The Royal Ballet: New Swan Lake Production, Summer 2018

[Jam Dancer]

On 19/06/2018 at 19:11, Xandra Newman said:

Alison, it's not a battle at all but a simple observation, an observation which is talked about amongst balletgoers. They are both wonderful artists, amongst a few others.

 

Based on what facts? How do we know that the RB Press is driving what you say they’re driving?

[Sim]

Hi folks.  Can we please move on from the RB Press Department and stick to comments on the production of Swan Lake.  

 

Many thanks!  

[RuthE]

28 minutes ago, MAB said:

Like Tom Stoppard I've always had a problem with why 30 year old Hamlet wasn't king instead of Claudius.

 

And I've always wondered how Macbeth can become king so automatically after the death of Duncan, just because Malcolm and Donalbain go AWOL for a bit.

 

1 hour ago, Jamesrhblack said:

, I wasn’t struck by the need for the Prologue. Further viewings have, of course, brought home how vital this is as a framing device.

...

Loud Hurrahs for getting rid of the Drunken Tutor.

 

The first time I saw a Swan Lake with a prologue was at ENB and it made such a difference to the storytelling for me.  ENB's production remains my favourite of this ballet.

 

I agree with you in principle about the drunken tutor, though (as others said earlier in the thread) it's a shame there is no longer an opportunity for White Lodge students to appear in the production, with the "baby swans" having gone as well.

[Lizbie1]

6 minutes ago, RuthE said:

I agree with you in principle about the drunken tutor, though (as others said earlier in the thread) it's a shame there is no longer an opportunity for White Lodge students to appear in the production, with the "baby swans" having gone as well.

 

I'm aware this makes me sound curmudgeonly, but Nutcracker aside I'm about as keen on children in ballets as I am on children in opera (i.e. not at all). So their absence was no hardship for me!

[MAB]

41 minutes ago, RuthE said:

The first time I saw a Swan Lake with a prologue was at ENB and it made such a difference to the storytelling for me.  ENB's production remains my favourite of this ballet.

 

I believe it was Bourmeister who first introduced a prologue into Swan Lake and there was a very beautiful one in Robert Helpmann's RB  production of the 1960's, Konstantine Sergeyev used one in the Soviet film with Evteyeva too, so as RuthE says, hardly a novelty.  How effective it is depends on the staging, I think it helps for Odette to have attendants, otherwise where do her sympathetic Swan maidens come from?. 

[JohnS]

Very much tucked away but I see this on the Royal Opera House website:

 

We are happy to report that there is a DVD and Blu-ray release of this production of Swan Lake scheduled for May 2019, although this date is subject to change.

 

http://www.roh.org.uk/news/catch-the-royal-ballets-swan-lake-live-in-cinemas-and-on-bp-big-screens-on-12-june-2018

 

A response to Vivian Stacey eight or so comments from the bottom.

 

I'm delighted!

[Balletfanp]

Yes, me too!

[alison]

I couldn't imagine there wouldn't be - they always seem to now on new productions, thereby preserving the original version in aspic, regardless of later changes.

[JohnS]

10 minutes ago, alison said:

I couldn't imagine there wouldn't be - they always seem to now on new productions, thereby preserving the original version in aspic, regardless of later changes.

 

It's still very good to have the DVD confirmed and I don't quite understand why the Royal Opera House has rather buried such welcome news - I did send a message.

 

We've had tremendous background material, the Insight rehearsal and during the cinema relay, so hopefully some of this will be inclunded.  It would be fabulous if we get footage of the Corps de Ballet from on high as an extra as sometimes happens.

[LinMM]

Well I have to confess to leaving Swan Lake early last night!! 

I was standing so a bit of an idiot thing to do to have new shoes on!! But added to that where my standing position was there were two of the taller loose chairs with two very tall people sitting in them! I did get moments of some very good views of the stage for a while depending on how others "arranged" themselves but I was mostly having to either stand back against the wall and couldn't really see the left side of the stage well at all so was glad I had been before and had a not too bad Amphi seat so got a good view of the sets etc.

