102 replies to this topic

[leonid]

Natalia, on 18 October 2011 - 04:57 AM, said:

Paul Parish, on 17 October 2011 - 09:01 PM, said:

Re the SLAPS....in 1890, Petipa's "Raymonda" was a princess, not "the people's princess" -- she did NOT do a double pirouette in the Hungarian variation. Pontois is amping it up.

It's pretty clear that Petipa wanted his heroines to "display their coquetterie." it's a phrase he uses over and over. The style of Pontois is much coarser than that -- she is not gracious at all; she's commanding, impressive, sexy, challenging, borderline dominatrix -- very Nureyev. it puts me in mind of  Rudi's thigh-high crocodile boots. It's wonderful in its way -- the technique is of course mighty fine. But.............

Perfectly stated, Paul! In fact, the first time that I saw the POB version of the variation, by Guillem in one of the early Guillem documentaties, my first thought was "kinky"...not exactly what would have been seen in a gracious court (Romanov or de Doris).

How gracious a court would have the supposed de Doris "court" have been. There seems to be an extraordinary tone of relating Raymonda the ballet to some idealised real life experience.

The historic validity of Raymonda is lamentable even though based on actual persons.(This has been discussed elsewhere)

The reality would have been that the "court" would have continuously smelt despite floors strewn with rushes and sweet smelling herbs and flowers.

Bones and scraps were thrown on the floors for dogs to eat, men and women would have got up from the table to relieve themselves in a corner and this was still happening when the Sun King was in residence at Versaille and throughout Europe in general.

Ballets are fiction and often very good fiction and even at times great fiction. But I am sorry to say they always remain fiction.

The story telling however can and does, grab the imagination and that is why we enjoy performances especially when the dancing and acting is truly related to the formalities of academic classical ballet.

Is Raymonda truly a great ballet in the stagings we have seen. It can look spectacular, it can be danced marvellously well and the score carries it.

There is a definite rift between complete performances of the past and performances of today, especially in the case of the Kirov/Maryinsky ballet which began losing its way under Vinogradov.

But I do, look forward to seeing the production if not all of the dancers.

PS
Not quite sure that Petipa wanted his dancers to "display their coquetterie" as he was an irascible old man who was quite unapproachable and rarely had a kind word that alone any word to say to most dancers.

[Natalia]

The courts depicted in various Petipa ballets were intended to echo the court of the chief patron who paid for them: the Imperial Romanov Tsar. The auditorium and stage of the Mariinsky were very much an extension of the Tsar's living room "down the street" at the Winter Palace or an hour outside the city at Tsarskoe Selo. Even if all was not perfect in the House of Romanov...woe be to the ballet master who would dare hint at anything less than gentility and nobility.

Nureyev's Tartar infusions -- however entertaining they are to us now in 2011 -- would never had made the cut in Tsar Nikolai II's court. Poor Rudi would have been exiled to Siberia, I'm afraid to guess. We saw what happened to the divine Nijinsky when he dared to discard his shorts in Giselle...showing his 'goods' to the Tsarevna (Queen Mother) Maria Fedorovna and Tsar Nikolai II's daughters! Ooo-lah-lah!

Seriously, in keeping with this topic, I greatly admire Vikharev and Gershenzon for being acutely aware of and sensitive to the historical context of staging the Petipa ballets. The aim was to come as close to the overall look and 'feel' of that opening night in 1898. It takes more than a staging of mere steps to do that. The sets, costumes and general 'perfume' of the ballet are even more important, IMO, than whether or not a ballerina hikes a leg above 100 degrees.

[rg]

to stray further off topic here to the subj. of the Nijinsky costume scandal/dismissal, the facts surrounding it all remain somewhat murky, even in light of Sarah Woodcock's informative article from The Dancing Times (noted below):
<<
Woodcock, Sarah C.
The mystery of the missing costume.
The dancing times. London. Nov. 1988, p. 126-128. ill.
>>
the attached scan is a reproduction of the photo mentioned by Woodcock as likely documenting the "offending" costume, tho' as she points out to whom, how and when the offense occurred isn't that clear. some sources say the Dowager Empress, others the grand duchesses, etc.
the scan below shows the costume pointed out by Woodcock in her article. i recently got a copy of it from the Graphic 1911 - a collector i know says the original (Bert?) photo is in John Neumeier's collection; i don't know of any reproduction of the photo since 1911, other than Woodcock's reproduction, for her article, of a magazine publication of the photo, perhaps this same one. (my copy of the article is not handy at the moment.)

