Music for Ballet - favourites, possibilities, etc

[Emeralds]

19 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

I am thinking particularly of the RB versions of the two ballets, and the Act 1  PDD of Nikiya and Solor, and the Act 2 PDD of Kitri and Basilio. From what you say, have I wrongly attributed this duplication to Petipa rather than to perhaps Makarova or Acosta?

Well spotted, RichardLH! Yes, you are right- the music for the  Act 2 opening pas de deux with the guitar and shawl in front of the windmills in Carlos Acosta’s production comes from La Bayadere.

 

Acosta and his music arranger/conductor Martin Yates borrowed it for Don Quixote (dressed up with extra guitar and harp parts). The choreography is Acosta’s and not Petipa’s. Many productions don’t have such a pas de deux at all, and Baryshnikov used different music (a reprise of the original Act 1 music for Kitri and for them both with the guitar and fan) for his guitar/windmills Act 2 pas de deux. (Both can be found on YouTube by searching Royal Ballet Don Quixote And ABT Don Quixote).

 

I remember noticing it the first time when the production opened and thereafter tried not to pay attention to  the various additions to the score! 

[Richard LH]

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

Another ballet that I would like to see in Britain - please come back, NYCB! - is Balanchine’s Orpheus, which has a wonderful score by Stravinsky. 

Or what about Pina Bausch's striking Orpheus and Eurydike, set to the beautiful Gluck score....showing how ballet and opera can combine (assuming we are up for another trip down into the Underworld, after The Dante Project)!

 

[Angela]

2 hours ago, Emeralds said:

(who made the rule anyway? It’s a silly rule as so much of his operas are danceable and beautiful)

 

The heirs made the rule. The copyright rules in Europe say that for 70 years after the death of an artist you not only have to pay royalties but you have to ask permission to use his works. The Strauss heirs did not allow choreographers to use his symphonies, operas etc., only the four works the composer had intended for ballet. Yes, Balanchine ignored the rule, as did Rudi van Dantzig and Maurice Béjart, who (as far as I know) had to ask permission to show their "Vier letzte Lieder" and "Serait-ce la mort?" (same music, different ballets), and sometimes they were allowed to. I don't know if Balanchine ignored the rule or if he had permission. Or if the American copyright applied, which says that works published before 1927 are in the public domain. I guess Mr. B did not break the rules.

Edited May 31, 2022 by Angela
grammar mistake

[Angela]

52 minutes ago, Richard LH said:

Or what about Pina Bausch's striking Orpheus and Eurydike, set to the beautiful Gluck score....

 

... which contains huge ballets already that are intended to be danced.

[Emeralds]

2 hours ago, Angela said:

The heirs made the rule. The copyright rules in Europe say that for 70 years after the death of an artist you not only have to pay royalties but you have to ask permission to use his works. The Strauss heirs did not allow choreographers to use his symphonies, operas etc., only the four works the composer had intended for ballet. Yes, Balanchine ignored the rule, as did Rudi van Dantzig and Maurice Béjart, who (as far as I know) had to ask permission to show their "Vier letzte Lieder" and "Serait-ce la mort?" (same music, different ballets), and sometimes they were allowed to. I don't know if Balanchine ignored the rule or if he had permission. Or if the American copyright applied, which says that works published before 1927 are in the public domain. I guess Mr. B did not break the rules.

I think paying the royalties and asking for permission is fair enough, out of respect for the composer and the hard work put into writing the music. After all, we’d pay royalties to and ask permission (although it is seldom refused if royalties are being paid) from living composers eg Max Richter, Joby Talbot, Arvo Part etc etc. I do notice quite a few American premieres using Four Last Songs and other notable Strauss works that haven’t stood the test of time, although I would be astounded if the heirs refused Balanchine permission as his company been in Europe, considering how gorgeous the end result is and the undeniable quality of his previous work. Of course, not having to pay royalties is easier on a small company with limited finances although that doesn’t apply to large institutions like the Royal Ballet. Actually, I’d quite like to see van Dantzig’s version of Four Last Songs. 

