zerbinetta

And what might that entail, Farrell Fan?

To paraphrase Seneca - ars longa, memoria brevis.

Gottadance07: If you are in NY for your Met visit soon, Monique will be appearing with the Nilas Martins Dance Company on Sat/Sun Mar 25 & 26. Details are in the Heads Up section, under Performances.

Oy! Sounds like a major project.

And to add to the DC riches, Placido Domingo has agreed to stay on at the Washington Opera. (Washington Post, yesterday I think it was)

Hmm .. it would be nice to think so, wouldn't it? But if the young aren't reading on their laptops, they aren't reading, period. They certainly can't spell, to say nothing of the proliferation of apostrophes in inappropriate places (my fave peeve).

The content of this thread really is disturbing, isn't it? In a ballet history context &, moreso, in a world history context. So much information is readily available on the web. When watching "Rome" last year, I realized I needed a refresher course in the Octavius era & googled. An enormous amount of historical info was available. But one needs to care enough to do the easy research.

I'm not sure anyone was "comparing" the couples. I certainly wasn't or wouldn't, but it was quite a successful debut for Mearns, and the schmaltz will come. Just getting through it would have satisfied me, but she did far more than that. And she was fun!

It's quite special how many different interpretations the "After the Rain" pas de deux can support. Jock & Wendy as a single unit; Marcovici & Wendy as a partnership & Craig Hall & Wendy as a romance. There was an eroticism in last night's performance that I hadn't seen with the other men. Hall never took his eyes off Wendy unless he had his back to her. The tenderness with which he partnered her was an electric tenderness. And what arms & hands the man has! & a gorgeous back. Let's see him in Melancholic, Square Dance, Orpheus. Whelan never ceases to amaze. In The Cage (I've seen her do it more than a dozen times) she is still finding & pointing out new elements. The clarity of the steps is so fine but always a part of the whole. What a treasure! Were the costumes in Concertino always the drab light grey for the men & pale grey for the woman? I seem to remember yellow. It's a yellow ballet, perhaps that's why I want yellow costumes. The grey is drab. The ballet isn't. & certainly not with this cast. Reichlen stole the first movement of B/S entirely. Somogyi is wonderful but still cautious. Who can blame her? Neal partnered her well but the finishes of all but one of his turns were smudged to sloppy. Second movement was nice but not more than that. So great to see Hubbe back onstage in 3rd movement. He's maybe a tad out of shape but so elegant, so romantic, such a great partner. Borree seems to relax, for a change, when partnere by Hubbe. And then ... drb is bang on. Mearns tore up the stage. Even when she was visibly tiring toward the end she muscled it out & didn't miss a beat. Askegard is wonderful with her & wonderful in this sort of role. He looks mighty skinny to me, though, which one would think would make his turns even more difficult, raising his already high center of gravity. But he danced it very, very well. A special night at CB.

No, Giannina, Cojocaru was not scheduled for NY. Gudrun Bojeson was the student here. A big, healthy girl & a strong dancer. More than Cojocaru the physical type called for in the play by Ionesco upon which the ballet is based. She was very good. Deirdre Chapman was the menacing pianist. Of course, I still would have liked to see Alina.

While I cannot disagree about the mediocre choreography, I wasn't expecting any great choreography, only great dancing. And that we got. The film started the evening off here as well, giving tempting snippets of Kobborg's beats, Tsiskaridze's jumps, etc. along with some "interview" type chatter with all four men. The Wheeldon ballet is a Party Piece, but a good one, showing off The Kings, their similarities & their differences. The Lesson was, indeed, a revelation for Corella's committed & intense performance. In fact, he was wonderful all night, keeping his razzle dazzle moves to a minimum & only one multiple floor turn doing its usual "tilt" because he went for one too many turns. This was in his solo, which was charming. Ethan's solo was solid angst. I can only handle so much angst but it was danced beautifully. Kobborg's Faun may be a good ballet but, tonight, it was difficult to tell between the dancer & the dance. He is such a gorgeous & musical dancer, he could make almost anything look good. Tsiskaridze is totally back in shape now. Wonderful as he was this summer in Pharoah's Daughter & Bright Stream, he still had a bit of extra fleshiness above the waist. That's gone & he has as much "luft" as ever in his astonishing jumps. His Carmen solo had him in full ballerino form, Bullfighter, Zesty Temptress with a fan & despairing lover (who kiills himself!) all. It doesn't make much sense, but neither does Petit's morphing of Escamillo & Jose, so why not? Great fun!

