EvilNinjaX Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Did anyone else go to see this? I've never seen Patrice Bart's version and didn't really know anything about it going in except that it goes back to source materials more. I'm not sure exactly what that meant and was hoping it wouldn't be too weird. Someone posted the video clip link for a rehearsal vid which had the Scottish dance in it, which I thought was absolutely wonderful, so I was looking forward to it. I did like (for the most part) the new (or 'old') storyline made sense and was interesting if lacking in the cute/fun aspect of the original. The background of Dr Coppelius' long-lost love as well as the flirtatious Swanhilda gives a strong narrative spine to the proceedings and i did like the dynamic of Franz-Swanhilda-Coppelius in this. Having Jose Martinez as Dr Coppelius does give a sense of why a girl liek Swanhilda might swoon over him, also; he looks amazing (how old is he now?)! And splitting the traditional Coppelius into Coppelius and The dancing was wonderful although I will say that it seemed that Act 1 sometimes seemed a bit frantic and frenzied and maybe there was a bit TOO MUCH (gasp) dancing. Ditto with Swanhilda. She was featured in just about everything and it might have been nicer if there were more segments that didn't have her in it. There was lots of male dancing and it was quite impressive. The leads were great and this was the first I've seen Dorothee Gilbert dance and she was fantastic. Jose Martinez really commanded the stage even when not doing any dance. Mathias Heymann was splendid in almost a thankless role. As a side note: Swanhilda's friend with the rose-color was the girl who played Swanhilda in the Paris Opera Ballet School's DVD of Coppelia. The ending was bizarre, though, and I really did miss having the grand finale to complete the ballet and when the curtain ended I just felt something lacking. I really think the ending segment while it makes sense in the narrative, really undermines the total effect of the ballet. The streaming was nice with only 2 noticeable interruptions and a little artifacting. The camerawork was a bit painful, cutting away from dancing for expressions, often over-zooming to frame a person from knees to top of head; this is made much worse b/c at times, there is the PERFECT fixed camera shot given to us (slightly elevated, dead center, perfectly framing the stage) that gives you a fantastic view of everything. Alas, it's only sparingly used. Overall, it was a pleasant morning spent. Given my druthers, I'd rather see the original as I think the playful element works together better for the music and my familiarity with it, but I am glad to have seen this and think it was interesting and enjoyable. -goro- Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 Thank you for your review, goro. Unfortunately, the ballet isn't being shown in my neck of the woods. I'm sorry that I won't have the opportunity to compare Bart's version, however peculiar it may be, with the Bolshoi's staging when it comes to the screen in a couple months' time. Was the aspect ratio correct? I hope the dancers weren't distorted on screen. Link to comment
EvilNinjaX Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 Thank you for your review, goro. Unfortunately, the ballet isn't being shown in my neck of the woods. I'm sorry that I won't have the opportunity to compare Bart's version, however peculiar it may be, with the Bolshoi's staging when it comes to the screen in a couple months' time. Was the aspect ratio correct? I hope the dancers weren't distorted on screen. The a/r was pretty good, i think, better than with Bolshoi's Don Q. There's apparently going to be an encore screening, but i can't find any other reference to it. Unfortunately, i won't be able to see the Bolshoi's version as I will be watching Royal Danish Ballet's new Napoli (live) that day. -goro- Link to comment
EvilNinjaX Posted March 29, 2011 Author Share Posted March 29, 2011 One other thing: The next POB stream is apparently going to be Children of Paradise, choreography by Jose Martinez, in July 2011. Does anyone know anything about this? -goro- Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted March 29, 2011 Share Posted March 29, 2011 There's apparently going to be an encore screening, but i can't find any other reference to it. Most of the encore screenings will take place on April 6, or April 2 in California. If you can get the page to work, the screenings are listed on the Ballet in Cinema web site. http://www.balletincinema.com/titles/coppelia-paris-opera-ballet/ I could take a drive to Montana to see it. I haven't visited Montana yet. Link to comment