 

In addition to the ROH Board (in those days) refusing permission for MacMillan to make Song of the Earth & Requiem, permission was also refused for the Royal Ballet to acquire John Cranko’s Onegin despite its success with audiences and popularity among dancers....apparently the reason was that it would get audiences confused with the opera (!) even though they have different names (the opera being named Eugene Onegin). I’m not sure how the board got their heads around the two Cinderella operas (Massenet’s Cendrillon and Rossini’s La Cenerentola) and the two Manon operas (Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, and Massenet’s Manon). That’s why London Festival Ballet (now ENB) ended up getting it instead, with Makarova making her farewell performance in the ballet with them, and Haydee and Cragun agreeing to perform the lead roles as guests with ENB (they were a-ma-zinggg!). Eventually that Board retired and we are of course pleased that a subsequent ROH board agreed to SOTE, Requiem, and later, Onegin. 

[Emeralds]

3 hours ago, Richard LH said:

Or what about Pina Bausch's striking Orpheus and Eurydike, set to the beautiful Gluck score....showing how ballet and opera can combine (assuming we are up for another trip down into the Underworld, after The Dante Project)!

 

Hope you don’t mind that I’m going to sneak in a request (entirely in the wrong place!) for ROH to revive John Fulljames and Hofesh Shechter’s production of Orphée et Eurydice, Richard LH, with Juan Diego Florez and Lucy Crowe as the title characters...and I don’t mind whether Shechter’s company or the Royal Ballet or Royal Opera dancers do the dances. I’m going to check out the online video of Pina Bausch’s version as I’ve not seen it before. 

Edited May 31, 2022 by Emeralds

[Lizbie1]

6 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

although I would be astounded if the heirs refused Balanchine permission as his company been in Europe, considering how gorgeous the end result is and the undeniable quality of his previous work.

 

It is nevertheless the reason I've always seen given, and e.g. the RB and indeed the RO have routinely paid musical royalties for other scores that might have been similarly pricy.

 

In the heirs' defence, even if they had been persuaded of Vienna Waltzes' merits, once you make an exception it becomes more difficult to refuse other requests - so even if they were wrong-headed about it in the first place, I can see why they stuck to their guns. (And maybe they were simply acting on the privately expressed preferences of the man himself, in which case their position was a noble one IMO.)

[Richard LH]

44 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

I’m going to check out the online video of Pina Bausch’s version as I’ve not seen it before.

Is there a full version online? My familiarity with it comes from the 2008 disc recording by Paris Opera Ballet.

[Emeralds]

4 hours ago, Lizbie1 said:

 

It is nevertheless the reason I've always seen given, and e.g. the RB and indeed the RO have routinely paid musical royalties for other scores that might have been similarly pricy.

 

In the heirs' defence, even if they had been persuaded of Vienna Waltzes' merits, once you make an exception it becomes more difficult to refuse other requests - so even if they were wrong-headed about it in the first place, I can see why they stuck to their guns. (And maybe they were simply acting on the privately expressed preferences of the man himself, in which case their position was a noble one IMO.)

Apologies for the typo, Lizbie1 - “if the heirs refused Balanchine permission HAD his company been in Europe”. I think the RB do come up with this problem fairly often and it’s the worst position to be in- where the composer isn’t alive to be asked directly, and hasn’t passed away for over a century (like Mozart or Bach!) for copyright not to matter. Thankfully for New York and the world, NYCB is based in the United States. That Rosenkavalier final section of Vienna Waltzes is just gorgeous - I urge anyone who needs cheering up to check it out on Youtube, as it makes one feel better after seeing and hearing it. 

[Emeralds]

4 hours ago, Richard LH said:

Is there a full version online? My familiarity with it comes from the 2008 disc recording by Paris Opera Ballet.

That’s the exact one I’m watching, yes! 👍 I haven’t finished it yet, but it looks stunning! Someone has uploaded it from the DVD recording in two parts. I think it could end up being my favourite Pina Bausch creation (although I haven’t seen all her works yet). The first 5 minutes already look a winner, and I must say I’d like to give virtual bouquets to the costume designer and every single costume maker who created the elegant, gorgeous dresses for the corps de ballet and soloists. The way they move and swish about really completes the choreography and adds to the dramatic impact.

