So good that we have already seen it twice ! First, on opening night on 9 January and the Sunday matinee on 12 January.
Alina Cojucaru and Vadim Muntagirov were brillant !
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What a brilliant start of year we had with this stunning English National Ballet's production of Le Corsaire !
So good that we have already seen it twice ! First, on opening night on 9 January and the Sunday matinee on 12 January. Alina Cojucaru and Vadim Muntagirov were brillant !
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If you want to have truly magical New Year's Eve, make sure you book your Nutcracker tickets in advance ! Because in elegant Royal Opera House in Covent Garden magic begins on 31 December at 5 pm !
You will be transferred to the magical wonderland with glittering angels, graceful snowflakes, battling rats and winning Prince! One of the most favourite Nutcracker productions and what a treat ... Natalia Osipova as Sugar Plum Fairy who showcased absolutely divine artistry and made this evening truly magical and unforgettable ! How lucky we are to have Natalia Osipova as one of principal dancers in Royal Ballet ! Technically genius, passionate, flamboyant and miraculously strong ballerina! With her beautiful and exquisite movements she also brings so much of her personality, so you believe the story she tells on stage. And this makes her performances unforgettable. Personally, I believe that she is absolutely MUST SEEN ballerina. On December we attended the one of the most sophisticated ballets - Jewels by Balanchine. We have already seen Jewels performed by Bolshoi earlier this year when Bolshoi came to Covent Garden and we had a chance to see Evgenia Obraztsova in Emeralds, Ekaterina Shipulina in Rubies and Olga Smirnova in Diamonds. This time in Royal Ballet's version Natalia Osipova ( a jewel herself ! ) amazed us in Rubies. Her partner in Rubies was another great RB principal Stephen McRae (absolutely adored him in La Fille Mal Gardee). We enjoyed so much this virtuoso performance! We were happy to see Thiago Soares and Marianela Nunez in Diamonds as well ! Famous ballet choreographed by George Balanchine, music by Gabriel Faure, Igor Stravinsky and P. I. Tchaikovsky. "Balanchine was inspired to create a ballet around the idea of gemstones when he met Claude Arpels, the jeweller. The ballet grew in scale from Balanchine's original one-act conception until it was full-evening length; it is often known as " the first three -act plotless ballet". Each of its three section ( often described in jewellers' language as "panels" ) had its own composer: Faure for Emeralds, Stravinsky for Rubies, Tchaikovsky for Diamonds." (Deborah Bull & Luke Jennings " The Faber Pocket Guide to Ballet") If you haven't seen this ballet before, it's time to fill this gap, as Bolshoi will be broadcasting Jewels live on 19 January, you can watch it on their youtube channel , follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BrSxeP1X_c&list=UUUimBc08CcsoCvP_WlYJl0Q So don't forget and make a note in your diary: 19 January at 19:00 ( Moscow time) Photo credits: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/dance/10544592/The-Nutcracker-Royal-Ballet-Covent-Garden-review.html Theaterland looks very inviting ! You can't imagine more Christmas ballet than a Nutcracker ! And we decided to buy tickets for all Nutcrackers in town ! In fact, only two: by English National Ballet and Royal Ballet. Regarding what you see at home on TV: with Sky Arts having Mariinsky Nutcracker with Alina Somova on their listing last week and Royal Ballet's Nutcracker 2012 for upcoming week, you really feel magical Christmas. So on December 17 we went to Colliseum theater to see English National Ballet production of Nutcracker and were totally amazed ! Some information from ENO website: ( http://www.eno.org/whats-on/other/enb-the-nutcracker) "Journey back in time with English National Ballet to a frost-covered, gas-lit London and join Clara, her Nutcracker doll and the magician Drosselmeyer in this traditional, festive tale for all the family. On an enchanted Christmas Eve, under the heavy boughs of the candlelit tree Clara battles with the Mouse King and falls in love with a handsome stranger. As the air grows colder and snowflakes begin to fall, Clara and her valiant Nutcracker take a hot balloon ride across the frost-dusted London skyline to the glistening Land of Snow where her adventure really begins. In a world of Edwardian elegance, Nutcracker brings to life the eternally popular Tchaikovsky score featuring the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Waltz of the Flowers. This classical production is a magical, memorable and unmissable Christmas treat. ***** '…has an air of absolute artistic integrity' (Laura Thompson, The Daily Telegraph) **** 'The audience was clearly delighted' (Clement Crisp, The Financial Times) **** 'This is now a contender as one of the best Nutcrackers around'(Neil Norman, Daily Express) Choreography by Wayne Eagling Based on concept by Toer van Schayk and Wayne Eagling Music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Design by Peter Farmer Lighting by David Richardson" This November Sadler's Wells welcomes fantastic ballet company - Stuttgart Ballet.
We decided to go to classic The Taming of the shrew. Everybody knows this famous Shakespeare's comedy from which this great libretto originated, lot of fun and excitement ! This ballet is very unique because it was choreographed by Stuttgart ballet and performed, as I know, mostly by Stuttgart Ballet. At least I never had a chance to see this ballet danced by other companies. Brilliant performance. Great technique, amazing storytelling, dancers were top class ! Hope they will come next year , definitely want to see it again !!! To see 2 Don Quixotes a year is quite a treat ! Earlier this year we enjoyed Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev flamboyant performance. And now it's time for Carlos Acosta's premier in Royal Ballet ! One of the most favourite and bright ballets ever !
