No Coronation Gala?

[Suffolkgal]

Yes and an interesting point - thinking about coaches and so on in the ballet - that gold coach is so old that apparently it is not the stuff of fairytales but may have inspired fairytale imagery in classic tales. I loved that ...

[bridiem]

And I thought that Penny Mordaunt carried herself beautifully - standing tall, smart, moving in time to the music where relevant, graceful, serious. As if on stage, or as if a dancer... 

 

I just love the choreography of royal occasions, and this was right up there.  

[LinMM]

Just a pity it had to be Penny Mordaunt though!!   I hope she doesn’t get some award just for a few mins serving at the Coronation anyway. 

[RHowarth]

On 04/05/2023 at 22:24, FLOSS said:

Daphnis and Chloe was not neglected at first. It was revived in 1994 in new classically based designs which all but killed its theatrical effectiveness since the whole idea behind the work and its Craxton designs had been to set the action of the ballet in a Greece in which the old gods were still powerful. In other words the intention was to set it in the pre-package  holiday Greece which Ashton and Craxton had encountered in the years immediately after the war The ballet was danced in its 1994 designs during the 94/95 season and the 96/97 season after which it was dropped. I have always suspected that it was dropped when the company finally realised how much it cost to stage a revival of it.

 

I'm fairly sure Daphnis and Chloe was performed in the early 2000s at the ROH. I seem to remember seeing Cojocaru in it (with Bonelli??) and Nunez in the secondary female role. I think it was filmed for TV.

[Lizbie1]

11 minutes ago, LinMM said:

Just a pity it had to be Penny Mordaunt though!!   I hope she doesn’t get some award just for a few mins serving at the Coronation anyway. 

 

I've absolutely no interest in her politics one way or another but I'd like to see most people try to carry that sword like that for nearly two hours with only a short respite!

[Fonty]

I thought all the outfits were magnificent.  I loved Penny Mordaunt's outfit, with the cape effect on the dress.  And wonderful to see all the hats for the ladies.  I adore hats, but very rarely get a chance to wear them.  And I thought that Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis were so well behaved.  He is only 5 after all, and not many 5 year olds could sit still without wriggling about and being a distraction.  Although I did notice he vanished at one point. 

[LinMM]

I didn’t realise she had to stand for two hours. I only saw her bit just before Charles was crowned then I went to my Saturday ballet class so haven’t seen anything after that!! 

 

[LinMM]

[bangorballetboy]

Just now, LinMM said:

 

Whilst singing the National Anthem!

[LinMM]

Here is Penny Mordaunt carrying the sword!!! To make amends for making light of her job today. 

[Ondine]

2 hours ago, RHowarth said:

I'm fairly sure Daphnis and Chloe was performed in the early 2000s at the ROH. I seem to remember seeing Cojocaru in it (with Bonelli??) and Nunez in the secondary female role. I think it was filmed for TV.

 

Yes 2004, FP May 8th had Jaimie Tapper with Federico Bonelli.  Lykanion: Marianela Nuñez; Dorkon: Thiago Soares; Bryaxis: Bennet Gartside
 

 

http://www.frederickashton.org.uk/daphnis.html

 

 

[Jane S]

And this revival reverted to the original sets and costumes.

[Ondine]

There is a BBC broadcast version, 2011, had Cojocaru & Bonelli and is on YT in nine parts.

 

 

Gala for the re-opening of Covent Garden apparently?

 

3 hours ago, RHowarth said:

I'm fairly sure Daphnis and Chloe was performed in the early 2000s at the ROH. I seem to remember seeing Cojocaru in it (with Bonelli??) and Nunez in the secondary female role. I think it was filmed for TV.

 

 

 

[ChrisG]

On 04/05/2023 at 20:15, Emeralds said:

Having watched both performed by RB, my personal opinion is that Daphnis & Chloe, with its stunning score by Ravel (which seems to be “trending” this season with lots of play time on radio recently, a sold out performance at the Proms in August 2022 by the National Youth Orchestra -who did their own singing - which was aired on tv, and quite a few concert performances this season, having been mothballed for some years) is easier to follow as a story and might be popular with audiences with 1) an inspired cast and leads who really gel with the story, 2) publicity and marketing emphasising the concert hall credentials of its score.

The Hallé are doing the full score in concert this autumn. I’ll be singing in the chorus!

