English National Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty

The Sleeping Beauty

Music by Tchaikovsky

English National Ballet

Opera House, Manchester

28 November 2012

This marvellous production of the classic ballet clocked in at close to three hours of well-nigh perfect dance.

The two leads, Tamara Rojo in the role of Princess Aurora and Vadim Muntagirov as Prince Desire, are spectacular dancers; and one only realised how good – how breathtakingly good – a dancer Muntagirov is during the third and final act.  His solo was wonderful.  They all – all of the troupe – pull their weight, mind.  And they have to, for the intricacy and variety and, yes, let us be in no doubt about it, the sheer technical difficulty of Marius Petipa’s choreography demands it.

There is a clue here, too, as to why the ballet has stood the test of time: for there is so much here, an embarrassment of rich delights, to savour and enjoy.  Be in no doubt, English National Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty will awaken and revitalise all your senses.

The Sleeping Beauty is at the Opera House until 1 December then tours the UK up until March 2013.  Details of future tour dates can be found here.

Swan Lake

Swan Lake

Music by Tchaikovsky

Birmingham Royal Ballet

The Lowry, 19 September 2012

Swan Lake. Photo: Bill Cooper

Rather different to most others, this production of Swan Lake, an altogether more melancholy and sombre, you could almost say sinister staging of the classic ballet.

Some of this may be due to the influence of Aronofsky’s film Black Swan, and black was certainly the predominant colour of the costumes and sets, save in Act 3 where Northern Renaissance colours, brocades of red and gold and (yes) black too were very much in evidence.  A Lucas Cranach painting come to life, it looked like.

But in truth you really don’t need to look further than the story and the score to discover a tragic tone.  If Tchaikovsky’s music is never dissonant, it is often disquieting.

The swans and cygnets were a much more positive force in this retelling than usual, intriguingly enough, and were emphatically on the side of the lovers.  They were like wayward naiads, not entirely under the control of the evil Baron.

The dance was perfect throughout, uniformly outstanding, always delightful.  Nothing else need be said as regards  that department.

At the end you were led to believe that, though the prince may be dead, he and his beloved are in a better place.  It is as though Epicurus were wrong when he said ‘Death is absence’, as though Nick Flynn had never written Some Ether.

I could quite happily see this version of Swan Lake again, just right now, and am sure I’d be as enthralled and enchanted as the first time.

Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker!

Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker!

Music by Tchaikovsky

New Adventures

The Lowry, 20 March 2012

The whole of this show – the complete shebang – is an exercise in enchantment.

It begins with the still alive and kicking orphans shuffling bashfully onstage, into the glare of a waiting audience, surprise etched on their faces, and ends in a nightclub whose entrance is an inviting, open mouth (think of Mick Jagger’s lips) and whose interior is graced by a gigantic wedding cake.  It is the figures on the tiers of the cake below the bride and groom who come alive: a telling detail.

Among them there’s a lounge lizard with a pompadour that is topped by – what else? – a cherry and a lady in a liquorice allsorts dress (the doorman to the night club might also have been dressed as one of the less popular liquorice allsorts).  And there’re a gang of sweet girls on the razz.

Wherever you look, whether at the choreography or costumes or sets, your eye encounters delight.  The highlight for me was when the ginger boy toy – he’s a catalyst for intimacy – came to life, in a scene that alludes to both Frankenstein and Coppelia.

What makes the show work so well is that it retains the fairytale feel while adding a definite air of eroticism, a subdued kinkiness or naughtiness.  So there’s one lad – one of the poor, betrodden orphans – who rather than a deflated football prefers a doll for Christmas, liking nothing better than to look up her dress…  Or again, in the second part, the emphasis is on kissing and, lets say, the sweetness of human flesh rather than sweets per se (as in the traditional version of the ballet) – though liquorice allsorts, as indicated, do get a major look in.  All of this naughtiness is done with subtle humour, mind, and in the twinkling of an eye.  Young children are unlikely to take much heed of it and there’s much – an abundance of stuff, actually - in this show to enchant and delight them.  So unlike Matthew Bourne’s Cinderella, I’d definitely recommend Nutcracker! as being suitable for children.  This was a magical, transporting evening, a wonderful version of the story.

Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker! Is at The Lowry until 24 March, details here.

Moscow City Ballet’s Swan Lake

Swan Lake

Music by Tchaikovsky

Moscow City Ballet

Opera House, Manchester

17 March 2012

This was my first experience of the classic ballet, following a viewing of the film The Black Swan.

It was perhaps a more sinister story than usual, you’re more aware of how the raven shadows the action of the prince (here ably performed by Talgat Kozhabaev) and his beloved.  The atmosphere was ominous, even when all appeared sweetness and light, as in the pretty dance of the four little swans.

This was a terrific production, the sets and costumes sumptuous and alive with colour and the corps de ballet well on their toes, weaving complex geometric patterns out of thin air.

The ending was as moving as ever, the lovers’ separation abrupt and final.

Moscow City Ballet are touring the UK until the end of March, details of future tour dates can be found here.

RNCM Symphony Orchestra with Garry Walker

RNCM Symphony Orchestra with Garry Walker

RNCM Concert Hall, 16 December 2011

A concert graced by three sumptuous pieces of music.

