alison Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 I suppose with the constraints imposed by the stage being used for the musicians and singers (and orchestra as of next week?) that is really going to limit what dance can be performed "live" onstage, so possibly other dance offerings will have to be recorded as well, which is disappointing. I don't know whether it was just my computer, but I did perceive a bit of a disconnect between the dance and the music last night. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 It' s all on youtube and the ballet begins 40 mins in. Or was yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 Sorry my post got delayed. To be fair, McGregor did focus on rebirth and renewal in his piece..I thought appropriately. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 Yes I missed it live but ashamed to say did do some fast forwarding as already felt depressed yesterday so couldn’t take anything else which seemed to drag down further ... might have appreciated more in happier times...I couldn’t get it to work on YouTube but worked on Facebook okay. Agree with others not enough Dance and also agree with FionaE that would have been lovely to see these two in particular dancing some extracts from Swan Lake ..a pas de deux and couple of solos? Having said that I quite liked the McGregor piece though not a wow but danced beautifully by Hayward and Corrales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Dancer Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 I'd agree, perhaps not the most joyful entry and more depressing than uplifting. I love the Butterworth song cycle but it's not exactly cheerful although Toby Spence is good. I'd listen to Gerald Finley in most things, he's got the loveliest tone in his voice. He's cute too, I can't believe he's 60. He looks much younger. The ballet was lovely but could have been longer. I guess rehearsing longer ballets is difficult. Still it's a start. I am looking forward to Vadim next week. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanJL Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 Things like this bring out a tricky balance for me. I'm passionate about ballet and dance, but unfortunately don't enjoy classical singing or opera. Happy to keep supporting ROH as much as I can though and great to see this new initiative. But it is a little disappointing to see the ballet as a side note - pre-recorded and very short. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the piece very much! Norwegian ballet managed 45 minutes of live ballet on Thursday evening - two pieces each featuring 5 socially distanced dancers. It was great to see and the second piece in particular was very effective. It shows what can be possible. But in that case there was only a short intro featuring a live instrument on stage. Maybe it would need a live broadcast that heavily prioritised ballet rather than vice versa? Out of three programmes it would seem fair if at least one could do that. All assuming there are dancers available and willing of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balletfanp Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 We do need to remember. I think, that the dancers are still effectively in lockdown - the studios are still not officially open to them and I would guess they can only use them in a limited manner by careful arrangement. Given that they will have lost fitness and stamina during the last couple of months, I suppose it is a big ask to expect them to come in and rehearse for a big solo or pas de deux and expect them to be stage ready with only a couple of studio sessions, perhaps. I imagine it depends on individual circumstances and how much space they may have had to practise in in their weeks off. Having said all that, I would have thought that they could get in at least one more ballet performance per session to balance out all the singing. However, I am really looking forward to the performance of Blessed Spirits next week as I know it will be sublime! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irmgard Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 It seems that Antonio Pappano was keen to showcase British composers in this first concert from the Royal Opera House, with all but two of them having been based in the UK (I include Handel in this as he spent so much of his career here). Britten’s music is a gift for singers, being so sympathetically written for the voice (although sometimes enjoyed more by the performers than the audience) but I felt that this song cycle, “On This Island”, was perhaps not the best choice to open the programme. Perhaps some of his wonderful folk song arrangements would have been more appropriate and accessible for the occasion. However, it is always a pleasure to hear Louise Alder, whose career I have been following since she was a student. Personally, I prefer Butterworth’s intensely moving song cycle, “A Shropshire Lad”, to be sung by a baritone and I felt Toby Spence, for many years one of the UK’s finest tenors, showed vocal strain at times. It is always good to hear a song cycle performed by the singer for whom it was composed, and Canadian baritone Gerald Finley certainly delivered the goods, but the songs by Mark-Anthony Turnage otherwise seemed an odd choice. The Finzi