Coppelia, The Bolshoi Ballet, 24/07/2010

Coppelia is not a ballet of much substance, but is more about pretty movement, to pretty music in the context of a light but mostly inconsequential plot.

Full of light, energetic village scenes, acts I and III are all about the dance. These breezy acts are perfect vehicles for the Bolshoi's impeccable corps, and for the feisty athleticism of another young star, Natalia Osipova (pictured), as she dances Swanilda. Although beguiling, the character of the young girl Swanilda is not a particularly attractive one; think head cheerleader, for a crass parallel. However, it's all good fun, overlooked by the life-like doll Coppelia from the balcony of the old man Coppelius's house, broken into by the village youths and the Coppelia-smitten Franz (Ruslan Skvortsov).

 In Act II (set in Coppelius's workshop) there are creepy chilling elements as the life size dolls dance, and it is this act that forms the heart of the ballet. Coppelius returns and turfs the youngsters out, only to be taunted by Swanilda, masquerading as Coppelia come to life. Coppelius is meant to be sinister and somewhat malevolent, but Gennady Yanin played him as a rather pathetic, lonely old man. While this added an extra layer of emotional complexity to this otherwise fairly inane ballet, it did rather take the fun out of Swanilda's taunting. Finally she achieves her goal, revealing to Franz that the object of his affection is a doll, setting things up for the exuberant wedding celbrations of act III, which are not disimilar to those of Sleeping Beauty (no plot left to tell, random solos... but as part of a much shorter ballet).
 
Coppelia doesn't leave a particularly lasting impression, but is good enough fun, and holds some magnificent dancing. Delibes' music is lovely, and the Bolshoi probably danced this almost as well as it can be danced, with Osipova very much in the driving seat, reigning supreme as Swanilda.

Spartacus, The Bolshoi Ballet 21/07/2010

It would be pretty impressive for any one who regularly reads a newspaper to have missed the sensation that is the Bolshoi's young star Ivan Vasiliev (pictured), dancing the title role in this performance. Almost every newspaper has had a feature article, many full page, and several had interviews with the man himself. This is practically unheard of in ballet, so what's so special about this man?

I was expecting to see the second cast, and running late, didn't pick up a cast sheet before the first act. By the interval I was utterly bemused - how was it possible that the lauded Vasiliev could be better than the man dancing this evening! Of course it all made sense when I discovered that the Bolshoi had rearranged the performance dates, and that the genius on stage was in fact the 21 year old from Vladivostok. His famous leaps deserve every bit of their hype - he flies through the air, with both grace and fervour simultaneously. His turns are full of energy and abandon yet without being the slightest bit messy. He spirals out of them effortlessly. And yet for all this technical genius, we could still have been left wanting, but Vasiliev's acting is every bit the match for his dancing. Every movement of his muscular shoulders spoke volumes, particularly in Spartacus's monologues, and he accurately portrayed both the fierce anger of a man trapped by circumstance and the passion of a man in love.

Gushings of the wonder of Vasiliev aside, there are some very striking elements to Spartacus; the masculinity of the corps,  Khachaturian's music, and the absolutely stunning tableaus that see out each act. The crucifixion of spears, and the finale are moving, haunting. The choreography is heavy in places, and occasionally the stage feels overcrowded. In the other lead roles, the part of Crassus (Alexander Volchkov) is rather static and pathetic, not to mention camp, which is certainly not helped by the gold wig and armour. There is something of the ethereal about Spartacus's love Phyrgia who was beautifully danced by Nina Kaptsova. Aegina, Crassus's manipulative Courtesan, danced by Maria Allash, wasn't convincingly alluring and had slightly soft ankles, but pulled it off well enough.

So Spartacus - some great bits, but not overwhelming in and of itself. This really was all about Vasiliev - with him in the title role, everything hangs together. By all accounts the second cast failed to lift this production out of mediocrity. I have never seen anyone dance like Vasiliev - finally I understand why people camped for days to get tickets to see Nureyev and Fonteyn. I will travel the globe to see him dance. And so should we all.

Chroma/Tryst/Symphony in C - The Royal Ballet, 02/06/2010

The final triple bill of the year for The Royal Ballet, the combination of Wayne McGregor's Chroma, Christopher Wheeldon's Tryst, and the classic Balanchine Symphony in C was an excellent season finale.

