ballet_n00b

Do we know if she's resigned or it's a congé sans solde ? In any case, she has to look out for herself, though I'm sad to see her go. I also am saddened and frustrated at the lack of support for classical ballet here, since I have little to no interest in contemporary dance. It's interesting to contrast the dearth of classical ballet with the wealth of classical music we have. For example, when it comes to pianists everyone plays in Paris (or wants to), while many famous pianists no longer bother to play in NYC. I guess you can't have it all.  

Report on Froustey, mostly in French but some English.

Too bad that those of us slightly over 28 but still way younger than the average don’t benefit from these discounts. 

What happened with the première danseuse concours; they couldn’t be separated? Nobody was à la hauteur ? I feel sad for some of these girls, like Héloïse Bourdon who seems to be a terminal sujet. 

On 30/01/2018 at 3:17 PM, Mashinka said:

Agree about the opera, quite a few temptations, not least Harteros who we don't see in London.

If you consider Parisian opera productions 'revolting', never come to London as the RO's would give you apoplexy.

 

Well maybe 'revolting' is too harsh, although the word I'd choose in French 'ignoble' is probably much the same. I can tolerate the more "minimalist" productions but I have a big problem with things like La Bohème in Space, which I refused to see. I saw Carmen last year, and it was painful. Given the ballet season we have here, I'm tempted to venture over the Channel at some point where at least I can some classical dance, but I guess I'll avoid the opera.

11 hours ago, Laurent said:

Those who have keen interest in the fates of ballet in Paris may want to be informed about a petition Pour la défense du répertoire et de la tradition à l'Opéra de Paris,

https://www.mesopinions.com/petition/art-culture/defense-repertoire-tradition-opera-paris/38922

I am posting this exclusively for information, I am not one of the initiators of the petition, even though I endorse its goals, I would even express them more strongly, to save ballet in Paris from destruction.

I signed this already. I'm not sure it will achieve anything or that la directrice will even notice it, however.

At least I'll save money on ballet tickets next season. The opera lineup looks better but there I'm scared of their revolting productions. 

I would've thought Marchand being in his 20s would be a good quality for playing Onegin, no? Since this is the character's age. I can't speak for his acting ability since I've never seen him. I like Ould-Braham, she's a doll (very mimi indeed!) and reminds me a bit of Kaptsova because of this quality. I haven't decided which casts I'm going to see yet, definitely Pagliero, who I see in everything, but I've started to take an interest in seeing multiple casts. I might see whichever has Marion Barbeau's Olga since I follow her too. I actually know nothing of this ballet, but Pushkin's novel is my absolute favourite and Tchaikovsky's opera too (which I saw Netrebko sing at Bastille last year). I've never actually seen Gillot dance, because I don't like contemporary dance. 

Does Gillot dance much classical ballet anymore? I don't remember her being cast in anything recently.

On 15/01/2018 at 5:54 PM, DanielBenton said:

ballet_n00b thanks for pointing me to Beatrice Rana.

My pleasure! I think she could be something very special, it will be interesting to see how she develops. If you have Spotify I highly recommend her recent recording of the Goldberg Variations. Incidentally, I've been duly informed that tonight's concert will be filmed and available on Medici.

5 hours ago, Laurent said:

I always try to sit close to the stage not to miss any nuances. I do this everywhere whenever possible. With some performers it doesn't matter much, since they project emptiness, with Stepanova it is simply a must, otherwise you'll miss a lot (you don't taste a superb Burgundy from cheap wine glasses).

This is interesting to me. You don't find that you miss seeing part of the dancers' feet? I sat in the third row of Bastille a few weeks ago for one of Pagliero's Don Quixotes and I could not see the bottom half of her feet. I am fairly tall (1m82) and sat up as straight as I could.

20 hours ago, California said:

I was really hoping POB would give me a good excuse for a trip to Paris in 2019. Very disappointed! I have been hoping to see their versions of La Sylphide and Giselle. Maybe next season!

Well we had La Syphide last summer so not sure when we'll see that again. i really hope to see Giselle too. 

11 hours ago, dirac said:

Thanks, DanielBenton. I have not heard Wang. Do you think she has a particular affinity for any one composer?

