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Royal Ballet: Obsidian Tear, Marguerite and Armand, Elite Syncopations, Spring 2018


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I must admit that, since this is what, the 7th of 8 performances?, I'm somewhat disturbed that "Timing information for this event is not yet available." (as per my e-ticket) :(

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3 minutes ago, alison said:

I must admit that, since this is what, the 7th of 8 performances?, I'm somewhat disturbed that "Timing information for this event is not yet available." (as per my e-ticket) :(

 

It's on the ROH website, and you can get to that by clicking on the link just below the words you quoted.

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22 minutes ago, aliceinwoolfland said:

I’ll be wandering around the Paul Hamlyn Hall in a garish sequinned pink dress - I only decided to wear it because of Elite Syncopations!

 

Its OK - i'll have my shades on... ;-)

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22 minutes ago, bangorballetboy said:

 

It's on the ROH website, and you can get to that by clicking on the link just below the words you quoted.

 

Not on mine, you can't.  There's not even the vague (and I think inaccurate?  I haven't actually stayed until the end yet) mention of a 3 hour running time, let alone the splits for the various pieces.  I had to go and hunt around my bedroom for one of the other cast sheets, which indicates 2 3/4 hours.  3 pieces, all around the half-hour mark, plus 2 half-hour intervals (yawn - and overrun on at least one occasion), I think - ought to be way earlier than 10.30.

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Thanks for the tip off Alison.  I'm travelling down on Friday because of the early matinee start on Saturday.  I was wondering what to do...

 

There was one seat in a good place in the stalls circle - it's gone!!!

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Very good performance of Obsidian Teer/Tare tonight: Messrs Ball and Richardson were excellent, and William Bracewell seems to have found his way into the Ed Watson role in a way he hadn't the first time I saw it.  Ironic, really: when I first saw Bracewell and said I thought he could be the next Ed Watson, I was thinking of his nascent dramatic abilities: I never expected him to be replacing Ed in McGregor!

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Loved Nunez’s interpretation of Marguerite tonight- much preferred to Ferri last season. Every head movement was calculated, every bit of her body told the story and it almost brought me to tears in the final scenes as Marguerite dies. My friend commented that she just didn’t get Vadim’s performance. I feel validated- he is not my sacred cow.... 

 

Wonderful to see Beatriz Stix Brunell stealing the show and a great performance from Melissa Hamilton as the lady in the big hat.

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This was my first time seeing this triple bill and I loved it! I found OT quite obtuse but still found it very powerful and moving, and of course gorgeously danced. Nuñez was exquisite in M&A, and paired very well with Muntagirov. Elite Syncopations gave me so much joy, especially Tall and Short with Paul Kay and Melissa Hamilton. Mendizabal was an excellent Calliope, Sambe was athletically fabulous as always, and I couldn’t take my eyes off the magnificent Stix Brunell!

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This is, I think, a well-planned and beautifully-executed mixed bill, which really shows off the company's excellent form in three very different choreographies.

Unfortunately, I found Obsidian Tear really very dull, and not because of the lack of narrative, that never bothers me; what bothers me is the superficial intellectualising (is that a word in English? sorry! not my first language!) that seems to hang, like a bad, cheap perfume, over so much of MacGregor's work (even the program notes were, in my opinion, irritatingly over intellectual without meaning anything). The dancers were beautiful, particularly Calvin Richardson and Matthew Ball who were given slightly meatier roles than the others. But I found the whole thing ponderous, predictable, and overwrought; and not moving at all. Sorry to all those who loved it; just one girl's opinion. It is nice, and unusual, to see a ballet chroreographed solely for male dancers, and visually it was appealing, I'll give MacGregor that. But really ballet must be much more than visually appealing; if I want to stare at hot men's bodies for half an hour I can just salivate over some random fashion (or sports) magazine.

I absolutely loved Marguerite and Armand; I think that perhaps I'm biased when it comes to Marianela Nunez, but she was so exquiste and heart breaking today. She was not at all overwrought, quite the opposite; I thought it was a very delicate, understated performance, and well matched, as always, to Vadim Muntagirov's also very understated performance, and also, incidentally, to the Lizst sonata, which has some very quiet, delicate, moments, before the raging mad despair of the end.