Chroma received rave reviews at it's first outing, and with such stunning staging, and wonderfully mesmeric music (orchestration of music by the White Stripes), it's easy to see why. And where the dancing works with the music, this piece is stunning, particularly the central pas de deux, danced at this performance by Sarah Lamb and Eric Underwood. On the whole the choreography is just hallmark McGregor - which was interesting when we hadn't seen much from him, but now just feels a bit tired. It felt disjointed at points;any relationship between the dance and the music seemed to have been severed, with bodies scattered round the stage, often with little connection between dancers. The men were bizarrely overly effeminate. Aside of the tranquility generated in the rare moments of perfect cohesion between music and movement during the pas de deux, this work now feels a bit inconsequential.

Tryst could perhaps have been equally renamed Trance. The music (James MacMillan) is ghastly for the most part - screeching strings - but fortunately this work is weird enough to work it. While perhaps the whole thing felt a little flat emotionally, the movement was interestingly primordial, almost blind, looking as though choreographed for the sensation rather than the visual effect. The four main couples danced well together, if slightly clumsily alone.  The staging was really effective, diagonally arranged on the stage, and the lighting created a ghostly intimate atmosphere, almost like a new dawn or birth at the end, with the dancers writhing as the light comes up from stage left. Interesting, hypnotising, but a bit weird.

Symphony in C was in a whole league of its own, however. I think I often underrate Balanchine, but when you see his work next to these two, albeit very enjoyable and interesting, new works, it outshines them completely. Each movement of Bizet's symphony is taken on by one pair of principals, each with a distinct character and mood. The corps were radiant, and perhaps the most synchronous I have seen them dance; every movement initiated by the leading principals echoed so beautifully and subtley to completion. Alina Cojocaru danced a very regal Adagio, and Roberta Marquez and Stephen MacRae were show-stopping in the Allego Vivace. We had only a short snippet of the perfect pairing of Laura Morera and Ricardo Cervera,  but they just left us wanting more at curtain down. Perhaps only Leanne Benjamin let the side down a very little in the first movement, with a few wobbly turns. However, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this the final work of the night.

A triple bill that ranks very highly in my table of Royal Ballet mixed bill evenings - it will be interesting to see what happens to these bills when Monica Mason steps down as Director. She has been key in the development of these evenings that have become such a core part of the Royal Ballet programme.

Electric Counterpoint, Asphodel Meadows, Carmen 06/05/2010

It was election night, and with so many minds elsewhere, awaiting the exit poll results, there wasn't quite the same expectant hush as the curtains rose to Christopher Wheeldon's Electric Counterpoint. However, the effective juxtaposition of voiceovers, a lifesize screen, and live dancing, generated sufficient intrigue to reel us in. And yet, I found myself more interested in what the dancers were saying as they reflected on the sensations of dance, on choreography, on music, than the movement itself. It was also a shame that much of the video projection had been filmed for the first cast, rather than for Ricardo Cervera, Laura Morera, Marianela Nuñez and Sergei Polunin.

Asphodel Meadows was the main stage debut for young choreographer Liam Scarlett. Unlike most choreographers of his generation, Scarlett is pretty traditional, preferring clean, precise and more classical lines. Think more Balanchine than McGregor. The three main couples were echoed by a beige clad corps, and while if there was a concept it passed me by, the dancing was certainly a pleasure to watch. Scarlett is not exactly bringing something novel or fresh with his choreography, but provided he does what he does well, I can't imagine he won't get a second outing on the main stage.

Mats Ek's Carmen is an unusual piece, but one that I greatly enjoyed seeing for the second time. The garish background (a fan, with a suggestively shaped and placed slit doorway at the bottom) and costumes, perfectly complement and contrast the choreography. Unusually for ballet, there are gutteral screams and shouts of olé, which creates a great rough and ready atmosphere, and adds to the dramatic tension that builds as events reach their dramatic conclusion. Tamara Rojo was a fantastic Carmen, and Thomas Whitehead a superb José. Kristen McNally dancing the odd choreography of M perfectly, evoking both confused outbursts of laughter and eery spine-tingling as she weaves on and off the stage.