The thing I did notice ( production wise) was that a closer view of the Czardas costumes made them look much more interesting with subtle colours rather than just "dull" from a distance. 

I was very happy with most of last nights casting though Sambe was Benno again and though he was terrific wouldn't have minded seeing that role performed by another dancer. Magri and Dyer were very good in the Neopolitan dance I thought and Choe in particular was lovely as one of the sisters. 

I usually love Natalia Osipova as a dancer but although she was superb in a technical sense and even in an artistic sense ( eg a lot of artistic drama in her dancing) I still didn't get the feel she was "feeling" Odette. Her Odile was terrific ....pretty consummate dancing here and much more in her strengths here I think.....I loved the turns as they were SO fast  so very dazzling and perfectly in keeping with this role or so I thought anyway. One thing though ....I felt she did lose that classical line quite a lot on occasions and may overuse her shoulders a little bit then not many other dancers go for that dangerous edge as she does. 

Matthew Ball was looking very good last night but played the really fine and sensitive Prince so I would have thought Natalia would have scared him to death to be honest when in Odile mode! 

I didn't ...as others have said ...feel a very strong connection between the two and as Siegfried seems to remain inert for most of Act 4 and my feet were killing me and it was just impossible to get involved emotionally at this point I decided to leg it at the last minute and get home earlier instead. I was torn as I genuinely wanted to see how I'd feel on seeing the ending again but my feet won out on this occasion. Why at my age I couldn't have foreseen that it was a dumb idea to stand in new shoes I have no idea. Age doesn't always bring wisdom it seems.

[Mary]

20 hours ago, Ivy Lin said:

) I don;t agree with the artistic decision to begin the white swan pas de deux with a soulful look into Siegfried's eyes. I think in the beginning there should be some fear, and one of the beauties of the white swan pas de deux is how that fear gradually dissipates. I think the loving glance Nunez gave Muntigarov was just not a choice I agreed with.

agree entirely...that should be the underlying trajectory of this pas de deux and it's in the music.

 

Not hard to understand though.

 

[Sim]

Yasmine Naghdi begins her Act 2 pdd in just that way:  with a look of fear, and a small shake of her head (which is then repeated at the beginning of the Act 4 pdd) when Siegfried first tries to engage with her.  It then slowly and beautifully unfolds into a love story.  Gorgeous.

 

OTOH...I would find it very hard to be so close to Vadream and not give him a loving look.....😃

[Shade]

So interesting to read the views here. With respect to Ball dancing with Osipova - perhaps, just perhaps, he wanted to dance with her? Osipova is after all an international star. I always assumed that principals at least, had some choice in dance partners but that may not be the case.

 

i certainly did not mind the Osipova substituting the turns in place of the fouettés but clearly others have different views. I didn't notice the timing being out but on th holiday Monday it was a different conductor. In any event I would rather she did that than pull out completely. 

 

With the different conductors was there any noticeable change in tempo did anyone note?

[Blossom]

I would have assumed that Osipova was partnered with Ball and Kish with Naghdi for security for their debuts - to work with someone who knows the role. If they are partnered next time around, they will be sensational.

[Richard LH]

9 hours ago, Jamesrhblack said:

a very early memory of the Nureyev film with the drowned Prince dead

The version I found on YouTube has Nureyev "drowning" in the lake for about 10 minutes, by popping up and down repeatedly behind a blue sheet waved  by stage hands, whilst Fonteyn slides along at the back to and fro on her tummy in "swan" pose, probably with the aid of a "hostess" trolley.

Probably one of the funniest (unintentional) ballet moments!

Could other such moments form a topic to keep us amused over the summer?...

 

[Richard LH]

8 hours ago, standingticket said:

 

Interestingly the Royal Ballet have just responded to a tweet I've just read asking about the substitution, to explain that it was done to avoiding aggravating a niggling foot injury.

I find this surprising....if you have a niggling foot injury I wonder how you can dance a demanding role like O/O at all.

[Jamesrhblack]

Having Seen through a glass darkly at the cinema and begun to find my way around the production on Monday (when not being dazzled by Naghdi), it was good to enjoy last night from my preferred seating in the Balcony Stalls with a perspective on the staging and greater mental freedom to attend to performance.

