Jump to content

Recommended Posts

4 minutes ago, capybara said:

Thank you for this, Motomum. You came to Onegin with completely fresh eyes and your observations are all the more interesting because of that. You and your son noticed things that I did not but, just for info., it is Lensky who does most of the dancing in the ballet and the steps were not changed for Reece Clarke.

I have the same kind of difficulty as you with Nunez and always have had. It's strange how we all react so differently to dancers.

BTW, your son has chosen a very, very special dancer as his hero.

@capybara Thankyou.

 

I am relieved to hear that I am not the only ballet fan who doesn’t worship at the feet of Nunez.

😀 I thought a bit before writing it, I felt as though I was disrespecting royalty.

 

I shall tell my son that Reece Clarke hadn’t been let off his steps, we did think it would have been very unusual.

 

The Royal Ballet training has made me absolutely obsessed with male dancers feet, as is my son, so that is where I tend to look first.

Vadim Muntagirov has the most exquisite feet, as did Sergei Polunin (at the height of his ballet career), sadly not any more.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 410
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

For me, the highlight of last night were Ball and Hayward, who I thought were both excellent, not only technically but also artistically. I also think Ball would make a great Onegin and I hope he will have an opportunity next time.

Clarke was better than I expected him to be in this role, and I think he has potential to become a great Onegin, but I don't feel he is quite there yet. At times, I felt he looked like a caricature of Onegin, rather than a real person. And Onegin - despite all his arrogance - is a very human character. I didn't feel that Clarke managed to convey that well, especially in Acts I and II. 

Nunes was impeccable in her technique, but I found her Tatiana stiff and unconvincing in Acts I and II. She didn't look young or vulnerable or in love, and her interactions with Onegin just felt wrong. There should be awkwardness there but not a lack of emotion.

She was much better in Act III, especially with Avis who was great. 

Overall, it was a mixed experience for me. Truly great Lensky and Olga, but they weren't enough to make this a memorable performance. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

@librarianne your comment about Clarke looking like a caricature of the role is very insightful, and captures perfectly what was not there in his performance.

 

And my son also commented that the relationship between Onegin and Tatiana felt and looked ‘fake’ he’s 11!!

 

Mathew Ball would indeed make a believable Onegin.

 

Thankyou yours was a very thought provoking review, filling in some of the gaps still in my head about the performances overall. 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I still can't quite believe my luck at getting to see last night's performance. Back when the Onegin casts were first announced I thought that if only Nunez was in the (then) Muntagirov/Ball/Hayward/Avis cast it would be perfect. I thought the same after seeing the first performance of Osipova/Clarke/Ball/Hayward/Avis as, while I thought Osipova gave an excellent performance, she isn't a dancer I instictively warm to. I can't give any specific reason for this, it's just a feeling. Therefore while I thought that performance was extremely good it didn't move me as much as I hoped it would. Last night Nunez gave what I had missed previously and I was in tears in the final pdd. This isn't to say that Nunez always does it for me, as I found her Juliet last season disappointing, but as Tatiana I thought she was wonderful.

 

The rest of the cast I loved the first time round & loved just as much last night. I fear that, after seeing Ball twice, the other, less experienced, Lenskys that I'll be seeing later in the run may be not as good by comparison, as I find it hard to imagine a more ideal Lensky. I found myself wishing in Act 2 that the character didn't get killed off! I thought Clarke was very good as Onegin again, though in this case I suspect when I see the much more experienced Bonelli & Soares that they will probably bring more in places. Hayward was just gorgeous & as usual seemed to be occupying a different planet with less gravity compared to us mere mortals! I thought maybe Avis & Nunez had done Gremin & Tatiana together in previous runs, as they had such great chemistry in Act III, but I asked him on Twitter & he said they hadn't (the rest of you probably already know this), which makes it even more amazing.

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, this is an odd position for me, defending Nunez who has never been a favourite.  I have loved her in Don Q, criticised her Juliet and applauded her Mitzi Caspar, but she has never moved me - until last night.  All the usual Nunez characteristics were there; assured technique, confident elegant dancing but having learned that Osipova was indisposed, I was concerned that one of Marianela’s great strengths, her sunny commanding stage presence, would hamper her interpretation.  Well, I couldn’t have been more wrong.  She was completely believable, deeply moving and utterly convincing, including the Osipova-like way she threw herself into the pas de deux. For me, it was a wonderful, entrancing performance that swept me along.

