Royal Ballet Onegin, Winter 2013

[alison]

Unexpected highlight of the run for me was Nunez' Tatiana - I really hadn't expected that of her.  In a way, I think Kobborg's absence, much regretted though it was, perhaps helped me to concentrate more on Cojocaru's Tatiana than in the past: there's been such a change from her first performances a decade or more ago.  And I'd also like to comment very positively on Yasmine Naghdi's Olga: her first main role, I think, and hugely promising, with lovely dancing (and reached the front of the amphitheatre, at least, with no trouble at all - something more experienced dancers sometimes have a problem with).  Plus she and Dawid Trzensimiech seemed to me to be the most convincing couple of the run.

 

I do however agree with whichever critic commented to the effect that the levels of makeup on some of the country girls in the first couple of acts were perhaps more suited to the glamour of the third.

 

It is sad sometimes when a run comes to an end: I spent some of yesterday evening mourning those dancers I will most likely never get to see (again) in Onegin

[Bruce Wall]

I so know what you mean Alison ... What I wouldn't give to see Haydee, Maximova, Makarova, Seymour, Cragen, Masden, Kobborg, Sombert (sp?), Augustyn,, Evdokimova, Kain in this ballet again ... (and how I would have loved to see Hubbe as Oneign - he would have been built for it I think) ... but, as you suggest, some things are just not to be.  How lucky we are to have our memories.  Outside of the major roles ... what stood out for me in the current RB run was Gartside as Gremin.  I truly thought he was supreme in terms of the arc of his character's detail as much as in his partnering.  Both sang as well as moved for me.

[toursenlair]

I so know what you mean Alison ... What I wouldn't give to see Haydee, Maximova, Makarova, Seymour, Cragen, Masden, Kobborg, Sombert (sp?), Augustyn,, Evdokimova, Kain in this ballet again ... (and how I would have loved to see Hubbe as Oneign - he would have been built for it I think) ... but, as you suggest, some things are just not to be.  How lucky we are to have our memories.  Outside of the major roles ... what stood out for me in the current RB run was Gartside as Gremin.  I truly thought he was supreme in terms of the arc of his character's detail as much as in his partnering.  Both sang as well as moved for me.

 

Actually I DID see Hubbe as Onegin with NBoC and have to say I was underwhelmed. Not that he was BAD, of course, but I wouldn't put him up there as a top Onegin.

[JennyTaylor]

I saw 3 performances 2* Marianela/ Thiago and 1* Bonneli/ Morera and all were fantastic.  The 2nd Marianela / Thiago performance hit completely new heights as was recognised by the uproarious reaction of the audience at the end.  I also loved Laura Morera and indeed all 4 principals in that cast. A special mention for Nehemiah Kish as Lensky - a very moving performance.  I love the dramatic story ballets.  Roll on Mayerling.

[alison]

I so know what you mean Alison ... What I wouldn't give to see Haydee, Maximova, Makarova, Seymour, Cragen, Masden, Kobborg, Sombert (sp?), Augustyn,, Evdokimova, Kain in this ballet again.

 

And Rojo.  And thanks for reminding me of the one thing I forgot: I'm not sure I've ever seen the ballroom pas de deux done better than Cojocaru and Gartside did it - it had just the right feel to it.  Again, such a change from her first performances in the role.

[patsomerset]

Rojo danced Tatiana in the first RB run of Onegin (in the Stretton era). It was during rehearsals for the second run that Reid Anderson took her out of the role.

I saw this too and have just managed to find my programme and cast lists.  This was in the days when I had a friend living in London who would put me up for the night, so I managed to see Onegin twice.  I see that it was 2002 but it seems like yesterday.  Another sign of advancing years I fear!  I see that the dates on the cast list are 19 January, this one with Rojo, Cojocaru and Adam Cooper and the other one on 20 July, with Cojocaru, Bond, Kobborg and Putrov.  I can't now believe my luck at the casts and it became one of my favourite ballets.  I had to do a double take as the two dates are so far apart..  Does anyone know why this happened.  I am assuming it was not a misprint on the cast list!  I no longer have the tickets and the inside of the programme makes no mention of the July performance.  It's a mystery to me

[chrischris]

It seems like Reid Anderson is very particular about who he lets dance Onegin.