All in all a very enjoyable triple-bill, without a weak link for once. It will be intriguing to see what Liam Scarlett does next!

Cinderella, The Royal Ballet 17/04/10,22/04/10,03/05/10

A busy month means this review is extremely late, but here goes anyway. Cinderella was the second Ashton ballet for the Royal Ballet this season, and while not quite up to the high standards of La Fille Mal Gardee, these were still three very enjoyable evenings.

The production is glitzy, in the same vein as the Nutcracker, while the pantomime Ugly sisters make for less dull tweeness than Sleeping Beauty. Prokofiev's often haunting music also adds depth to what could easily become a superficial waltz through a fairy story.

Curtain up and Cinderella is alone by the fire, until her stepsisters fall onto the stage. The sisters get a lot of stage time in this ballet, almost more than Cinderella herself, and while a limited amount of pratting around is funny, by the end of the evening one rather tires of it. Luke Heydon's face is a picture, but was so subtle as to only be appreciable from the stalls, while Gary Avis and Philip Mosley projected far better to the nether regions of the Opera House. Wayne Sleep waddled endearingly, but played his part rather one-dimensionally. Cinderella pines for her dead mother, and her somewhat drippy father rather pathetically lets himself be pushed around by the sisters. Once the sisters are dispatched to the ball, Cinderella wish-dances with her broom. Miyako Yoshida was the picture of refinement and subtle emotion on what was her penultimate performance at the Royal (17/04/10), and Yuhui Choe (22/04/10) sweetly graceful as she stepped in last minute for Alina Cojocaru. The Fairy Godmother then turns up to work her magic - Laura Morera was fantastic, ruling the stage with her energy. Tara-Brigitte Bhavnani had less success, seeming nervous and failing to exert anything like Morera's stage presence. The fairies spring, summer, autumn and winter were danced to varying standards on all three nights. The choreography for summer is dire (even Yuhui Choe couldn't completely pull it off), but Iohna Loots' Spring was dynamic, and Clare Clavert's winter perfectly flitting between hard ice and flurrying snow flakes. The corps weave onto the stage as the moon becomes a clock, cyclically dancing the whirring hands and cogs of ticking time.

Second act, enter the Prince. Stephen McRae managed to exude double his stature in stage presence, and in the few solo sections danced exuberantly, and pretty much perfectly. He partnered Miyako Yoshida to perfection; really some of the best partnering I have seen in many years - every line perfectly echoed, every moment perfectly synchronous. Yoshida was the very picture of elegance and precision. Gary Avis and Michael Stojko pull off suitably ridiculous partners for the ugly sisters by simply playing it straight, the pas de deux between Luke Heydon and Gary Avis being particularly hilarious, ending in a full lift. Paul Kay was a snappy jester, keeping the act moving and holding all the dances together. Time dances in and out, and eventually the clock strikes twelve and Cinders flees the scene, leaving the all important glittery pointe shoe at the top of the steps.

Things wrap up fairly quickly in Act III, after some funny dress swapping between the sisters. The shoe fits, and hey presto happy ending. The fairy godmother then orchestrates the final marriage, and Cinderella and her Prince walk off into the sunset, although only Yoshida and McRae managed to stay in time right to the end. It lacks a final grand pas de deux, which is a shame, but if danced well then the earlier dances should still be on your mind.

Cinderella is good fun, and if danced as well as on the 17th (Yoshida, McRae and Morera) then it is magical. Only negatives are that it is maybe a bit of a pantomime overdose, and you don't get quite enough of Cinderella.

La Fille Mal Gardee, The Royal Ballet, 09/03/2010, 18/03/2010, 21/04/2010

It is a sign of just how good this production is, that at my third performance, I was still laughing just as hard as at my first, and clapping just as enthusiastically until the very end of the curtain calls.

The perfect concoction of witty choreography, pantomime and warm-hearted delectably twee romance. Frederick Ashton tells us the story of Lise, the only daughter of a wealthy widow, who is in love, against her mother's wishes, with a young farmer Colas. Her mother would rather see her married to Alain, the idiot son of a rich landowner. We watch the fun and games unfold as Lise and Colas cheekily defy her mother, enjoy the gaiety of harvest-time and, and finally we see them united as we know they inevitably will be from the moment the curtain goes up.