Emily Howard’s exquisite Solar was the preamble to Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major Op 35, Bing Xiang ably taking the violin for this performance.

After the interval, the audience were treated to Elgar’s Symphony No 1 in A flat major Op 55, a marvellous silvery epic.  The trumpets were so red you could bathe in them.

No complaints at all to any of this, in fact a thumbs-up to the whole concert.  It was a joyous evening all around.

Opera North’s The Queen of Spades

The Queen of Spades

Music by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky

Opera North

The Lowry, 18 November 2011

Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts as Herman

Man, Jeffrey Lloyd-Roberts has a wonderful voice.

It is a silvery, gracefully curved, beautifully proportioned, ornamental work of art.

Lloyd-Roberts takes the lead role of Herman, an ill-fated lover.  Another joy of this sterling production was the masked ball in Act Two, the costumes were very fetching indeed.

At the base of the whole thrilling drama – it’s a dysfunctional love story with a dash of darkness, not unlike Swan Lake – is Tchaikovsky’s commanding score, which is like a giant wave or a hand of God.  Those poor mortals who live and love, seemingly under their own steam, they are in thrall to this music, its passion and emotion animates their features, propels them towards each other, seals their fate.

This is a powerful production of an emotionally complex opera, rich in sensuality and spirituality.  Its next outing is in London on 22 November, details here.

Moscow City Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty

The Sleeping Beauty
Music by Tchaikovsky
Moscow City Ballet
Palace Theatre, 18 February 2011

 

Victor Smirnov-Golovanov’s ravishing production of The Sleeping Beauty is certain to leave you refreshed, relaxed and alert.  It shimmers like an exquisite dream.

Tchaikovsky’s splendid score seduces you, as it always does, whilst the gorgeous sets and Elisaveta Gurenko’s wonderful costumes simply enchant; as a fairy tale should.  The diverse colours on show – turquoise, pink, different shades of red and green – suggest exotic cocktails, boiled sweets and fancy desserts.

The dancers are possessed of both poetry and athletic prowess, and we were treated to generous helpings of their wonderful art.  In particular, the principals who took the roles of Princess Aurora (Guseva Valeriya) and Prince Florimund (Kozhabayev Talgat) exhibited glorious gifts.  They were exemplars of a certain sort of sturdy Russian classicism.

It is the sight of Prince Florimund in virtual flight, circling the stage and attacking pirouette upon pirouette with indomitable vigour, as though he were describing in dance the steadily decreasing orbit of a falling star, that remains uppermost in my mind as I write.

As I have written before, The Sleeping Beauty is a ballet that all can enjoy, even the very young, and it is ideal for introducing children to this form of dance.  And if you can inspire them early it is certain they’ll soon want more of it.

Thought and artistry is evident in every aspect of this magnificent Moscow City Ballet production.  You’d have to be in a coma to fail to be enlivened by it.

The Sleeping Beauty is at the Palace Theatre until 19 February and visits other UK venues later in the month.  Look at the tour dates here.

Ballet Nacional de Cuba

Magia de la Danza & Swan Lake
Ballet Nacional de Cuba
The Lowry, 14 & 16 April 2010

A world-class company blending beauty, prowess and grace.  Somehow, they become one.

 There were two productions on show here.

In Magia de la Danza (The Magic of the Dance) we were treated to a medley from the great European repertoire.  Seven excerpts all told, taken from Giselle, The Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, Don Quixote and three others.

While the second, Swan Lake, was a sumptuous yet traditional rendering of Tchaikovsky’s great score.  It featured wonderful performances by Javier Torres (as Siegfried) and Anette Delgado (as Odette), and by virtually all of the dancers come to that.  And here there arises a troubling dilemma.

It can be expressed thus: when all of the dancers are so outstanding, how can you single out one or two or three for praise?  (Sadaise Arencibia as the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker being another that comes immediately to mind.)  The task of the reviewer becomes impossible in this case.

Ballet Nacional de Cuba is a company that spoils you with beauty, but pity the next ballet production that will be reviewed.  For if it’s not absolutely perfect, dissatisfaction will ensue…

The Sleeping Beauty

The Sleeping Beauty
Music by Tchaikovsky
Birmingham Royal Ballet
The Lowry, 30 March 2010

A fine production of The Sleeping Beauty that is sure to awaken all of your senses.

Tchaikovsky’s seductive score draws you in, while the sumptuous sets and costumes enchant you still further.  As for the dancers, their feet must surely have wings: there can be no other explanation for their prowess.

The most breathtaking moment came when Nao Sakuma (a radiantly beautiful Princess Aurora) bent well forward on point, momentarily unsupported.  It seemed as though the laws of physics had been broken, or at any rate likewise momentarily suspended.  Indeed, perhaps the architects of the Large Hadron Collider should look here for the secret key to the origin of the universe.

The Sleeping Beauty is a ballet that all can enjoy, even the very young, and it is ideal for introducing children to this wonderful form of theatre.  And if you ignite their interest early they’ll soon want more of it.

Only the somnolent could fail to be invigorated by this splendid Birmingham Royal Ballet production.

The Sleeping Beauty is at The Lowry until 3 April and visits London later that month.  Details here.