Angela Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 (edited) 17 hours ago, Mérante said: 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. The ballet is John Cranko's interpretation of Pushkins poem. Obviously, he doesn't see Onegin as a cad but more like a Byronesque figure, and his reading of Pushkin's words relies so much more on the final chapters of the book, where Tatyana says, for example, "I know your heart: it has a feeling for honour, a straightforward pride". I'm not so firm in the different Russian readings of "Eugene Onegin", but I think if you doubt even these words of Tatyana and her love for him, you have to read the whole book in a very cynical manner. I think Pushkin's hero is a very ambiguous character, purposely open to many different interpretations, and one of them is Cranko's Onegin. Haughty and ignorant, or just absent and distracted, absorbed in his inner conflict? Can he feel love or is it just delusion? "Bliss was so near", says Tatyana in stanza XLVII, I always thought these words are a key to Cranko's interpretation. In Pushkin's stanza XLVI, by the way, we also find Tatyana's words how unhappy she is as a princess in St. Petersburg. Edited February 10, 2020 by Angela typo 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 17 hours ago, Mérante said: 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. Cranko's design was to move on from the distinction between dance scenes and pantomime, to fuse the both in a dramatic dance. He wanted to tell a story - and not only fairy tales, but also literature - in dance, in movement. You may not like that, but it is a development in dance history, like Wagner or the Verismo in opera, when they fused recitativo and arias into an "endless melody". 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 12 minutes ago, Angela said: I'm not so firm in the different Russian readings of "Eugene Onegin", but I think if you doubt even these words of Tatyana and her love for him, you have to read the whole book in a very cynical manner. I think Pushkin's hero is a very ambiguous character, purposely open to many different interpretations, and of of them is Cranko's Onegin. Haughty and ignorant, or just absent and distracted, absorbed in his inner conflict? Can he feel love or is it just delusion? "Bliss was so near", says Tatyana in stanza XLVII, I always thought these words are a key to Cranko's interpretation. In Pushkin's stanza XLVI, by the way, we also find Tatyana's words how unhappy she is as a princess in St. Petersburg. Very nicely put Angela. The book has the greatest spread of interpretative translations of any I know. If one checks the (many and various) versions of the poem in English - including the extraordinary one by Nabokov, so different to all others - one can see the considerable variety of meaning contained in Pushkin's work. Beware all those, like myself, who don't have enough Russian to read the original in all its glory. Here for example is Kasper Holten - formerly of the ROH - on the challenge in relation to the opera:- https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/02/eugene-onegin-unchain-heart 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 2 hours ago, Angela said: The ballet is John Cranko's interpretation of Pushkins poem. Isn't it actually Cranko's interpretation of Tchaikovsky's opera? Thanks for the reminder that in the novel Tatiana is unhappy in St. Petersburg. That's clearly not the case in the ballet - or at least not in everyone's interpretations. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 13 minutes ago, alison said: Isn't it actually Cranko's interpretation of Tchaikovsky's opera? I was interested in Alison’s comment and found this on the ROH’ website by Gavin Plumley: “Tchaikovsky’s opera had a even wider impact in 1965, when its structure - rather than Pushkin’s verse novel - became the inspiration for John Cranko’s ballet.”https://www.roh.org.uk/news/exploring-the-origins-of-eugene-onegin-and-onegin I know John Cranko first had the idea for a ballet when he choreographed dances for Tchaikovky’s Eugene Onegin but what is the evidence to suggest that the Opera was his basis for the ballet rather than Pushkin? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janite Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 4 minutes ago, JohnS said: https://www.roh.org.uk/news/exploring-the-origins-of-eugene-onegin-and-onegin Thank you JohnS, this is a fascinating insight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 JohnS - the fact that the ballet closely follows the plot of the opera rather than of the novel is certainly indicative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Yes, because you need some kind of structure for a dramatic work, in that he followed the opera. But that does not mean he didn't read Pushkin! Cranko was an avid reader, he could read a book in one day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 1 hour ago, alison said: That's clearly not the case in the ballet - or at least not in everyone's interpretations. If I remember correctly, Marcia Haydée never smiled during the Gremin pdd, it was a demonstration of trust and reliance, but not of love. Oh how much that changed with today's Tatyanas... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 34 minutes ago, alison said: JohnS - the fact that the ballet closely follows the plot of the opera rather than of the novel is certainly indicative. Indeed. With the exception of the absence of the opera's Act 1, Scene 3 (when Onegin rejects Tatyana), the scenes of the ballet cover the same material in the same order. Even the opera's dance set pieces are closely mirrored in the structure of the ballet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 Many thanks Alison and Ruth. But didn’t Cranko revise his ballet, omitting a prologue where Onegin was at his uncle’s deathbed and Tatiana kissing her children goodnight? There may be very good reasons for such revisions but it suggests to me that he wasn’t simply following the Opera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 I don't have the libretto easily accessible, but I thought Onegin at one point early on sings about how