Ashton's choreography is genius, timed perfectly with the nuances in the music; OTT yet tongue-in-cheek, this really is charming. The whole production is full of humourous surprises. Certainly you don't come to the Royal Ballet with the expectation of seeing dancing chickens and a real horse on stage! While the treatment of the character of Alain is perhaps ever so slightly un-P.C, on the whole the right balance is struck between sympathy and humour, and Jose Martin and Liam Scarlett both danced and acted very well. The comedy star of the show is the Widow Twanky of the pantomime, Widow Simone, played by Will Tuckett and Alastair Marriott, both to great effect. Her clog dance in Scene 2 is absolutely hilarious, with Will Tuckett going completely all out, slides, heel clicks, buckling ankles. Brilliant.

I am priveliged enough to have seen three different casts, Marianela Nunez with Carlos Acosta, and both Laura Morera and Alina Cojocaru with Stephen McRae. Nunez and Acosta were the most consumate  and confident performers. Not a partnership that we see often, they dance this piece very well together; the wittiest of the three couples by quite some margin. Also, Colas is a perfectly smug role for Acostas. Nunez and Morera dance very similar interpretations - youthful, cheeky, but not completely naive - whereas Cojocaru plays a far more childish, innocent (although not without a touch of stubbornness) Lise. McRae was on top form both performances, although he seemed to have better chemistry as Colas with Laura Morera than for Cojocaru; this pair getting an extremely enthusiastic response from the normally quiet Tuesday night audience.

This is a ballet of many props, and Lise and Colas certainly have some tricky props to contend with throughout the ballet, most notably a veritable cats cradle with ribbons in Act 1. This was met with varying degrees of success, and only Nunez and Acosta pulled all the ribbon antics off seamlessly right through to Nunez rock solid en attitude as the rotating centre of the may pole in scene 2. Cojocaru and McRae more or less got there, although wobbled at the may pole in scene 2, but McRae and Morera got the ribbon so tangled in scene 1 that in the they had to ditch it all together! However, it's all part of the fun, and when it goes wrong, it certainly doesn't detract from the rest of the evening.

La Fille Mal Gardee provides unabated fun and games, with lovely dancing, clever antics and charming humour from start to finish. Really one of the best things I've seen at the ROH for a long time, and certainly my favourite Ashton. As the friend I went with said, and quite rightly - "you just come out bouncing!"

Concerto/The Judas Tree/Elite Syncopations - The Royal Ballet 31/03/2010

A trio of MacMillan. And all works I've not seen before. A highly anticipated evening!

Concerto, danced to Shostakovich's beautiful 2nd piano concerto, started things off. This is possibly one of my favourite pieces of music, which was both a good and a bad thing. It was fantastic to see it visualised, made flesh (!), but at the same time, the tempos were all a bit rigid, and too slow for my liking in the first and third movements. The first movement should be garish and circus like, yet with militaristic overtones - puppetry is probably the most obvious theme that comes to mind. Certainly, the orange, yellow and red leatards met the garish criterion, but it still felt too understated. I wanted more angularity, harsher more abrupt movements than were evident. Laura Morera was fab as usual, although Brian Maloney, partnering her, was a little clumsy. The second movement, a pas de deux inspired by a ballerina warming up at the barre, is a stark contrast to the first and third. Dim lights rather than harsh lights, and slow lingering movements. The male dancer is a support, taking the part of the barre, and Ryoichi Hirano was solid, and symmetrical, beautiful echoing Sarah Lamb's sublime movements. This movement was peaceful and really did feel like music in motion. In the third however, Laura McCulloch had a hard task. Following two duos, she really needed to set the stage on fire, particularly after the slow 2nd movement. However, she felt cumbersome and heavy, and this is not the first time I've used those words to describe her dancing. She is a lot taller than her fellow female dancers, and in general bigger built. Which is fine, and sometimes works really well. But this whole dance felt strained - she overreached in her grand jetes, and lacked the radiance she sometimes exudes. However, despite ending on a down note, Concerto was definitely a hit for me.