Attached Thumbnails

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[Paul Parish]

THANK YOU, Mme Hermine.

This is wonderful -- and great-hearted.
Very Soviet, but splendid in that style.
They make it into a dance of joy, and that's right.

Mme. Hermine, on 18 October 2011 - 03:58 AM, said:

The variation, here, is about the earliest one I can find on YouTube, and that's fifty years after the beginning.  I wonder if there are earlier ones.

http://www.youtube.c...h/1/wnEkZPgFZso

[Natalia]

I just heard from a Milanese ballet-going friend that some sort of "letter of action" or "petition" has been circulated by a group of La Scala dancers to the theater's management to protest the RAYMONDA production, citing 'excessive luxury' and 'waste of resources.' While I was there, I had only heard, in very general terms, that there were the usual 'grumblings' by some dancers because of the extra work, etc.  Nothing about a more formal letter or petition. Does any of this ring true with any of our Italian BalletAlerters...magpie74 or anyone else?

This may explain the angry Corriere della Sera 'review.'

According to my playbill, the major sponsor for this production was the banking group Intesa San Paolo. Maybe the unhappy people should write to the bankers? La Scala Theater is run by a private foundation, although some members of the foundation are quasi-governmental entities. My understanding is that it's mostly private money.

I can only vouch for the intense joy and applause at the end of the first two performances. There were no unhappy picketers, no tomatoes thrown...only praise and joy. If there was whistling, I never heard it.

[Natalia]

Milano Oggi ("Milan Today") newspaper's online edition of 12 October published a very positive review...so not all are grumblers.

http://www.milanoogg...-minuti-di.html

Rough translation:

Triumph of Raymonda at La Scala: Seven Minutes of Applause in Milan - Yesterday evening saw the premiere of RAYMONDA, a colossal Petersburg ballet, applauded beyond seven minutes at its debut on the theater stage. The ballet in three acts by Marius Petipa, first performed in 1898, is performed in full regalia, from the imposing scenery and magnificent costumes, the final ballet of the 2010/2011 season of Piermarini. Raymonda will be on the stage for another eight viewings until 4 November. The preparation time was enormous -- rehearsals began one year and two months ago. The star of the ballet is the first soloist of the Mariinski Theatre, Olesia Novikova, a beautiful diamond within a grandiose medieval frame. The dancer earned huge applause at the premiere, with multiple 'brava' and cheers of approval after all solos. Greatly appreciated also was the other star of the evening, the Swedish [sic - he's German] dancer Friedemann Vogel. To applaud them, among the public, was seated a VIP spectator, Carla Fracci, whose entrance to the 'platea' (Orch seats) was greeted warmly; many spectators stood and yelled 'brava.'

Note: How could I have forgotten to mention Carla?! Yes, she was there at the opening night, looking radiant, with her husband.

[Mel Johnson]

Natalia, on 18 October 2011 - 07:24 AM, said:

We saw what happened to the divine Nijinsky when he dared to discard his shorts in Giselle...showing his 'goods' to the Tsarevna (Queen Mother) Maria Fedorovna and Tsar Nikolai II's daughters! Ooo-lah-lah!

In 1826, Cadet Leonidas Polk (USMA 1827) was ejected from the Superintendent's house party for wearing the new-style fly-front trousers instead of the older-fashioned front-fall trousers, which buttoned at the side.  It was felt that his appearance was too "suggestive" for polite mixed company, and so he was thrown out of the house.  (It didn't hurt his reputation any, though.  He went on to become the Episcopal Bishop of Louisiana.)

Jump ahead to about 1970.  When the 3rd US Infantry, 4th Battalion, A Company was tricked out in Revolutionary War uniform for their ceremonial duties in Washington, the Commanding General's lady was scandalized by the men's breeches.  She thought that they showed their "forms" too clearly.  As a result, the breeches were scrapped, and the unit outfitted instead in the looser long "overalls" which they wear to this day.

[EricHG31]

Mme. Hermine, on 18 October 2011 - 03:58 AM, said:

The variation, here, is about the earliest one I can find on YouTube, and that's fifty years after the beginning.  I wonder if there are earlier ones.

http://www.youtube.c...h/1/wnEkZPgFZso

Thanks for that link--I never knew that the Kirov made a ballet *movie* version of Raymonda (I know about the live 1970s recording of course)...