Even though this was not addressed to me, I'll chime in with my 2 cents. I've seen YW perform maybe 4-5 times in both recital and concerti. I think she tends to play all composers fairly evenly. The best performance I heard of hers was Schubert D959 at Salle Pleyel in 2014. She put me in a daze with her playing in the slow movement (that rarely happens). She plays Scriabin extremely well too as she has an unbelievable technical control which allows her to create an interesting soundworld. Although I have to admit I found her Chopin Preludes annoyingly willful. It's sad to say but I think her dresses and flashy encores automatically cause a section of pianophiles to write her off. It's amazing how passionately some people I know dislike her. For me, at her best, she is a tremendous musician and she's always a fantastic pianist. As for the other ladies DanielBenton mentioned I don't care for them, particularly Buniatishvili who's really not my kind of artist. I will see Beatrice Rana at Fondation Louis Vuitton this Saturday, now there's another young lady I have a lot of time for!

1 hour ago, Laurent said:

"SHAME" unfortunately is the right word. This is a complete betrayal of the troupe. The leanest years in the postwar history of ballet at Grand Opéra are to continue. After Lefèvre and her faithful disciple Dupont, united in their despicable grudge against la danse classique, will there be any decent classical dancers left in Paris at all? This is very far from certain. Who is going to rescue ballet in France this time? Shall we need to go to London, to Petersbourg, to Moscow, to see it, and to send our children there for them to learn it?

It does indeed seem like we'll have to go abroad in order to see Giselle, Sylvia, Coppélia etc ! All the heritage of the company.

Héloïse Bourdon has been stuck at Sujet for a long time now. Interesting that she was already at this level when Baulac was still a coryphée. One wonders how long she'll patiently wait for opportunities before taking a congé to dance elsewhere.

Paquette's farewell is the only reason I'd go see Cendrillon. I presume this is the "classique" we get in December?

Shame we couldn't see him in SL, he made a very great impression on me last time.

She is such a beautiful woman.

However, I had to turn the sound off.

Nope.

I did see Pagliero on the 24th however (optima, third row centre - probably too close).

She was great.

The other night we had three étoiles dancing together, with Ould-Braham as Kitri, Renavand as the Queen of the Dryads and Gilbert as Cupid.

Yes, this doesn't surprise me at all.

I ended up taking two tickets; one to see Paquette on the 13th of December, the other to see Pagliero on the 24th.

Now I pray to the ballet gods that I get to see these two dance as expected!

He missed the performance on 11 October, which is the one I attended.

I was pretty disappointed.

Maybe I'll try to see two nights then; one with Pagliero and one with Paquette, even if I'm kind of really stretching my budget here.

Thank you Laurent and miliosr.

I love Pagliero but I've seen her dance twice already this year and was thinking about seeing other dancers, though if she's likely to give the best Kitri maybe I will see her again.

Paquette is my favourite dancer at ONP but I got burnt last time I booked largely to see him (Jewels), as he pulled out of the performance.

Baulac/Louvet made a big impression on me when I saw them in Nutcracker in 2014.

https://www.operadeparis.fr/saison-17-18/ballet/don-quichotte/distribution#head

The cast listings for Don Quixote are out.

I can only afford to attend one performance and would appreciate some recommendations.

Kitri/Basilio pairings include:

Pagliero/Heymann

Ould-Braham/Paquette

Renavand/Marchand

GIlbert/Marque

Pagliero/Legasa

Boylston/Marchand

Ould-Braham/Heymann

Albisson/Paquette

Baulac/Louvet

I can attend any date apart from the 15th December as I'll be seeing Nelson Goerner that night.

Which cast would you attend?

Thanks in advance

I watched this earlier today and really enjoyed it.

She played a couple of times in Paris this year but not in rep that interested me so I passed on attending.

It's amazing how Argerich hasn't lost any of her technique despite being 76 years old (neither has Nelson Freire), while her esteemed colleague Pollini's once legendary mechanism has become frayed.

I saw Pappano and the band play those Respighi (and the same encores) when they toured with Yuja Wang in May and they made a big impression on me.

1 hour ago, Josette said:

I was so looking forward to seeing Ludmila Pagliero in La Sylphide. 

I saw her dance it in July; it was great, I'm sorry you'll miss out.

I hope at least this cancellation means that we in Paris might get another ballet, because I hadn't anticipated attending many more this season (just Don Quixote and Onegin).

I will see her in Nijinsky this Sunday.

She's been one of my favourites for years, and this might be the only opportunity I get to see her perform so I'm super excited.