NYCB Week 3: Jan. 16-21, 2007

[drb]

Rebecca Krohn will have danced 13 principal or soloist roles this week if indeed she performs the two scheduled in last night's and again today's Robbins programs. Is this some kind of record, at least recently? (Shades of Kyra's mid-'80s workloads.)

Thank goodness that block(head) programming was partly justified as avoiding such taxing situations. Of course we know this fine young soloist is being fast-tracked, but hopefully not train-wrecked.

Anyone see the Robbins show?

[Farrell Fan]

The opening of Symphony in Three Movements is always a thrill, as drb says, but on Friday night (Jan 19) for me the thrill was considerably diluted. The curtain went up on the "space age Wilis" as usual, but before the music started, the audience broke into polite applause. The music started after that. I don't know whether to blame the audience or conductor Fayçal Karoui, but I hope this doesn't become a habit.

[richard53dog]

The opening of Symphony in Three Movements is always a thrill, as drb says, but on Friday night (Jan 19) for me the thrill was considerably diluted. The curtain went up on the "space age Wilis" as usual, but before the music started, the audience broke into polite applause. The music started after that. I don't know whether to blame the audience or conductor Fayçal Karoui, but I hope this doesn't become a habit.

That would really ruin the impact of the opening. Too bad. I hope they figure out how to avoid it going forward!

[Dale]

It seems as if the new conductor has some groupies. On Friday night, evey time he came out to the podium there were strange cries of ecstasy that I have never heard at State Theater. Truely, they sounded different than the nycb-inspired cries of ecstasy. I don't like it.

[Helene]

One thing I've heard at the beginning of every performance of Symphony in C: an audible gasp when the curtain rises on the line of pony-tailed women in white.

[ViolinConcerto]

I had really been looking forward to Symphony in 3 on Friday night, and most of it was beautifully done. Even though I was on the right (and it's best to be on the left, of course) that incredible line of women just took my breath away, as always. Ashley Bouder and Tom Gold just bounded around as if they were on little trampolines. However, I disagree about Jennie Somogyi and Jared Angle -- they looked very "nice," but there was not enough sharpness and "danger" as I used to feel with Heather and Jock, or Wendy and Jock, or Wendy and Albert and I can't remember who else I've seen in it in the last 25 years.

And yes, Wendy and Albert in Agon really were wonderful, as were Sean Suozzi and his partners, but again, things looked too soft to me here, as well. M&M was good, I always love that upside-down pose when they flex their feet, but just as on Thursday, Askegard, (nice guy that "Chuck" is) was a sore thumb.

On Friday night the orchestra, with our new Music Director, was just everywhere but where it should have been. The horns and brass in particular. They sounded like a pick-up group. The worst was Agon. I felt very badly for the 4 men who had to count the opening sequence.

Krohn was not the only person working really hard -- Ellen Bar was very busy as well. Arch Higgins did dance in Symphony in 3, and looked quite good. I'm sorry he was out on Saturday.

And does anyone else chuckle at the discrepancy between Ashley and Rebecca's photos -- with no make-up, and their stage faces, with enough make-up and layers of eyelashes for about 5 performers....each? You know, those false eyelashes weigh a lot -- which means their eyelid muscles are just as strong as their other muscles!

[drb]

... You know, those false eyelashes weigh a lot -- which means their eyelide muscles are just as stron as their other muscles!

Ahhh! So that's how Ashley got that impish look yesterday. It was in the eyes. Strong eyelids: it's very Bouder to use and give everything she's got, so now I understand why I've found her to be an eye dancer. Maria Kowroski is an eye dancer too. When they dance I really make use of my binoculars, no matter where I'm sitting.

Thanks for the info that Jennie also danced with Jared Friday.

Regarding our new Music Director in Chief. Maybe that January 6 Times article that made him out to be a sex symbol is back-firing. I wonder how much of the "groupie" response reported earlier in this thread was motivated by that article. Strange too that on Friday the orchestra was not playing well for him, given his stated excitement about conducting this program. While I guess there weren't so many playing glitches Saturday, the music wasn't as dynamically varied as when conducted by the prior Director. Still, he delivered so many terrific performances last year, things are bound to get better....