 

As to the others, well Ball just gets better and better.  I don’t especially warm to the partnership with Hayward and wonderful though she was, I felt the height difference with both Ball and Clarke somewhat spoiled the line.  Quite why this should be so when she has always looked great with Ed Watson who is also tall, I have no idea.  Reece was terrific but this is a role that hangs or falls on the aloof careless passion of Onegin which especially suited Clarke.  He was a great partner but for me he was pretty much invisible whenever Nunez was onstage.

 

A lovely evening with an appreciative audience.

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, capybara said:

I have the same kind of difficulty as you with Nunez and always have had. It's strange how we all react so differently to dancers.

 

It is strange, and interesting; but I also have found that I have reacted differently to some dancers over time. I never really took to Nunez, for years - I avoided booking deliberately for her because I just didn't particularly warm to her. I think it was only when she started dancing with Muntagirov, for whom I did book deliberately, that I began to appreciate her, and in the last few years I have really 'got' her and think she's amazing. I'm sure I've changed over the years; perhaps she has. But she's certainly been a thrilling addition to my roster of brilliant dancers in recent years.

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can remember the night I finally 'got' her too, many years ago I wanted an extra trip to London before Christmas and got a last minute ticket for Sleeping Beauty which she danced with Thiago Soares, and was amazed by her radiance and the obvious pleasure she gave to her audience, I'll never forget how she warmed up the cold winter night!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Beryl H
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Motomum said:

I do feel though that I was watching a very different ballet from my fellow posters.

For me Onegin felt, light and lacked substance.

 

I've felt that before now, too.  It used to be one of my 3 favourite ballets back when ENB danced it last century(!), but has dropped down the rankings since.  It certainly can feel  rather lightweight at times, I find.

 

2 hours ago, Motomum said:

@capybaraI am relieved to hear that I am not the only ballet fan who doesn’t worship at the feet of Nunez.

😀 I thought a bit before writing it, I felt as though I was disrespecting royalty.

 

I shall tell my son that Reece Clarke hadn’t been let off his steps, we did think it would have been very unusual.

 

 

I don't by any means worship at her feet either - but I did think her Act III was extremely good last night.

 

I did wonder about some of the moves in the bedroom pas de deux, and whether they were as they should have been.  However, given the short notice of the cast change, and how difficult that choreography is, I'm prepared to allow them a bit of latitude if it's necessary.

 

I know I was sitting at a rather odd angle to the stage, but I did wonder if I'd ever seen the Lensky/Olga pdd in Act I danced better.  And I totally agree about Hayward - she seems weightless!  (Hoping we get The Dream back soon so I can see her as Titania).

 

Back to work now ...

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, alison said:

I've felt that before now, too.  It used to be one of my 3 favourite ballets back when ENB danced it last century(!), but has dropped down the rankings since.  It certainly can feel  rather lightweight at times, I find.

 

I think it's a terrific ballet but I have real problems with Act 2. Firstly, unless very well done indeed, Onegin's angry rejection of Tatyana and the seemingly motiveless flirtation with Olga offer a more callous Onegin than Pushkin invented or makes sense - why would the wonderful, intelligent Tatyana still love him after that display of character?

 

Secondly, I really dislike the way the duel scene somehow becomes the property of Tatyana and Olga, not just because it takes the focus away from where it belongs but because it's like something out of a bad melodrama.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, alison said:

 

I don't by any means worship at her feet either - but I did think her Act III was extremely good last night.

 

I did wonder about some of the moves in the bedroom pas de deux, and whether they were as they should have been.  However, given the short notice of the cast change, and how difficult

 

And, as I said above, I thought Nunez's Act 2 was spot on.

Yes, some of the lifts in the Act 1 Scene 2 dream sequence and at the end of Act 3 did not go entirely to plan but neither have they with any of the casts this season. They involve incredibly tricky partnering, timing and weight distribution.