 

For those who haven’t seen it, the format is similar to the Royal Ballet and Royal Opera’s joint production of Acis and Galatea (which premiered the year after this production) in which Edward Watson and Lauren Cuthbertson danced the title roles and each lead character had a dancer counterpart to the singer portraying the role. Likewise in Bausch’s production, where  Orpheus, Eurydice and Amore are each portrayed by a singer and a dancer. Yann Bridard (Orpheus), Marie Agnes Gillot (Eurydice) and Miteki Kudo (Amore) are/were among my favourite dancers when they were dancing with the Paris Opera Ballet and they are excellent here, and Julia Kleiter (singing Eurydice) is also a fave of mine after I saw her in the Royal Opera’s Marriage of Figaro in 2019 when she sang the role of the Countess. It’s a virtually stunning production and the orchestra and singers (that I’ve heard so far) are in top form. 

 

The choreography is dramatic, elegant or heartrending where it needs to be, sometimes all three at once,  and of course I had to fast forward it to the Dance of the Blessed Spirits part early on, 😉 to see if it could live up to the high standards that Ashton had set in his solo for Anthony Dowell (that was performed by Muntagirov and Bracewell recently) and that Balanchine had set in his ballet Chaconne for Suzanne Farrell, both using the Gluck music...and yes, it does. While it’s very much Pina Bausch’s own style, it is really beautiful, as befits the music. The choreography for the famous “Che faro senza Eurydice?” aria is beautifully done and very moving. Now I’ll go back and watch the rest. 😃

Edited May 31, 2022 by Emeralds

[Guest]

7 hours ago, Emeralds said:

I think paying the royalties and asking for permission is fair enough, out of respect for the composer and the hard work put into writing the music. After all, we’d pay royalties to and ask permission (although it is seldom refused if royalties are being paid) from living composers eg Max Richter, Joby Talbot, Arvo Part etc etc. I do notice quite a few American premieres using Four Last Songs and other notable Strauss works that haven’t stood the test of time, although I would be astounded if the heirs refused Balanchine permission as his company been in Europe, considering how gorgeous the end result is and the undeniable quality of his previous work. Of course, not having to pay royalties is easier on a small company with limited finances although that doesn’t apply to large institutions like the Royal Ballet. Actually, I’d quite like to see van Dantzig’s version of Four Last Songs. 

 

In addition to the ROH Board (in those days) refusing permission for MacMillan to make Song of the Earth & Requiem, permission was also refused for the Royal Ballet to acquire John Cranko’s Onegin despite its success with audiences and popularity among dancers....apparently the reason was that it would get audiences confused with the opera (!) even though they have different names (the opera being named Eugene Onegin). I’m not sure how the board got their heads around the two Cinderella operas (Massenet’s Cendrillon and Rossini’s La Cenerentola) and the two Manon operas (Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, and Massenet’s Manon). That’s why London Festival Ballet (now ENB) ended up getting it instead, with Makarova making her farewell performance in the ballet with them, and Haydee and Cragun agreeing to perform the lead roles as guests with ENB (they were a-ma-zinggg!). Eventually that Board retired and we are of course pleased that a subsequent ROH board agreed to SOTE, Requiem, and later, Onegin. 

Not to mention the Tatianas at  LFB/ENB of Seymour and Maximova! 

[Emeralds]

11 hours ago, Darlex said:

Not to mention the Tatianas at  LFB/ENB of Seymour and Maximova! 

Lucky you, Darlex! I wasn’t old enough see Seymour and Maximova while they were still dancing - have only ever seen them on tv (Maximova was the lead - Masha/Sugar Plum in an old televised Nutcracker - in the first full length ballet I ever saw). Seymour is lovely in person; I wish we get to see more of her and hear first hand about her experiences creating roles with MacMillan and Ashton eg interviews, Insights events, documentaries, etc.

