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RB Concerto / Enigma Variations / Raymonda Act III, 2019

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Xandra Newman

Xandra Newman

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7 minutes ago, JohnS said:

 

And is this the cinema cast for 5 November?  Indoor fireworks kicking off Concerto.

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RuthE

RuthE

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Oh, marvellous - having missed last night's performance due to a clash, and being unable to attend the one on 5th November, I was kicking myself for apparently managing to miss this cast altogether.  But it's now occurred to me that I can catch one of the Encore screenings on Sunday 10th :)

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Fonty

Fonty

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I am so glad I bought a last minute ticket for this.  I loved it, I thought it was a splendid triple bill.  

 

Just a few thoughts.  I've seen Concerto before, but I thought it was extremely well danced last night.  Unfortunately, for some unknown reason I suffered a very nasty fit of coughing during the slow second movement, and my eyes started stinging as well.  At one point I thought I would have to go out.  I felt terrible as I scrabbled around for my bag containing my water bottle, which I had stupidly forgotten to get out in advance.  I have no idea what set it off.  From what I could see through the tears streaming down my face Naghdi looked sublime.  I am so glad it was being filmed, I shall be able to see what I missed. 

 

I enjoyed Enigma Variations much more last night than I did the last time the RB performed it, but I still felt that something was missing from some of the variations.  Geoff has mentioned above that it is a trifle slower, which may have something to do with it.  I felt that the women were much better than the men, and I enjoyed all their dancing.  .  Hayward was lovely, and Morera was magnificent.  I couldn't take my eyes off her when she was on stage; even the simplest gesture was full of grace.  I also thought the lady in the hammock was charming.  Was this Stix-Brunell as Isabel Fitton?  I'd forgotten the running order as I was watching.

 

 I don't know what it was about the men.   Their solos may be fast but they are also short.  However, they seemed to my eyes to be struggling with the rapid footwork and the pace, and at times it looked as if they were fudging some of the steps in order to keep up.  I thought Matthew Ball made a decent attempt at Troyte, but I felt it didn't have quite the impact that it should have done.  I would have loved to see Campbell in this role, and am a bit puzzled as to why he isn't in the filmed version.

 

I am not sure if I have ever seen Raymonda before.  I was confused by some of the scenery.  Why did the red curtains at the back look as though they were sagging on a drooping wire?  And what was the floor all about?  From my perch in the roof, it reminded me of a Roman villa I visited recently, with a painted floor that had faded in some places and vanished completely in others.  Not quite sure what it was supposed to add to the overall look.  I loved the costumes, although when Osipova first came on, I thought that the pattern on the front of the bodice where it joined the skirt looked a bit as though a dog's bone had been embroidered on to it.  Once I had that image in my head, I couldn't get it out.  

However, I loved the dancing.  I enjoy having the variety between the Hungarian dances and the balletic pieces.  I thought all the variations looked good, although of course not having seen it before I couldn't make any comparisons.  Muntagirov was sensational, but when does he ever give anything less than a wonderful performance?  How lucky the RB are to have him, and how lucky we are to be able to see him so often.  I don't always enjoy Osipova's performances, not because she isn't a terrific dancer, she is.  But I feel that sometimes she is a bit too individual for my tastes.  However, I loved her in this.  She was wonderfully imperious, and her hand claps were loudly audible to those of us in the amphitheatre.  

 

On the question of the conductor, something struck me during Osipova's second solo - the one with all the releves  that begin slowly and speed up.  It looked to me as if Osipova was definitely dictating the tempo, and the conductor was following her.  Did anybody else notice?  Was this my imagination, or is this normal?

Edited by Fonty
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Jeannette

Jeannette

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2 hours ago, Xandra Newman said:

Hopefully the filming (and cinema relay) of last night's cast will produce a "Concerto/Enigma Variations/Raymonda" DVD.

This cast should have danced on Opening Night too (but one can't have it all :( ). A creme-de-la-creme cast.