[Paul Parish]

THANK YOU, Mme Hermine.

This is wonderful -- and great-hearted.
Very Soviet, but splendid in that style.
They make it into a dance of joy, and that's right.

Mme. Hermine, on 18 October 2011 - 03:58 AM, said:

The variation, here, is about the earliest one I can find on YouTube, and that's fifty years after the beginning.  I wonder if there are earlier ones.

http://www.youtube.c...h/1/wnEkZPgFZso

[Paul Parish]

It's in his book, Leonid. I read it long ago, but I remember him using that expression frequently in describing variations.
or maybe it's in Wiley, quoting him.

[aurora]

As we are putting up other versions, I'm very partial to Martine Van Hamel's which, in my view bridges the gap between appropriately princessy (not overly sexy, dominatrix-y) and yet has strong port de bras

[bart]

magpie74, on 17 October 2011 - 10:04 PM, said:

Natalia, on 14 October 2011 - 05:06 AM, said:

Now for the BEST news: La Scala has announced the LIVE TELECAST on October 27, which happens to be the 4th and final performance of the first-cast duo of Novikova/Vogel. "Plan accordingly."

Hello everyone! It is my first post here, though I've been reading and enjoying this forum for quite some time now.
I'm Italian and I live in Italy, I'm not a ballet expert just someone who used to take ballet classes as a you girl and never stopped loving ballet.

I thank you for the informetion you are giving about this production. Here in Italy I noticed there was a bit of controversy about it, so I was really curious to read your opinions. I'm going to attend the performance on the 25th and I'm really excited about it!

As for the live telecast, this will be on Rai 5 (one of Rai DTT channels) and also on the website of Rai 5 on the 27th of October at 9.30pm

http://www.rai5.rai....html?refresh_ce

Once again thank you all for this great forum

Thank you, magpie74, for the information and the link about the RAI broadcast and also for the kind words.  Welcome to Ballet Alert.  I hope you will post your reactions to the October 25th performance.

[Natalia]

Mme. Hermine, on 18 October 2011 - 03:58 AM, said:

The variation, here, is about the earliest one I can find on YouTube....

I finally had a chance to check my La Scala-Raymonda programme for Pavel Gershenzon's mention of film clips of an earlier version utilized to stage parts of the La Scala A2 Pas d'Action (a.k.a. "Pas de Six") that had not been fully notated by Nikolai Sergeyev in the "Harvard Notes."

In fact, a film of substantial segments of the 1945 Bolshoi Theater version by Leonid Lavrovsky-after Gorsky (1908)-after Petipa (1898) was used by Vikharev & Gershenzon to recover the A2 Pas d'Action's 'Bernard & Beranger' duo, although Gerzhenson notes that,eventually, he & Vikharev decided to move that choreography to A3 so that Vogel and other leading dancers essaying Jean de Brienne would have a solo to perform. So....the Lavrovsky-after G-after P steps for B&B were prepared for La Scala...but only performed by one man, Jean. [So Vogel did NOT perform the Konstantin Sergeyev version of Jean's A3 solo to the B&B music. My earlier error, sorry.]

Bernard & Beranger in the 19?? (mid-50s?) film of the 1945 version are Anatoli Kuznetsov and Nikolai Fadeyechev.  Now wouldn't we all LOVE to see that 1945 Bolshoi Raymonda on YouTube someday?

[Natalia]

Here's a bit more news from RAI5 about the October 27 telecast of the 1898 RAYMONDA from La Scala:

http://www.rai5.rai....2c-6042c56f3278

Rough translation of key bits:

This is a 'direct deferred (delayed)' transmission. As many of you may have noticed, the telecast begins to transmit at 21:30, which is 9:30pm local Milan time...obviously well past the actual ballet's starting time of 7pm. There will be a 2.5-hr delay but, not to worry -- the entire ballet will be shown.

Former La Scala prima ballerina, Luciana Savignano, and Kledi Kadiu will emcee the introduction and intervals.

Novikova and Vogel will be the leading dancers. Mikhail Jurowski conducts the orchestra.

Caution: Internet viewers will be prompted to install "Microsoft Silverlight" on their computers. You might want to take care of this ahead of time, if you do not currently have Silverlight.

p.s. This Time-Zones website may be handy:
http://www.timezonec...cgi-bin/tzc.tzc

[EricHG31]

So 12 hours to go till the TV/Web showing??  I have the afternoon off but will probably miss the first 40 minutes or so...