[Jan McNulty]

18 hours ago, Emeralds said:

I think paying the royalties and asking for permission is fair enough, out of respect for the composer and the hard work put into writing the music. After all, we’d pay royalties to and ask permission (although it is seldom refused if royalties are being paid) from living composers eg Max Richter, Joby Talbot, Arvo Part etc etc. I do notice quite a few American premieres using Four Last Songs and other notable Strauss works that haven’t stood the test of time, although I would be astounded if the heirs refused Balanchine permission as his company been in Europe, considering how gorgeous the end result is and the undeniable quality of his previous work. Of course, not having to pay royalties is easier on a small company with limited finances although that doesn’t apply to large institutions like the Royal Ballet. Actually, I’d quite like to see van Dantzig’s version of Four Last Songs. 

 

In addition to the ROH Board (in those days) refusing permission for MacMillan to make Song of the Earth & Requiem, permission was also refused for the Royal Ballet to acquire John Cranko’s Onegin despite its success with audiences and popularity among dancers....apparently the reason was that it would get audiences confused with the opera (!) even though they have different names (the opera being named Eugene Onegin). I’m not sure how the board got their heads around the two Cinderella operas (Massenet’s Cendrillon and Rossini’s La Cenerentola) and the two Manon operas (Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, and Massenet’s Manon). That’s why London Festival Ballet (now ENB) ended up getting it instead, with Makarova making her farewell performance in the ballet with them, and Haydee and Cragun agreeing to perform the lead roles as guests with ENB (they were a-ma-zinggg!). Eventually that Board retired and we are of course pleased that a subsequent ROH board agreed to SOTE, Requiem, and later, Onegin. 

 

If you saw Marcia Haydee and Richard Cragun dancing Onegin with LFB/ENB they performed together (I think) only in 1984.  It was their performance on 26 May 1984 that converted me to watching ballet.

 

I think Lynn Seymour and Ekatarina Maximova performed the role with them towards the end of the 80s.  One year the company performed Onegin in Bradford.  Lynn Seymour was due to perform but was sadly injured and Eva Evdokimova performed the role.  She was incandescent and I quickly got tickets to see her perform again at the Coliseum.  Sadly they were the only performances I ever saw her dance.  

 

Of course LFB had company dancers who were fantastic as Tatiana - I have fond memories of Janette Mulligan and Josephine Jewkes in the role and a late friend told me on too many occasions to mention that Patricia Ruanne was the best ever.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

Lucky you, Darlex! I wasn’t old enough see Seymour and Maximova while they were still dancing - have only ever seen them on tv (Maximova was the lead - Masha/Sugar Plum in an old televised Nutcracker - in the first full length ballet I ever saw). Seymour is lovely in person; I wish we get to see more of her and hear first hand about her experiences creating roles with MacMillan and Ashton eg interviews, Insights events, documentaries, etc.

Agree with you about wishing to hear and see more from Seymour. She is really worth listening to! 

 

Haydee, Cragun and Markarova all danced in Onegin at LFB/ENB a few seasons before Maximova and Seymour. If I remember correctly, it was the season at the Dominion Theatre 1989 or 1990. 

[bridiem]

25 minutes ago, Darlex said:

Agree with you about wishing to hear and see more from Seymour. She is really worth listening to! 

 

Haydee, Cragun and Markarova all danced in Onegin at LFB/ENB a few seasons before Maximova and Seymour. If I remember correctly, it was the season at the Dominion Theatre 1989 or 1990. 

 

I know that Makarova danced it in 1985 at the Coliseum (I assume with LFB) and Maximova in 1989 at the Dominion (definitely with LFB). What other performances there were in/between those years I don't know. 

[Jan McNulty]

18 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

I know that Makarova danced it in 1985 at the Coliseum (I assume with LFB) and Maximova in 1989 at the Dominion (definitely with LFB). What other performances there were in/between those years I don't know. 

 

LFB toured (including to Liverpool) Onegin in the Spring of 1984 (the first performances by them) before opening at the Coliseum.  We went to the mixed programme in Liverpool but it was in the days before I went to more than one performance!  