'Twas Darci's night indeed. Sylve & Weese (wow, does Weese look good in a leotard!) are absolutely gorgeous in this ballet but there's such an extra delight in seeing Darci dance so well & so freely. Some high, beautiful extensions, too, so she must be in good health. Marcovici seems to be having a wonderful season, too. I like him more every time out this season. Wasn't previously a fan. I agree about the Western, which I had seen Saturday with the same cast, except Somogyi in the first movement. Somogyi was cautious; Ringer looked uncomfortable. Mearns had been much better Saturday (with far less resin), sassy & joyous. Tonight she seemed really really tired. Fairchild was better tonight than Sat, lovely bourees & a sweet interpretation. Scenes de ballet assured us that the future will be bright. Some really special kids.

The big NYT article did go into some detail about the new ticket prices. I think the # of seats decreasing in price was 600. It may have an impact. It will be more than offset by the increase in Prime Orchestra seats, however, & we'll see how that goes. The prices are extortionate enough as they stand now. Basil Twist might have been a more interesting choice for the new Ring but I don't know much about Lepage. I'll google. Thanks, AnthonyNYC

The other night, the "patron pick-up" desk in the Met outer lobby was unmanned but with dozens of Toll Bros brochures displayed in pretty fan shapes. I picked one up. They seem to do a lot of mega buildings, resorts, etc. Rather Palm Beachy. Tastefully done but Large. Not too many brochures were gone when we left.

We should all go to the same performance & meet up at the "Millo pillar". This is an "aria di capo" post, returning to the original subject of the thread.

I thought it looked rather "Carmen on the Nile" - flat profiled, 2 dimensional poses, angled arms. Very odd.

Yesss ... Let's just hope he finishes it in time, as that was a problem in Tanglewood & also in Santa Fe with the revision. I'm also looking forward to the Minghella Butterly" after your wonderful review on the board last month, helene.

I'm not sure I'd qualify Osvaldo Golijov as "going out on a limb". He's had an enormous success with "Ainadamar" in Santa Fe & New York & the mini-festival of Golijov's work at the Rose Theater sold out early. Rufus Wainwright now ....

I think she doesn't sing a lot because she isn't hired a lot which may be the result of frank talk in interviews available on google. I've heard her twice & found her exciting but, as Leontyne would put it, "singing on her principal". So perhaps the top, which was her great strength, is becoming frayed with stress. Her fach lay mainly in the Russian rep &, due to a fallout with Gergiev (also available on google) she hasn't been hired for the Kirov. It sounds like she's made some enemies & is down to the "boonies" like San Diego Opera: not a first rank company in the US.

Oh, this is goooooood!!!

I remember Ullate with Bejart & he was wonderful. One of their better technicians. He also had a special something going for him.

Big relief to hear a few bruises aren't keep Abi S off stage.

Allegra Kent had, I think, 3 babies & returned each time, thank goodness.

I don't find it surprising that Reyes moved you so. Although I thought Erica Cornejo was brilliant in Rodeo at City Center in the fall, it was Reyes who broke my heart. I don't feel she should be criticized because she happens to be adorable. She certainly doesn't play it up & in fact plays it down quite often, but she really can't help it, can she? She was probably adorable at birth.

And there's the example of the late Matteo Manuguerra who drove a truck for a living & didn't make his professional debut until he was in his mid 30s. An outstanding dramatic baritone whose Rigoletto was superbly sung & gut wrenchingly acted. The singer you mention probably did quite a lot of vocal exercises in studying for her major, so there was at least that preparation.