It is a long time since I have seen Nederlands Dans Theater 1 at Sadlers Wells. If I remember it was still in the heady days under the leadership of Jirí Kylián. Things have obviously moved on with this double bill from Sol León and Paul Lightfoot currently on at Sadlers Wells. <<http://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2014/Nederlands-Dans-Theater-1-Sehnsucht-Schmetterling/>>.
In Sehnsucht the staging is simple, apart from a rotating room at the back of the stage where a couple of dancers stretch and roll about. (Too much gusset for my taste!) Musically it's a lot of Beethoven. I did not get over-excited by the 'trio' at the start. I found the ensemble choreography more interesting, if not particularly innovative. You can clearly see the classical roots of the company as well as more contemporary touches.
For Schmetterling the staging was more complex - openings focusing towards a backcloth. Dance-wise it was much more fragmented than the first piece. I'm not a great one for whimsy and humour in dance so there were sections that did not ignite me!
I think León and Lightfoot have some issues about gender boundaries.......in Sehnsucht most of the dancers are dressed in black trousers and black socks, with torsos bare. This is for both the men and the women. They then flip the coin in Schmetterling and have most of the men and women in black dresses and headscarves. Very confusing!
Thursday, 3 July 2014
Wednesday, 2 July 2014
Ariadne auf Naxos - The Royal Opera House
It's many years since I have seen Ariadne, I think it was a production at ENO in the 1990s so I did not really have much of an idea what to expect.......
The Royal Opera's production directed by Christof Loy is a wonderful event. <<http://www.roh.org.uk>> The staging of the Prologue is marvellous - as the lift goes down the whole stage goes up to allow the action to take place in the basement. I'm not sure I've ever seen such a huge scene shift at the opera house in recent years - very impressive.
Essentially you get two short operas - the very short Prologue and the Opera.
The Prologue had some great action and great singing. Thomas Allen as the Music Master was his usual excellent self. Ruxandra Donose gave an impassioned performance as the Composer. We had hints from some who were to appear in the second part, but they were just hints.
The Opera itself is much more interesting with the mixing of the two opera companies to produce a weird hybrid at the whim of the rich patron. Karita Mattila sang the role of Ariadne wonderfully. Jane Archibald threw herself into the role of Zerbinetta with gusto. Sofia Fomina, Karen Cargill and Kiandra Howarth sounded lovely as the Naiad, Dryad and Echo. Although we had to wait a long time for him to appear, Roberto Saccà provided us with a full voiced Bacchus.
The ensemble singing was also spot on and the orchestra deserved the rousing applause it received at the end.
A very entertaining evening.
The Royal Opera's production directed by Christof Loy is a wonderful event. <<http://www.roh.org.uk>> The staging of the Prologue is marvellous - as the lift goes down the whole stage goes up to allow the action to take place in the basement. I'm not sure I've ever seen such a huge scene shift at the opera house in recent years - very impressive.
Essentially you get two short operas - the very short Prologue and the Opera.
The Prologue had some great action and great singing. Thomas Allen as the Music Master was his usual excellent self. Ruxandra Donose gave an impassioned performance as the Composer. We had hints from some who were to appear in the second part, but they were just hints.
The Opera itself is much more interesting with the mixing of the two opera companies to produce a weird hybrid at the whim of the rich patron. Karita Mattila sang the role of Ariadne wonderfully. Jane Archibald threw herself into the role of Zerbinetta with gusto. Sofia Fomina, Karen Cargill and Kiandra Howarth sounded lovely as the Naiad, Dryad and Echo. Although we had to wait a long time for him to appear, Roberto Saccà provided us with a full voiced Bacchus.
The ensemble singing was also spot on and the orchestra deserved the rousing applause it received at the end.
A very entertaining evening.