 

They gave at least 2 performances every year at the Coliseum after that until maybe 1992 and I also saw Onegin in Bradford and I believe it was also shown in Bristol at some stage.

 

Makarova performed with them more than one year running because I saw her at least twice.

[Emeralds]

Hadn’t expected one sentence to trigger so many reminiscences about Onegin from everyone! I wanted to triple check my facts for accuracy, but unfortunately anything before 2000 isn’t like it is now, where reviews are archived online and everything published ends up with a digital footprint. I can’t believe no reviews of their guest performances are archived online, but if they are I can’t get them.

 

The glorious performance that I saw with Haydee and Cragun as Tatiana and Onegin with English National Ballet (the name change had definitely happened by then) was at the London Coliseum in summer, and I think (about 98% certain) it was 1991. Possibly 1992 or 1993 but definitely not before 1989, as I wasn’t allowed to visit London by myself before then. I couldn’t see any of their earlier guest performances with the company. (I also missed Makarova’s performances as Tatiana completely and could only read about them in dance magazines wistfully.) I remember meeting them both at the Coliseum stage door and they were so, so lovely and friendly. Haydee had already taken over the reins of Stuttgart Ballet by then and I couldn’t believe that this legend, the director of an important dance company, was spending several precious days  in summer rehearsing and dancing for us instead of relaxing or doing “serious” directing work! 

 

I remember a young employee at the Coliseum box office commenting that Onegin had sold out completely and he couldn’t understand why they didn’t just have more evenings of Onegin- I had to inform him that it was only because of Marcia and Richard, and they couldn’t possibly dance the leads every night 😆! This is awful, but I can’t recall who danced Olga and Lensky, but I remember Dominic Hickie danced Gremin. It was because I was so blown away by Haydee and Cragun, and Hickie as Gremin partnered Haydee’s Tatiana in the pas de deux at the nobles’ ball. We’re so lucky now with digital and video recordings of studio rehearsals, informal chats, dress rehearsals, etc but back in the day, everything was ephemeral- you see the show, and poof, it’s gone. Now, you can not only attend the show but if it was filmed for cinema relay or livestream (or for DVD release) you can relive the show again. 😁

 

Music note re: Onegin- Tatiana and Gremin’s pas de deux music is the same Tchaikovsky piano piece (orchestrated for Onegin) from The Seasons used by MacMillan in Winter Dreams for Masha and Vershinin’s farewell pas de deux.  

Edited June 1, 2022 by Emeralds

[Emeralds]

Just realised I’ve inadvertently misled readers by putting the music note for Olga and Lensky’s pas de deux (while distracted by trying to recall who danced Olga and Lensky) instead of Tatiana & Gremin’s- which is of course Tchaikovsky’s Romance in F major, opus 51, also used in Winter Dreams in its original piano version for Masha and Vershinin’s farewell pas de deux. (Can’t edit my post after logging off). 

[Jan McNulty]

31 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

Just realised I’ve inadvertently misled readers by putting the music note for Olga and Lensky’s pas de deux (while distracted by trying to recall who danced Olga and Lensky) instead of Tatiana & Gremin’s- which is of course Tchaikovsky’s Romance in F major, opus 51, also used in Winter Dreams in its original piano version for Masha and Vershinin’s farewell pas de deux. (Can’t edit my post after logging off). 

 

Funny thing is I didn't notice!  I knew which bit you meant and that was how I read it!!

[Richard LH]

15 hours ago, Emeralds said:

Music note re: Onegin- Tatiana and Gremin’s pas de deux music is the same Tchaikovsky piano piece (orchestrated for Onegin) from The Seasons used by MacMillan in Winter Dreams for Masha and Vershinin’s farewell pas de deux.  

I had not noticed that!  This is such a great PDD and the music is so lovely...but of course Tchaikovsky and ballet is a marriage made in heaven.

[li tai po]

Emeralds, I am afraid that your account above of the ROH Board refusing permission for the Royal Ballet to acquire John Cranko's Onegin because of its similarity to the opera Eugene Onegin is entirely spurious.