 

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I thought Nuñez gave a great performance last night, remarkable when one realises how little rehearsal time they must have had. She is such a versatile dancer - I have seen her in many different roles and styles. Her characterisation was convincing to me. I don’t think Onegin will ever be a top favourite work of mine, but it was an absorbing evening nonetheless. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, bridiem said:

 

It is strange, and interesting; but I also have found that I have reacted differently to some dancers over time. I never really took to Nunez, for years - I avoided booking deliberately for her because I just didn't particularly warm to her. I think it was only when she started dancing with Muntagirov, for whom I did book deliberately, that I began to appreciate her, and in the last few years I have really 'got' her and think she's amazing. I'm sure I've changed over the years; perhaps she has. But she's certainly been a thrilling addition to my roster of brilliant dancers in recent years.

 

I totally agree, Bridiem. For years I found Nunez to be technically superb but an emotional void but her partnership with Muntagirov seemed to take her to another plane. The first time she took off for me was her Giselle to Muntagirov's Albrecht and she almost always manages to hit that spot when they dance together: the value of a truly great partnership fuelled by moving and genuine chemistry.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

I think it's a terrific ballet but I have real problems with Act 2. Firstly, unless very well done indeed, Onegin's angry rejection of Tatyana and the seemingly motiveless flirtation with Olga offer a more callous Onegin than Pushkin invented or makes sense - why would the wonderful, intelligent Tatyana still love him after that display of character?

 

I much prefer the structure of the opera, with Onegin rejecting Tatiana alone in a separate scene before the party. For me Act II of the ballet seems to cram too much in & rejecting Tatiana in the middle of the party rather than privately makes it seem crueller, quite apart from the actual manner of rejection being harsher in the ballet.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

 

I much prefer the structure of the opera, with Onegin rejecting Tatiana alone in a separate scene before the party. For me Act II of the ballet seems to cram too much in & rejecting Tatiana in the middle of the party rather than privately makes it seem crueller, quite apart from the actual manner of rejection being harsher in the ballet.

 

Exactly - and at the party in her honour (equivalent to her birthday party) as well!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you @Motomum for your review - I have to say I agree that Onegin is not my favourite ballet and your 'ballet light' and lacking substance comments really says it for me. I feel because of the plot, Onegin should have such dramatic gravitas. However I often feel despite its potential, a little disappointed by the end. I think this is primarily due to the music, to my ears a bland and cobbled together score which doesn't quite elevate the emotions I should be feeling in tune with the dancers (contrast with Manon, also a cobbled together score but it really hits those dramatic notes in perfect harmony with the plot/choreography which really sticks with me after I leave the theatre, I don't think I can recall any sections of Onegin's score now!). Secondly I have to admit none of the choreography in Onegin really does it for me either. I can't quite articulate the reasons why, but I feel whilst there are no divertissements and so all the dancing really moves along the plot, it doesn't have for me the emotions of MacMillan, or the joy I would get watching pure classical technique/steps (in something like Swan Lake or Balanchine) either. I appreciate both of these points are highly subjective and I really think narrative ballets such as Onegin likely aren't my preference all things considered so I may not appreciate it as others do. 

 

But my critical points out of the way, to focus on the highlights of last night for me. Nunez and her beautiful elegant movements, really inhabiting the character of Tatiana. Yes she is more mature, and I think Osipova would have given a 'younger' edge to Tatiana (nothing to do with their actual ages, more their dancing personas?) and it was a shame not to see Osipova, who I think would have been excellent as Tatiana. But Nunez last night was a great culmination of both technique and acting. I think Clarke was a good Onegin, not great - but he will certainly grow into the role and become great I'm sure. He had the perfect level of haughtiness and stage presence, and the mirror pas de deux with both him and Nunez was the highlight of the evening for me, very impressive considering what must have been a short rehearsal period. I echo compliments above re Hayward - her 'light' technique which was just delightful and for me she managed to make Olga slightly sympathetic rather than an outrageous flirt who doesn't care about Lensky's feelings - I felt she was dancing with Onegin just because she loves to dance and have fun, and if Lenksy is going to sulk in the corner then why shouldn't she dance with his friend, she isn't doing anything wrong (in her mind)? I have to say, contrary to comments above, that I felt Ball was the weak point for me. I can't quite put my finger on it and I admit I am not the ballet expert that others on here are but in my view he doesn't have the beautiful technique of Muntagirov or Bonelli. I feel Ball is more suited to Onegin then Lensky (I thought he was an excellent Des Grieux in Manon and suited the complex rejection/pining parts of that character well) and so perhaps that's why I wasn't really 'getting' him last night. Avis of course managed to bring much to the character of Prince Gremin even in a short stage time, you really felt his kindness and love for Tatiana, their pas de deux in Act 3 really added to the characterisation of Tatiana for me. 