 

In reference to Shade’s comment, I thought that the conducting of Valery Osyanikov was, in general,a little faster and more fluent than what I heard last week,but I appreciate different dancers will have different requirements. I’m not a big fan of over slow in Adagio I must confesss...

 

So, some incidentals....

 

6 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

The version I found on YouTube has Nureyev "drowning" in the lake for about 10 minutes, by popping up and down repeatedly behind a blue sheet waved  by stage hands, whilst Fonteyn slides along at the back to and fro on her tummy in "swan" pose, probably with the aid of a "hostess" trolley.

Probably one of the funniest (unintentional) ballet moments!

Could other such moments form a topic to keep us amused over the summer?...

 

We all see things differently I guess.  It didn’t amuse me then, and it doesn’t amuse me now.

[LinMM]

I'm still feeling a bit guilty for leaving early yesterday as it seems disrespectful to the dancers who were all giving their all and especially as it was a pretty good performance of Swan Lake anyway .....Normally I'd have to be ill to leave a performance early like that ...but foot pain and poorish sight lines (more unusual for SCS) got the better of me ...certainly won't be so stupid again.

Can anyone who did see the last act yesterday say anything about it?

[Richard LH]

2 hours ago, Sim said:

Yasmine Naghdi begins her Act 2 pdd in just that way:  with a look of fear, and a small shake of her head (which is then repeated at the beginning of the Act 4 pdd) when Siegfried first tries to engage with her.

Takada too, as I recall....I loved the nuanced, vulnerable emotions she expressed as Odette.

Edited June 20, 2018 by Richard LH

[betterankles]

23 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

I find this surprising....if you have a niggling foot injury I wonder how you can dance a demanding role like O/O at all.

 

Almost every ballerina dancing Odette/Odile or any other role, would have various niggling injuries...

Sometimes substituting another step or doing the same enchaînement on the other side/foot is sensible.

Niggling injuries do not prevent dancers from performing, not do they necessarily make for performances that are of lesser standard then  normal.  Indeed sometimes they are greater artistically, as the dancer, perhaps feeling less then adequate technically, concentrates more on interpretation.

In such ways too, do dancers often develop their artistry...

[James]

9 hours ago, MAB said:

 

He's not of age, it's his 21st remember, so presumably about to become king and I assume his mother is regent, or perhaps like George III his father is in some way incompetent.  On the other hand the title usually goes to the son on his father's death as with baby Henry VI.  Like Tom Stoppard I've always had a problem with why 30 year old Hamlet wasn't king instead of Claudius.

I was thinking that the Queen (or the Princess as she is called in both the 1877 and 1895 librettos) is a ruling monarch who has lost her consort. That would mean that her son would not become king until her death. The uneasy relationship between the widowed Queen Victoria and her son Edward springs to mind.

So far as Hamlet is concerned, at that time, kings of Denmark were elected. Claudius is a usurper, who has, as Hamlet says in Act V of the play, “popped in between the election and my hopes”. Tom Stoppard probably did his A Level Eng Lit slightly longer ago than me.

[pianolady]

1 hour ago, Richard LH said:

The version I found on YouTube has Nureyev "drowning" in the lake for about 10 minutes, by popping up and down repeatedly behind a blue sheet waved  by stage hands, whilst Fonteyn slides along at the back to and fro on her tummy in "swan" pose, probably with the aid of a "hostess" trolley.

Probably one of the funniest (unintentional) ballet moments!

Could other such moments form a topic to keep us amused over the summer?...

 

Couldn't resist looking at that- I found it highly amusing- maybe as I couldn't get your mention of a hostess trolley out of my head. Funny how trying to be literal with a swan swimming doesn't work.  I may have grumbled a bit about Scarlett's ending but it's so much better than that in my opinion. Actually I liked the blue sheet but not Nureyev bobbing up and down for so long.

