Marta

1 hour ago, nanushka said:

I've long wanted to see this as well. I don't know of any online source, but there are now some used copies on Amazon for ~$50. I don't recall that being the case the last time I checked there. (They've more often been in the >$150 range.) As I'm saving a whole lot of money right now on tickets, I think I may finally grab a copy.

Grab it!  I was interested, too, and also checked eBay where there are used copies for $50 and new for $200+.

I'm also echoing what almost all of you have said.   No dancing, "perfectly dreadful", infomercial,  way too much talking, boring celebrities, amateurish.   I don't mind seeing Jennifer Garner as she is a known balletomane.  Most of the others just struck an off-key note even more than Tony Bennett.  Why didn't ABT show 5 minutes of the new Ratmansky instead of a speeded up mashup montage that gave no sense of what it's like?  Same with the stars of tomorrow montage in which you couldn't identify any of the dancers or choreo, and most of that was also in fast forward. Those were deeply unimaginative wastes of footage. Jessica Lang in my opinion is a mediocre to crappy choreographer and her PdD was not interesting.  I was particularly struck by who did NOT appear in a cameo toast to ABT.  As someone noted on another site, there was no mention of Tharp, or others who were of significant importance to ABT.   Whaa???  I'm sure you can fill in the blanks.  I sent a contribution too, but it was not the equal of those I gave to NYCB and the Metropolitan Opera.

On 5/11/2020 at 9:04 AM, DC Export said:

Hey there folks-

As NYCB has been adding ballets to their YouTube page every week, I've gone back and visited my "Ballet Bucketlist." One of the items on there is the Elusive Muse documentary about Suzanne Farrell. Does anyone know where this can be seen online?

I absolutely love Farrell.  I thought I had seen the film on youtube, but searching doesn't find it.  There is an interesting interview with her though: 

I saw the film at the MFA in Boston, introduced by Farrell herself. She also spoke with the filmmaker [I think] afterward, or mayb before.   It was memorable!  Several years ago I watched the film again on a DVD from a public library. You could try your local.  

A video just appeared recently on youtube:  "An Evening with Natalia Osipova",  showing Valse Triste [Osipova & Hallberg], Ave Maria and Qutb, a work by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui danced by Osipova, Kittelberg, and O'Hara. It's worth a look.  I'd watch her in almost anything.  There's a charming intro by her in English.  I liked Valse Triste .  I wouldn't want to see either of the other two pieces again.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRct7defoiU

Thanks, pherank & cycling martin. I don't recall going to the WP for months but maybe they really track forever!

33 minutes ago, cyclingmartin said:

Thank you, YouOverThere, for posting that link to the Washington Post article. I was about to do it, a couple of hours after you.

The way the article is organised into discrete sections is interesting, and raises some profound questions — all the more striking because most of them come from the Russian dancers interviewed for the article. The comments section after the article is good too.

I was unable to bypass the pay wall. Does anyone know how to do this without subscribing?

2 hours ago, California said:

When I cancelled my spring NYCB tickets and asked for a refund, I got that within a couple of days. But I cancelled my ABT subscription and asked for a refund and am still waiting for that refund. Is that the experience others are having? Is the Met just really slow at these things?

I'm also curious that the PNB performances at the Koch June 23-28 are not yet cancelled. Didn't the Mayor extend the prohibition on large gatherings through June 30?

https://davidhkochtheater.com/events.html

I also got my refund from NYCB within 3 days.  I don't have a subcsription to ABT, but did request refund from Met Opera and received it quickly.

California said:  I still have the Giselle Videotape and it says it was taped at the Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center. But if the issue is whether the sets work in a smaller theater, like the K*och, the Colorado Ballet rented the ABT sets (and costumes) and they were just fine in the Ellie Caulkins Opera House in Denver, which seats 2,225.

Yes. I have the tape too and was just about to post the same thing.  Maybe ABT started dancing at the State in the later 70s.

17 minutes ago, abatt said:

https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/touring/9359311/new-york-la-live-events-not-until-2021-mayors

 

And NY's Mayor deBlasio agrees. No public gatherings until 2021.

I didn't see an overt statement of  No public gatherings until 2021 from De Blasio.  What I saw quoted by De Blasio  was talking about thousands of people at public gatherings.

Am I reading the wrong source?  

Thank you Leah.  I did read about next year but then didn't read the forum for a couple of days.

 ABT canceled its spring season.  I haven't heard anything about a shorter season starting later in spring and ending by late July.  How confused am I?

Drew said:  It already overlaps just a week or two -- which has rather been a bad thing for me as an out-of-towner, but of course makes sense. But I gather from @Leah's post and others that the plan now is for a shortened season anyway, not a season extending into late July. And this is assuming that in the wake of Covid 19 and its economic fallout the company doesn't go the way of New York City Opera.

Now that Lincoln Center has cancelled all summer programs, I wonder if there will be any fall seasons.  NYCB, ABT, Paul Taylor?

1 hour ago, cobweb said:

My partner and I have really been enjoying the Met Opera's rebroadcasts over the past two weeks. This was a great idea on the part of the Met, generous and well timed. My only beef is why not start the broadcasts earlier in the day, like maybe 6:00pm, especially for Wagner Week. My favorite so far has been the 2007 Eugene Onegin - why did they EVER feel the need to replace that beautiful production?? Last night's Das Rheingold was just so so beautiful, and right now I'm hoping I can make it to the beautiful end of Die Walkure... probably not, but I'll get back to it before dinner tomorrow (since I have no commute time anymore). Having seen this cast in the theatre, I vividly remember how shatteringly beautiful it is. And can't wait for Barber of Seville next week. So there are some silver linings...