The Judas Tree, MacMillan's last ballet, packs a punch and that's for sure. MacMillan at his grittiest, it is set in the Isle of Dogs during the regeneration period. Dealing with the concepts of collective guilt and betrayal, the choreography is rough and ready, and this work ends chillingly with a graphic representation of gang rape. Mara Galeazzi and Thiago Soares danced fantastically as the Woman and The Foreman, with Soares probably giving the best performance I've ever seen him give. I'll admit to finding this a pretty shocking ballet - I'm glad I've seen it, but I'm not sure I would be in a hurry to see it again.

Elite Syncopations couldn't be more different to The Judas Tree if it tried. And what a fun way to end the night. If Concerto's costumes were not garish enough, these may have gone too far. They are almost blinding! The band (ragtime music not being exactly orchestral) is on stage, creating a nicely informal atmosphere, even though the stripped down numbers and added distance from the auditorium compromises on volume. I felt like this got off to an unexpectedly slow start - the Sunflower Slow Drag felt a bit scrappy and a bit lacking in energy. Laura Morera was the star of this show as far as I'm concerned - perfect musicality and characterful dancing in the Calliope Rag. Yuhui Choe lacked pizazz and while Marianela Nunez was her usual seamless self (and that definition also extents to her stars-and-stripes catsuit!) she wasn't a patch on Laura. The Alaskan Rag, which turn the normal ballet partnership on it's head (short MALE dancer, tall female) was absolutely hilarious - Nathalie Harrison and Michael Stojko had their timing down to a tee. An extremely enjoyable end to the night, even if I felt it could have had just slightly more energy!

The Cunning Little Vixen, The Royal Opera, 29/03/2010

A charming production, and the least pretentious opera I've seen. Beautiful, yet highly stylised, ethereal set and costumes make Janáček's opera a visual feast. A large rotating wheel, gigantic mosquitos, a chain-saw-come-clock and more. Wow.

What it lacks in big sweeping songs, it more than makes up for in gorgeous, warm, dense orchestration and light floating melodies. The cast was strong, and were clearly (like the audience watching) having a whale of a time. Emma Matthews (Vixen Sharp-Ears) has a lovely light tone; a joy to listen to, even if she did struggle occasionally to cut through the orchestra. Elisabeth Meister replaced Emma Bell as The Fox, and acted the part well, although her voice has a shrill quality that jars on the some of the higher notes.

The plot is neither here nor there (or perhaps I just didn't get it) but this opera is witty, whimsical and wholesome fun. It's not all fun and games of course - gun shots in the second act bring us crashing back to earth - but overall an uplifting and unpretentious production. No melodrama here.

As One/Rushes - Fragments of A Lost Story/Infra - The Royal Ballet 01/03/2010

This was an unexpectedly good night. Three very modern works, including a debut for young choreographer Jonathan Watkins, with a strong cast of principals. I am writing this too long after the performance to write a fully detailed review, but I'll get down the general gist of things.

Watkins's As One opened the programme, and I was surprised at how coherent and compelling I found this new work. The choreography manages extremely effectively to portray both individuality and uniformity, loneliness and unity as it moves through a series of dances based on everyday life; channel surfing, a house party, school...In 'channel surfing' Laura Morera and Edward Watson dance almost entirely separately, seldom making body contact, and yet there is communication, a give-and-take in the choreography that makes it quite obvious that while these are two characters with individual struggles they are also united. In the 'house party' we see each of the dancers breaking out in individual sequences of steps. Interestingly, to begin with, my take on 'As One' was that we could strive to be individual but really we were just part of the mass, that even when we feel lonely and isolated and on the edge we are really on the uniform conveyor belt through life, as is danced through two solos including a flashingly brilliant, yet repetitive solo for Stephen McCrae. However, the final scenes create a sense of joy in the togetherness of our individuality, the final frieze showing the dynamic individuality of all the dancers meshing together to form one living breathing mass of united dancers! It was a delight, choreographically intriguing and creative. I didn't need to read the program to understand and get involved with this work, something deliciously unusual for the contemporary works that the Royal tend to perform. Go see. I hope they revive it in a couple of years!

Rushes, based on Doestoevsky's 'The Idiot' and danced to music by Prokofiev, however failed to grab me. Choreographically it felt like a poor Macmillan imitation, the set is intrusive, serving only to shut the audience out (although I think this may actually be the desired effect), and while Laura Morera gave a strong performance, and danced well with Carlos Acostas, there is little to get your teeth into here. My  sandwich filling hypothesis holdds true again it seems. So moving on...