" The Royal Ballet season opens with brilliant new production of great classic, packed with entertainment for audiences of all ages: Don Quixote. Cuban ballet star Carlos acosta - world famous for his performances as the young barber Basilio - directs the vibrant and lavish new staging in collaboration with award-winning West End designers Tim Hatley and Hugh Vanstone. " Another gorgeous Sleeping Beauty ! This time in Sadler's Wells theater in Islington. "This thrilling production is by Birmingham Royal Ballet's former director Sir Peter Wright, creator of the Company's popular production of The Nutcracker. With its romantic finale packed with every fairytale character imaginable, The Sleeping Beauty is as engaging now as when she first fell asleep, over 100 years ago" Birmingham Royal Ballet season guide Look what critics say: "Spectacular" Times "The finest production of Sleeping Beauty that I may have ever seen in Britain" The Artdesk "The grandest ballet in the repertory" The Guardian The last Ballet of the Bolshoi's season at Royal Opera House was Flames of Paris. "The Bolshoi present the first UK performances of acclaimed choreographer Alexei Ratmansky's revival of Vasily Vainonen's The Flames of Paris. Set to Boris Asafiev's powerfully evocative music, the ballet depicts the tumultuous era of French Revolution, and astounds with one of the most stunning pas de deux in the whole of the ballet repertoire." Royal Opera House Summer guide That was a real Treasure:
Emeralds: Evgeniya Obraztsova and Vladislav Lantratov Rubies: Ekaterina Shipulina Diamonds: Olga Smirnova _______________________________________ " The Bolshoi performs the UK premiere of its acclaimed new production of Balanchine's Jewels, inspired by the brilliance and colour of gemstones. Faure's music perfectly complements the romantic elegance of Emeralds, followed by the jazzy, witty, Rubies set to Stravinsky's vibrant score; Diamonds, a glittering evocation of Russian imperialism to tchaikovsky's sublime music, end the ballet in a spectacular tribute to the great Russian ballet tradition" Royal Opera House summer guide Can't even express how I was anticipating this Sleeping Beauty !!!! Svetlana Zakharova as Princess Aurora and David Hallberg as Prince ! "The first performances outside Russia of Yuri Grigorovich's magnificent new revival of Petipa's Sleeping Beauty. Tchaikovsky's incomparable music, sumptious costumes by Franca Squarciapino and spectacular decor by the celebrated Italian aer director, Ezio Friderio, provide a brilliant visual feast imbuing Perrault's beloved fairytale with wonder and excitement" Royal Opera House Summer guide The second Bolshoi's Ballet we have seen in Covent Garden last summer was La Bayadere. "Petipa's masterpiece of passion, betrayal and redemption, culminationg in the breathtaking " Kingdon of Shades", danced to perfection by the Bolshoi's incomparable corps de ballet. Dazzling new decor and costumes by Nikolai Sharonov illuminate the tragic tale of the temple dancer Nikiya's doomed love for the warrior Solor." Royal Opera House Summer guide It's always amazing to see 2 fantastic primas in one ballet. Svetlana Zakharova performed Nikiya's role while Maria Alexandrova amazed as Princess Gamzatti. Unfortunately during this performance accident happen and Maria Alexandrova got injured on stage. We wish her very quick recovery and hope to see her in London soon again ! It was such a big dream to see Svetlana Zakharova in Swan Lake so it feels so unreal when it finally happened ! She is definitely one of the best ballerinas of our time ! _____________________________ Bolshoi Ballet season in Royal Ballet 29 July - 17 August "In 1963, Victor Hochhauser brought Bolshoi Ballet to Covent Garden and it was a visit in which British affection for Russian ballet threw off any last reserve. We had taken Russian ballet to our hearts ...." Clement Crisp "The Bolshoi ballet opened the season with Swan Lake, the most famous of all ballets, in which the love of Prince Siegfried and his Swan Queen, Odette, is imperilled by sinister supernatural forces. Set to Tchaikovsky's lyrical, passionate score, the magic and drama of this timeless story unfold in a memorable production by renowned choreographer Yuri Grigorovich." Royal Opera House Summer guide 29 July we enjoyed the most exquisite Odette ever ( Svetalana Zakharova) and charming Prince ( Alexandre Volchkov) This year Andris Liepa brought absolutely fantastic programme. Russian Seasons of XXI century or Les Saison Russe du XXI sciecle. The day we chose included Chopiniana Polovetsian dance (from Prince Igor opera) Scheherazade ( with Yulia Makhalina !!! as Zobeida) Now we are so looking forward for next summer. What programme will be for next year's Russian Seasons ? According to Dancing Times, National Ballet of Canada returned to London after a 26-year absence ! We made sure we got our tickets. Anticipating yo see Alexei Ratmansky's Romeo & Juliet and Russian ballerina Elena Lobsanova (Juliet herself). Sadlers' Wells in Islington (Angel) is very nice theater offering good view actually from any seat. They have mostly modern ballet productions,but it's such a luck that some classics available as well ! I think Russian ballerinas are the best ! And we enjoyed Elena Lobsanova performance very much. Beautiful, elegant, fragile Juliet as you can imagine. Dancing Times wrote: "Elena Lobsanova thought Ratmansky had picked her to be his first Juliet because she looks so young. He says he admired her naturalness and spontaneity. perhaps it's their shared Russian soulfulness. Lobsanova has a special luminosity and grace that make her instantly noticeable." |
AuthorLet's share the best performances and events in London. Royal Opera House, Colliseum, Sadlers' Wells are the most favourite. Archives
November 2014
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