Friday, 6 June 2014
Benvenuto Cellini - English National Opera
As the overture rolled on and the stage (and the front of the stalls) suddenly filled with carnival goers and assorted revellers I was a bit worried I'd stumbled back into the new ENO production of Cosi (sorry, never got round to reviewing this version with its Coney Island setting!). However, it was merely the start of the Mardi Gras scene of the opening of Benvenuto Cellini by Berlioz.
The auditorium was packed, not - I suspect - by the Berlioz fan club - more to see what director Terry Gilliam would make of the opera. He's worked with ENO before on The Damnation of Faust. This gave him much more meat into which to sink his teeth - love, murder, mistaken identity, the Pope, carnival - the list of opportunities seems endless.
Gilliam threw everything at the production and most of it worked well. Big cast, outrageous costumes, huge masks, huge statue, confetti in the auditorium. And the audience loved it. Huge ovation for the cast, orchestra and, as last night was the first night, the production team - including Gilliam himself.
Being unfamiliar with the piece I was happily drawn along by the images on stage, however, the orchestra was on great form. The cast was strong too. Michael Spyres gave all in the title role as the philandering sculptor. Corinne Winters, Teresa, sang well as his love interest. Nicholas Pallesen as Fieramosca (another sculptor and betrothed to Teresa) and Paula Murrihy as Ascanio (Cellini's business manager) provided formidable support. It is a long time since I have seen Willard White on stage, so it was good to see him as Pope Clement VII. The Pope's arrival was completely over the top with an enormous costume partly inspired by the Mikado! The rest of the cast and chorus, as ever, were enthusiastic. I felt at times that Pavlo Hunka (Giacomo Balducci, the papal exchequer) lacked a bit of power, but had a good tone nonetheless.
And the revelation of the finished statue of Perseus was a great ending.
The auditorium was packed, not - I suspect - by the Berlioz fan club - more to see what director Terry Gilliam would make of the opera. He's worked with ENO before on The Damnation of Faust. This gave him much more meat into which to sink his teeth - love, murder, mistaken identity, the Pope, carnival - the list of opportunities seems endless.
Gilliam threw everything at the production and most of it worked well. Big cast, outrageous costumes, huge masks, huge statue, confetti in the auditorium. And the audience loved it. Huge ovation for the cast, orchestra and, as last night was the first night, the production team - including Gilliam himself.
Being unfamiliar with the piece I was happily drawn along by the images on stage, however, the orchestra was on great form. The cast was strong too. Michael Spyres gave all in the title role as the philandering sculptor. Corinne Winters, Teresa, sang well as his love interest. Nicholas Pallesen as Fieramosca (another sculptor and betrothed to Teresa) and Paula Murrihy as Ascanio (Cellini's business manager) provided formidable support. It is a long time since I have seen Willard White on stage, so it was good to see him as Pope Clement VII. The Pope's arrival was completely over the top with an enormous costume partly inspired by the Mikado! The rest of the cast and chorus, as ever, were enthusiastic. I felt at times that Pavlo Hunka (Giacomo Balducci, the papal exchequer) lacked a bit of power, but had a good tone nonetheless.
And the revelation of the finished statue of Perseus was a great ending.
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Powder her Face - English National Opera
On paper is sounded great. ENO going off site to Ambika P3 to put on Powder Her Face charting "the glamorous rise and seedy fall of the notorious socialite beauty Margaret, Duchess of Argyll". <<http://www.eno.org/powder>>
However there were drawbacks. Drawbacks to such an extent I can only give you a limited view of the performance here - I only made it as far as the interval.
It's not that there is anything particularly wrong with the opera by Thomas Adès, it's the performance space. In a concrete bunker, two floors under the University of Westminster the performance is given an odd resonance with the sound bouncing all over the place. Worse still is the seating. Not having access to a seating plan when booking, I think I ended up with the worst seat in the room. Not only was it high up, but it was in a corner and meant to get any sort of view of what was going on I had to lean forward and twist slightly. As a result, by the end of Act 1, my back was giving me hell! Much as I would have liked to carry on and see second half, my stamina deserted me.