 

Onegin made a big impact when the Stuttgart Ballet brought it to the ROH in 1974.  The Royal Ballet, directed by Cranko's great friend Kenneth MacMillan, announced that Onegin would join its repertoire in February 1977, casts were announced and tickets were on sale.  The upcoming calendar as late as the January 1977 edition of The Dancing Times shows the first night of Onegin was planned for Wednesday, 16 February 1977, with Merle Park, Lesley Collier, Anthony Dowell and Wayne Eagling.  Marcia Haydee and Richard Cragun were due to replace Park and Dowell at the performance on Saturday, 19 February.

 

Then disaster struck.  The fire department at Westminster City Council pronounced that the sets did not meet fire safety requirements.  The designs were adjusted to meet the required standards, but designer Jurgen Rose refused to allow his designs to be modified.

 

The Royal Ballet substituted a production of Cranko's full-length The Taming of the Shrew and remarkably the curtain went up on  Wednesday, 16 February 1977, with Merle Park, Lesley Collier, David Wall and Wayne Eagling in the leading roles.  The entire substitution had taken place within weeks - an amazing challenge of production and rehearsal.

 

It was not until 2001 that Ross Stretton brought Onegin into the repertoire of the Royal Ballet.

 

On a similar topic, I saw a performance of the ballet Onegin at the ROH in 2004, with its Act III polonaise drawn from Tchaikovsky's opera Cherevichki.  Just one day later I heard the same music again, as I attended a performance of Cherevichki at the Garsington Opera Festival.

[LinMM]

I’m pretty sure I was at one of those Shrew performances but was lucky enough to see Haydee and Cragun in both Shrew and Onegin earlier with Stuttgart Ballet.  
I can’t remember whether both were shown in the 1974 visit or on separate occasions but I don’t recall Stuttgart Ballet visiting that often though I did have an almost ten year gap in hardly ever going to the ballet between 1987 and 1996. 

[Odyssey]

I saw Makarova dance Tatiana as guest of ENB with the wonderful Alexander Sombart at Birmingham Hippodrome, but I’m uncertain of the year.. He had the most incredible stage presence - a memorable Onegin. Together they were dynamite!

[Jan McNulty]

29 minutes ago, Odyssey said:

I saw Makarova dance Tatiana as guest of ENB with the wonderful Alexander Sombart at Birmingham Hippodrome, but I’m uncertain of the year.. He had the most incredible stage presence - a memorable Onegin. Together they were dynamite!

 

Alexander Sombart was my favourite Onegin.

[Richard LH]

4 hours ago, li tai po said:

The designs were adjusted to meet the required standards, but designer Jurgen Rose refused to allow his designs to be modified.

I am surprised that the designer took that attitude, and also that he had the power to block the performance for that reason (or any reason).

[alison]

He's quite entitled to: they are his concept, and presumably his copyright.

[Lizbie1]

And he is the best in the business (IMHO).

[Emeralds]

18 hours ago, li tai po said:Emeralds, I am afraid that your account above of the ROH Board refusing permission for the Royal Ballet to acquire John Cranko's Onegin because of its similarity to the opera Eugene Onegin is entirely spurious.

 

Onegin made a big impact when the Stuttgart Ballet brought it to the ROH in 1974.  The Royal Ballet, directed by Cranko's great friend Kenneth MacMillan, announced that Onegin would join its repertoire in February 1977, casts were announced and tickets were on sale.  The upcoming calendar as late as the January 1977 edition of The Dancing Times shows the first night of Onegin was planned for Wednesday, 16 February 1977, with Merle Park, Lesley Collier, Anthony Dowell and Wayne Eagling.  Marcia Haydee and Richard Cragun were due to replace Park and Dowell at the performance on Saturday, 19 February.

 

Then disaster struck.  The fire department at Westminster City Council pronounced that the sets did not meet fire safety requirements.  The designs were adjusted to meet the required standards, but designer Jurgen Rose refused to allow his designs to be modified.