The thing about the performance tonight was that Marianela and Vadim, maybe because they dance so often together, made me believe in their story, despite the brevity, and admitted melodrama, of the story line. There is a palpable sense of passion, grief, regret, animal attraction. And all in, what, twenty minutes! How do they do it!? I remember tearing up just at the sight of the tense line of Marianela's shoulder when she turns away from Arman's father. Heart breaking. Every line in her body, every muscle, every fleeting expression on her face, was geared to telling the story, giving depth to a cardboard character. Another moment that really struck me was when Armand's father holds Marguerite's chin when he first comes in to her boudoir  - it is an insolent, disrespectful gesture, almost as shocking as if he had slapped her int he face. Really Ashton was a master. What a delicate piece; so much emotion, in such little time. Some of you thought that Vadim was less expressive than he should have been, but I actually thought that made the "insult" scene all the more powerful: a quiet young man who is driven to that. Imagine how much despair you must be in to do that, in public, if you're a reserved society man? I could probably say a lot more on Marguerite and Armand but it's late. so I'll just end by saying, I thought this piece alone was worth the price of the entire ticket.

FInally, Elite Syncopations: the company in sparkling form, and a thoroughly enjoyable ensemble act. Not much to say, except that Marcelino Sambe (who doesn't seem credited in the cast sheet_ was fantastic. He just floats and hangs in the air, as though suspended by wires. I mean, they were all fantastic, but he especially. I enjoyed the slapstick bits, and was glad the evening ended with this piece, because M&A is too sad, and OT is too dull. 

Well, that's it for me. I was very glad to have finally met a few of you at the bottom of the escalators, which I didn't even know existed! 

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I thought OT truly outstanding this evening.  The vigour of McGregor's duelling narratives has never before for me been so clear in their dramatic definition - and I must have seen this ballet some eight or nine times and not once read any programme notes.  (I learnt that lesson with McGregor long ago.)  Tonight you could hear the detail in each confabulation's flow through this richly dramatic score - one which at last seems - at least this time round - to have settled into the orchestra's full and mighty throttle.   Of course last time we had the benefit of having the composer himself conduct the first few performance of this fine collaborative work.

 

Were there to be an award for outstanding achievement in the fulfilment of dramatic narrative in ballet I, myself, would give it to Matthew Ball for the role he originated here.  So clear.  Never has he been more robustly commanding.  The zealous vulnerability of Richardson not only defined probity defiled it somehow reallocated the debauched abandonment that contorts about him. 

 

Strange but I have come to prefer Bracewell in Watson's role.  He seems - at least according to my memory - to give added latitude and a more humane compass within the colourful  bounds of his stalwart communal conversations.  Tonight those same in Bracewell's hands (and feet) were as doughty as they were indomitable.  Thomas Mock was also veraciously Shakespearean in his thrilling portrayal of a king maker besmirched. 

 

Tonight's performance of OT was a world class achievement and it was wonderful to both see and hear a diminished house give full body to their sincere appreciation.  I pray this work will be revived again at some point.  It heartily deserves to be.

 

Edited by Bruce Wall
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6 hours ago, Bruce Wall said:

Tonight's performance of OT was a world class achievement and it was wonderful to both see and hear a diminished house give full body to their sincere appreciation.  I pray this work will be revived again at some point.  It heartily deserves to be.

 

 

But pleeeeeeeeease not too soon, Bruce. We've had it twice within the space of two years and I, for one, have had enough - however good the dancers might be!

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I wouldn't be unhappy to see Obsidian Tear back - though give it a little while before it does, as there are many other pieces scrambling for our attention. I really like it though - and I'm not usually one for male only pieces (ballet is woman and all that). And perhaps the 8-9mins duet at the start could be a 'gala piece' in future too.

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8 hours ago, SMballet said:

 

Unfortunately, I found Obsidian Tear really very dull, and not because of the lack of narrative, that never bothers me; what bothers me is the superficial intellectualising (is that a word in English? sorry! not my first language!)

 

 

 

Goodness me SMballet I had never realised that English was not your first language.

 

Your terrific review has certainly whetted my appetite for the performance I am (unexpectedly) seeing on Friday evening!

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9 hours ago, Bruce Wall said:

Were there to be an award for outstanding achievement in the fulfilment of dramatic narrative in ballet I, myself, would give it to Matthew Ball for the role he originated here.  So clear.  Never has he been more robustly commanding. 

 

Absolutely.  I was watching him towards the end of it and thinking "Two principal-level performances within the same triple bill!"  He was on fire last night, if that's the right expression in the context.

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Last night was the third time I have seen Obsidian Tear, and I’m afraid it’s just not my cup of tea. I don’t hate it but it just doesn’t do anything for me,  great performances notwithstanding, and Ball and Richardson really gave it their all.