I agree completely about Onegin.  The great Hvorostovsky, that beautiful set, Renee Fleming.   No Mozart is listed for the next few weeks but maybe in April or May.  I saw the  Macbeth, Don Carlo and Norma at the Met with the same casts and all are wonderful. I'm really looking forward to watching them again.

In case you haven't seen it, this NYT article about how Italian dancers are managing to keep dancing is wonderful and has an upbeat  inspiring video. 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/17/arts/dance/italy-coronavirus-dance.html

On 3/16/2020 at 3:26 PM, abatt said:

The Fleming Hvorostovsky Onegin is a gem.  It's the only opera performance  that has ever brought tears to my eyes. 

I loved it too and the set design was great. The Netrebko Hvorostovsky Trovatore is magnificent.  I've seen it 3 times.

I thought Smirnova was excellent.  True, she sometimes doesn't emote.  I think her dancing is much richer than it was 5 years ago although I've never seen her in person. I was underwhelmed by Tissi. He's very princely but somehow just didn't sing. I dislike Grigorovich's SL, the production in general, the almost total loss of mime, and visually the colors, the costumes, the gloom, the lighting -- are not thrilling.  The national dances in particular were quite dull, even the Spanish, although Sevenard is a dancer to watch.   

Somewhere I read that Shipulina was cast for Sunday. although it seemed unlikely since she is not getting many roles.   I was really  looking forward to seeing her.  I do like  Smirnova but she's been in 3 recent transmissions,  so I had hoped to see a different dancer.

Very sad news. She was a wonderful writer. i read her New York mag reviews and later on her own blog. For quite some time I've wondered where she was.

17 minutes ago, macnellie said:

This energy should be spent on our Senate. 
 

Absolutely!  Sure, fine with me also to discuss the minute details of Ramasar et al.,  but it's good to acknowledge that there's another massive problem that affects us all.

13 minutes ago, dirac said:

Thanks, Marta. I believe Domingo and Carreras were both interviewed, although they weren't shown at great length (?)

I think you're right. I saw it in June and don't remember all the interviewees.  Too bad some/more of the sopranos he sang with weren't in it but some are dead, others  perhaps not familiar enough names.

On 1/2/2020 at 1:32 PM, dirac said:

“Pavarotti” is now playing on Showtime. The split from Adua was handled better than I expected – the pain and family dissension may have been glossed over but was still evident.

 The movie gets off to a promising start with footage of a young Pavarotti and his family unseen by me, and singers discussing his voice and the qualities peculiar to the tenor. Overall, however, I thought there was not enough music and too much emphasis was placed on the later and least edifying portion of Pavarotti’s career. Howard has a weakness for celebrities – too much Bono and Di for my taste. We do hear from Anne Midgette, but her commentary isn’t given much weight. The pacing is also off – Pavarotti receives his fatal diagnosis and then it seems like forever before he actually buys the farm.

As YouOverThere noted, two important witnesses, Bonynge and Freni, are not heard from, not even in old clips.

Still, I enjoyed it for the most part and recommend it, although I preferred the PBS documentary. Has anyone else seen it?

I saw it and enjoyed it a lot. Even though there aren't many surprises if you've already been a Pavarotti fan for eons as I have, there is some new footage.  Howard is not the ideal choice to direct the best doc. on Pavarotti, nor does he know much [anything?] about music but I think the film is  well done and I recommend it.  I wondered too why Freni or others  who sang with LP,  Domingo and Carreras to name the most obvious, were not interviewed. Let's face it, we don't know why. Maybe Freni thought there wasn't much to add, or maybe it was too personal. Bonynge and others may not have been invited, and many who sang with him are dead.  I agree that the PBS doc. was excellent.

I thought The Chaperone was one of the worst things I've ever seen on PBS.  There is no drama!  Yes, we see Robbie Fairchild as Ted Shawn teaching class with Ruth St Denis, and there are some brief dance sequences.  The character of Louise is fairly well drawn, but the chaperone Norma is at least a co-protagonist. I can't figure out who the writer thinks the audience for this work would be.  So many topical ideas are stuffed in there that  seem perfunctory. The ending is particularly ridiculous. 

12 hours ago, BalanchineFan said:

Thanks, California!  And Marta, I always liked the costume. It seems very young girlish, and Kirkland is so incredibly delicate in it.

I can't disagree about the young girlish aspect, I just wished it looked less like a nightgown and more like a Juliet costume.  Kirkland is incredibly delicate with a weightless jump and seems to barely touch the ground.

On 11/29/2019 at 3:06 AM, BalanchineFan said:

So funny... Kirkland doing the Sugar Plum Fairy variation in Baryshnikov's Nutcracker is one of my all time favorites. I watched it a million times and could probably do the choreography for it right now (albeit, badly). 

My least favorite of the traditional ballets would be the jesters in Swan Lake.

I love Kirkland's SPF variation in MB's Nutcracker too and have also watched it a ton.  I've always disliked her unfortunate costume.

My least favorite is Puss 'n Boots with Red Riding Hood a close second.

I read the article and I'm shocked that he is still so clueless.  A part of me feels sorry for him, yet how can anyone be so insensitive and self centered in 2019?  Consciousness raising is not going to work.