[bangorballetboy]

I saw this too and have just managed to find my programme and cast lists. This was in the days when I had a friend living in London who would put me up for the night, so I managed to see Onegin twice. I see that it was 2002 but it seems like yesterday. Another sign of advancing years I fear! I see that the dates on the cast list are 19 January, this one with Rojo, Cojocaru and Adam Cooper and the other one on 20 July, with Cojocaru, Bond, Kobborg and Putrov. I can't now believe my luck at the casts and it became one of my favourite ballets. I had to do a double take as the two dates are so far apart. Does anyone know why this happened. I am assuming it was not a misprint on the cast list! I no longer have the tickets and the inside of the programme makes no mention of the July performance. It's a mystery to me

There were two "runs" of Onegin in that season: one in Dec/Jan and one in July so your mind is not playing tricks. The ROH performance database has Jane Burn performing Olga on 20 July (eve).

[patsomerset]

There were two "runs" of Onegin in that season: one in Dec/Jan and one in July so your mind is not playing tricks. The ROH performance database has Jane Burn performing Olga on 20 July (eve).

Thank you.  Two runs in a season is surely unusual.  My cast list for 20 July (evening) definitely lists Gemma Bond as Olga but who am I to argue with the ROH performance database!  I guess there must have been a last minute change of cast 

[alison]

There were so many cast changes in that summer period: Rojo was off injured, various other people were. I think, too, and Stretton was doing his usual changing casts at will.  I was fortunate enough to see Belinda Hatley's sole performance as Olga, but I think that was only confirmed by rumour.  And weren't there two runs of Don Quixote, too?

 

I've moved the last four posts over from the Ashton bill thread http://www.balletcoforum.com/index.php?/topic/2980-royal-ballet-ashton-bill-february-2013/page-2

[alison]

It seems like Reid Anderson is very particular about who he lets dance Onegin.

 

He does seem to be.  Were it not for Johan Kobborg, I'd be thinking that black hair was a prerequisite.

 

Thank you.  Two runs in a season is surely unusual.  My cast list for 20 July (evening) definitely lists Gemma Bond as Olga but who am I to argue with the ROH performance database!  I guess there must have been a last minute change of cast 

 

Jane Burn certainly replaced Gemma Bond on the 17th (JB was printed in the cast sheet as replacing GB), so it's quite conceivable that it also happened on the 20th.

[Jane S]

Gemma Bond was out for the whole of that summer, I think, and had to teach Olga to both Jane Burn and Belinda Hatley - but there were so many people injured and so many cast changes that I'm not surprised the programmes couldn't keep up. (They ran out of Tatianas eventually and had to bring in Yseult Lendvai.)

[chrischris]

He does seem to be.  Were it not for Johan Kobborg, I'd be thinking that black hair was a prerequisite.

 

In the recent article in The Times with Sarah Lamb, she indicated Anderson didn't want Pennefather to dance in Onegin and the journalist indicated it may be because he didn't have the right look.

 

I saw a funny interview with Tamara Rojo ages where she said that after Anderson told her he was taking her off the ballet, she was really upset and he couldn't get out of her dressing room because he didn't know the combination for the lock, so she told him that she was going to take the opportunity to kill him. She said seeing how scared he got made her feel slightly better about losing the role.

Edited February 17, 2013 by chrischris

[Aruna S]

"I saw a funny interview with Tamara Rojo..."

 

I saw that too, chrischris  . I particularly liked her masterly analysis of Tatiana's character, and of why she is the way she is in the third act. 

[Angela]

In the recent article in The Times with Sarah Lamb, she indicated Anderson didn't want Pennefather to dance in Onegin and the journalist indicated it may be because he didn't have the right look.

The black hair is pure coincidence. Anderson may have strange reasons for casting Onegin sometimes, but there are enough fair-haired or brown-haired Onegins - Filip Barankiewicz, Evan McKie at Stuttgart, Jiri Jelinek at NBoC, Wieslaw Dudek, Mikhail Kaniskin and Dmitriy Semionov at Berlin State Ballet, Adam Cooper and Robert Tewsley in the very first run at the RB: none of them has black hair and all were approved by the Cranko boys.