 

I adored Marguerite and Armand. I asked some people who had seen Nunez and Muntagirov last week if they had upped their game, and they said that they had. Because for me their performance came over loud and clear with so many nuances and expressions. Nunez was definitely not overwrought in this performance, just terribly moving. Muntagirov was gentle, loving, passionate and oh so tender it broke my heart. He does angry very well! And with his exquisite dancing, and Marianela’s too, it made for a wonderful experience. Certainly my surrounding audience members thought so too.

 

My first time seeing Elite Syncopations, and I really enjoyed it but I’m not sure I would make a point of rushing to see it again, however I would be perfectly happy to sit through it as part of a triple bill. So many good performances it’s hard to pick any out, but Melissa Hamilton and Paul Kay did an excellent tall/short with a very appreciative audience reaction, and Beatriz Stix-Brunell glowed as she always does. A surprise stand out for me (because she doesn’t usually register that strongly with me) was Yuhui Choe, who positively sparkled.

 

Overall a very enjoyable bill (but I might sit Obsidian Tear out next time! 🙂).

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I too was surrounded by people who loved Margeurite and Armand with Nunez and Muntagirov last night.The older woman/younger man pairing (which had troubled me in some Manon pairings) worked wonderfully well here, as it should, of course.

 

Some other Armands may have been more physically energetic but Muntagirov played him as young and inexperienced, but enraptured. His dancing is so beautiful that every move seemed to speak the emotion. And the contrast between his smitten self  and his angry side was very well drawn.

 

Nunez appeared really suited to the role as well, making a clear distinction between the smile on her face when she was being flattered by the attention of a lot of men and the smile of adoration when she was with Armand. Although the ballet is episodic, I felt that I went on her tragic journey with her.

 

As matters deteriorated, I found them both very moving indeed. Nunez convinced me she was dying - unlike, I'm afraid to say, some of this year's Manon who have hit the swamp in robust health!

 

As for Obsidian Tear: enough is enough and, actually, the same applies to Elite this run. Just too much!

 

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34 minutes ago, capybara said:

I too was surrounded by people who loved Margeurite and Armand with Nunez and Muntagirov last night.The older woman/younger man pairing (which had troubled me in some Manon pairings) worked wonderfully well here, as it should, of course.

 

 

I'm afraid I found something rather disturbingly "older woman/schoolboy" about it - not quite sure why.  Plus I thought there was perhaps rather too much Des Grieux in Muntagirov's Armand.  (Must go back and read both novels - Project Gutenberg is a treasure trove!)

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1 hour ago, alison said:

 

Plus I thought there was perhaps rather too much Des Grieux in Muntagirov's Armand. 

 

Well there may have been because, when all's said and done, the dancer was the same, we were the same audience and the two performances were closely juxtaposed. There were the same kind of similarities for me with Bonelli and Shklyarov in both roles.

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30 minutes ago, Balletfanp said:

Well, apart from the age gap aspect between Marguerite and Armand, it is quite a similar story as well, isn’t it?

 

And I've banged on about this enough before, but any expectation of there being an age gap between Marguerite and Armand has more to do with Fonteyn and Nureyev's respective ages than the story's source material.

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I really liked this triple bill. Reading the critics, some seemed to be a bit sniffy about lack of a theme but, for my part, what I look for is three very different ballets (on the basis that I will probably enjoy at least two of them) and seeing lots of dancers from across the company.  I thought this was a good balance between the relatively 'heavy', serious Obsidian Tear, the passion and drama of Marguerite and the sheer fun and colour of Elite Syncopations. The dancing was excellent in OT but I feel it's just a few minutes too long - it did cross my mind when I lost concentration a bit that I might skip it tomorrow but strangely find myself quite keen to see it again.

 

Muntagirov is definitely one of my 'sacred cows' but I was a bit disappointed in his Armand. His dancing was beautiful, naturally, but for me it was a bit lacking in passion and I thought the whole thing was a bit careful.

 

Lots of exuberance in Elite - everyone very good but Marcelino Sambe just communicates such joy on stage - great way to end a very enjoyable evening.

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I'd been keenly anticipating last night's performance as I'd been very impressed by the General Rehearsal and was only going to this one performance.  I do agree with BMC about the Triple Bill and think the three ballets work together as contrasts.  I'm not sure that last night quite met my expectations, in part because they were set extremely high.  