 

The Royal Ballet substituted a production of Cranko's full-length The Taming of the Shrew and remarkably the curtain went up on  Wednesday, 16 February 1977, with Merle Park, Lesley Collier, David Wall and Wayne Eagling in the leading roles.  The entire substitution had taken place within weeks - an amazing challenge of production and rehearsal.

 

It was not until 2001 that Ross Stretton brought Onegin into the repertoire of the Royal Ballet.

 

On a similar topic, I saw a performance of the ballet Onegin at the ROH in 2004, with its Act III polonaise drawn from Tchaikovsky's opera Cherevichki.  Just one day later I heard the same music again, as I attended a performance of Cherevichki at the Garsington Opera Festival.

It isn’t spurious nor fake, li tai po - the information was researched by a respected writer who had researched and interviewed MacMillan and Cranko themselves. I only quote information from broadsheets, performance programme booklets that are written by respected historians or critics, or from actual recordings on television/radio spoken by the dancers and choreographers themselves. I don’t quote from tabloids, gossip columns or hearsay. Nor do I make it up. If I’ve made an error typing it in, I’ll come back and correct or repost it if it can’t be edited or removed in time.

 

The refusal was prior to 1970. Whatever happened subsequently in 1977 after Cranko had already passed away in 1973, has no bearing on what I posted about the board (likely with entirely or mostly different board members to the 1976-1977 board) refusing Cranko’s creation earlier. He never got to see his ballet performed by the Royal Ballet or any English company while he was still alive, or indeed to hear the board admit “We/our predecessors were wrong about your Onegin ballet before”.  I wasn’t around in 1977 to see the Royal Ballet dance, so I haven’t posted about any events surrounding Onegin or Taming of the Shrew that year, but either way, the Royal Ballet didn’t get to dance Onegin until 2001 (36 years after it premiered in 1965) when English National Ballet had stopped performing it - that bit you are indeed correct about. 

[li tai po]

Dear Emeralds

 

Following your reply, I have revisited page 174 of John Percival's 1983 biography of John Cranko, "Theatre in my Blood", which sets out the facts.

 

Your suggestion of ROH Board refusal in the 1960s is indeed correct, but It is not accurate to suggest that the ROH Board "refused for the Royal Ballet to acquire John Cranko's Onegin despite its success with audiences and popularity among dancers".

 

Onegin was premiered by the Stuttgart Ballet on 13 April 1965.  Prior to that, John Cranko's "idea had been to use an arrangement of the music from the opera, and there was talk of his creating the ballet at Covent Garden for Fonteyn and Nureyev, but the Board of Directors there would not hear of using opera music in that way and, as it turned out, neither would Dr Schaefer at Stuttgart.  However, Kurt-Heinz Stolze undertook to arrange a new score from mainly unfamiliar pieces by the same composer, using not a single bar from the opera". 

 

This of course set a precedent for MacMillan's Manon.

 

Incidentally Tchaikovsky's opera was notably absent from the Covent Garden Opera repertoire in the decades after the war and only reached the stage in 1971 in a new production under Sir Georg Solti, with Ileana Cotrubas and Victor Braun, sung in English in those days.  That beautiful production was designed by Julia Trevelyan Oman, midway between Enigma Variations and A Month in the Country.  I, for one, lament the loss of those sensitive and atmospheric designs.

Edited June 4, 2022 by li tai po

[Sophoife]

On 29/05/2022 at 05:24, Angela said:

 

Until two or three years ago it was not allowed to use opera music by Richard Strauss for dance, or anything else he had not written especially for dance. MacMillan had to go to Stuttgart to do his "Song of the Earth" because he could not use that music in Covent Garden.

 

The Australian choreographer Graeme Murphy (beloved of former AD David McAllister, not a year in his 20-long tenure without a Murphy piece) was commissioned by the Bayerisches Staatsballett in 2005 to interpret Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier and not one phrase of Strauss' music was permitted to be used. Murphy worked with his frequent collaborator Australian composer Carl Vine instead. The Silver Rose was performed by TAB in 2010.