[Paul Arrowsmith]

Valeri Hristov told me he had been cast as Onegin for a previous revival on the strength of his physical appearance - only being moved  to Lensky after the Stuttgart people actually saw him dance. 

[alison]

In the recent article in The Times with Sarah Lamb, she indicated Anderson didn't want Pennefather to dance in Onegin and the journalist indicated it may be because he didn't have the right look.

 

Yet, interestingly, Pennefather was one of the first-cast Lenskys, although he never danced the role due to injury.  Equally, I was surprised to see that, in the summer 2002 revival, someone was listed as replacing Jonathan Cope, somebody who I'd always thought was never cast as Onegin.

[MAB]

Don't think hair colour is a consideration for Onegin, they dance it at RDB where blond men are commonplace, indeed the best Onegin I ever saw was Kenneth Grieve.

[Naomi M]

There are actually very blond Onegins recently such as Karl Paquette of Paris Opera Ballet and David Hallberg of ABT. Tall dancers are usually casted as Onegin but there are some exceptions (such as Johan Kobborg) 

[alison]

The black hair is pure coincidence. Anderson may have strange reasons for casting Onegin sometimes, but there are enough fair-haired or brown-haired Onegins - Filip Barankiewicz, Evan McKie at Stuttgart, Jiri Jelinek at NBoC, Wieslaw Dudek, Mikhail Kaniskin and Dmitriy Semionov at Berlin State Ballet, Adam Cooper and Robert Tewsley in the very first run at the RB: none of them has black hair and all were approved by the Cranko boys.

 

It's just that since the initial run I can't think of any new RB Onegins who didn't have black hair - Nathan Coppen (although he may have been first run, anyway), Martin Harvey, David Makhateli, Thiago Soares, Federico Bonelli, and now Hristov as well.  Guess it must be something peculiar to the RB, then, or else totally coincidental .  Anyway, it goes well, if a little severely, with the costume.

[annamicro]

The black hair is pure coincidence. Anderson may have strange reasons for casting Onegin sometimes, but there are enough fair-haired or brown-haired Onegins - Filip Barankiewicz, Evan McKie at Stuttgart, Jiri Jelinek at NBoC, Wieslaw Dudek, Mikhail Kaniskin and Dmitriy Semionov at Berlin State Ballet, Adam Cooper and Robert Tewsley in the very first run at the RB: none of them has black hair and all were approved by the Cranko boys.

We can add the very recent Edvin Revazov in Hamburg.

 

In any case hair color cannot be a criterion for selection: if necessary hair can be dyed.

There are blond dancers used to darken hair for some roles: I remember Eleonora Abbagnato doing that when dancing Myrtha.

[zxDaveM]

There were two "runs" of Onegin in that season: one in Dec/Jan and one in July so your mind is not playing tricks. The ROH performance database has Jane Burn performing Olga on 20 July (eve).

 

ah - Jane Burn! Will always have a special place in my heart for demonstrating the Fred step in an Insight evening, in 4" high heels. Bless 'er!

[Angela]

Hair colour was NEVER a question for Onegin, I'm absolutely certain about that. I guess it's most important that the dancers are good partners because of all the difficult lifts - but Onegin is a tricky role, on top of being a good partner you need acting and that certain danseur noble quality, at least for the solo in act 1. Well, there must be a reason why everybody wants to dance it...

[capybara]

Yet, interestingly, Pennefather was one of the first-cast Lenskys, although he never danced the role due to injury.  Equally, I was surprised to see that, in the summer 2002 revival, someone was listed as replacing Jonathan Cope, somebody who I'd always thought was never cast as Onegin.

 

My memory might be playing me false, but I thought that Jonny was cast as Onegin with Tamara as Tatiana in 2004 but he was injured and replaced by Thiago well before the run. Of course Tamara herself was taken out and replaced by Laura after the pre-general rehearsal which some of us saw (with Alina as Olga and Ivan as Lensky) as part of an Insight Day. Given the emotional heights they reached together in Mayerling, Jonny and Tamara together in Onegin could have been really special. And, alas, in the end, he never danced the role.

 

This has brought on a rush of nostalgia for the days when Insights really were that and were offered over a full day.

