Scheherezade

And it would give under-used principals a chance to be seen more often on stage. Or have these roles now become so under-valued by the R.B. that principals would feel diminished by dancing them?

Yes, happy birthday, Bruce, and what a remarkable interview, more particularly given your tender years at the time.

Never underestimate the Kaufmann effect! Not even J.K. could tempt me back to yet another run of this rather pedestrian Carmen although I did succumb to the wonderful Anna Caterina Antonacci last time round. Did you get your Kaufmann tickets, Penelope?

I find that the ENO are generally fabulous. On one occasion, having sprained my ankle, I felt that it would be difficult to take up my seat at the front of the balcony due to the steep rake and asked if I could exchange my ticket. The ENO offered to seat me and my companion in the dress circle for no extra cost. This is how to treat your customers; take note, ROH!

Ashton is Ashton and, to me, difficult to surpass. I haven't seen the Nureyev POB version and shall enjoy watching it. I must say, however, that I far preferred the Wheeldon to the Ratmansky Cinderella, which I found charmless, tedious and over-long.

I should add that whatever the shortcomings in the choreography, and I don't have the technical knowledge to judge, I found the production charming and thoroughly enjoyable.

I so agree! I hadn't seen Anna Tsygankova before; she was exquisite. I hope she returns to dance in the UK again soon.

I was in the balcony at the Coli on Friday, Ruth, and an usher pounced on a mobile phone user within seconds of the phone coming out at the start of the first act. The same usher was visibly prowling the aisles at the end of the intervals. Perhaps they are less vigilant in other parts of the house - if, indeed, you were sitting in another part of the house.

Almost every other seat (or standing place) in the balcony seems to be listed as having a restricted view but I still love the theatre.

Admittedly. And the leg room's not great either but the prices are good, as is the view, and for anyone on a limited budget that has to represent value for money.

There are seats in the balcony at the Coliseum that are equally affordable, often at the front, and the view from the front of the balcony is far better than the front amphi at the ROH. Plus (and more importantly for opera) the balcony provides the best sound in the house.

Have you been to the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse?

Bluebird's post may well help in accessing any future U.S. reviews or articles where a zip code is required. I entered the zip code for the New York Met and found that it did the trick beautifully.

Thank you, Capybara, it was indeed Osiel Gouneo and doesn't he look amazing! Does anyone know whether he will be dancing with ENB in any of their forthcoming programmes?

I seem to remember reading, not too long ago, about another potential male signing/guest (Cuban?) for ENB. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

I see that the castings for the Queensland Ballet Sylphide are now up on the Coliseum website. I don't know anything about the dancers and, yes, Francesca Hayward is not longer listed. The Cuban Yanela Pinera would seem to be the Sylphide to go for, but which James, Qi Huan or Luke Schaufuss? Does anyone have any ideas?

This is presumably the ABT dancer featuring in certain named performances of The Car Man at Sadler's Wells. Do others on the forum feel that The Car Man is worth seeing and, if so, would they recommend seeing the ABT dancer?

I totally agree. I wonder, however, whether there is an element of rooting for the home team, and not altogether unsurprisingly. It does, after all, take some time for non-home grown dancers (or those who have not come through the RBS) to be given fulsome praise here in the U.K. The Alastair Macaulay review gives an entirely different slant and didn't the Russian critics go wild for McRae?

Nothing to add that hasn't already been said but, having seen the second cast, I, too, thought Olivia Cowley was fantastic. And, having tended towards the (New York Times?) view of McGregor as the cuckoo in the R.B.nest, I may well have to re-think. Loved it!

Geoff, I would love you to start an opera forum. The Intermezzo blog used to be fantastic. I consulted it regularly as not only was it extemely well-informed, it was also filled with information regarding unannounced performances and cast changes. I am sure that an operaco forum could run in tandem with the balletco forum providing booking information as well as reviews. You definitely have my vote!

I am fairly certain that she and Faroukh Ruzimatov did Corsaire with the Kirov at the ROH in the late 1980s. Could this have been the one that you saw, Jamie 14?

I called up Sadler's Wells some time ago and was told that certain blocks of tickets, including the front row of the balcony, had been set aside for the Coliseum and, in consequence, could only be booked through the Coliseum and not via Sadler's Wells.

That makes three of us - or, assuming that Sim is of the same mind, should that be four? I didn't book to see Osipova for this run as she didn't remotely convince me last time round, a major disappointment as I loved her Giselle, but maybe she has grown into the role, or perhaps it has something to do with the chemistry with Matthew Golding. I did, however, adore Obraztsova's interpretation on Monday. She and Steven McRae produced something magical. Her Odette was vulnerable, believable and totally compelling and, for once, I found it easy to believe that Siegfried could have mistaken Odile for Odette - there were enough overlapping points of reference for this to make sense. I do hope that she and McRae are able to reprieve their partnership on the 25th.

I saw the opening night with Nunez and Soares and the Osipova/Golding cast on Friday and let me say, from the outset, that I enjoyed both immensely. Whilst, in the past, I have generally found Soares to be more emotionally compelling than Nunez, although less technically able, on this occasion I found Nunez' performance, from her first, gauche entrance to her final dismissal, quite heartbreaking and by far the more nuanced of the two. For whatever reason, I found Soares' portrayal of an utterly irredeemable Onegin too saturnine for me to believe entirely in Tatiana's feelings for him. For me, and surprisingly, Golding's Onegin was characterised with more light and shade and, as such, a more emotionally credible performance. It also meant that I found it easier to sympathise with him in the closing denouement as a man who was as much a victim of his own emotional shortcomings as was Tatiana whereas I felt that Soares got exactly what he deserved. I felt that Osipova's Tatiana was more of a dreamer and more likely to follow her heart when those dreams were engaged. Perhaps this was why there seemed more abandon in her pas de deux with Onegin. Nunez' Tatiana was, for me, more of a tentative young girl, still socially inept, who had not yet learned to interpret her own heart and feelings and this could also account for a certain reserve, even in her dream sequence. For me, one Tatiana was the prisoner of her own heartbreak whereas the other, even in the worst of her heartbreak, had the key to soar beyond. Both interpretations were completely viable and, perhaps, illustrated the difference between sympathy and empathy. I agree with all of the earlier comments regarding the Olgas of Takeda and Naghdi, who brought such enjoyment to her interpretation and Ball did a fine job as Lensky but Muntagirov was stellar, stirring some of the same feelings that I recall from the long-ago days of seeing Dowell dance. Both Prince Gremins were dramatically convincing, with Hirano's appearing gentle whilst showing more of an aristocratic reserve and Gartside showing more of a man less restrained by the expectations of his class.

Aileen, my daughter's friends have seen a fairly representative range of programmes and have enjoyed most of them, including ballets such as the recent Ashton triple bill and Etudes. My daughter herself has always been drawn to the classical repertoire, which she far prefers to Wayne McGregor or even Kenneth Macmillan although this is not necessarily true for all of her friends. Giselle seems to be a favourite with the boys, who generally seem to enjoy narrative ballets and many, but not all, of them would choose McGregor over Balanchine. The Concert was a general favourite I'm not sure what, if anything, can be drawn from this, I guess it's a case of horses for courses.