LIVE FROM COVENT GARDEN

[ninamargaret]

Had no problems at all this time, and they even mention using a Fire stick. Both pas de deux were absolutely beautiful, although something happened to my connection just before the end of Concerto. But it really made me realise what I've been missing. 

[bridiem]

What a fantastic evening! Of course I'd like more ballet, but I understand why that may not be possible at this stage. Both pas de deux were lovely, but I especially loved the beautiful Concerto pdd with Kaneko and Clarke. All four dancers were terrific. But the music and singing were such a treat too - varied and really enjoyable pieces, and great to hear from the young singers. Rounded off with  the rousing Traviata drinking song - superb!

 

[alison]

41 minutes ago, capybara said:

Much better presentation all round tonight with very clear on screen instructions for five minutes before the start.

Excellent linking by Katie Derham a and the inclusion of short interviews with the directors and artists is a big plus.

Some superb performances in a well-balanced programme. Both Magri and Kaneko outstanding.

Now that the ROH has got the measure of doing this, one wonders why they are  stopping at three concerts.

 

Yes, regardless of the programme and quality of the performers, this one was the best of the lot.  I did wonder why they were stopping just when they'd really got the hang of this, but then I remembered - weren't they supposed to be getting some major work done this summer, hence the lack of a visiting Russian ballet company?

 

And to those who have been complaining about the dancing not being live: if you saw the cables trailing across the stage this evening, you'd realise it couldn't possibly be done safely otherwise.

[alison]

On 26/06/2020 at 15:13, alison said:

I shall be interested, having bought a spare HDMI cable, to see whether I can stream Saturday's programme to a dumb TV ...

 

It worked beautifully.  Perhaps sometimes there is something to be said for low-tech

 

Off to go and watch Vadim on a big(ger) screen ...

[FionaM]

I was thrilled with last night’s ROH concert.    A HUGE step-up in quality of presentation  ... a knowledgeable presenter, actual information on the performers and pieces and interviews on stage too.  Even holding music on the livestream before it went live.   Hoorah!   Shame it is the last one.  
 

I loved getting to know the young opera singers.  So much talent and diverse backgrounds.

 

And the ballet was divine.  All 4 dancers were superb.  I shall be watching It again.  
 

 

[Guest oncnp]

From the Telegraph

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opera/what-to-see/live-covent-garden-review-royal-opera-house-jolly-mix-popular/

 

They also note the highlights will be on the  BBC July 19. 

Edited June 28, 2020 by oncnp

[JennyTaylor]

10 hours ago, FionaE said:

I was thrilled with last night’s ROH concert.    A HUGE step-up in quality of presentation  ... a knowledgeable presenter, actual information on the performers and pieces and interviews on stage too.  Even holding music on the livestream before it went live.   Hoorah!   Shame it is the last one.  
 

I loved getting to know the young opera singers.  So much talent and diverse backgrounds.

 

And the ballet was divine.  All 4 dancers were superb.  I shall be watching It again.  
 

 

I agree. Far, far better than the last 2 (Vadim excepted of course).  What a relief to get a decent presenter and a much more diverse selection of performance pieces. I find watching enjoyable but also upsetting, I suppose because I have no idea when I will next get to see a live performance in the ROH. Have to be thankful that I have seen so many and have all the memories.   

[alison]

2 hours ago, JennyTaylor said:

Far, far better than the last 2 (Vadim excepted of course). 

 

AND Song of the Earth ...

[Scheherezade]

Presenters are hard to get right, aren’t they? Whilst Katie Derham is chatty and enthusiastic, I do find that her giggly style can get a bit irritating. I don’t know if Suzy Klein knows anything about ballet but she certainly knows about music and I just love her Informative, non-patronising presentational style. Why on earth isn’t she used more?

[Richard LH]

What I find confusing about the Vimeo arrangement is that my purchased   "Live From Covent Garden" content is  not searchable  from  "vimeo.com" itself. 

It is found via  "vimeo/com/ott", and  I couldn't find any direct link from "vimeo.com" to "vimeo/com/ott". 

 

If I login at vimeo/com/ott with the password I set up in the Basic Vimeo account this leads to the  live ROH events I purchased, but the links from there still require me to login to the separate ROH Stream account. 