 

Osipova was otherwise engaged in her “Pure Dance” program at Sadlers Wells through 26 October. I’m thrilled to read that she & Muntagirov will do the cinemas cast! All three ballets on tap are heavenly, in different ways.

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ChrisG

ChrisG

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12 hours ago, Balletfanp said:

I’m glad I had read previous reviews as they were helpful in explaining a lot that wasn’t immediately obvious (a better synopsis would be extremely helpful - my neighbours in the seats didn’t understand the significance of the telegram at the end until I explained it to them).

 

I too was surprised that the significance of the telegram wasn't explained, either in the sketches of the variations given in the cast sheet or in the programme, especially when the basics of the plot of Raymonda were given, even though they have no bearing on what happens in the third act.  I've just had a look at the programme from the last time BRB did it and there it was made very clear what was going on.  I quote: 'The fictional arrival of the telegram announcing Hans Richter's agreement to conduct the score brings a happy ending to the work with friends gathered around the composer for a group photograph, except for the 'absent' Mary Lygon who flits away just before it is taken.'

 

As an Elgar devotee who has sung his choral works many times over I absolutely loved Enigma Variations last night.  I have nothing to add to comments about the individual performances, other than that Francesca Hayward was, as usual, magnificent, but what struck me most is how Ashton grasped the essential character of both Elgar and the work in the way he set the variations.  To use modern parlance Enigma Variations was Elgar's 'breakthrough' work, the one that finally confirmed him as a composer of substance.  To me it is the perfect amalgam of the playful late-Victorian salon pieces of his early career, like Salut d'Amour, and the much deeper sense of melancholy that imbued his more substantial later works, the oratorios, the symphonies, and the almost unbearably sad Cello Concerto.  This reflected Elgar's own character, which saw a surface confidence undermined by a degree of insecurity engendered partly no doubt by his position as a self-taught provincial trying to infiltrate the metropolitan musical elite. Ashton captures this two-sidedness perfectly, balancing the moments of joyful abandon, like Dora Penny's solo, with moments of almost heartbreaking tenderness, like the central Nimrod variation, where nothing really happens and yet everything happens.  Most of all, and particularly in Nimrod, he saw the importance of Alice Elgar in Elgar's life in providing the rock on which he could anchor his career.  It's significant that Elgar wrote little of note after she died in 1920, and seeing their relationship through the lens of Ashton's choreography, you can understand why.

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capybara

capybara

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3 hours ago, Xandra Newman said:

.This cast should have danced on Opening Night too (but one can't have it all :( ). A creme-de-la-creme cast.


I think that Kevin O’Hare tries to share out the opening nights but, sometimes, injuries and illnesses thwart his plans.

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ChrisG

ChrisG

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3 hours ago, Fonty said:

On the question of the conductor, something struck me during Osipova's second solo - the one with all the releves  that begin slowly and speed up.  It looked to me as if Osipova was definitely dictating the tempo, and the conductor was following her.  Did anybody else notice?  Was this my imagination, or is this normal?

 

I was on row C of the Stalls directly behind the conductor and can confirm that yes, that was exactly what he seemed to be doing!  He certainly had his eyes on her the whole time.

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alison

alison

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How much do we really need to know about Enigma, though?  The composer is clearly doubting/distressed, his loved ones try to console him, then a telegram arrives which is obviously good news of some sort, because the mood becomes all happy and celebratory.  Do we really need to know the exact contents of the telegram?

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JohnS

JohnS

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34 minutes ago, alison said:

Do we really need to know the exact contents of the telegram?

 

I thought it was good to know.  

 

Seems reasonable to me to make the information readily available so that those who wish to know can do so. 

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Alice Shortcake

Alice Shortcake

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5 hours ago, Xandra Newman said:

Hopefully the filming (and cinema relay) of last night's cast will produce a "Concerto/Enigma Variations/Raymonda" DVD.

This cast should have danced on Opening Night too (but one can't have it all :( ). A creme-de-la-creme cast.