which followed was ravishing, and the two opera excerpts to end the evening were very welcome. “Morgen”, by Richard Strauss, has long been one of my favourite songs but I felt Wayne McGregor’s choreography did not do justice to the music, text or the considerable talents of Cesar Corrales and Francesca Hayward. There was one gorgeous overhead lift towards the end but otherwise I felt the choreography was an uncomfortable mix of contemporary and pseudoclassical with the rather animalistic movements for Corrales, no matter how well performed (reminiscent of his Hilarion in Khan’s “Giselle”), especially at odds with the serene beauty of the music. I will therefore look forward to next week’s offering by master choreographer Frederick Ashton. Coupled with a full (musical) performance of “The Song of the Earth” (albeit in the reduced orchestration) sung by the incomparable Dame Sarah Connolly, who has recently been absent from the stage while undergoing treatment for breast cancer, it will be a real bargain at £4.95. Added to the pleasure will be ENB’s generous, free streaming of MacMillan’s masterpiece on Wednesday (and available for 48 hours) so that memories of his glorious choreography will still be fresh in my mind, particularly the sublime final moments. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beryl H Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 I was going to watch this live and had been trying to improve the dreadful sound quality of my laptop but gave up, have just watched the short ballet on YouTube and liked it very much indeed, especially the lithe movements for Cesar Corrales, though agree they didn't match the music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Wall Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Irmgard said: "Morgen”, by Richard Strauss, has long been one of my favourite songs but I felt Wayne McGregor’s choreography did not do justice to the music, text or the considerable talents of Cesar Corrales and Francesca Hayward. There was one gorgeous overhead lift towards the end but otherwise I felt the choreography was an uncomfortable mix of contemporary and pseudoclassical with the rather animalistic movements for Corrales, no matter how well performed (reminiscent of his Hilarion in Khan’s “Giselle”), especially at odds with the serene beauty of the music. I cannot thank you enough for this, Irmgard. I had been reading comments on this thread and wondering if it was JUST ME - being so disconnected from everyone else here. I adore Morgen. It is the ONLY piece of music I keep on my phone, in a stunning rendition by the ever magnificent Leontyne Price at the White House. (If you wish you can sample that here). Her's is the most sublime soprano voice I have EVER had the privilege of hearing. It remains so today. 'Not too shabby', as Price - now in her 90's - herself might say. [A bit of trivia: I was participating in a volunteer housing reconstruction project in New York's East Village in the mid 80's in which the former US President, Jimmy Carter, and his wife also took a very active part. I mentioned to him how much this performance had meant to me. I will never forget his response because he immediately turned around with tears in his eyes, taking me by the shoulders and saying just how glad he was that I had said that. He told me that ever since that glorious occasion when Miss Price had sung that "stunning music" - his words I vividly recall delivered in that soft Georgian drawl of his - for his administration he had not started a single day without listening to it. I can well understand why and I have long since done the same. It has for decades been a dedicated part of my morning ritual wherever I may be.] As much as I have sometimes admired Mr. McGregor's work, and as often as I have certainly championed the keen talents of the RB dancers involved in the recording shown in last night's broadcast by the ROH, I did not feel the choreography sufficiently honoured Strauss' long life-enriching legato lines. I actually felt that the movements of the first half could have initially been constructed without the score - the two having somehow been arbitrarily stitched together. I had REALLY been looking forward to this when I first heard the music announced. As it was - as I sat watching it - I found myself fancying just how Ashton might well have championed this particular piece of keen inspiration. (I will now run and hide ..... with respect.) Edited June 14, 2020 by Bruce Wall 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridiem Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 10 minutes ago, Bruce Wall said: I cannot thank you enough for this, Irmgard. I had been reading comments on this thread and wondering if it was JUST ME - being so disconnected from everyone else here. Well you're certainly not disconnected from me, Bruce! I was simply trying to be as positive as I could manage to be about the pdd, given the circumstances and given my wish to support both the dancers and the ROH. So my comments were not as they would have been if this had been a normal 'première'. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLOSS Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 I suppose it was inevitable that the evening would end up being the Tony Pappano show with only a nod to the work of the one world class company currently resident in Bow Street. The The balance between the two art forms may have something to do with the idea that Pappano is the greatest music director that the so called opera company has ever had and the idea that ballet is merely a secondary art form but there again it could well have something to do with individual dancers' fitness and performance readiness after so many weeks away from the studio. I doubt that anyone would feel up to performing one of the great nineteenth classical show pieces or any equally challenging pieces by Ashton or MacMillan at the present time. Getting the balance right between operatic lollipops and more serious matter can be difficult at the best of times when you know that you that your audience is going to be an equal mixture of dance and opera enthusiasts. It must be much more difficult when your programming must be dictated in part by who is available and you have no idea whether the audience will be evenly split between opera and ballet enthusiasts or whether there will be a preponderance of opera buffs or ballet fans tuning in. The initial free concert is probably best judged as an experiment which will give an indication to those who arranged it about what is possible within the social distancing regime As far as repertory is concerned in my experience most singers,other than Italians, have a repertory of art songs drawn from both the standard international art song repertory and from their native tradition, holding in reserve a few more popular pieces such as "I'm Tone Deaf" , for encores. Given that all three singers involved in the concert are English speakers we were given works from the English repertory. I was pleased to have an opportunity to hear the Butterworth setting of "A Shropshire Lad" for a change and I thought Spence made a good job of it. Generally it is only Italian singers who give recitals of operatic arias with a few of Rossini's "Sins of Old Age" and perhaps Tosti's "Farewell " with which to end. No doubt the final selection was the result of negotiations between Music Director and singers. Personally I was rather relieved to be spared excerpts from La Traviata, Puccini arias and other late nineteenth century verismo offerings . I was disappointed by the choreographic offering which did little to dispel the notion that ballet is only a secondary art form. I understand that many dancers admire McGregor for his ability to choreograph in the absence of the music to which his dance works are to be performed, and no doubt that is very clever and intellectual, but I am old fashioned enough to think that Balanchine's dictum about seeing the music and hearing the dance is how it should be particularly if you are going to make a piece using a score as luscious as Strauss' Morgen. Music like that demands considerably more than the tangential relationship between movement and score which McGregor gave us and his dancers. The signature asymmetry and distorted poses added nothing to the experience as far as I am concerned. While it was lovely to see Hayward and Corrales beck on the Opera House stage I think that we, dancers and audience, all deserved something better. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 (edited) Yes it is available online for 14 days I think. Just go to the ROH website and click on Watch on Vimeo and it will go to the youtube of last nights performance. The ballet segment starts about 40 mins into the programme and starts with an introduction by Wayne McGregor. Just realised someone has already answered this! Edited June 14, 2020 by Margaret question already answered! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted June 14, 2020 Share Posted June 14, 2020 6 hours ago, FLOSS said: but there again it could well have something to do with individual dancers' fitness and performance readiness after so many weeks away from the studio. I doubt that anyone would feel up to performing one of the great nineteenth classical show pieces or any equally challenging pieces by Ashton or MacMillan at the present time. Yes, people have drawn comparisons with what's on elsewhere, but hadn't those "elsewhere" companies already been back working in the studios for weeks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 In the case of Bayerisches Staatsballett early on, dancers who were performing had been invited back into the studio for up to a fortnight before their ‘concert’. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Newcombe Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 Interesting to see the reviews today. One reviewer didn’t even mention Hayward and Corrales Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Q Fan Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 Just watched the new MacGregor piece. Not impressed - not that I could ever be where his work is concerned. The dancers did their best but the style of dance was completely wrong for the music. In fact it is not really dance but gymnastics. At a time of national turmoil due to various reasons I think something to lighten the sombre mood not darken it further would have been more appropriate/welcome. It is a great pity and lost opportunity that Francesca and Cesar didn't get to dance one of the Swan Lake PDDs which they were about to debut before all of "this". Hey ho. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 4 minutes ago, Tony Newcombe said: Interesting to see the reviews today. One reviewer didn’t even mention Hayward and Corrales Apart from the review in Broadway World, none of them featured on the dance pages, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 one thing that actually winds me up about the up and coming live evenings, is not that they are charging (perfectly understandable) but that they are charging the cheap supermarket, tactical pricing of £4.99. Or £4.99 as I like to think of it. Why can't they just put it up as £5? Mind you, after last Saturday's effort, can't say I'm tempted anyway 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannette Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 I didn’t care for the red beach towel on Francesca but I enjoyed the brief pdd. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FionaM Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 19 minutes ago, Jeannette said: I didn’t care for the red beach towel on Francesca but I enjoyed the brief pdd. very McGregor 😕 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 1 hour ago, Jeannette said: I didn’t care for the red beach towel on Francesca but I enjoyed the brief pdd. Oh Jeanette ... I love your description of Francesca Haywards costume!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 1 hour ago, zxDaveM said: Mind you, after last Saturday's effort, can't say I'm tempted anyway It is very worrying that so many people seem to be saying the same thing. Come on, folks, it's Vadim and Song of the Earth on the 20th!!!!!! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zxDaveM Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 3 minutes ago, capybara said: Come on, folks, it's Vadim and Song of the Earth on the 20th!!!!!! I'm afraid I prefer watching women dancing (I'm with Balanchine!) and not sure I'd be so keen on Song of the Earth without the dancing (opera just not my thing). So my fiver - sorry, £4.99 - staying in my wallet... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balletfanp Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 Also worth bearing in mind that this is to raise funds to help keep the Company afloat. For which reason I’ll be paying up my fiver whatever - although I don’t need any persuasion to pay to watch Vadim - the rest of it is another matter, but.... 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob S Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 I liked the ‘red beach towel’ and would happily pay £4.99 for one of my own. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizbie1 Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 I thought the red beach towel was a step up from the more familiar greige underwear, at least. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 People could just donate and not watch. I wouldn't mind donating but I'm with Dave I would rather watch Macmillan's Song of the Earth than just listen to it being sung ... and we have that opportunity with ENB's next watch party! Is Vadim famous and worth watching? I'd rather watch Brandon myself! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanJL Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 I'm very happy to pay £4.99 for Vadim. I won't be able to watch live as it happens, so will fast forward to the ballet section on catch up and skip the rest. I guess anyone watching Men at the barre will have noted Vadim's status as "the best". Might help bring a few extra people in... All a matter of preference of course, but I'm definitely a fan! I've already pre-ordered for the following week as well. Hoping for a bit more ballet, but I'll take whatever is possible 🙂 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 28 minutes ago, Jan McNulty said: I'd rather watch Brandon myself! Unfortunately, the lovely Brandon Lawrence is not in the RB! Maybe BRB will mount some concerts and feature him. That would be nice too ! I guess that the RB has its eye on pulling in the punters and their cash and the fact that Vadim Muntagirov is a big name internationally was, in all probability, a factor in the casting for this coming Saturday. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeannette Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 2 hours ago, capybara said: It is very worrying that so many people seem to be saying the same thing. Come on, folks, it's Vadim and Song of the Earth on the 20th!!!!!! It’s Vadim for about 4 minutes and a non-danced Song of the Earth...while the danced version is being offered by another company, for free, at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capybara Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 7 minutes ago, Jeannette said: It’s Vadim for about 4 minutes and a non-danced Song of the Earth...while the danced version is being offered by another company, for free, at the same time. I know - as I have said too many times already, the ROH is behind the pace. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted June 15, 2020 Share Posted June 15, 2020 Just think. They have a perfectly good version on record with a certain Ms Bussell, if they wanted to attract punters .... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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