 

But  I can  just login directly to the ROH Stream account  without being logged in to  Vimeo.

 

So did I need to register separately with Vimeo at all (as opposed to ROH Stream), as was  implied  at the outset, or am I missing something? 

Edited June 29, 2020 by Richard LH

[Guest oncnp]

17 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

 

So did I need to register separately with Vimeo at all (as opposed to ROH Stream), as was  implied  at the outset, or am I missing something? 

 

No you didn't need to register separately ( I didn't and it worked fine) but it certainly wasn't clear from the way the ROH presented it.  You didn't miss anything 🙂

 

[Rob S]

Dance of the Blessed Spirits has been uploaded to Youtube by the ROH

 

 

[Bruce Wall]

Wondering why I have received an email from the ROH titled:  'Have you watched our live concerts yet?' when surely (given that the vimeo is listed by my email address) they MUST know that I have paid and watched the two charged items ... and even that I watched the free one as well.  Most strange.  

 

 

[FionaM]

On 29/06/2020 at 19:19, Bruce Wall said:

Wondering why I have received an email from the ROH titled:  'Have you watched our live concerts yet?' when surely (given that the vimeo is listed by my email address) they MUST know that I have paid and watched the two charged items ... and even that I watched the free one as well.  Most strange.  

 

 

🤣🤣🤣 I thought we gave up on joined-up thinking / data at ROH some time ago?
 

Seems to be a big gap between the data expertise at ROH and at ‘data mining’ by online advertisers, security hackers etc!

[Lizbie1]

31 minutes ago, FionaE said:

🤣🤣🤣 I thought we gave up on joined-up thinking / data at ROH some time ago?
 

Seems to be a big gap between the data expertise at ROH and at ‘data mining’ by online advertisers, security hackers etc!

 

Or maybe the relevant people are on furlough? I can't see that it's a big deal.

[capybara]

I’ve had masses of reminders but I guess that my Vimeo sign in isn’t linked to the ROH system.  I think I can forgive them for that.

But I think that I’m still looking for the mega institution which is the ROH (and indeed the RB) to be more proactive and really showing itself to be a performing  arts leader.

[ninamargaret]

.

40 minutes ago, capybara said:

I’ve had masses of reminders but I guess that my Vimeo sign in isn’t linked to the ROH system.  I think I can forgive them for that.

But I think that I’m still looking for the mega institution which is the ROH (and indeed the RB) to be more proactive and really showing itself to be a performing  arts leader.

Yes, I think considering the offerings we've had and enjoyed from other companies, both in this country and abroad, the RB hasn't shown itself in a very good light. The short pieces shown during the last three weeks, or the little excerpts on Facebook  have been the only items that have not already been issued as DVD s. I accept there are various copyright difficulties, but if other UK companies have managed to get round this why not the RB? 

[Guest oncnp]

10 hours ago, alison said:

Just a reminder for what we hope will be all the ballet bits from all 3 of the Royal Opera House's recent broadcasts being on BBC4 tonight between 7 and 8.30 pm.

 

All ballet bits present and correct - Hayward/Corrales at ~ 10:30, Magri/Ball at ~ 23:52 and finally Muntagirov at ~40:50 (if you want to skip all the other bits)

[DanJL]

Thanks oncnp. Did they show Kaneko/Clarke as well?

[Guest oncnp]

28 minutes ago, DanJL said:

Thanks oncnp. Did they show Kaneko/Clarke as well?

 

oops - ~1 hr 9 min in

Edited July 10, 2020 by oncnp

[Guest oncnp]

The ROH has put all the "Live from Covent Garden" streams back on the website

 

 https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/festival/live-from-covent-garden-details

[DanJL]

27 minutes ago, oncnp said:

 

oops - ~61:09 (or 1 hour 9 minutes in)

Wonderful news that all were featured in their entirity! Many thanks oncnp 🙂

[David]

13 hours ago, oncnp said:

 

All ballet bits present and correct - Hayward/Corrales at ~ 10:30, Magri/Ball at ~ 23:52 and finally Muntagirov at ~40:50 (if you want to skip all the other bits)

 

I was saddened by the thought that people might "want to skip all the other bits" -  the quality of singing was certainly equal to that of the dance and alongside some of our finest singers  also highlighted young people wih extraordinary talent at an early stage in their careers. For those of us who love the performing arts in all their glory this entire program was an absolute delight. I long for greater integration in the performing arts, not separation and IMHO, despite the problems, this melding of the incredible talents in the House got it just right.   