[Michael]

My impressions of the Stravinsky program are quite like those of Violin Concerto except that I think Albert Evans unsuited to the Agon pas de deux -- He's not classical enough to be unclassical, or neoclassical, or angular or modern. He can't establish classicism in order to vary it. You suspect he's doing things the way he is because he can't, not because the choreography has modern lines. And he doesn't get those lines right anyway. He's too soft and round for this. Soto didn't have a classical body, but he had a very clean and well schooled approach.

Jenny Somgyi did not look good in the costume for Symph in 3, it is not a flattering role for her.

And I thought Rebecca Krohn had a very difficult week across the board and that both Monumentum and Movements were disappointing. To my thinking, Monumentum and Movements were the major casualties of the Stravinsky programs.

[ViolinConcerto]

except that I think Albert Evans unsuited to the Agon pas de deux -- He's not classical enough to be unclassical, or neoclassical, or angular or modern.

...Michael

On the other hand, a number of ballet-friends of mine would Love to see him do Apollo!

[Leigh Witchel]

Sigh. Once.

I think it's too late, now.

[Klavier]

I don’t pretend to perceive some of the finer points that those of you with more experience bring to the forum. As I’ll always say, unless the dancing is just plain bad I’m likely to perceive it as being pretty good. And so yes, I can see that Sylve is a bit on the regal side compared to someone like Whelan, that Evans is a bit soft-looking (but to tell the truth, I found Jock Soto’s thick-waisted physique even less appealing). I got to the evening Mozartiana-In Vento-TP2 performance on 1/18 and the Stravinsky matinee on 1/20. For what it’s worth, my purely untrained reactions:

Thursday:

Mozartiana – mostly beautifully done. By coincidence, choice, or luck, I seem to see Wendy Whelan more than any other principal at NYCB, and I thought her Preghiera was simply and movingly done, and overcome the cringe factor I feel at Tchaikovsky’s overly sweet orchestration. Daniel Ulbricht appeared more elegant and restrained than I had ever seen him; whether this was due to better coaching or greater maturity I can’t say. Both Wendy and Nikolai Hübbe carried off their variations with aplomb. In the finale, Ulbricht’s height did put him at a disadvantage. This was not bothersome in the Gigue or when he brought out the little children, but against the two other adults the stage picture looked off. Maybe he’d be better set against a pairing like DeLuz and Fairchild.

In Vento – I came looking forward to the other ballets but was more affected by this one. So I think was the audience, which seemed comparatively tepid in its reaction to Mozartiana. This was a strange, moving work, and I haven’t the slightest idea what it means. But it is one I’d see again. Millepied, Liang, and Kowroski were all splendid. The music had its weak spots as well as some beautiful ones.

Tchaikovsky – Musically speaking, I have problems with this concerto, which I don’t consider anywhere near the level of the more popular first in Bb minor. The lengthy first movement in particular seems like a series of introductions to an event that never happens. And having a stronger background in music than dance, I was not thrilled by Susan Walters’s version of the solo part. She got most of the notes, but there was none of the Russian bravura I’d expect from a first-class virtuoso. It was a weak, dull performance, and I wonder how the dancers would have reacted to a more dominant pianist. I can’t fault any of the dancing I saw, but as I say I tend to see with my ears as much as my eyes.

As for the conducting, the perhaps unfortunately named Mr. Briskin took tempos that really weren’t too brisk at all. I have played the Mozart variations in its original piano version for many years, and some of my tempos are faster than those I heard at NYCB.

Saturday:

Agon – To my mind, this score is an utter miracle, eternally inventive especially in rhythm and instrumentation, and a totally unified experience despite the fact it took Stravinsky three years off and on to write, and mixes tonal and serial elements. I’ve known it from score and recordings for at least 30 years (I particularly recommend David Atherton’s version if you can find it), but this was only the second time I’ve seen it danced. And miraculous as the music is, the counterpoint of Balanchine’s choreography only enhances the experience. In a strong cast, Wendy Whelan and Albert Evans stood out, but Theresa Reichlen and Sean Suozzi were both very good. In Sean’s Sarabande-Step solo, I sensed he might not have the sheer physical strength to carry this off 100%. But visually it was all very satisfying nonetheless. Mr. Karoui and his orchestra were okay but no more.

Maybe more tomorrow on the other works as I’m running out of steam. Or maybe not. On the whole, though, this was one of the best afternoons I’ve spent at NYCB.