Wayne McGregor's Infra was fortunately a return to the standard of the beginning of the evening. While I do find McGregor almost too abstract, his choreography generates a compelling tension between the dancers, whether there be two or twelve of them on stage. He has a very distinctive choreographic style, that's for sure, but I am dubious how many more similar ballets he can churn out before we tire of them. Strong performances from Ed Watson, and Eric Underwood (pictured).

A strong night for the Royal Ballet, which, for me at least, was all about As One.

Romeo and Juliet, The Royal Ballet 13/02/2010

Kenneth Macmillan's first full length work, Romeo and Juliet has been a staple in the Royal Ballet's repertory since it premiered in 1965. Combining the traditional with the contemporary, this ballet houses heavy costumes, character dancing and mime, with weighty emotions and a decent dose more grit than your average Swan Lake. The performance I saw was the day before Valentine's day, and boy could you tell - couples everywhere, all dressed up to the nines.

The first scene of Act 1 attempts to establish the enmity between the Montagues and Capulets. The fight scene completely lacks any real bloodlust. Perhaps this is deliberate and an attempt to unveil it all as a bit of a farce, but either way, it's tedious to watch, and while the dramatic tableau created at the end of the scene is impressive, it feels a little as though the entire scene was building up to the final pose. However, things pick up when we travel to Juliet's bedroom and meet the young Juliet (Marianela Nuñez) for the delightfully amusing dance with her nurse, immediately prior to meeting her suitor Paris, in which Juliet becomes aware for seemingly the first time that she is no longer a child.

Into the ball, and I always feel a little disappointed by the Dance of Knights, which is set to Prokofiev's most famous piece of music from this ballet. While it certainly feels austere, the choreography is repetitive and lacks any real drama, as with the first scene. However, Juliet, Paris and Romeo (Thiago Soares) weave intriguingly through the dancers which fits perfectly with Prokofiev's mesmerising score. From this point forth the romance takes off in a frenzy, and spirals onwards brilliantly towards the tragic finish. In the second act Gary Avis is, as always, spectacular as Juliet's cousin Tybalt, and Ricardo Cervera and Kenta Kura flashingly brilliant as Mercutio and Benvolio, outdancing Thiago Soares in some of the pas de trois.

This was the first time I've seen Nuñez dance a more dramatic role, and she threw everything and the kitchen sink into her rendition of Juliet. She was better partnered than normal by her Romeo (Thiago Soares), who despite a wobbly first solo (which is just after they've met and is supposed to woo her!) was suitably lyrical and romantic for the rest of the night. His acting at Juliet's tomb was heart-rending, and he outperformed Nuñez at this point. While they are not the best Romeo and Juliet I have seen by quite some margin, throughout the night I was very struck by how accurately Soares and Nuñez timed their acting with the music, despite the fact the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House were not having a stellar night. They used the space between them, and their positioning on the stage perfectly to almost paint emotion and tension onto the stage.

Romeo and Juliet is a slow starter, but once it gets going it's fabulous. It's a shame I won't see any other partnerships dance it this run. Nuñez and Soares pulled off the frenzied romance and tragedy very well, and I will definitely see them dance other dramatic roles in the future.

La Fille du Régiment, The Metropolitan Opera, New York City 09/02/2010

 

As I've said before, I am no opera buff, but I didn't need to be to appreciate this wonderful performance. The almost uniformly brilliant vocal performances combined with with tastefully over-the-top acting made for a thoroughly entertaining night.

Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment has, like many operas, a fairly ridiculous storyline, and this was handled perfectly by the star-studded line up of the Met Opera. While emotion was certainly not lacking, you never got the impression that any of the characters were taking themselves too seriously, which made for a very humourous performance. Diana Damrau made Marie the perfect boisterious tom-boy heroine, while Juan Diego Flórez was sublime as the smitten Tonio, his top notes simply gorgeous. In the smaller roles, Meredith Arwardy's voice was not my favourite of the night but she certainly made her presence felt as the Marquise of Berkenfield, and Maurizio Mauro was a very solid Sulpice - the dynamic between him and the Marquise very comic.