[chrischris]

Quote I was referring to, from http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/stage/dance/article3658465.ece

 

"Reid Anderson, the artistic director of the Stuttgart Ballet who owns the rights to Onegin, is famously picky when it comes to casting
decisions and, as far as I can remember, there has never been a blond Onegin. “Just because you are blond doesn’t mean you can’t be aloof,” Lamb retorts. “But I think Reid felt that Valeri has more of a stereotypical dark brooding face.”

[capybara]

 

 

In any case hair color cannot be a criterion for selection: if necessary hair can be dyed.

There are blond dancers used to darken hair for some roles: I remember Eleonora Abbagnato doing that when dancing Myrtha.

 

Of course, Osipova is a blonde who keeps her hair jet black all the time because she believes that that is how ballerinas should look.

[Nina G.]

Quote I was referring to, from http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/arts/stage/dance/article3658465.ece

 

"Reid Anderson, the artistic director of the Stuttgart Ballet who owns the rights to Onegin, is famously picky when it comes to casting

decisions and, as far as I can remember, there has never been a blond Onegin. “Just because you are blond doesn’t mean you can’t be aloof,” Lamb retorts. “But I think Reid felt that Valeri has more of a stereotypical dark brooding face.”

So, famously picky Reid Anderson chooses his cast for Onegin and not RB Director Kevin O'Hare? 

 

He picked a blonde (new)"Tatiana" (Sarah Lamb) and his two new "Olga's" (Yasmine Naghdi and Maegan Grace Hinkis) are dark and blonde haired respectively. I personally do prefer dark haired ballerinas over blonde ones, their facial expressions are much more visible. 

[Bluebird]

My memory might be playing me false, but I thought that Jonny was cast as Onegin with Tamara as Tatiana in 2004 but he was injured and replaced by Thiago well before the run. Of course Tamara herself was taken out and replaced by Laura after the pre-general rehearsal which some of us saw (with Alina as Olga and Ivan as Lensky) as part of an Insight Day. Given the emotional heights they reached together in Mayerling, Jonny and Tamara together in Onegin could have been really special. And, alas, in the end, he never danced the role.

 

This has brought on a rush of nostalgia for the days when Insights really were that and were offered over a full day.

I've just managed to find my About The House for Period 4 of the 2003/4 season.  Capybara's memory is accurate.  The opening night cast was, indeed, scheduled to be Rojo, Cope, Cojocaru, Putrov, Saunders.

[Bluebird]

There were so many cast changes in that summer period: Rojo was off injured, various other people were. I think, too, and Stretton was doing his usual changing casts at will.  I was fortunate enough to see Belinda Hatley's sole performance as Olga, but I think that was only confirmed by rumour.  And weren't there two runs of Don Quixote, too?

 

Yes there were two runs of Don Q.  I was out of the country for the first run but caught it second time around in the summer.  I remember there was a short Royal Ballet summer season in July and August 2002 with performances of Onegin, Don Q and Coppelia

[Bluebird]

I've just managed to find my About The House for Period 4 of the 2003/4 season.  Capybara's memory is accurate.  The opening night cast was, indeed, scheduled to be Rojo, Cope, Cojocaru, Putrov, Saunders.

Apologies.  Too late to edit my earlier post but I misread the listings.  The opening night in May 2004 was danced by the Cojocaru/Kobborg cast. Rojo and Cope were scheduled to be the second cast.

Edited February 18, 2013 by Bluebird

[alison]

So, famously picky Reid Anderson chooses his cast for Onegin and not RB Director Kevin O'Hare? 

Oh yes, definitely.  The Estate always has the say on casting.  (And don't get me started on that again )

[Angela]

"Reid Anderson, the artistic director of the Stuttgart Ballet who owns the rights to Onegin, is famously picky when it comes to casting

decisions and, as far as I can remember, there has never been a blond Onegin.

So Mr. Anderson decided to have blond Onegins all over the world, but for London, for this season, we just have black-haired Onegins. Maybe it was a fashion decision?

[aileen]

I don't think that Reid Anderson is alone in being very particular about casting (although it seems incredible to me that Tamara, who had of course danced in Onegin in a previous run, was taken out of the ballet after one of the last rehearsals). When ENB performed its Roland Petit bill at the Coliseum in 2011 I gather that the person who came in to stage it on behalf of the choreographer specified who was to be in it.