Mary

That is very true- saw her Manon several times at ROH- very special, especially with Kobborg- just unforgettable. You are all so lucky to be able to see this. Thanks v much for the reports.

Thanks Dave.

Sorry- being dense.

Many thanks indeed toursenlair for these very helpful notes- and thanks to Jan for highlighting your post here.

This will really help.

One question- my ignorance- what's a sneaker ballet?

Re Pita- the pieces I have seen I would not say were particularly surreal,- though certainly original- and there is plenty of balletic movement in them, so maybe it's more so in this piece?

Re Snowblind:  I love Wharton's Ethan Frome- it is only a novella so would be not  a long read for anyone going to see this piece-recommended to all.

On the whole, the programmes do seem to mix up the styles....

Much to cogitate, if I am able to manage a second trip as well as the Ratmansky.......

There is a brief paragraph summarising the debacle on p 33 of the new Private Eye......

I have noticed on all recent visits that programmes /cast sheets have run out, which used to be exceptionally unusual. At Solomon (one night only oratorio) there was no cast sheet available at all, so no way of seeing any information about soloists, except by buying the  expensive programme...which was a disappointment.

A bad side effect of all this  is surely to encourage more use of electronic devices in the theatre.

Thanks BBB, they are lovely. But no Steven?

Golly, what riches.  But if you had to choose one -- as  I think I will have to - which one would it be please, all those who know more about SFB than I do-? (i.e.  everyone) -?

Was anyone at the live performance on 15th and might they have any of those nice curtain call photos????

Is this lack of announcements also happening in opera? I presume that if so the two worlds ( I know they overlap) will make common cause in lobbying on this issue  - and sometimes some of the opera lobby carry more weight (is my perception).

Apologies if I have missed something about this.

3 hours ago, Nogoat said:

To have sympathy for Rudolf, I need to be able to feel he is a victim not a perpetrator, to feel that there were other paths he could have taken, or paths he tried to take. I didn’t see much on stage to convince me otherwise; yes, being spurned by his mother was heart-breaking; yes, his expression of angst in his solo in the final PDD was strong and clear; yes, he was the victim of the hypocrisy of the court (the affairs by all and sundry, the arranged marriage as ‘formalised prostitution’), but others managed to deal with it. Now, of course, we are not party to all of the events that made him who he was at the beginning of the ballet (cold, ruthless, boorish, vulgar), and the box labelled ‘nature vs nurture, responsibility, agency, determinism, etc’ is a Pandora’s Box we can point to but don’t really want to open, but that journey seemed just about complete by then. Overall, I was left with the impression he was a bit too one-dimensional, and that dimension was psychopath/sociopath; they don’t care about ordinary people, and the gulf is too big for ordinary people to care too much about them.

This is in contrast to Hirano, who appeared to be someone fighting a losing battle to contain his urges. But the volcano was building up its pressure relentlessly, with minor eruptions leading eventually to him – literally – blowing his top

That's exactly it and I have always felt the problem lies in the ballet,  not the dancers playing Rudolf-and very often I am more revolted than interested or engaged by his character and by the narrative...BUT

some of the dancers, nonetheless, DO manage to gain a little of my sympathy and engage my emotions. (the one above all for me was Jonathan Cope)

BUT I can only say I feel exactly the reverse about McRae and Hirano to your view Nogoat- Hirano/Osipova did not move me at all, whereas McRae did and I did feel his character changing throughout the Acts, rather than just at the end - as with Hirano. I did feel that as well as being boorish etc he was pitiable, suffering, and increasingly desperate.

I agree McRae looked almost at the end of his tether once or twice-:I have never seen him look like that before. Of course he is just back from serious injury and it must have been a killer. In a way- rather a terrible way- it seems almost to have added to the perfomance. I do hope he recovers really 100%.

I mean no disrespect to Hirano and admire them both enormously.

Agree Sarah and I've been pondering about the difference between last night and the first night.

In the Hirano/Osipva performance I did not feel a sense of  the relationship between them- exceedingly good as Hirano is- there was just somehow a gap there ( I can understand reasons for that  of course with the cast change) and Osipova's torpedo approach just seemed to explode any of the more delicate aspects of the dancing between them. Whereas, McRae and Lamb seemed to be able to convey a relationship with some depth - damaged and violent at times but also erotic, deeply felt and sometimes actually tender. I felt that their established partnership, knowing each other so well, worked well here and you could feel it even in a cinema. That gave the whole ballet a heart which made sense of it all. I did also feel McRae acted throughout with much more depth than 2 years ago, and showed a character developing and becoming twisted by his surroundings, which was most moving.

The performance kept me awake last night which is why I am gibbering!

Agree WGF-I posted under Cinema screenings..always get muddled about that! Wasn't James Hay perfect.

But that act 2 pas de deux was my highlight.

Great live screening tonight- to judge by many comments overheard in the packed cinema I was in, many people were being turned onto ballet, which added to the pleasure of the evening.

What superb performances all round.

