Don Quichotte at Opera national de Paris

[Estreiiita]

Yesterday I saw "Don Quichotte" performed by Opera national de Paris in Opera Bastille. It was the first time I saw this ballet in  Rudolf Nureev's choreography and I liked it a lot.

  Hannah O'Neill danced Kitri. I like this ballerina since I saw her in "Le rouge au le noir" and I hoped for a brilliant performance on her part. However she was good but not at the level I expected. Basilio was danced by Germain Louvet, and his performance was not impeccable either; I'd say it was somewhat uneven, some parts were very good but there were some small faults especially  in duos/lifts.

   Both Kitri's friends, Nais Duboscq and Bianca Scudamore were very good as well as Street dancer (Celia Drouy) and Espada (Arthus Raveau). 

  The young gypsy (Daniel Stokes), two female gypsies (Katherine Higgins and Seohoo Yun) and the whole gypsy group along with the King and the Queen of gypsies danced very well in the 2nd act. The dream of Don Quichotte was danced brilliantly with the help of the corps de ballet, the Queen of the Dryads (Camille Bon), Cupidon(Aubane Philbert) and Dulcinee (Hannah O'Neill).

  To my mind, the 3d act was the best, everything went well and the  performance ended with a lot of applauses.

[Don Q Fan]

Thanks for your review I am due to see this cast soon plus 1 other. I have seen DonQ in Paris previously and did like this version. 

[Silver Capricorn]

I saw the opening night of Don Q in Opéra Bastille  with Sae Eun Park as Kitri and Paul Marque as Basilio.  They were both great, their performances were flawless, Florent Mélac was also excellent as Espada.  Nureyev's version of this ballet is much closer to me than Acosta's choreography.  It is a show full of color, joy and beautiful costumes.  I'll see another performance next week, with Hannah O'Neil and Hugo Marchand.  I look forward to.

[Tattin]

It's going to be live-streamed tomorrow evening, but has to be paid for, and then available for a week - with the Sae Eun Park and Paul Marque cast.

[alison]

Will it work for the UK, I wonder?

[Silver Capricorn]

9 minutes ago, alison said:

Will it work for the UK, I wonder?

I think yes.  It's via the ONP website stream, the same way the ROH website stream works.  In the Czech Republic, I have a subscription to the streams of both theaters and it works.

[annamk]

I went to the opening night of this in Paris and I watched the same cast in the live relay last night. It was my first time seeing the Nureyev production of Don Q, I went mainly for the opportunity to see Paul Marque live again as he's one of my favourite dancers and I love his partnership with Sae Eun Park.

The production is classic Nureyev, following the same familiar path as most Don Q productions but with many many steps for the men and then some more. Difficult solos for Basilio in which he turns first one way and then the other. Of course the super dancer that is Paul Marque coped easily with all of these difficulties although it has to be said that difficulty doesn't necessarily make for the most attractive choreography. Everything moves along at a brisk and jolly pace. The tone of the costumes in Act 1 and 2 particularly is mostly on the muddy side which surprised me. I thought the matadors made a slightly more muted impact (certainly in their entrance) than they do in the Royal or Mariinsky productions and I was not overly impressed with the Espada of Florent Melac.

In the Dryads scene the lighting was quite dim so with the homogenous costumes and restrained dancing my friends found it a rather glacial presentation. Maybe that's the way Nureyev wanted it done because it very much reminded me of Mariinsky performances. I thought Heloise Bourdon danced beautifully as the Queen of the Dryads, she made the Italian fouettes look easy. 

The grand pas was full of warmth and joy. Paul Marque and Sae Eun Park dance beautifully individually and together, they have a warm and attractive connection it all makes for a very uplifting evening viewing. 

I enjoyed the insightful interval interviews.

I really hope Paris do many more of these live relays - it's great that they make them available on their platform and the price is very reasonable. I paid 9.90 euros for a month subscription - cancellable at any time. 

I believe the relay is available on the website for 7 days - I highly recommend watching. 