[Ondine]

BTW, much fun is being had about Poundland Penny over on the Blue Birdie site.

 

[alison]

58 minutes ago, Ondine said:

There is a BBC broadcast version, 2011, had Cojocaru & Bonelli and is on YT in nine parts.

 

Surely it was earlier than that - 2004?  For the Ashton Celebrations?  The second run also featured Ed Watson (replacing Inaki Urlezaga) and Miyako Yoshida in the other cast - I know it was before he was made Principal.

[Ondine]

Yes it was posted on YT 2011.  Doh.

 

The blurb says:

 

Daphnis and Chloe, music by Maurice Ravel, choreography by Frederick Ashton. The Royal Ballet at Gala for the re-opening of Covent Garden. Principals Inaki Urlezaga, Federico Bonelli, Marianela Nunez, Thiago Soares. Broadcast by the BBC, with it's usual superb camerawork.

[alison]

I don't remember any of it being used in the reopening gala.  Is that just my memory being faulty?  And surely it wouldn't have featured both Urlezaga *and* Bonelli?

[Ondine]

No I think the person posting is is dazed and confused! As am I, it's been a long day. 

 

Anyhow, it's there, for anyone wishing to watch it all.  It's disjointed as it's split into nine separate parts but it's OK.

 

And it's Bonelli & Cojocaru.

Edited May 6, 2023 by Ondine

[Ondine]

6 hours ago, bridiem said:

 

I just love the choreography of royal occasions, and this was right up there.  

 

I think the synchronised waving needs a touch more work.

 

 

[Suffolkgal]

Just seen Sambe and Hayward on the news talking about tonight ...

[Bluebird]

13 hours ago, RHowarth said:

I'm fairly sure Daphnis and Chloe was performed in the early 2000s at the ROH. I seem to remember seeing Cojocaru in it (with Bonelli??) and Nunez in the secondary female role. I think it was filmed for TV.

 

It was broadcast in December 2004 as part of "Ashton at 100: Fred's Steps".  The programme included Scènes de Ballet (Yoshida/Putrov), a series of Ashton 'Diverts' and Daphnis & Chloë in full with Cojocaru, Bonelli, Nuñez and Soares.

Edited May 7, 2023 by Bluebird

[Emeralds]

9 hours ago, ChrisG said:

The Hallé are doing the full score in concert this autumn. I’ll be singing in the chorus!

Hurrah-still trending into autumn! Toi toi toi, ChrisG! Programme sounds excellent musically and “balletically” (I presume it’s the one on 5 Oct) with Stravinsky’s Violin Concerto as well- memories of both the Royal Ballet and NYCB dancing Balanchine’s choreography. 

[capybara]

1 hour ago, Suffolkgal said:

Just seen Sambe and Hayward on the news talking about tonight ...

Dancing R&J according to BBC radio news.

[bridiem]

28 minutes ago, capybara said:

Dancing R&J according to BBC radio news.

 

That would be great in that it's proper choreography/ballet, but surely a bit odd given the not-exactly-happy ending for the couple?!

[Emeralds]

I know this thread has gone down a few different rabbit holes since Henry first posted about there being no coronation gala, but just to add to the Homage to the Queen —> Fonteyn —> Ondine one, I was looking at the archive since the “who should dance this ballet/only dancers with the Ashton style should/Ashton’s ballets are versatile enough for all styles of dancers to dance” discussion, and I noticed two points about Ondine which would be quite unusual nowadays....

 

1) For the first 3 years (the Oct 1958 premiere to early March 1961), Ondine was performed with the same four dancers in the featured roles: Fonteyn as Ondine, Michael Somes as Palemon, Julia Farron as Berta (the betrothed of Palemon, a bit like Gamzatti in Bayadere, although Berta doesn’t get a showpiece grand pas de deux like Gamzatti does), and Alexander Grant as Tirrenio, the Lord of the Mediterranean (protector and uncle of Ondine). I wasn’t around in 1958, but in those days I understand that the ballets were performed in a repertory system (it would be performed on average 3 or 4 times a month over 6 months or more) rather than the stagioni system (a short intense run) we have now, where the same full length ballet or mixed bill would be performed 3 to 5 times a week for 3 to 5 weeks then not be staged again for over a year. There were other ballets and premieres going on during these 3 years of course, eg the premiere of Ashton’s La Fille mal Gardee In Jan 1960. 