A committed and impressive performance from McRae- I was very moved -and the Act 2 pas de deux was extremely intense close-up.

Unlike, I have to say,  the first night, it reminded me of what Mayerling can make one feel.

It's difficult to wind down from all the excitement...... and I wasn't even there!

1 hour ago, capybara said:

It’s only the first interval but MATTHEW BALL - wow, just WOW.

waiting avidly for the detail.........

All you Forum folk spending the weekend watching Mayerling:  spare a thought for those who have to work to pay for the next tickets..and do please post some thoughts!

15 minutes ago, penelopesimpson said:

Great post, Nogat.  I too have an ongoing love affair with Mayerling and with Ed Watson's interpretation especially.   I am attending tomorrow with my heart in my mouth, fearful of being disappointed.  Oh dear.  Different I can cope with, but...

What a problem!  It's like returning to the scene of a lost love.

That's the way it is with ballet, with dancers having such short ( relatively speaking) careers and the ever present risk of injury. But then, they come and they go. I was reminiscing rather sadly to myself about the loss of some of my favourites at RB- ......then Corrales leapt onto the stage..

There is always a new excitement on the horizon!

12 minutes ago, mimi'smom said:

Can anyone advise of the bag situation in the cloakroom? I know this is stretching the concept of 'bag' a little but my dd is travelling to London this weekend and cannot get to where she is staying before the evening performance of Mayerling. We are wondering what to do with her small suitcase? I don't want her wandering around CG either before or especially after the performance to find a luggage storage service  as this is her first time completely independently in London. Also is there still concierge service who could pre book her a taxi? TIA! 

Ringing is probably a good idea.

What I have done in this situation is not take a suitcase but divide my things between 2 moderate sized bags and leave one in the cloakroom.

It works well, assuming it's just a short trip....The amphi cloakroom last night was not being much used- perhaps many don't yet realise it's there  yet- so heading straight there rather than to  the downstairs one might also be a good idea, and asking nicely I am sure they will help a young person.

1 hour ago, Fonty said:

 

Not having visited the "new" ROH yet, I am utterly baffled by this. How on earth are people being allowed to bring their own food and drinks into a cafe?  

Well noone seems to be stopping them at the moment.....It isn't really a cafe, it's actually- had almost forgotten- the new foyer of the Opera House. The space downstairs has a cafe bar selling drinks and snacks, but people are able to come in and sit there any time, without having to buy anything.

Reviews from the public on ROH website are very positive and single out the pas de deux with Princess Stephanie.

I had to go and try these loos after reading all this..and entirely agree with the points above- just poor design. But, they were clean and maintained and there are a lot of them. Still better than most theatres...

It was disconcerting to find the bench seating in the  amphi bar already full with a big party encamped with bags etc when we came out of the performance (Solomon)  in the interval this evening. I was hoping this wasn't going to happen. It does seem a bit unfair on people who have bought tickets.

Downstairs on the ground floor in 'Big Benugos' was an absolute orgy of picnicking on M&S snacks and people even had their own bottles of wine ( no wonder with the ROH prices now) so perhaps ROH are not selling as many sandwiches as they had hoped. For some reason the atmosphere was far from festive and in fact  a bit depressing.

Lack of bag checks is also having the effect that people are bringing enormous amounts of stuff into the auditorium- a bit odd after all the fuss so recently about not being allowed to bring anything at all!

I had another look round ROH this evening- couldn't see in the Linbury this time because they were 'having a Board meeting'. I wondered if there was any discussion of this issue going on..and for  a brief moment contemplated bursting in to make a spirited and dramatic protest on behalf of Ballet forum but reason prevailed....perhaps just as well....

Did anyone experience it last night?

10 hours ago, bridiem said:

 

I don't think it does sound ludicrous, in fact, Jan. I think there is still a perception - obviously not universal, but not that unusual either - that the ROH isn't for 'ordinary' people and that tickets are all very expensive, etc. I often have to explain to people when I say that I go to ballet there that I DON'T buy very expensive tickets and that it is possible to go even if you're not rich. However if the ROH is going to raise the cheaper ticket prices to deter people like me, it will also deter the people to whom I say this. So much for helping 'diversity'.

Once you actually get in the door, you realise that it is fine to wear normal clothes and that there are plenty of normal people there  (even the ballet fans!).

But if you have never been...you are not sure. The media do the most terrible job of perpetuating totally outworn ideas about what the ROH is like, which many of us have found maddening for years.

BUT recent events, revealing a nasty attitude at work behind the scenes, which looks at the ROH simply as a business whose aim is to 'maximise commercial potential', is not interested in the arts for themsleves, and  has no regard at all for an informed and loyal audience.etc,  is very alarming because it threatens to turn the clock back....to move away from being a theatre for all of us, ( working towards it anyway)  to becoming a more expensive and therefore exclusive reserve of the rich.

Thanks Geoff.

The sanity and common sense of the comments on the article really shines out in comparison to the absurd marketing-speak, and gives me some hope.