 

 

[alison]

Oh good, thanks, Anna - I'd been hoping they would leave it up for a while, but couldn't see anything to confirm that.

[Sophoife]

1 hour ago, annamk said:

The production is classic Nureyev, following the same familiar path as most Don Q productions but with many many steps for the men and then some more.

 

@Amelie-DALP mentioned on Twitter "Noureeveries" which I advised her I would steal (for those who may not know, the French spell "Nureyev" as "Noureev").

 

I think it's the perfect word for what you just said!

 

AusBallet's Don Quixote is also, as I'm sure many people here already know, a Nureyev production.

 

Edited April 3 by Sophoife

[alison]

As was the one Ross Stretton introduced at the Royal Ballet around the turn of the century, and which was recorded.

[BeauxArts]

Alison: was that a different production from Paris? 

[alison]

I don't believe so, although the costumes/sets may be different, I suppose.

[Emeralds]

4 hours ago, BeauxArts said:

Alison: was that a different production from Paris? 

It used to be the same production, down to the same designer - Nicholas Georgiadis (both Nureyev and MacMillan liked collaborating with him). But the Paris Opera changed the designs recently, and  commissioned new sets from Alexandre Beliaev and new costume designs from Elena Rivkina. 

[BeauxArts]

I was very happy to access the livestream on Tuesday evening. My experience of using the POP platform was entirely positive - no lagging

! - and I thought the broadcast was well-directed with no left-field camera angles that occasionally beset the ROH broadcasts. I enjoyed the production - Noureeveries included - and thought Park and Marque made a charming couple with both dancing exceptionally well. He has an easy virtuosity and pleasant stage presence: it will be very enjoyable to follow his career. My only slight reservation was that the lead ladies in the Dryades scene lacked warmth - for me  a little “glaciales”, albeit that may be one of the enduring features of the haut Parisian school and style.

[Birdy]

How do you find out which productions are available for livestream? Is it on the ticket page for the show?

[Sophoife]

On 06/04/2024 at 02:33, Birdy said:

How do you find out which productions are available for livestream? Is it on the ticket page for the show?

 

POB has a platform they call Paris Opera Play.

[Birdy]

On 06/04/2024 at 11:54, Sophoife said:

 

POB has a platform they call Paris Opera Play.

Thank you.

[Tattin]

On 03/04/2024 at 13:04, annamk said:

I went to the opening night of this in Paris and I watched the same cast in the live relay last night. It was my first time seeing the Nureyev production of Don Q, I went mainly for the opportunity to see Paul Marque live again as he's one of my favourite dancers and I love his partnership with Sae Eun Park.

The production is classic Nureyev, following the same familiar path as most Don Q productions but with many many steps for the men and then some more. Difficult solos for Basilio in which he turns first one way and then the other. Of course the super dancer that is Paul Marque coped easily with all of these difficulties although it has to be said that difficulty doesn't necessarily make for the most attractive choreography. Everything moves along at a brisk and jolly pace. The tone of the costumes in Act 1 and 2 particularly is mostly on the muddy side which surprised me. I thought the matadors made a slightly more muted impact (certainly in their entrance) than they do in the Royal or Mariinsky productions and I was not overly impressed with the Espada of Florent Melac.

In the Dryads scene the lighting was quite dim so with the homogenous costumes and restrained dancing my friends found it a rather glacial presentation. Maybe that's the way Nureyev wanted it done because it very much reminded me of Mariinsky performances. I thought Heloise Bourdon danced beautifully as the Queen of the Dryads, she made the Italian fouettes look easy. 

The grand pas was full of warmth and joy. Paul Marque and Sae Eun Park dance beautifully individually and together, they have a warm and attractive connection it all makes for a very uplifting evening viewing. 

I enjoyed the insightful interval interviews.

I really hope Paris do many more of these live relays - it's great that they make them available on their platform and the price is very reasonable. I paid 9.90 euros for a month subscription - cancellable at any time. 

I believe the relay is available on the website for 7 days - I highly recommend watching. 