 

I do hope there will be a DVD. I can't get to the 5th November relay and there is no encore showing at York.

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capybara

capybara

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1 hour ago, ChrisG said:

 

I was on row C of the Stalls directly behind the conductor and can confirm that yes, that was exactly what he seemed to be doing!  He certainly had his eyes on her the whole time.

 

The tempo/tempi for Raymonda's big solo were very different last night with Osipova from those deployed for Lamb.

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HelenLoveAppleJuice

HelenLoveAppleJuice

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10 minutes ago, Alice Shortcake said:

 

I do hope there will be a DVD. I can't get to the 5th November relay and there is no encore showing at York.

 

I don't know if it is proper but some insider told me that Raymonda Act III will have a DVD. Highly suspect that the other two will also have DVD, likely to put together with the triple bill early this year?  Maybe not in the same recording? I suspect that RB is building a box set for Vadim.  

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HelenLoveAppleJuice

HelenLoveAppleJuice

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5 hours ago, Fonty said:

I am so glad I bought a last minute ticket for this.  I loved it, I thought it was a splendid triple bill.  

 

Just a few thoughts.  I've seen Concerto before, but I thought it was extremely well danced last night.  Unfortunately, for some unknown reason I suffered a very nasty fit of coughing during the slow second movement, and my eyes started stinging as well.  At one point I thought I would have to go out.  I felt terrible as I scrabbled around for my bag containing my water bottle, which I had stupidly forgotten to get out in advance.  I have no idea what set it off.  From what I could see through the tears streaming down my face Naghdi looked sublime.  I am so glad it was being filmed, I shall be able to see what I missed. 

 

I enjoyed Enigma Variations much more last night than I did the last time the RB performed it, but I still felt that something was missing from some of the variations.  Geoff has mentioned above that it is a trifle slower, which may have something to do with it.  I felt that the women were much better than the men, and I enjoyed all their dancing.  .  Hayward was lovely, and Morera was magnificent.  I couldn't take my eyes off her when she was on stage; even the simplest gesture was full of grace.  I also thought the lady in the hammock was charming.  Was this Stix-Brunell as Isabel Fitton?  I'd forgotten the running order as I was watching.

 

 I don't know what it was about the men.   Their solos may be fast but they are also short.  However, they seemed to my eyes to be struggling with the rapid footwork and the pace, and at times it looked as if they were fudging some of the steps in order to keep up.  I thought Matthew Ball made a decent attempt at Troyte, but I felt it didn't have quite the impact that it should have done.  I would have loved to see Campbell in this role, and am a bit puzzled as to why he isn't in the filmed version.

 

I am not sure if I have ever seen Raymonda before.  I was confused by some of the scenery.  Why did the red curtains at the back look as though they were sagging on a drooping wire?  And what was the floor all about?  From my perch in the roof, it reminded me of a Roman villa I visited recently, with a painted floor that had faded in some places and vanished completely in others.  Not quite sure what it was supposed to add to the overall look.  I loved the costumes, although when Osipova first came on, I thought that the pattern on the front of the bodice where it joined the skirt looked a bit as though a dog's bone had been embroidered on to it.  Once I had that image in my head, I couldn't get it out.  

However, I loved the dancing.  I enjoy having the variety between the Hungarian dances and the balletic pieces.  I thought all the variations looked good, although of course not having seen it before I couldn't make any comparisons.  Muntagirov was sensational, but when does he ever give anything less than a wonderful performance?  How lucky the RB are to have him, and how lucky we are to be able to see him so often.  I don't always enjoy Osipova's performances, not because she isn't a terrific dancer, she is.  But I feel that sometimes she is a bit too individual for my tastes.  However, I loved her in this.  She was wonderfully imperious, and her hand claps were loudly audible to those of us in the amphitheatre.  

 

On the question of the conductor, something struck me during Osipova's second solo - the one with all the releves  that begin slowly and speed up.  It looked to me as if Osipova was definitely dictating the tempo, and the conductor was following her.  Did anybody else notice?  Was this my imagination, or is this normal?