[Lizbie1]

1 hour ago, Richard LH said:

The version I found on YouTube has Nureyev "drowning" in the lake for about 10 minutes, by popping up and down repeatedly behind a blue sheet waved  by stage hands, whilst Fonteyn slides along at the back to and fro on her tummy in "swan" pose, probably with the aid of a "hostess" trolley.

Probably one of the funniest (unintentional) ballet moments!

Could other such moments form a topic to keep us amused over the summer?...

 

 

Some of the choreography for the corps in that act is rather, let's say, unusual, too.

[Richard LH]

1 hour ago, betterankles said:

Niggling injuries do not prevent dancers from performing, not do they necessarily make for performances that are of lesser standard then  normal. 

Fair point, but I suppose it all depends on what exactly was her  problem. "Foot  injury" seems to me to imply something rather more serious than the sort of condition that must plague ballerinas all the time.

Edited June 20, 2018 by Richard LH

[Lenore]

I’ve been finding this thread fascinating to read. I have one question about the production (I didn’t buy a programme so it may have been explained): does Odette’s sacrifice at the end break the spell for the rest of the swans? 

 

I saw 2 casts: Yasmine Naghdi/Nehemiah Kish (back in May) & Natalia Osipova/Matthew Ball (the matinee performance last week). I don’t typically write my thoughts as I enjoy reading others more, but here I am. 

 

I have to confess, I’ve seen multiple Swan Lake couples over the years & have never been moved by Odette/Siegfried, regardless of the dancers (even counting clips I’ve watched online). I’ve never been able to work out if I just have a disconnect to the story or if I just haven’t seen the right performance. 

 

I’m also not particularly fussy about choreography, but there were quite a few things I really enjoyed in Scarlett’s production; the costumes & sets for one thing, but also the prologue, the inclusion of Rothbart into the royal court (interesting dynamics), the entirety of act 3 & most of Act 4. I still haven’t fully made up my mind about the ending but I’m inclined to say I actually quite liked it. I’m still mulling things over weeks after seeing my first show. 

 

I know I said I don’t find Swan Lake emotional, but I do always tear up at that final piece of music, without fail. There’s just something about it (the entrance music for Myrthe in Giselle has the same effect on me). 

 

On another music related note, I dislike how slowly the pas de deux in act 2 has been taken this time around, something I think has already been noted, so perhaps I’m not alone. This always sets my teeth on edge (just another personal issue!). I saw a clip of the act 2 pas de deux from the cinema screening & despite beautiful dancing I just can’t move past the tempo. 

 

My only other general note was just to add my agreement with regards to Benno/Siegfried & the amount of dancing for the former (& lack of dancing for the latter). I do wonder if the character of Siegfried is the reason I’ve never been emotionally invested in this Ballet. He’s a rather flat character. This version made no attempt to flesh him out. 

 

So, my thoughts on the couples I saw:

 

Naghdi was utterly beautiful. Unfortunately I missed her final act as the heat in the auditorium made me feel terribly unwell, but I’m glad I managed to see her act 2 & 3. I do find a taller dancer works best for me as Odette/Odile & Naghdi had exquisite lines. I found her Odette particularly vulnerable. If you’d told me this was her debut run as O/O I wouldn’t have believed you. 

 

I don’t want to add to the criticism of Kish but I found his dancing disappointing. That said, he partnered Naghdi well. 

 

I was very impressed with Matthew in the matinee performance. He partnered Natalia extremely well and still gave as much characterisation to the role as I felt possible. I found his dancing very lyrical. I couldn’t help but recall his Lensky during one of his brief solos. 

 

I’m probably in the minority here, as after reading previous reviews before the performance I had some reservations, but I didn’t find Natalia overpowered Matthew in the pas de deux. I do think her interpretation of the role is a bit wilder than others (& thus not to everyone’s taste), & I always love how she gives everything on stage, but I also think she’s softened in this role compared to the DVD performance. 

Matthew (Ball) completely held his own. It’s unfortunate Natalia slipped on her entrance (looked painful) & I thought act 3 started tentatively due to this, which was understandable. I also thought the pique turns started off looking less impressive but the speed she got up to ultimately made up for this, & I didn’t miss the fouettés. 