 

 

I finally managed to watch it yesterday, as I had been in Barcelona for a few days (where incidentally I saw an unusual dance cum acrobatics performance at 11 a,m, one morning followed by a meeting with the dancers and choreographers). This is to say, however,  that I agree  100 per cent with your critique above annamk. I had seen the production before as Vienna had live-streamed it when Manuel Legris was the director and .... It was definitely my favourite one until I saw José Carlos Martínez's own  production for the Compañía Nacional de Danza here in Spain when he directed the company, and that, of course, was because it is the most Spanish of all productions - so many of them make me cringe with their pseudo-Spanishness. All credit due to Martínez, therefore,  for staging Nureyev's much larger-scale production, and therefore more suitable for the company, rather than his own version as so many company directors would have done. 

 

I was slightly worried at the beginning that Sae Eun Park was not going to be able to express the verve and dominating character of Kitri but she managed it very well and, of course, danced superbly. It was interesting that she commented in the interval interview that she really enjoyed dancing a role that was so different from her own character, so she had really had to work on it.

 

 And as for the Noureeveries, well I have to confess that I am very partial to them. I am very fond of ronde  de jambe en l'air, whether en dedans or en dehors, and I love it when the male and female dancers do the same steps and was delighted to see a bit of that at the beginning of the grand pas.

[Amelie-DALP]

It's refreshing to read positive comments about the Noureeveries! ;).

In Paris, we've had our fill of Noureeveries. It's all we have, and we're tired of it. So, it's interesting to read different perspectives.

Paul Marque and Sae Eun Park were truly outstanding! Brilliant, engaging, and funny, just as we like DQ. They make the Noureeveries look easy and natural... But few dancers in Paris know how to make them look easy. And when that's not the case, the evening becomes long.

I also loved José Martinez's Don Quichotte. I saw it performed by the Compañía Nacional de Danza, and last year by the Bordeaux Opera Ballet. It's very lively, each character is well-defined. And yes, the work on character dances and Spanish dances is wonderful. Since then, I find it hard to watch a Don Quixote without this work; the character dances now seem very artificial to me.

[JNC]

Hope this isn’t too off topic but interested to how this compares to Acosta’s version for those who have seen both?

 

I have to be honest and say I don’t enjoy Acosta’s version. Of course Kitri’s solo is iconic and I like the more classical parts of the Dryads and the grand pas but I find it a bit “panto” in parts (not helped by some of the sets, the windmill one in particular) and the choreography doesn’t “wow” me the way other classical ballets do.

 

I guess I’m interested in whether I would enjoy a different version of DQ, or whether the aspects I don’t enjoy about Acosta’s are to do with his choreography? 

[Pas de Quatre]

Don Quixote - full ballet

 

Here is a link to Nureyev's Don Quixote, danced by La Scala, Milan. I think it is a very satisfying version. Enjoy!

Edited April 10 by Pas de Quatre
Add linnk

[annamk]

2 hours ago, JNC said:

Hope this isn’t too off topic but interested to how this compares to Acosta’s version for those who have seen both?

 

I have to be honest and say I don’t enjoy Acosta’s version. Of course Kitri’s solo is iconic and I like the more classical parts of the Dryads and the grand pas but I find it a bit “panto” in parts (not helped by some of the sets, the windmill one in particular) and the choreography doesn’t “wow” me the way other classical ballets do.

 

I guess I’m interested in whether I would enjoy a different version of DQ, or whether the aspects I don’t enjoy about Acosta’s are to do with his choreography? 

 

I don't much enjoy Acosta's version either: I feel some of the virtuosity has been taken out of the choreography making the dancing just less exciting, I find the addition of the guitar troupe in the gypsy scene is long and tedious as are all the "panto" parts.

 

I certainly prefer Nureyev's version to Acosta's although it has no shortage of panto the choreography is more exciting - at least it seemed that way with Paul Marque. 