 

Another highlight of course is the wonderful costumes, particularly the beautiful dresses in Act 3. I do feel the corps is a bit wasted in this ballet, but I enjoyed their dancing in Act 1 with some nice little choreography bits as well as bringing some humour with the patterning couples in Act 2. 

 

I agree with @Lizbie1 that for me Act 2 is the real weak point, although for slightly different reasons! I think the ripping of the letter in such a public place doesn't really make sense (surely even Onegin wouldn't be this cruel to humiliate her in that way) and I also don't like how Tatiana and Olga are present for the duel scene - it just seems so melodramatic and actually takes away from the seriousness of what is about to happen. Likewise I find the whole Lenksy slapping Onegin with the glove a bit much, it almost makes it farcical rather than serious which really takes you out of the plot. And whilst Act 1 has the mirror pas de deux, and some nice scenes of the peasant girls/boys dancing, and Act 3 has the two pas de deux for Tatiana/Gremin/Onegin, Act 2 seems lacking in any great dance for me, it just seems keen to move along the plot so I miss some of that dancing for dancing's sake that you'd get in a more classical piece, or a MacMillan secondary character piece which adds more to the overall feeling. 

 

I appreciate a lot of my issues to do with Onegin are more to do with the fact that the overall ballet (choreography/music) are not to my preference and are therefore subjective. Perhaps it doesn't help that I am a fan of the novel and I think this does deviate from that, which I could live with if it added something, but I feel here it only lessens (e.g. the melodrama of Tatiana/Olga being at the duel etc). Despite my gripes I enjoyed watching it, as the RB has so many great dancers now, who are not only brilliant in technique but also bring really character and soul to their time on stage. I'm glad RB has such an expansive repertoire so we can really see what the dancers are capable of! 

 

 

 

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree that Onegin feels 'light', in that it is flowing and lyrical and fast and poetic; it is, after all, based on poetry. But for me it's lightness is a joy and something of a relief; a texture more Ashtonian than MacMillanesque (if there's such a word). And in no way renders it 'lightweight'; I think it deals with serious themes, seriously. (And I love the duel scene; the grim horizontal scene at the back, and the whirling, desperate dancing of the girls at the front. Very visually exciting.)

Edited by bridiem
Sentence added.
  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, bridiem said:

I agree that Onegin feels 'light', in that it is flowing and lyrical and fast and poetic; it is, after all, based on a poem. But for me it's lightness is a joy and something of a relief; a texture more Ashtonian than MacMillanesque (if there's such a word). And in no way renders it 'lightweight'; I think it deals with serious themes, seriously.

 

My beefs about Act 2 aside, I agree! I think the best Ashton ballets have that "Swiss watch" quality, where every moving part fits together precisely as a seamless whole - and Onegin has something of that too. The "lightness" is IMO all on the surface.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, JNC said:

I think this is primarily due to the music, to my ears a bland and cobbled together score which doesn't quite elevate the emotions I should be feeling in tune with the dancers (contrast with Manon, also a cobbled together score but it really hits those dramatic notes in perfect harmony with the plot/choreography which really sticks with me after I leave the theatre, I don't think I can recall any sections of Onegin's score now!).

 

 I echo compliments above re Hayward - her 'light' technique which was just delightful and for me she managed to make Olga slightly sympathetic rather than an outrageous flirt who doesn't care about Lensky's feelings - I felt she was dancing with Onegin just because she loves to dance and have fun, and if Lenksy is going to sulk in the corner then why shouldn't she dance with his friend, she isn't doing anything wrong (in her mind)? 

 

I agree with these two points. After my first viewing of Onegin last month I couldn't recall any of the music afterwards, in fact I had music from the opera stuck in my head instead! Having now seen it a second time a couple of brief snatches of melody have stuck, including the most dramatic bit of the final pdd. Both times I wanted more from the music at certain points than what it was giving me.

 

That's exactly how I thought Hayward played the party scene too. She just wants to enjoy herself & can't understand what Lensky is getting in a strop about.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

why would the wonderful, intelligent Tatyana still love him after that display of character?