 

2) The first change of cast was in mid March 1961, when Anya Linden replaced Farron as Berta, then on 30 March that month when Svetlana Beriosova and Donald Macleary took over as Ondine and Palemon, and danced it for several more performances with either Linden or Jacqueline Daryl as Berta (Alexander Grant seems to have been the sole interpreter of Tirrenio till he retired, unless some performances weren’t documented in the archive).

 

I found this interesting because ever since the ballet was revived by Ashton in 1988 (with Maria Almeida and Anthony Dowell as the leads), Ondine has always been danced by a petite ballerina (eg Almeida, Wildor, Yoshida, Rojo, Ansanelli, Marquez etc) yet here is evidence that Ashton cast a tall couple to dance the leads in the first change of cast - Beriosova was known to be (along with Beryl Grey) one of the tallest ballerinas in the company in the 50s and 60s. 

 

So if Ashton could do it, we can definitely have a bit of flexibility in the casting. I think it’s good to have both “atypical” or “not so Ashtonian” dancers who can give a powerful and compelling portrayal as well as dancers with the right attention to Ashtonian details, but I wouldn’t want only exclusively powerful non-so-Ashtonian dancers to get cast. 

 

Ok, we can go back to discussing coronation outfits and the coronation concert now (NB there’s currently another coronation concert thread as well, so make sure you read both if wanting more info)...... 😁

Edited May 7, 2023 by Emeralds

[Mary]

25 minutes ago, bridiem said:

 

That would be great in that it's proper choreography/ballet, but surely a bit odd given the not-exactly-happy ending for the couple?!

Yes but it's famous and there was the film which had quite a good success- so no doubt that's the thinking, although I can think of many more apt pieces.....

[Ondine]

 Well Facade' ended the evening at the 1953 Coronation Gala, maybe whoever decided R & J was appropriate had a wicked sense of humour too?

 

 

[LinMM]

Or could just be one of the Royals favourite ballets! 

[Jane S]

Or they just needed a short, send-'em-home-happy piece to close a long evening on a long day.

[Jane S]

46 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

 

2) The first change of cast was in mid March 1961, when Anya Linden replaced Farron as Berta, then on 30 March that month when Svetlana Beriosova and Donald Macleary took over as Ondine and Palemon, and danced it for several more performances with either Linden or Jacqueline Daryl as Berta (Alexander Grant seems to have been the sole interpreter of Tirrenio till he retired, unless some performances weren’t documented in the archive).

 

I found this interesting because ever since the ballet was revived by Ashton in 1988 (with Maria Almeida and Anthony Dowell as the leads), Ondine has always been danced by a petite ballerina (eg Almeida, Wildor, Yoshida, Rojo, Ansanelli, Marquez etc) yet here is evidence that Ashton cast a tall couple to dance the leads in the first change of cast - Beriosova was known to be (along with Beryl Grey) one of the tallest ballerinas in the company in the 50s and 60s. 

 

 

 

I saw Beriosova and Macleary in Ondine at a Saturday matinee in December 1961 - with, incidentally, Ronald Hynd as Palemon - not the best choice of occasion as Macleary had hurt his foot and was dancing with a heavily strapped ankle because Michael Somes was in America and no-one else knew the role. (And, even more incidentally, his foot injury had taken him out of the matinee of Fille a week earlier and David Blair had had to dance Colas twice in one day).

 

On the question of whether a taller dancer could do Ondine it's interesting to read Peter Williams in Dance & Dancers:

 

"... no question about Fonteyn's supremacy ... On the other hand nobody need feel particularly cheated if they land up with tickets for the performance I saw... Beriosova's interpretation is different but no less right. Physically more statuesque than Fonteyn, she exchews the playful movemnets and the feyness of the creature; in their place she presents a strange aura of unreality...She even manages to invest her wonderful arabesques with an aqueous quality, as though she was still moving in the water which is her natural domain. Less mobile than Fonteyn, Beriosova has now acquired the art of making stillness equally telling."

 

(I liked her too.)

[art_enthusiast]

1 hour ago, capybara said:

Dancing R&J according to BBC radio news.

 

Will this end up on iPlayer? I really hope so.

[bridiem]

1 hour ago, Emeralds said:

(NB there’s currently another coronation concert thread as well, so make sure you read both if wanting more info)...... 😁

 

Thanks - I'd forgotten about the other thread. Will re-focus there as necessary!