Amanda Roocroft as the Duchess relished the role. She did not hold back at all during the .... ahem ... rude aria! But the acoustics did none of the cast any favours.
I would see it again, but only somewhere with a bit more comfort and better sightlines!
However there were drawbacks. Drawbacks to such an extent I can only give you a limited view of the performance here - I only made it as far as the interval.
It's not that there is anything particularly wrong with the opera by Thomas Adès, it's the performance space. In a concrete bunker, two floors under the University of Westminster the performance is given an odd resonance with the sound bouncing all over the place. Worse still is the seating. Not having access to a seating plan when booking, I think I ended up with the worst seat in the room. Not only was it high up, but it was in a corner and meant to get any sort of view of what was going on I had to lean forward and twist slightly. As a result, by the end of Act 1, my back was giving me hell! Much as I would have liked to carry on and see second half, my stamina deserted me.
Amanda Roocroft as the Duchess relished the role. She did not hold back at all during the .... ahem ... rude aria! But the acoustics did none of the cast any favours.
I would see it again, but only somewhere with a bit more comfort and better sightlines!
Friday, 11 April 2014
Lac (after Swan Lake) - Les Ballets de Monte Carlo - ENO
Another week another ballet company at the home of ENO. This week we had Les Ballets de Monte Carlo with Lac (after Swan Lake), choreographed by Jean-Christophe Maillot. <<http://www.eno.org/whats-on/other/lac>>
I had read some reviews of this work from it's travels round the world, but not from its opening night in London. These were pretty harsh. I've now had a look at a couple from the opening at The London Coliseum and they are much kinder. Like me they think there's not much you can (or should) do to Swan Lake - it's all there anyway. Matthew Bourne, of course, is the noble exception - he got away with re-imagining Swan Lake and how! I think these days there is a tendency to look the the film Black Swan as if that can help you in some way. It can't!
Anyway, back to last night! I wasn't holding out much hope. In the end I enjoyed more than I had intended to.....I didn't have a clue what was going on, but in some ways that didn't matter. The dancers were having a ball and some of the dancing was of a very high calibre.
My highest praise of the evening goes to April Ball as Her Majesty of the Night - Rothbart fused with Cruella de Ville. She had the biggest role. She had the slinkiest moves. She had the most outrageous costumes.
The sets and lighting were very good indeed. Musically - I could have done with a real orchestra.
I had read some reviews of this work from it's travels round the world, but not from its opening night in London. These were pretty harsh. I've now had a look at a couple from the opening at The London Coliseum and they are much kinder. Like me they think there's not much you can (or should) do to Swan Lake - it's all there anyway. Matthew Bourne, of course, is the noble exception - he got away with re-imagining Swan Lake and how! I think these days there is a tendency to look the the film Black Swan as if that can help you in some way. It can't!
Anyway, back to last night! I wasn't holding out much hope. In the end I enjoyed more than I had intended to.....I didn't have a clue what was going on, but in some ways that didn't matter. The dancers were having a ball and some of the dancing was of a very high calibre.
My highest praise of the evening goes to April Ball as Her Majesty of the Night - Rothbart fused with Cruella de Ville. She had the biggest role. She had the slinkiest moves. She had the most outrageous costumes.
The sets and lighting were very good indeed. Musically - I could have done with a real orchestra.
Les Ballets C de la B - Alain Platel's tauerbach
I'm a bit behind in my mini reviews so you will all have missed this real 'treat' at Sadlers Wells <<http://www.sadlerswells.com>>
Really I should have known better when I remembered Alain Platel's previous work at Sadlers Wells "Out of Context" had the additional comment "for Pina". I wasn't overwhelmed with that, thinking it a very shallow version of what Pina Bausch had created for decades. So.....you can imagine how my heart sank when I saw the stage in front of the curtain littered with clothes and then on curtain up - a stage piled high with clothes.
