ANEMOI/THE CELLIST - ROYAL BALLET AUTUMN 2023

[Emeralds]

20 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

I've just had a look at the seating plan for Wednesday when (panic attacks permitting) I'm due to be seeing the double bill & I see at the moment I have an entire stalls circle bench to myself!

A bench to oneself would be my dream seat, @Dawnstar! 😀 

[Dawnstar]

@Emeralds Not my dream seat, as I'd go front row stalls every time if only I could afford it, but at least if I do end up as the only person on that bench (which I suspect I won't) then I won't have to worry about leaners blocking my view!

[Dawnstar]

18 hours ago, Dawnstar said:

if I do end up as the only person on that bench (which I suspect I won't)

 

Sure enough, the majority of tickets below amphitheatre level have been sold since last night. I wonder how much they went for? Probably considerably less than the £39 I paid for my restricted view bench.

[postie]

Isn't it extraordinary how they all just vanished.

 

A last-minute scramble for a hundred+ seats mostly priced at north of £100 .. hmm

Edited November 1, 2023 by postie

[Dawnstar]

Post removed as info already on World Ballet Day thread. I'm afraid it didn't occur to me to check that thread first for Anemoi casting.

Edited November 1, 2023 by Dawnstar

[Ondine]

28 minutes ago, Dawnstar said:

Anemoi casting.

 

For those who don't know, Harrison Lee is stepping in tonight to 'save the day'; never danced it, never properly rehearsed it! He looked good to me in the WBD rehearsal. More on the other thread as you say.

 

[Emeralds]

On 31/10/2023 at 18:24, Dawnstar said:

@Emeralds Not my dream seat, as I'd go front row stalls every time if only I could afford it, but at least if I do end up as the only person on that bench (which I suspect I won't) then I won't have to worry about leaners blocking my view!

I confused things slightly by not explaining that the whole bench to myself would be very comfortable but in reality, not my first choice for the sightlines 😉. Enjoy the show tonight, Dawnstar- don't think too much about what people paid. I can think of loads of shows I would have gladly paid £100 for a £10 seat just to be able to be there, but sadly couldn't, and some where I was offered and so paid £15 for a £50 seat, and ended up going twice. There will be some good bargains for you in future, I'm sure of it.  🙂

[Rob S]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Silke H]

14 hours ago, Ondine said:

 

For those who don't know, Harrison Lee is stepping in tonight to 'save the day'; never danced it, never properly rehearsed it! He looked good to me in the WBD rehearsal. More on the other thread as you say.

 

I think Harrison did really well (a little nervousness aside).  A great opportunity for him.  I always like his beautiful lines.

[postie]

Very glad to have returned last night for a second viewing. Second helpings rarely fail me; I tend to think you can relax into the piece more and let the art and emotion weave its magic.

 

That moment when Barenboim shows up and she responds by playing Elgar with her whole body ... ouf.

 

If anyone from the forum picked up the adjacent SCS positions, I'm sorry to have missed meeting you. I did look over and saw two women chatting in the interval and hoped they were forumites (sic?).

[Emeralds]

That's interesting that earlier on the casting on the booking page had said that Daichi Ikarashi was replacing Taisuke Nakao in Anemoi tonight (after Harrison Lee replaced Daichi at short notice in that lead role last night), but now the full cast list has changed and said Harrison Lee is dancing the role tonight as well. Hope Taisuke and Daichi are not severely unwell/ injured/ whatever it is. Great opportunity for Harrison to have another chance though, and wishing him well! 

[Ondine]

37 minutes ago, Emeralds said:

the full cast list has changed

 

Yes... he's now dancing with a mainly different cast to that of last night which was this

 

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/43/anemoi-the-cellist-by-valentino-zucchetti-and-cathy-marston/cast-list/54550

 

Great opportunity for Harrison Lee!

 

https://www.roh.org.uk/tickets-and-events/43/anemoi-the-cellist-by-valentino-zucchetti-and-cathy-marston/cast-list/54543

 

 

[serenade]

I went last night to see this programme.

 

I saw Anemoi on the online thing during Covid.  I feel the same about it as I did then which was it's a nice piece that doesn't really do anything for me, just an ok from me.  I agree with previous comments re another work should have been on considering the length of this or it should have been cheaper (although I guess it was for some people 😄).  I didn't feel like it was strong enough to be the only thing on with The Cellist but obviously just my opinion, they obviously have a lot of faith in the piece.  The standout for me was the male dancer with the slightly more featured solo role.  It might have been Liam Boswell but I'm not great at identifying from a distance.

 

Onto the Cellist which I haven't seen before.  I didn't have very high expectations I'd enjoy it as I haven't really enjoyed the other Cathy Marston pieces I've seen but I really loved it.  I thought it was really beautiful piece, creative and moving.  I loved the way it portrayed the feeling of music in her body- I can't remember anything capturing this feeling so well.   Especially when she is first playing the cello as a little girl they did such a good job of it.  But so many moments I really loved....I'm not really a ballet crier but this one really got to me and I was sobbing  (silently 😄) by the end.  I didn't know anything about Jacqueline Du Pre going in except for the info on the brief synopsis but I will have to listen to her playing.

 

I thought Lauren was amazing and gave such a special performance, I can't say enough nice things about her.  Marcelino was absolutely brilliant as the cello, as was  Matthew Ball as the conductor.  Of course the whole cast was great especially Young Jacqueline and Jacqueline's parents.    

 

My only slight criticism is the amount of lifts- for the most part I thought it worked great as there was a clear narrative point to them.... but sometimes it could get a little much I should add they were executed brilliantly, I just thought it was a shame some of the emotions she was feeling couldn't have been portrayed through ballet steps or just in a different way.  But that's the only negative thing I have to say. 

Edited November 3, 2023 by serenade
added a sentence

[JohnS]

I’m very pleased to have made the last performance of this double bill. Anemoi has grown on me and it was good to see Harrison Lee alongside Leticia Dias with Mariko Sasaki and Lukas B. Brændsrød as the other couple. I did pass on my comments about the absence of any information in the Cast Sheet when Valentino Zucchetti is so eloquent in the programme. There seems to be a reluctance to make good use of Cast Sheets: I can see that the ROH will wish to sell programmes but nil information I think is a disservice to audience members.

 

There’s much I admire in what Cathy Marston has made of The Cellist, including the many roles taken by the corps, the extended du Pre family, cello teachers, and the Trout quintet musicians. I feel the central characters, du Pre, Barenboim and the cello, come into their own when they take flight from the literal and explore what playing music can mean for the cellist, cello and conductor. In many ways I wish there were more free flowing sections as for me there’s a little too much air cello with the sitting pose for child and du Pre looking particularly uncomfortable. But the more I see The Cellist, the more I think the music and Hetty Snell’s solo playing make the performance. The way du Pre’s illness is depicted in the extraordinary harmonics used to transform the Mendelssohn hits me every time. And I was delighted to see I wasn’t the only one providing a bouquet.