 

Because she somehow knows the "real" Onegin, the man who finally emerges behind all the ennui and being immersed in himself. In her dream, the mirror pdd, Tatyana already knows what love he can feel - she imagines him dancing the same steps he will dance in the final pdd. Tatyana sees Onegin and she knows the soul hidden deep inside him, he sees her and is not able to see that she might be his salvation - that is the drama in Cranko's ballet.

 

2 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

rejecting Tatiana in the middle of the party rather than privately makes it seem crueller

 

Technically, Onegin and Tatyana are alone for that scene - for a very short time, yes, but the party has left them alone.

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, JNC said:

Avis of course managed to bring much to the character of Prince Gremin even in a short stage time, you really felt his kindness and love for Tatiana,

 

Does anybody remember Adam Cooper, who did Gremin in the first run at the RB? When he came to Tatyana's room before the final pdd, he kissed her and then almost shoved her away, like if her emotion was almost too hysterical for his cold heart. Wow, that was new to me (as were some scenes when he danced Onegin). I don't think Tatyana is blissfully happy in her marriage;  she can rely on Gremin, but she is not smiling the happy ballet smile in their pdd, she looks a bit melancholic.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Angela said:

Onegin and Tatyana are alone for that scene - for a very short time, yes, but the party has left them alone.


Quite - Onegin checks to make sure they are alone and needs a second opportunity to return the letter because guests intruded the first time.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Mary said:

 

I should say so......

 

Of course we ALL remember him! I meant his Gremin, surely not a role you'd remember him for after dancing Onegin or Bourne's Swan Lake (or anything else 😃). But even for that small, marginal role he found a different, lucent  interpretation.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

31 minutes ago, JohnS said:


Quite - Onegin checks to make sure they are alone and needs a second opportunity to return the letter because guests intruded the first time.

Yes I think they are meant to be alone: it is not meant to be public humiliation. he keeps picking up the dance whenever anyone comes in.

 

Also the tearing up of the letter  can be read differently.   It is a very indiscreet letter indeed- it was not at all what a young lady should have been guilty of: writing to a man she hardly knows, and declaring her love- before he has declared any intentions towards her-  unheard of.  If it was seen by her family or someone else, her reputation would be damaged. Onegin is certainly rejecting her, is also surely criticising her forwardness -  and getting rid of the evidence which would reflect badly on her.

 I think the scene is indeed often rather overdone, as a more melodramatic or vicious gesture than it is intended to be.

Certainly he is proud, ( he is obsessed with his own honour) scornful and a little unkind - but he is not just a cruel swine, as that would make her love for him- as Lizbie1 says above- and  his later change of attitude, very implausible.

 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, JNC said:

I think this is primarily due to the music, to my ears a bland and cobbled together score which doesn't quite elevate the emotions I should be feeling in tune with the dancers (contrast with Manon, also a cobbled together score but it really hits those dramatic notes in perfect harmony with the plot/choreography which really sticks with me after I leave the theatre, I don't think I can recall any sections of Onegin's score now!). Secondly I have to admit none of the choreography in Onegin really does it for me either. I can't quite articulate the reasons why, but I feel whilst there are no divertissements and so all the dancing really moves along the plot, it doesn't have for me the emotions of MacMillan, or the joy I would get watching pure classical technique/steps (in something like Swan Lake or Balanchine) either. I appreciate both of these points are highly subjective and I really think narrative ballets such as Onegin likely aren't my preference all things considered so I may not appreciate it as others do. 

 

"Cobbled together" is perhaps a little harsh!  For me the music in this ballet is one of its tremendous  strengths (we are talking about Tchaikovsky after all !)  and just like with Manon, I think that  fitting the choreography  to a select, albeit disparate, choice of non-ballet pieces works really well. Although I didn’t quite “get” the music on first hearing, I have since found it  is one of those scores that grows on you the more times you hear it, to the point where the beautiful, emotional, themes become familiar and help you to recall the wonderful dancing that they accompany.

 

Last night we were privileged to be near  to the stage and were thrilled to be able to see up close the  really accomplished, nuanced  acting  the dancers produce, particularly Nunez, Hirano and Takada, that so brings to life the wonderful  choreography in this ballet, which includes some really dramatic,  inventive and technically difficult movements. As a narrative ballet, the characters can’t be one dimensional – they are representing  complex, real people with a whole range of  qualities and feelings, and this is something the RB manages so well in general, and in this ballet in particular.