 

Despite having said all that, I don’t think Natalia’s O/O has the same emotion as her Giselle (where, funnily enough, I tend to prefer shorter dancers...). I think her Odette is too human like. 

 

Overall it was a very enjoyable performance(s) & I’m glad the choreography exceeded my expectations. Interesting to read a DVD will be released, presumably of the Nuñez/Muntagirov cast (I spent a good 5 minutes wondering why it would be released so far away before I remembered 2019 was next year...!). I’m impressed & very happy the ROH release so many DVDs. 

 

(Apologies for any grammatical errors above. I typed this up on my phone & haven’t read it through as I’m too tired!)

 

[alison]

15 minutes ago, Lenore said:

I have to confess, I’ve seen multiple Swan Lake couples over the years & have never been moved by Odette/Siegfried, regardless of the dancers (even counting clips I’ve watched online). I’ve never been able to work out if I just have a disconnect to the story or if I just haven’t seen the right performance. 

[...]

I do wonder if the character of Siegfried is the reason I’ve never been emotionally invested in this Ballet. He’s a rather flat character. This version made no attempt to flesh him out. 

 

I suspect both Like you, I've seen a lot of pairings over the years, but it's relatively rare for one to move me deeply.  I *was* starting to think - until Monday - that I too mustsimply have a disconnect with the ballet, or at least RB versions of it, and that it wasn't just because I disliked the Dowell version.  I don't think the character of Siegfried is necessarily flat - at least, it shouldn't be - but it does depend hugely on the dancer whether I get drawn into his predicament or just appreciate some beautiful dancing.  I do have particularly fond memories of at least one performance - Tamara Rojo and Patrick Armand in a matinee performance of ENB's "in the round" version at the Albert Hall - where despite the barn-like feel to the venue they totally caught me up in their plight and I was quite devastated at the end, but it's rare for something like that to happen.

[bridiem]

29 minutes ago, Lenore said:

I’ve been finding this thread fascinating to read. I have one question about the production (I didn’t buy a programme so it may have been explained): does Odette’s sacrifice at the end break the spell for the rest of the swans? 

 

Glad you did post your thoughts, Lenore! Really interesting.

 

Yes, the synopsis indicates that the other swans are freed. (And I think that your question does rather indicate that this is not as clear as it should be from the choreography/in this production.)

[Jamesrhblack]

Highly amusing indeed that Siegfried’s breaking of his vow leads to his death and Odette being condemned to remain a swan. I laughed all the way to the last chord.

[Lizbie1]

2 minutes ago, Jamesrhblack said:

Highly amusing indeed that Siegfried’s breaking of his vow leads to his death and Odette being condemned to remain a swan. I laughed all the way to the last chord.

 

The OP did say it was unintentionally funny. I too found it an almost textbook example of bathos.

[LinMM]

Jamesrhblack I think your comment  above is a "victim" of a fast moving thread!! There's obviously some "back story" here but as yet another slightly alternative ending its not bad ( though tragic of course as is fitting for Swan Lake) But I rather like that the easily duped Siegfried dies and Odette still has some sort of life even as a swan!!! 

Siegfried gets of rather lightly in the current production in more ways than one!!

[LinMM]

That's not a comment on how it may be portrayed on the stage of course just that it's another "ending" and a reasonably fitting one though I still think them both dying together ( for love of course) best fits Tchaikovsky's wonderful music at this point and presumably there was some collaboration here with the original choreographer!

[Jamesrhblack]

Finally getting around to posting some thoughts on Tuesday’s performance. Having seen the production live the previous evening, I felt in a better position to watch the performance more if that makes any sense and I have to say that it looked terrific from the Balcony Stalls, and actually better than from the Grand Tier the evening before. The additional height really opened up the perspectives as well as allowing me to see the beautiful formation of the corps de ballet numbers (and not just the Swans).

 

Although there wasn’t the astonishing electricity that developed during Monday’s performance, there was much to enjoy, although I’d agree with Lenore that the emotional temperature remained a little low.