I have not seen RB version of Raymonda before but have seen La Scala full length one. 

 

By saying Osipova's 2nd solo, does Raymonda have 2 variations in RB Act III?

 

Plus do we have the famous multiple entrechats variation? It is in Act 2 if I remembered correctly in La Scala.

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Quintus

Quintus

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I was also there last night - one of the most enjoyable evenings I've had at ROH for a while.  I concur with all the other members praising the Concerto second movement - it was simply beautiful. Frankie Hayward was a delight, Fumi Kaneko was gorgeous and Vadim floated... plus all the others to numerous to mention, the whole programme was a treat.   I was sipping a house red before the show in the Amphi bar and spotted Bella Brouwers of ENB - it's good to see that professional dancers still choose to go watch ballet to relax!

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HelenLoveAppleJuice

HelenLoveAppleJuice

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Raymonda can end in two different ways. One way is the couple happily marry together with a proud Raymonda. Another is that Raymonda marries Jean de Brienne but she has hidden sadness for the Abderakhman because she grows an affection of him before he dies.

 

The original novel has Raymonda falls in love with Abderakhman but after Abderakhman dies, some magic removes Raymonda's love memory but she will never be the same girl as before.

 

 

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Jeannette

Jeannette

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3 hours ago, HelenLoveAppleJuice said:

 

By saying Osipova's 2nd solo, does Raymonda have 2 variations in RB Act III?

 

Plus do we have the famous multiple entrechats...

 

Raymonda has only one true solo here (bourrees & claps). She also dances alone for 15-20 seconds within the Coda of the Classical Grand Pas (the sharp relieves-passes to a famous Hungarian folk tune).

 

No entrechats solo for Raymonda here, as in Act II of the Vikharev La Scala version.

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Nogoat

Nogoat

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7 hours ago, alison said:

I suspect Xandra was thinking of dancers other than Osipova, Jeannette :) 

 

This inference makes no sense to me.
As written, Jeannette's observation that Osipiova dancing (in Pure Dance at Sadlers Wells) on the opening night of the Triple Bill at the ROH was the reason the 'creme-de-la-creme' cast from last night and the Nov 5th broadcast (which includes her) could not open the ROH series does not imply that Xandra Newman's earlier post, which did not mention specific dancers, had Osipova in mind.

Osipova was the reason it couldn't happen, not the reason it should have happened.

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assoluta

assoluta

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9 hours ago, HelenLoveAppleJuice said:

Raymonda can end in two different ways. One way is the couple happily marry together with a proud Raymonda. Another is that Raymonda marries Jean de Brienne but she has hidden sadness for the Abderakhman because she grows an affection of him before he dies.

 

The original novel has Raymonda falls in love with Abderakhman but after Abderakhman dies, some magic removes Raymonda's love memory but she will never be the same girl as before.

 

What "original novel" do you have in mind? What ballet called "Raymonda" has that "another" ending? The libretto of "Raymonda," according to what I know, was an original work of Lydia Pashkova, a well traveled literary figure of the late Imperial Era, and wasn't an adaptation of any novel. Are you perhaps talking about the 1938 Soviet production? That production discarded the original libretto and replaced it by a new one. Whatever the source of the inspiration for the authors of that production, in the context of "Raymonda", the ballet, it cannot be considered "the original novel".

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Fonty

Fonty

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14 hours ago, Jeannette said:

 

Raymonda has only one true solo here (bourrees & claps). She also dances alone for 15-20 seconds within the Coda of the Classical Grand Pas (the sharp relieves-passes to a famous Hungarian folk tune).

 

 

I called the latter a solo because I didn't know what else to call it.  I suppose technically  it is solo dancing, rather than dancing a solo? 🙂

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HelenLoveAppleJuice

HelenLoveAppleJuice

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Posted (edited)
11 hours ago, assoluta said:

 

What "original novel" do you have in mind? What ballet called "Raymonda" has that "another" ending? The libretto of "Raymonda," according to what I know, was an original work of Lydia Pashkova, a well traveled literary figure of the late Imperial Era, and wasn't an adaptation of any novel. Are you perhaps talking about the 1938 Soviet production? That production discarded the original libretto and replaced it by a new one. Whatever the source of the inspiration for the authors of that production, in the context of "Raymonda", the ballet, it cannot be considered "the original novel".