According to the Sadlers Wells flyer...."tauerbach tells the story of a woman who suffers from schizophrenia and who lives and works in a Brazillian waste disposal site. Living in these unusual conditions, she has developed her own very particular way of communicating with this small community she lives in."
We had lots of Pina-isms - obviously the cluttered stage, dancers dressing and undressing, throwing things around, singing, shouting, dialogue, monologue. And in there we had some flashes of dance. Occasional flashes of interest, but these weren't sustained.
I am afraid Les Ballets C de la B is off my list!
Really I should have known better when I remembered Alain Platel's previous work at Sadlers Wells "Out of Context" had the additional comment "for Pina". I wasn't overwhelmed with that, thinking it a very shallow version of what Pina Bausch had created for decades. So.....you can imagine how my heart sank when I saw the stage in front of the curtain littered with clothes and then on curtain up - a stage piled high with clothes.
According to the Sadlers Wells flyer...."tauerbach tells the story of a woman who suffers from schizophrenia and who lives and works in a Brazillian waste disposal site. Living in these unusual conditions, she has developed her own very particular way of communicating with this small community she lives in."
We had lots of Pina-isms - obviously the cluttered stage, dancers dressing and undressing, throwing things around, singing, shouting, dialogue, monologue. And in there we had some flashes of dance. Occasional flashes of interest, but these weren't sustained.
I am afraid Les Ballets C de la B is off my list!
Friday, 28 March 2014
Blithe Spirit - Gielgud Theatre
It really went without saying that I'd have to go and see Blithe Spirit with Angela Lansbury when it hit the West End. Firstly, I have always loved the film version (Margaret Rutherford was one of my favourite actresses when watching old British films on a Saturday afternoon when I was at school. Secondly, Angela Lansbury, need I say more?
Naturally the Gielgud Theatre was packed. After all, they all know who she is, even if they are not sure what the play is about. <<http://www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk/Tickets/BlitheSpirit/BlitheSpirit.asp>>
It's a small cast and it has to be a strong cast. The weakest link, I think, is Jemima Rooper as Elvira, the first dead wife. She isn't brittle enough, she's a bit too 2014. One of her best moments however is her grappling with the recently deceased, and invisible, Ruth. Janie Dee, Ruth, and Charles Edwards, Charles, seem to fit the period style quite nicely. Snapping at each other as the tensions rise with the arrival of Elvira.
Of course the night belonged to Angela Lansbury as Madame Arcati. Whilst still as batty as Margaret Rutherford, she carefully avoids channeling any of Rutherford's ticks and foibles. For a woman of 88 Lansbury is agile and active, bounding around the stage to induce the spirits to join the seance. Her timing is great and her withering looks could have curdled milk at 100 yards!
The place erupted at the curtain call, the whole audience standing. It wasn't just for the performance, it was for Angela Lansbury!
Naturally the Gielgud Theatre was packed. After all, they all know who she is, even if they are not sure what the play is about. <<http://www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk/Tickets/BlitheSpirit/BlitheSpirit.asp>>
It's a small cast and it has to be a strong cast. The weakest link, I think, is Jemima Rooper as Elvira, the first dead wife. She isn't brittle enough, she's a bit too 2014. One of her best moments however is her grappling with the recently deceased, and invisible, Ruth. Janie Dee, Ruth, and Charles Edwards, Charles, seem to fit the period style quite nicely. Snapping at each other as the tensions rise with the arrival of Elvira.
Of course the night belonged to Angela Lansbury as Madame Arcati. Whilst still as batty as Margaret Rutherford, she carefully avoids channeling any of Rutherford's ticks and foibles. For a woman of 88 Lansbury is agile and active, bounding around the stage to induce the spirits to join the seance. Her timing is great and her withering looks could have curdled milk at 100 yards!
The place erupted at the curtain call, the whole audience standing. It wasn't just for the performance, it was for Angela Lansbury!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)