 

I love the Mariinsky version most - on youtube you can find a thrilling 2019 recording with Elena Yevseyeva and Vladimir Shklyarov. I saw this performance live and it was spectacular. But also who could forget the Bolshoi version with young Osipova and Vasiliev. 

 

Obviously, mediocre dancers can make great choreography look pedestrian but more tricky for fabulous dancers to make dull choreography truly dazzle. 

[alison]

Which version of Acosta's Don Q?  I think BRB's is generally better.  Haven't seen the Nureyev since the RB did it in 2001, so it's difficult to comment.

[Jan McNulty]

2 hours ago, alison said:

Which version of Acosta's Don Q?  I think BRB's is generally better.  Haven't seen the Nureyev since the RB did it in 2001, so it's difficult to comment.

 

BRB's version is splendid and IMHO a great improvement on RB version.

[Emeralds]

18 hours ago, JNC said:

Hope this isn’t too off topic but interested to how this compares to Acosta’s version for those who have seen both?

I've seen a number of Don Q productions - some brilliant and some not as enjoyable. I think for me Nureyev's version comes out ahead of Acosta's two versions, and Acosta's BRB version comes out slightly ahead of his RB version. But Carlos needn't feel too upset about that conclusion- Nureyev had had a lot of practice staging the classics before he did his Paris Opera Don Q, while the RB Don Q was Carlos's first ever attempt at a full length classic. By the time he did the BRB production, he had had a bit more practice, and he could improve or correct some parts that didn't work so well. The only bit of the BRB version- which I enjoy immensely- that could probably do with some revisiting is the costume and hairdo for Amour because they look perfect on some dancers and strange on others! Have a look at other versions by  Nureyev and some others on YouTube or DVD and see what you think.

Edited April 11 by Emeralds

[Paco]

On 03/04/2024 at 13:04, annamk said:

In the Dryads scene the lighting was quite dim so with the homogenous costumes and restrained dancing my friends found it a rather glacial presentation.

 

 

That's the issue with today's POB productions of Nureyev ballets: During the last 15 years Bastille lights have been converted into LED (first generation of LED), providing that kind of icy feeling which has nothing to do with the original production of those ballets in the 90s (moreover it was at Garnier, not at Bastille where most of the time the sets are somehow lost in this very wide stage).

While it does not disturb me in DQ Dryad scenes, it is really a pain in Swan Lake, which was originally a very good production (and, from my point of view, the best ever Act IV) but is now transformed into a veeery cold atmosphere, made of grey, nano sets and icy lights.

 

Regarding the questions of this thread "do you prefer Nureyev DQ to Acosta DQ?", I would say that first of all today's Nureyev DQ at POB has nothing to do with the original Nureyev DQ: virtuosity, passion and theatrical approach were far higher in the 90s, and the more the generations who knew Nureyev have been retiring, the less the mindset of his productions have remained in Paris. Just compare to La Scala video (Osipova, Sarafanov, much closer to the original mindset of the production) to today performances in Paris and you will even there see a difference. To have an idea of what this DQ was when it was danced by the "Nureyev generaion", try to find on Youtube the video with Sylvie Guillem and Nicolas Le Riche. This was the way DQ was danced at Nureyev time (though he was already dead when this performance was broadcasted and Guillem was already at the RB).

 

I love the original Nureyev DQ production, but I love Acosta RB production either. It is a totally different approach: Acosta tells a story, his DQ is more theatrical, fluid, cinematographic, less an addition of virtuoso variations. I find it thrilling. Nor better neither less good than Nureyev one, just different.

Edited April 11 by Paco

[stucha]

On 04/04/2024 at 04:48, Emeralds said:

It used to be the same production, down to the same designer - Nicholas Georgiadis (both Nureyev and MacMillan liked collaborating with him). But the Paris Opera changed the designs recently, and  commissioned new sets from Alexandre Beliaev and new costume designs from Elena Rivkina. 

 

Georgiades never designed Don Q at the Australian Ballet. The costumes were by Barry Kay and the sets by Anne Fraser and it was this production which entered the the Royal Ballet  repertoire in the early 2000s. The most recent production had new sets and costumes based on Nureyev's famous film version for the Australian Ballet which were by Barry Kay. 