 

Different people see things in different ways (hence the varying opinions posted on this forum), but I found Natalia Osipova entirely convincing, even mesmerising. She caught the wildness of Swan (however far removed this may be from pre-conceptions of a pure, restrained Odette) with the beating of wings and the arching through the air in a way that absolutely captured me. When Rothbart (a terrific Gary Avis) stretches out towards her, you actually felt her body being pulled backwards. She is so physically engaged and responsive at every moment so that everything, however studied and calculated, feels almost improvised. This “wilder” Odette meant that the transition to Odile was less abrupt than it can seem with other dancers and I liked the fact that she didn’t over play initially. I also seem to be in a minority as I had no issue with her turning sequence: it seemed a splendid evocation of Odile “consecrating” her place of triumph and I found it preferable to some of the travelling, off the music foutées I have seen over the years.

 

Again, I’m in a minority in that I wasn’t blown away by Matthew Ball. He has an elegant presence and is a good partner but as a solo dancer I don’t find him as polished or exciting as some, or, indeed, as expressive as others. I was castigated for mentioning what I saw as a technical struggle during his Albrecht debut but it seemed to me that the double tours to one leg in Act 3 were uncertain and there was a long wait in position before the next turning sequence, which made it look, even if it was not the case, as if a third tours had been omitted. i dispute neither his talent nor his promise but I don’t think he’s quite there yet. Osipova evidently enjoys dancing with him (her demeanour at the final curtain call made that absolutely clear) and he will undoubtedly develop his powers of projection working with such a strong and charismatic partner. I look forward to that development very much. It is hard for the younger, most promising dancers as we put them against the highest standards not just of our memory but of our imagination. 

 

Other particulatly vivid pleasures included Itziar Mendizabal as a Big Swan (her musicality and space devouring dancing rather showed up her colleague), Yuhui Choe as a Sister projecting in a way i’d Rarely seen her do before (her Mistress in Manon was a revelation for that), Mayara Magdi and Tristan Dyer whizzing through the Neapolitan with technical aplomb and vivid characterisation and Tierney Heap, not always suited to the Other Sister’s turning choreography but generous of jump and presence. Sambé has great energy as Benno but I find his dancing can lack exactness and polish, enthusiastic and exciting as it can be. Full marks too to the corps and soloists who must be exhausted with this long run of performances which sees many of them chopping and changing between a large variety of roles too. 

 

It will be interesting to to see what, if any, changes are implemented when the production returns but despite the doom-laden scenarios that seemed overly prevalent when the production was announced Liam Scarlett seems to have risen to the opportunity (with which I am sure he would not have been entrusted had KO’H not thought him capable) and given us something that is already far more than a work in progress.

[LinMM]

Yes I thought Yuhui Choe was particularly good on Tuesday she lit up the stage! 

Matthew did hold one arabesque at the end of a series of steps for quite a while and for a moment I thought he had blanked!! However I thought his dancing was really fine and liked his interpretation.

I also agree that Natalia's interpretation is on the "wild" side and no other dancer I've seen goes in this direction ( which is why she's always so interesting and exciting) and you express so well  that in the minute engagement of hers ( again you are not sure what might happen) so that there is that "improvisation" feel in her dancing but nevertheless on Tuesday her Odette did not seem to me that  "felt" somehow so I didn't really get into the emotion of it all. But she does get those lovely ripples in her arms which few dancers ( Makarova was a supreme example of this) manage to achieve. She is such a powerful dancer that she doesn't hide not even as Odette so this may jar a bit for some people. 

The thing is I don't think she entirely suits Matthew Ball and how he interprets it. He is all fine sensitive even refined Prince and she is all wild and unpredictable and rather feisty swan lady!! This is why I made the comment earlier that in the third Act when Natalia is in Odile role she would seem to have been too powerful a lady for such a Prince!! ( I don't mean in quality of dancing but in interpretation of roles) 

A more feisty ...."meaty" if you like ....a bit of a rule breaker Prince would suit Natalia I feel .....not sure who at the moment but just like people like the idea of Naghdi and Ball cast together I think we need another male dancer for Natalia as she is so special in a very different way to Naghdi ( who I loved  in this role)