Don Quixote, Dutch National Ballet

[alison]

Well, this is a very unusual Don Quixote that I'm currently streaming.  I had a look for an existing thread but couldn't find one, but I'm sure Don Q Fan must have written about it before?  Is it a Ratmansky creation rather than a re-creation?

[Jan McNulty]

Alison, it was mentioned on one of the news threads.

 

I watched this last Sunday afternoon and thoroughly enjoyed it.  I suspect that, although most of it looked familiar to me, it was a Ratmansky creation after Petipa rather than one of his reconstructions but I stand to be corrected if anyone knows.

 

I loved Anna Tsygankova and Matthew Golding as Kitri and Basilio with lots of fireworks between them.  I also found Don Quixote and Sancho Panza rather touching.

 

I thought the prologue was too long and could have had most of it excised.  Although, in act 3, I have seen the gpdd done with interpolations by other dancers in other productions in this one I found the way the music was cobbled together for this section really jarred for me.  I would rather the soloists had their chance separately and we saw the gpdd as we see it in gala performances.

 

Apart from the above quibbles I thought it was a terrific production and the cast were excellent throughout.  It is well worth watching.

 

Previous thread:

 

 

[Don Q Fan]

Yes it is a Ratmansky revamp done in 2009 if I remember rightly. I've seen it a few times in Amsterdam and always enjoy it. I agree with Janet about the chop and change in the gpdd I felt the normal order was interrupted! 

Nutcracker and The Mouse King is being streamed from tomorrow and next week Coppelia both of which are nice productions. I'm hoping the next two will work on their YouTube channel, they had coding issues with DQ so I couldn't watch it on the TV and had to use the computer. That said I've ordered myself a Chrome Cast device so I can watch what's on my phone on the TV. 

[Dawnstar]

I've just watched this, before it vanishes tomorrow. As the only other Don Q I've seen is the RB's, which I understand isn't very authentic, I couldn't tell how different this one is to what it "should" be. I found it very enjoyable, apart from near the end where the grand pdd seemed to go on for ages with Kitri's friends doing solos in the middle of it.

 

Among the smaller roles were two dancers with familiar surnames: Sasha Mukhamedov as the Queen of the Dryands & Nadia Yanowsky as one of Kitri's friends. Does anyone know if they're related to Irek Mukhamedov & Zenaida Yanowsky respectively?

[Guest oncnp]

3 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

I'

 

Among the smaller roles were two dancers with familiar surnames: Sasha Mukhamedov as the Queen of the Dryands & Nadia Yanowsky as one of Kitri's friends. Does anyone know if they're related to Irek Mukhamedov & Zenaida Yanowsky respectively?

 

Sasha Mukhamedov is Irek Mukhamedov's daughter I believe

[Ian Macmillan]

 .... and Nadia is Zenaida's sister.

[alison]

I've just finished watching the whole of this, and really liked it - and I'm not the greatest fan of Don Q.  In fact, I'd consider getting the DVD - but can anyone who has it tell me whether the movement reproduction is better on the DVD than it was on this stream?  I certainly hope so.  It's based on the Petipa and Gorsky choreography, with interpolations by Ratmansky, who's gone back to the original libretto as much as he could, hence e.g. the very long prologue which Janet didn't like.  To my mind, it makes the whole thing a far more organic experience and, I thought, possibly more like the novel - if anything about the ballet can be said to be "like" the novel  - with rather more focus on the Don than is usual.  I particularly liked the stronger dramatic line, and the fact that the fake suicide scene

is moved into the wedding scene makes a lot of sense

 

And may I say how good it was to see Matthew Golding in a role which really suited him?

[Jeannette]

I agree with everyone that this is a very enjoyable production. 

By the way, Don Q is one of the few well-known classics that’s not among the ballets in the Sergeev Collection (Harvard notes). 

 

 

[Scheherezade]

13 hours ago, alison said:

 

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And may I say how good it was to see Matthew Golding in a role which really suited him?

Agreed, Alison, but I think that chemistry also has a lot to do with it. He comes to life in a way that never really seemed to happen with the RB when he is dancing with Anna Tsygankova. 

[Dawnstar]

Thanks for the relation confirmations.

 

I forogt to say yesterday that I loved some of the designs, especially how Rocinante & the donkey were done & the cactus costumes!

[Don Q Fan]

Anna T and Matthew are real life partners so that probably helps.  MG was really good in this.

[Scheherezade]

Just now, Don Q Fan said:

Anna T and Matthew are real life partners so that probably helps.  MG was really good in this.

True, although sometimes real life partners have less chemistry on stage - perhaps feeling that this would, in a way, be intrusive. 

[Jeannette]

1 hour ago, Scheherezade said:

True, although sometimes real life partners have less chemistry on stage - perhaps feeling that this would, in a way, be intrusive. 

 

Exactly. That’s what made/makes ABT’s Catherine Hurlin & Aran Bell so special in AR’s new ballet Of Love & Rage. They’re fine alone but extraordinary together.

[Bruce Wall]

22 hours ago, Scheherezade said:

Agreed, Alison, but I think that chemistry also has a lot to do with it. He comes to life in a way that never really seemed to happen with the RB when he is dancing with Anna Tsygankova. 

 

I so  enjoyed the one performance they both gave in DQ at the ROH.  It was magic.