[alison]

52 minutes ago, Paco said:

That's the issue with today's POB productions of Nureyev ballets: During the last 15 years Bastille lights have been converted into LED (first generation of LED), providing that kind of icy feeling which has nothing to do with the original production of those ballets in the 90s (moreover it was at Garnier, not at Bastille where most of the time the sets are somehow lost in this very wide stage).

 

Interesting you should say that: at the Royal Opera broadcast of Madama Butterfly last month, there was a whole piece on how the stage lighting at the ROH is being changed - I can't off-hand remember whether the change to LEDs was mentioned there or elsewhere, though.  It may well be online on YouTube somewhere now, I suppose.

[JNC]

thanks all for comments. From what is said I’d probably prefer the Nureyev version but DQ probably still isn’t necessarily a ballet I will ever love!

 

I now remember I saw the Bolshoi dance this when they came to London in 2018 (or 2019?). I remember enjoying it more than Acosta’s version but still thinking it perhaps wasn’t ever going to be one of my favourite ballets or a “must see” for me. But from what I vaguely recall the “supporting” soloist type roles were “better” than Acosta’s version with classical choreography and a bit of excitement. 
 

Re lights - I have no insight but you can buy warm toned LED lights so unless there’s a reason why they can’t get them for business/industrial levels it must have been a choice to go for the cold white light? 

[Paco]

1 hour ago, JNC said:

Re lights - I have no insight but you can buy warm toned LED lights so unless there’s a reason why they can’t get them for business/industrial levels it must have been a choice to go for the cold white light? 

It is a question of generation of LED. Today you can find LED that provide a light with almost no difference at all compared to previous standard lights, so it is not anymore an issue.

But at the time Paris Opera switched step-by-step to LED (it was a pioneer in this strategy), long time ago, it was what I would call the "early generation" of LED, the time when the only rendering was a pale, cold, very poor light. This is what impacted Swan Lake, DQ and most of Nureyev ballets.

Next year Paquita will be transferred from Garnier to Bastille. I know many friends who fear what it will mean in terms of lights, as they would probably be converted into LED. But this time I think there is no worry to have, as today's LED have nothing to compare with the early generation.

[Emeralds]

Tiny digression but while we're comparing (or just recalling) Don Quixote productions eg Nureyev's  vs Acosta's, National Ballet of Canada is acquiring Acosta's production of Don Q this season. From the  photos and trailer used for marketing it, it looks like it is the BRB version that  they have in mind. 

[Sophoife]

On 11/04/2024 at 19:20, stucha said:

 

Georgiades never designed Don Q at the Australian Ballet. The costumes were by Barry Kay and the sets by Anne Fraser and it was this production which entered the the Royal Ballet  repertoire in the early 2000s. The most recent production had new sets and costumes based on Nureyev's famous film version for the Australian Ballet which were by Barry Kay. 

 

The most recent production (2023) had new sets, but I can assure you the costumes were the same as usual - the Barry Kay designs for the film.

 

This production has been hanging around AusBallet like a bad smell (the noisy beads on the Dryads' tutus! the absolutely horrid Fandango costumes with the side panniers and the clearly made-from-wool wigs!) since 1972. The choreography is very Nureyev, and very fabulous, but most of the costumes are hideous.

 

2023, 2013, 2007, 1999, 1994, 1993 (when Irek Mukhamedov was a guest artist), 1986...

[Scheherezade]

3 hours ago, Emeralds said:

From the  photos and trailer used for marketing it, it looks like it is the BRB version that  they have in mind. 

The BRB production is indeed more vibrant than the RB version but I have to say that I absolutely loved all the RB performances I saw in the last run. And it may just be that a level of comfort sets in with increased familiarity but it did seem to me that there was less of an insipid feel to the RB sets and costumes this time round. Also - and I acknowledge that I am in a minority here - I really like the Act 2 sets.