Edited July 11, 2020 by David

[DanJL]

From a purely personal point of view I never understand why ballet is so closely integrated with opera or classical singing. Whilst I understand the shared history, to me they feel like  very different art forms. It just happens that I love one and derive no pleasure from the other. Of course there are many who love both. And others who don't like either. It's all personal taste. But I'm afraid no amount of exposure to classical singing is going to change how I feel about it - I have tried to enjoy it many times, but it just isn't for me.

 

I think it's valuable to give people as much exposure as possible to the full range of performing arts - sadly many people form opinions without giving them a try. And maybe a mixed programme on the BBC is a good way to do that. But I think we have to accept that everyone will have different preferences. For those of us who happen to enjoy ballet significantly more than classical singing, skipping to the relevant parts of this programme may be a useful option.

 

Really great to hear that you found the whole programme so satisfying though and I hope many others did too 🙂

[capybara]

Well, I confess! I didn't skip as such because I listened to the whole programme, but I sat down to watch the pieces I was particularly interested in - which, of course, included the 4 dance performances, but also some of the singing.

I was very disappointed that the double concerto from Vasko Vasiliev and Sergei Levitin didn't feature in the selection.

That said, it was a joy to experience parts of the 're-opening' on my TV rather than on my PC. Among many delights, I found Francesca Hayward's words, Vadim Muntagirov's dancing and Sarah Connolly's singing almost unbearably moving.

[Beryl H]

I enjoyed the whole programme live, but probably will only watch the ballets repeatedly, I found it slightly odd to be looking into the empty auditorium as a background, but I think that was the idea, it was very well recorded and as capybara says, a joy to watch on TV. All the ballets were beautifully danced and expressed, my highlights at the moment are Cesar Corrales and Vadim Muntagirov, so different but so marvellous!

[FionaM]

I caught up with the BBC4 Programme after R&J last night ... I was impressed by Francesca Hayward’s delivery of the words, but did not like the Wayne McGregor piece much on this repeat viewing.   Vadim was so moving again ... real depth to his emotional commitment, not to forget his exceptional dancing.  I also thought Fumi Kaneko was excellent, that first circular movement with her arm and body after they have walked on was exquisite.   I believe the man in this pdd is mostly meant to be unseen support, but I thought Reece could have been more emotionally involved.  Seemed impassive and stiff to me.

 

My highlight was the Matty Ball and Mayara Magri pdd .... the emotion from both of them, and their beautiful technique and synchronised movements.  Such moving music from Ezio Bosso, and really interesting choreography from Christopher Wheeldon.  Wonderful.   Loved it.  Will be watching this (and Vadim) on repeat 😉

[FLOSS]

The choreography danced by Kaneko and Clarke in this programme is not intended to have any narrative or emotional content. If it is about anything it is about calm serene movement in contrast to the quirky movements of the opening and closing movements of Concerto. MacMillan's inspiration for this part of the ballet came from watching Lynne Seymour doing simple basic movements at the barre and it has been a real test of artistry for every dancer who has performed the choreography subsequently to make simplicity the essence of its theatrical impact. Seymour had beautiful arms and was capable of making simple shapes and movements seem revelatory in their beauty. The man in this pas de deux is an old style self-effacing danseur who is elegant, impassive and as unobtrusive as possible as he presents his partner effortlessly amplifying and enhancing the aesthetic impact of every movement she makes Although the range of movement develops during the course of this part of the ballet it is essentially about the beauty of movements and shapes some of which are simple and some which must be made to seem so. It is the man's task throughout to present his partner unobtrusively while achieving maximum aesthetic impact for her.

[Beryl H]

Watched the ballets again last night, Fumi Kaneko and Reece Clarke were particularly serene in Concerto, likewise Mayara Magri and Matthew Ball in the Wheeldon, I've made a nice 2 hour DVD now with Men at the Barre and most of the Re-opening.