The set too was creative, beginning with a barricade built out of furniture that put me in mind of 'Les Miserables', and the floor of the stage covered in huge unfolded maps. While costumes were still period, this more modern setting laid the backdrop for the more contemporary feel of the acting, and further abolished any illusions that the story being enacted was in anyway realistic!

I really don't have a bad word to say about this production, other than that maybe Kiri Te Kanawa hammed up her cameo as the Duchess of Krakenthorp a little too much. It was the first time I have heard dialogue in opera, but it didn't intrude or jar. Donizetti's music is catchy and provides ample oppportunity for the lead roles to show off their vocal prowess - which they did with considerable gusto! It was only a shame that heavy blizzards had kept away much of what should have been a full house at Lincoln Center - what a treat they missed! Flórez is in London doing the same role at the ROH this season, and I am very tempted to go to see him again.

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake 24/01/2010, Sadler's Wells

I entered Sadler's Wells with high expectations. This is a much talked about and almost revered production, made famous by Adam Cooper's cameo at the end of the film Billy Elliott. And while there are undeniably some sublime moments of raw spine-tingling genius, I think Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake has been over-hyped. When it was first staged 15 years ago, it would have been novel in the extreme, but now it is practically more mainstream than many of the ballets at the opera house.

The first act is Swan Lake meets Paris Hilton, and I almost despaired. Dance theatre at it's cheapest, this act was overlong. The spoof 'ballet-within-a-ballet' punches accurately and gets some laughs from the ballet fans in the audience...(although I found myself getting a little indignant at the insinuation that traditional ballets are so ridiculous and trite - what a purist I am!). However, this spoof is basically the only attempt at dancing in the first forty-five minutes. Tedious.

Things pick up dramatically when the Swans appear following the Prince's attempt to commit suicide at the lake. They are a visual feast, and the energy that comes from the all-male cast is palpable. That said, as the choreography is not perhaps the most imaginative in the world, a tighter performance from the Swan ensemble would have vastly improved the performance. The best moments in this second act were undoubtedly the duets between the Swan (Richard Winsor) and the Prince. However, at the interval I felt that what I had seen thus far was basically a pastiche with a couple of hints of genius and nothing more. While Richard Winsor has some stunning arm movements and is clearly a very accomplished actor, at this stage I was still distracted by his surprising lack of instep, spoiling nearly all the lines in Matthew Bourne's choroegraphy.

Fortunately, the second half was far superior to the second (mostly because it didn't include the dire first act). The explosive sexual tension exuded when the Dark Stranger (Richard Winsor) arrives at the party is utterly compelling, as he swaggers around the stage, women swooning, while the Prince looks on in confusion and distress. The scene ends dramatically when the Dark stranger seduces the Queen, the Prince entirely loses the plot and there are gun shots a-plenty.

And then finally we reach the best bit of the night. As the Prince descends into a frenzy of madness and despair, the set suddenly becomes recognisable as the inside of a psychiatric institution of some kind; the enormous bed that we saw at the very beginning  now making a tom-thumb-like child of the whimpering
man buried among the many pillows. The swans suddenly take on their true-to-life (rather than ethereal fairy tale) nature, and aggressively writhe and contort around the Prince's room, tormenting him. The image you are left with is haunting, as the Prince is reunited with The Swan and weeps in his arms. This was great, chilling, psychotic, manic and could only have been done with male swans.

So what did I take home from the night? To me this was not really Swan Lake. The story doesn't much resemble the original, unlike a not dissimilar reworking that I saw done by the Bolshoi a few years ago. This is not necessarily a negative, but it just feels a little bit like Matthew Bourne wanted the male swans, so needed to somehow fit them into the framework of Swan Lake (cynical - perhaps to draw in the crowds?). There are too many different elements in one show - cheap 'Hairspray'-like dance theatre, coupled with chilling contemporary dance, and a dose of pastiche and satire. It clearly does it for some people, but as a whole production, doesn't work for me. I think I'll take the original Swan Lake, and remember this as some kind of interesting yet imperfect aberration.

La Bohème, The Royal Opera 07/01/2010

First visit to the ROH of 2010 and my first opera. Clearly, I am therefore by no means a connoisseur, so bear with me as I give my tuppence worth!