bart Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Thanks, EvilNinjaX and volcanohunter. Did anyone else see this? Or have you seen this version in earlier performancaes? I ask because Alistair Macaulay in today's NY Times has really brought out the heavy artillery to attack Patrice Bart's version, the dancers, the musical choices, etc. I' can't remember when I found Macaulay so worked-up about something he didn't like. To the company that first gave "Coppelia" to the world, Mr. Bart has given an anti-"Coppelia." Now the Paris Opera has broadcast it to the world. Why? In Mr. Bart’s staging, new in 1996, Frantz is danced by a man. Mr. Bart also has that character and his four male friends dance to music specifically written for women (the variations on a Slav theme in Act I); packs the mime role of Dr. Coppélius with dance steps; continually inserts sections of music that are not from “Coppélia” at all; and changes crucial aspects of the story. Old Dr. Coppélius becomes a handsome young freak who takes drugs and drinks and ends up cracking up; his sidekick Spalanzani acts as his procurer; nobody else celebrates the happy ending for Swanilda and Frantz. [ ... ] And everything here is grotesquely, insistently unmusical — even anti-musical. For many decades the Paris Opera Ballet (unlike its school) has been hostile to serious musical dancing. Its two most celebrated directors since World War II, Serge Lifar and Rudolf Nureyev, remain notorious for their irksome ways of pasting dance onto music with every kind of wrong stress, and Mr. Bart — as a dancer once an unsurpassed exemplar of the most irritating features of the Parisian style — seems to parade his choreographic unmusicality here as if it were a point of honor. [ ... ] That Mr. Bart’s version has no serious connection to the original would be trivial if it were good in its own right. ]Monday’s dancers paid terrific attention to taxing details of rapid footwork and charming posture while passing casually over matters like line, dynamic contrasts, expressive phrasing. It’s like reading the prose of a bore who thinks that good style resides principally in long words and correct punctuation. There’s no reason to blame the dancers for this. Paris Opera performers have been painstakingly trained to dance this way for decades, and Ms. Gilbert, Mr. Heymann and Mr. Martinez all applied flamboyant charm in industrial quantities. OUCH! http://www.nytimes.c...?_r=1&ref=dance Link to comment
cinnamonswirl Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 Laura Cappelle in the Financial Times wasn't quite as scathing towards the production, but she did tweet "spot-on" about Macaulay's review. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/abcbc00e-54a6-11e0-b1ed-00144feab49a.html#axzz1HMUGJqPK http://twitter.com/#!/bellafigural/status/53029159177433088 One other thing: The next POB stream is apparently going to be Children of Paradise, choreography by Jose Martinez, in July 2011. Does anyone know anything about this? -goro- The plot is based on the movie of the same name. It was created by Martinez for POB in 2008 to a commissioned score by Marc-Olivier Dupin. Agnès Letestu did the costumes. Isabelle Ciaravola (Garance), Mathieu Ganio (Baptiste), Alessio Carbone (Lematire), Benjamin Pech (Lacenaire) and Christophe Duquenne (Count) were the opening night cast. Martinez won the 2009 Benois for choreography for Enfants du paradis. If you're asking about casting information for the HD broadcast, it hasn't been announced yet Although now Ciaravola is an etoile, it seems logical she'll get the broadcast. Here are some clips of Ciaravola with Ganio and Duquenne: Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted June 10, 2011 Share Posted June 10, 2011 Some rehearsal footage of Bart's Coppelia with Gilbert and Heymann http://culturebox.france3.fr/#/danse_classique/36694/a-l_opera-avec-coppelia-le-17-juin-sur-france-3 Link to comment
cinnamonswirl Posted September 14, 2011 Share Posted September 14, 2011 Coppélia is being released on Region 2 DVD/Bluray on September 26. I assume a Region 1 release will follow shortly. http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B005LVEFW2/yukiswebpage-21/ref=nosim and http://www.opusarte.com/en/delibes-coppelia-opera-de-paris.html Link to comment
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