dull it is in the country, waiting for his uncle to die? And quite likely there may be some reference to Gremin and Tatiana's children later on. RuthE will probably know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuthE Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 (edited) 12 minutes ago, alison said: I don't have the libretto easily accessible, but I thought Onegin at one point early on sings about how dull it is in the country, waiting for his uncle to die? And quite likely there may be some reference to Gremin and Tatiana's children later on. RuthE will probably know. You're right about the first part, though it's in the past tense; Onegin has been bored stiff by sitting at his uncle's deathbed, but the uncle is now dead. There's no later reference in the opera to Tatyana and Gremin's children; Gremin simply tells Onegin that they have been married two years. Edited February 10, 2020 by RuthE 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angela Posted February 10, 2020 Share Posted February 10, 2020 3 hours ago, JohnS said: But didn’t Cranko revise his ballet, omitting a prologue where Onegin was at his uncle’s deathbed and Tatiana kissing her children goodnight? True. I don't know when exactly he cut them, he kept changing the ballet after the premiere. But they were gone in the new version which premiered in 1967. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Is there another cast change for tomorrow, Wed 12th February? I have seen Nunez & Bolle have been rehearsing Onegin today at ROH ...... (Instagram posts) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Perregrino Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 (edited) 40 minutes ago, FionaE said: Is there another cast change for tomorrow, Wed 12th February? I have seen Nunez & Bolle have been rehearsing Onegin today at ROH ...... (Instagram posts) If my Spanish is correct this is a photo of Nela and Bolle dancing Onegin in Milan (“it was a beautiful night in Milan seeing Onegin ... those situations that remain there, saved as jewels” ) if i’m wrong then perhaps we’ll see them tomorrow night.... Edited February 11, 2020 by prs59 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Not quite understanding this ...is it Nunez and Bolle tonight then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 According to the ROH website, it’s Osipova and Clarke this evening. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annamk Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 The RoH have confirmed the cast change - Nunez and Bolle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Yes I’ve just received the email ....it is Nunez and Bolle tonight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob S Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 They’ve just updated the website, I really hoped they’d say ‘Bolle replacing Clarke replacing Muntagirov’ but they don’t mention Clarke at all 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Well this is interesting. Is Reece injured? Or because Marianela is replacing Natalia, was she able to ask for Roberto Bolle to partner her? I see Marianela’s current Onegin RB partner, Ryo Hirano is not available as he is performing elsewhere in Japan this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnS Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Nunez and Clarke danced memorably together on 7 February. The explanation refers to illness as an explanation for the cast changes (plural) and I don’t think there’s any need for conspiracy theories. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 I don't think there are any conspiracy theories - but did someone imply that Nunez and Bolle had danced it together recently? When is that Milan photo from? It's not Tatiana's dress from the RB production. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 I am so glad I got to see Clarke and Osipova together. Amazing Marianela, dancing this ballet with three different partners over a very short run. Quite a feat! Whilst very sorry not to be seeing Clarke/Osipova tonight, I am very much looking forward to this pairing. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Nuñez and Bolle recently danced Onegin together at La Scala. You may remember they were rehearsing Onegin together in Milan on World Ballet Day 2019. Marianela has explained on Instagram ... She wishes Reece a speedy recovery, and says Roberto just happened to be at ROH to rehearse something else. Serendipity for the audience tonight! Enjoy. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Oh, how sad for Osipova and Clarke, especially given Nuñez and Clarke’s well-thought-of performance. I am sorry to be missing Nuñez and Bolle together; what a treat! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blossom Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 Sad not to see Osipova & Clarke tonight but couldn't ask for a better alternative cast! Very excited! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beryl H Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 I have just E-mailed my ticket back to the Box Office and it should go on sale shortly, if anyone is interested: Amphi S47 £25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard LH Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 3 hours ago, FionaE said: I see Marianela’s current Onegin RB partner, Ryo Hirano is not available as he is performing elsewhere in Japan this week. Wow he's busy....he only got back from Tokyo last week after this http://www.royal-ballet-stars.jp/ , and then performed Onegin on Saturday. Where is he performing in Japan this week? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard LH Posted February 12, 2020 Author Share Posted February 12, 2020 2 hours ago, FionaE said: Roberto just happened to be at ROH to rehearse something else. Presumably something for the Spring Gala? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Perregrino Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 13 minutes ago, Richard LH said: Presumably something for the Spring Gala? It’s unwise to presume anything 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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