday.

[Sim]

Oooo feel better very soon, Fiz.  Fingers crossed for the encore showing....  

[Fiz]

Thank you, honey. I remember Anastasia being presented for the first time and I've wanted to see it ever since then.

[alison]

Hope you feel better in good time, Fiz

[Jamesrhblack]

Just back from my local cinema. I've not seen Anastasia since 2004 but my memories seem pretty good, especially of Acts One and Three. I went with a friend who is an actor who had never been to the ballet before who absolutely loved it and felt that you really needed Acts One and Two to give a reference point to Act Three. I'm seeing the matinée on Saturday week and will write more after that but really felt it came across strongly. The new framing device at the start works well although by reflecting the DNA truth we now know about Anna Anderson it makes Acts One and Two less ambiguous. I didn't mind the revolutionaries not opening Act Two and thought that their introduction via the Scherzo worked rather well. I didn't think that Nunez and Bonelli had a very happy evening (that Pas de Deux is really hard) but did think that Soares was a powerful presence, that Arestis looked absolutely ravishing, that Cowley has a liquid grace all her own, that Campbell is a treasure and that Osipova was truly astonishing. Her intensity never flagged and moments in the last act had a visceral impact that hurt. Kudos too to the orchestra that managed a long evening with real commitment.