 

Thanks for the information! Apologize if my comment causes any confusion. 

 

My knowledge came from an introduction video of Raymonda from a Chinese ballet instructor who made some videos online to promote ballet. He said that Raymonda has a weak story line comparing to other classical ballets because it cut off the most exiting part (Raymonda falls in love with Turkish) from the "original novel" when the story was adapted into ballet. I made some comments yesterday asking him about the data resource. Either it was true or it was likely caused by translation because most of Chinese ballet textbooks are translated from Russian. There is some confusion between a "story" "novel" or "legend" in the translation. I guess perhaps it should be a "legend" not a "novel". 

 

I also did some research yesterday and found this article on nytimes in 2016 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/arts/dance/review-mariinsky-ballet-in-raymonda-searching-about-for-a-perfect-suitor.html It says "The creaky story line of the 1898 “Raymonda” was shaped by Countess Lydia Pashkova and Petipa along the lines of the Romantic historical fiction popularized a century earlier by Ann Radcliffe (the novelist satirized by Jane Austen in “Northanger Abbey”)." 

However it sounds strange because the none of Ann Radcliffe's novels has a similar story line like Raymonda. 

 

Searching Russian sites, I see info like this one http://www.pro-ballet.ru/html/r/raymonda.html attributes "scenes. L. A. Pashkova (on the plot of a knight's legend)". 

 

Edited by HelenLoveAppleJuice
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Sebastian

Sebastian

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Posted (edited)
20 hours ago, HelenLoveAppleJuice said:

I also did some research yesterday and found this article on nytimes in 2016 https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/25/arts/dance/review-mariinsky-ballet-in-raymonda-searching-about-for-a-perfect-suitor.html It says "The creaky story line of the 1898 “Raymonda” was shaped by Countess Lydia Pashkova and Petipa along the lines of the Romantic historical fiction popularized a century earlier by Ann Radcliffe (the novelist satirized by Jane Austen in “Northanger Abbey”)."...Searching Russian sites, I see info like this one http://www.pro-ballet.ru/html/r/raymonda.html attributes "scenes. L. A. Pashkova (on the plot of a knight's legend)". 

 

To add a little more about Lydia Pahkova. The always impeccable Roland Wiley, who never goes beyond his voluminous sources, writes this of Pashkova in "The Ballets of Lev Ivanov":

 

"A Parisian bohemian and occasional correspondent for Le Figaro who (as rumour had it) was related to Vsevolozhsky, Pashkova wrote...libretti for St Petersburg, one of which - Raymonda - brought her such recognition as she enjoys in the history of the ballet."

 

A footnote: the claim that Pashkova was Vsevolozhsky's wife - repeated this Sunday during the live transmission of Raymonda by the delightful and multilingual head of press at the Bolshoi, Katerina Novikova - is not correct.

 

Edited by Sebastian
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mauriceC

mauriceC

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Posted

re Raymonda Act 3

Always a treasure as far as I am concerned.

I still recall the original RB Touring Company performances with Doreen Wells and David Wall with great pleasure 

Forgive me if this has been mentioned in the previous  posts but it should not be forgotten that the Touring Company performed the full length ballet at the Spoleto Festival with Nureyev and Wells replacing Fonteyn in the mid 60s.The first UK performances were announced for the next regional tour opening i n Coventry  but the production was withdrawn because of scenic difficulties and never seen.and was replace by "Sleeping Beauty" with Fonteyn.

Act 3 was then presented in the Autumn 1966 tour  in the present gorgeous designs .......I am pleased to hear that once again there is applause on curtain rise.....at the last BRB revival the audience sat on its hands!

 

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