All acts are packed with famous arias and duets, and these were generally very well sung by what was in the most part a cast of young artists. As the two leads Rodolfo and Mimi, Ji-Min Park and Rebecca Evans, although perhaps lacking in romantic chemistry, gave solid vocal performances - some lovely floating top notes from Rebecca Evans in particular. They were well supported by the seasoned performer Chistopher Maltman as Marcello - his acting in particular distinguishing him from the majority of this young cast. The exception being Eri Nakamura as Musetta - who acted this fickle flirt-with-a-heart down to a tee. Perhaps the only weak performance came from Simone del Savio (Schaunard - a musician) who may have been having an off night, but somehow failed to project beyond the orchestra across the entirety of his vocal range.

So that's the cast, now the production and the opera itself. The set is truly spectacular - the Act III set drawing gasps of delight and spontaneous applause and gusty 'bravos' when the curtains reveal the snowy stage, with the gate made famous by the poster campaign at the back of the stage. Makes you realise how much the need for dance space limits the set in ballet productions. As for the plot, well it's hasty that's for sure, but if you can pad it out within your head you can get into the heart of the weighty emotions of act III. Rodolfo and Mimi fall in love extremely quickly, even by theatrical standards (I haven't seen any operas for comparison!), and then we don't see the intervening months of love before things begin to go wrong. Opera having words gives both the potential for wit, but also removes the scope for more abstract plot development, as is possible with dance. Therefore whilst I'm happily carried along by Manon and Des Grieux falling in love in one dance, there is something less believable about this happening in one song in opera. That said, it may be that this was due to a short-falling of the chemistry of this particular Rodolfo and Mimi, so I'll reserve judgement for now...

That sounds negative, which wasn't my intention. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, the music was great, the production is beautiful and Puccini is witty if a little cheesy. I will be back for more.

The Nutcracker, The Royal Ballet 16/12/2009

I think it is probably impossible not to enjoy the Royal Ballet's Nutcracker, which is probably why it is wheeled out every Christmas to a consistently packed auditorium. The performance I saw was a perfect concoction of festive, glittering gaiety, with some impeccable dancing and fantastic staging.

The first act takes place during the Stahlbaum family Christmas party, with the mysterious cloak-whirling magician Drosselmeyer (Gary Avis) arriving to give the young Clara (Iohna Loots) her christmas present - a nutcracker doll. Some wonderful character acting here from the inimitable Gary Avis, and from young Thomas Bedford as Fritz, Clara's brother. The whole Royal Ballet, from lower school through upper school to company is involved in this bustling party spectacle.

Of course, there is more to this nutcracker than meets the eye, and in fact, this is Drosselmeyer's nephew, turned into a doll by the wicked Queen of the mice, and the gift to Clara is Drosselmeyer's attempt to break the enchantment. After bedtime, the magic starts, a battle with the mice ensues, and the Nutcracker (Ricardo Cervera) takes Clara on a magical adventure through the Land of snow and the Kingdom of sweets. The national dances, including the entirely non-PC chinese dance, were thoroughly enjoyable although the Mirlitons lacked the oomph that had been evident so far, and just didn't quite get it right. Into the garden and Laura Morera danced with her usual commanding stage presence as the Rose Fairy, although unfortunately her escorts (Valeri Hristov, Ernst Meisner, Sergei Polunin and Yohei Sasaki) seemed to be having trouble staying in time both with each other and with the orchestra! In days gone by, in older productions, Clara and the Nutcracker hardly danced in Act II,  but in the revised production (which has been in use since 1999) the vibrant dancing of Iohna Loots and Ricardo Cervera is a delight, and keeps everything together in this act, weaving in and out of the dances as they join in some dances and watch in awe during others...

And never in more awe than when the Sugar Plum Fairy (Alina Cojocaru - pictured) and her Prince (Johan Kobborg) take to the stage. Dancing with such authority and flair both alone and together, these two really are one of the strongest partnerships around at the moment - I'm so happy Cojocaru is back from her injuries! I still can't quite get used to her with a blonde wig, but the Grand pas de deux had such energy and radiance that you couldn't tear your eyes from the stage.

The Nutcracker really is a festive treat, and an outing that is going to become a fixture in my Christmas calendar for years to come, particularly if I can see a lead cast as strong as this one every time.