 

Tatiana is a fantastic role for Marianela  - she nails the  choreography and   the characterisation just right every time, and takes us on a real emotional roller coaster. She puts everything into it, and we felt for her at the end when she was  clearly so drained at the first curtain call.  This is probably my favourite role for her so far!

 

Rio Hirano is a brilliant Onegin,   for me…subtle acting, who really displays the character’s contrasting traits of  pride, anger, remorse and passion, combined with a great technique.

 

And Akane Takada  is a  really, REALLY wonderful Olga, as has been mentioned before! Her solo dancing  at the start of the ballet, and her PPD with Nicol Edmonds soon after, were breathtaking last night in the lightness, delicacy and precision of her movements. Utter joy....just watching her hands, alone, would be (I imagine) an exemplary lesson for aspiring ballerinas!

 

Can’t wait to see this cast all over again on the 27th – as well as the Nagdhi/Bonelli/O’Sullivan/Sissens  cast on the 24th!

 

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As JNC as noted, despite this ballet's being effective as theatre, there are a number of major problems with it,

 

1/ starting with what can indeed be described as a cobbled-together score.  A score pulled together by Stolze, who, unlike Tchaikovski, had no real affinity with dance-movement.  In particular, he has little handle on how dancers work with gravity (appui, in French) pushing off or into the floor.   Hence the skittering, flibberty-jibberty almost manic quality of many scenes.

 

2/ Neither are matters helped by Cranko's rejection of classical pantomime gesture.

 

As Bournonville explains countless times in his writings, when things get too dramatic in a ballet, SWITCH TO PANTOMIME.  And thereby avoid gesticulating with one's full body-weight, thereby descending into the frankly ludicrous.  Ludicrous as the scene of the duel with Tatiana and Olga ...

 

Cranko rejected pantomime partly because he, like MacMillan, had been bowled over by the Bolshoi's London tour in the late 50's, with the Goleizovsky-style, extremely dangerous, partnering, of which people like Lepeshinskaya had made their specialty. Ergo, the Mirror pas de deux and final pas de deux in ONEGIN.

 

Instead of a pas de deux with actual steps, we get pas de deux with the woman being thrown about like a sack of potatoes, emoting from a height of 7 and a half foot above the floor.

 

In case anyone would like to know why virtually all male dancers have serious back problems nowadays, look no further.

 

3/ Yes, we do need to simplify the plot in ballet.  There is no way a ballet can deal with the plot-complexities of, er, Coriolanus, or Cymbeline, without sending the entire audience to sleep. 

 

However, one wonders how carefully Cranko had actually read Pushkin's work. 

 

To say Alexander Pushkin was a dissident and social critic is a cautious understatement. 

 

And like Heinrich Heine, he loathed the Romantics.

 

Eugene Onegin as a human being, is the epitome of all that Pushkin despised in the Russian upper classes.  The man is a self-seeking cad (reread the opening chapter, as he ghoulishly awaits his Uncle's death ...), remorseless, ignorant (Pushkin is perfectly explicit about his reading habits) and destructive. 

 

Whether I would have chosen him as the "hero" of a ballet, is something of a moot point.

 

Here, should the dancers and instructors read Pushkin, they will find themselves faced with irreconciliable views - Cranko versus Pushkin.

 

They've got to make the best of rather a botched job.

 

But, at the end of the day, as theatre it holds water, so let us Thank Heaven for small Mercies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think in the pre-duel scene the pleas, desperation and grief of the two girls strikes completely the right note in the context of the appalling potential consequence of the two men duelling, as a matter of "honour" over a relatively minor incident.

 

I also think the high lifts in the dream PDD are an appropriate and  dramatic way of expressing  the sort of  powerful feelings Tatiana is unconsciously imagining about her hoped for relationship with Onegin. 

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

I think in the pre-duel scene the pleas, desperation and grief of the two girls strikes completely the right note in the context of the appalling potential consequence of the two men duelling, as a matter of "honour" over a relatively minor incident.


And I’ve found the ending of Act 2 astonishingly powerful, particularly this time round as we have seen such very convincing sisters. Their reactions help make Onegin realise what he has done and his crumbling as the curtain falls, the shattering of his self belief/arrogance, sets up Act 3.

  • Like 9
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...