 

I very much was gripped by Joseph Sissens and Benjamin Ella in Obsidian Tear but I didn't get as much differentiation from the others as I'd experienced before.  I do like Esa-Pekka Salonen's music and Vasko Vassilev's playing was wonderful.  I think the view from Grand Tier where I sat for the rehearsal provides a better perspective, particularly for the lighting than the Orchestra Stalls, even my favourite H sides.

 

I found the Nunez/Muntagirov rehearsal performance of Marguerite and Armand deeply moving (you could 'hear' every one of Marienela's coughs) and despite much that was brilliant, I was less moved last night by Osipova/Shklyarov.  I couldn't help thinking during the insult, why on earth doesn't someone intervene and I wondered if this was because I was finding Shklyarov a tad irritating?  It's never really struck me before how in the ballet Marguerite is left so broken in this scene with no rebuke from anyone to Armand.  Apologies for such a simple question but why did Ashton not have any rebuke for Armand?

 

Lots of very strong performances in Elite Syncopations - David Yudes really does dazzle.  I think I've seen earlier comment about the music being slightly sluggish and I too thought there might have been a lighter, spritelier touch.  Nevertheless a big smile at the end of the evening.

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I saw the performance on Friday night and really enjoyed it.

 

I had seen Obsidian Tear in its first run 2 years ago from the front stalls and remember enjoying it.  On Friday I was in the stalls circle and thought it was much more effective.  I hadn't read up on it this time as I had decided the best thing to do was just watch it.  I got the impression it was along the lines of a sacrificial rite of some tribe or other.  I found the performance really powerful with great performances from all the cast but William Bracewell (as the High Priest?) Benjamin Ella and Joseph Sissens were exceptional.

 

I'd never seen Marguerite and Armand before, except for snippets of Fonteyn and Nureyev on the TV, so I have nothing to compare the performance of Osipova and Shklyarov with.  I enjoyed the piece and I enjoyed their performances in it.  I thought the dresses Marguerite wore were absolutely ravishing!

 

Elite Syncopations was great fun.

 

This performance was an unexpected and enjoyable bonus!

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It was a pleasure to meet some of the forum members on Friday evening and say hello in person.

 

i enjoyed the evening - 2/3 of the pieces were new to me. I must admit I wouldn't rush to see Obsidian Tear again but the dancers were great.

 

M & A was very moving. I adore Shkylarov, especially with Osipova and so wish he would come back to London. Loved the frocks!

 

Elite synchopations was so joyful and funny. Not what I expected at all. Terrific performances from the whole cast. I would definitely see this again.

 

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And nor did my previous attempt at a post get posted!  Better late than never ...

 

On ‎12‎/‎05‎/‎2018 at 09:06, JohnS said:

I very much was gripped by Joseph Sissens and Benjamin Ella in Obsidian Tear but I didn't get as much differentiation from the others as I'd experienced before.  

Me too - on both counts - and this I think was more or less the cast that I'd commented on so favourably earlier in the run.

 

Quote

I couldn't help thinking during the insult, why on earth doesn't someone intervene and I wondered if this was because I was finding Shklyarov a tad irritating?  It's never really struck me before how in the ballet Marguerite is left so broken in this scene with no rebuke from anyone to Armand.  Apologies for such a simple question but why did Ashton not have any rebuke for Armand?

 

That has been a matter of concern for me for some considerable time.  Am I imagining it, or did it used to be that there was a rebuke, or at least a cold look, from his father?  Now dad just stands at the back and doesn't seem to react.  What did bug me last night though was Armand's behaviour after his father had paid the visit to Marguerite - of which he, of course, knows nothing.  So why was *he* so anguished?  Have all the Armands done that, and it's only just registered with me as strange?

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I saw the final performance of the triple bill on Friday 10/5 - I found Obsidian Tear to be weaker than I remembered it the first time around - perhaps as Bruce said it was missing Matthew Ball's presence.  Marcelino Sambe was on fire and the pirouettes he did made him look like he was spinning in the air!

M&A was good and it's always good to see Mr Avis :-) I enjoyed Osipova's performance, she captured the emotions very well and the dresses are always glorious I want the red dress please. 

The final piece Elite Syncopations was new to me it was bright and colourful but it wasn't quite my cup of tea, but I did enjoy the little and large duet though I don;t know who the dancers were - the lady in blue with pink tights and the man in orange (Wayne Sleep's role).

Overall M&A was the best piece for me.  Some curtain call pics:-

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DdQi_G0X4AAbMTh.jpg

 

 

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