Helene

PNB just published a season preview video, with a number of performers no longer with the Company and Nakamura, who will be retired by then: I can't identify everyone: any help/corrections are appreciated: Emeralds: Nadeau/Maraval and Pantastico/Stanto Rubies: Jodie Thomas Diamonds: Hair looks too light to be Imler, but that's Bold, and I don't remember him being partnered with anyone else in Diamonds Rassemblement: Ariana Lallone A Million Kisses..: Korbes/Orza, maybe Dec? (I'm not seeing the Chapman arch) Before After: footage from Dutch National Ballet Don Quixote: Bold, Postlewaite, Nakamura, Nakamura/Postlewaite in the middle, somewhat elevated: Chapman/Herd, Korbes. I'm not sure who the solo man is. Stanton? The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude: footage from Houston Ballet Romeo et Juliette: Korbes/Orza, Bold, Korbes, Korbes/Orza Concerto DSCH: Bold/Imler/Orza Carmina Burana: Korbes/Cruz, Imler Moor's Pavane: Nadeau/Bold, Lallone/Stanton

The issue with rotating "Nutcrackers," is that, unlike the Mariinsky with its 200 dancers, who are already worked to the bone in way that would be impossible under PNB's contract, PNB has less than 50. Sure, all of the current dancers know the Stowell version inside out, but five years from now, not so much, and it would be resource-intensive to re-stage it. I watched the Balanchine for years and never got sick of it, but NYCB has an entire segment of tourist audience that Seattle doesn't to fill houses when NYers would rather do something other than the same-old. This past year the Stowell had a big anniversary. I'm not sure how much revenue the company squeezed out of that, but next year's "Last Chance" comes with the hope that houses will fill up. I suspect that revenues for "Nutcracker" aren't robust and that the Balanchine will pump up sales, at least for a few years. I also suspect that the bump will be relatively short-lived, but a bump's a bump, and the new sets will bring a lot of national attention to PNB. I think that the Stowell/Sendak "Nutcracker" is a masterwork, but I don't think Seattle can support it year after year, which is a huge shame. What concerns me about the Balanchine "Nutcracker" is that it ticks a Balanchine box, and I hope it doesn't mean that Balanchine won't be represented in the triple bills. I know Boal said once in a Q&A that he was trying to get the rights for "Don Q" extended a little, because the multi-year contract would end just before it would have been scheduled, but I don't remember if that was originally planned for this season, or if the expiration is 2015. There's a disclaimer for it, which means something hasn't been finalized, whether that be the contract for the work, the stagers' schedules, the hundreds of thousands of dollars for shipping everything to Seattle, etc. Boal launches another program devoted to a choreographer that Seattle has seen in pieces, here William Forsythe. Russell and Stowell brought "In the middle, somewhat elevated" to PNB, followed by "Artifact II" -- I can still picture Kara Zimmerman as the puppetmeister in the hoodie -- and Boal added "One Flat Thing Reproduced." I would have been happy to see all three in one night, although I'm not sure how feasible that would to rehearse, since all are very big works, and it probably wouldn't be wise to subject the audience to an evening of Willems scores. "In the middle," created for Paris Opera Ballet, is always a hit, even if some people can't stand the loudness of the music. I can't remember if the orchestra was used for "One Flat Thing," and a no-orchestra night wouldn't fly, either. Made for Ballett Frankfurt, "The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude," with a cast of five, has been performed by a number of companies -- the Mariinsky brought it to City Center when they did a three week run, including a last week of neoclassical mixed bills -- and it's set to the last movement of Schubert's 9th Symphony. "New Suite" premiered in 2012 for the Semperoper Ballet; according to their site, the work "is a specially created and newly arranged suite of pas de deux for the Semperoper Ballett: »New Suite« consists of »Händel«, »Bach«, »Berio«, »Slingerland Pas de deux« and »New Sleep«" According the press release, it will be "individually re-worked" for PNB, but I think it's a safe guess that not only will the evening show a broader range of Forsythe's work than the three in PNB's active rep list, but will also have a far broader range of music. I would have bet on "The Second Detail," but I'll be glad to see something I've never seen before.

This is typical: the Met also passed on Chereau's last production for the Met, Janacek's "From the House of the Dead." Way to build an international audience, Met Opera. With the dates in the quote from kfw, the Met Opera site currently lists: Macbeth, October 11: Luisi; Netrebko, Calleja, Lucic, Pape Le Nozze di Figaro, October 18: Levine; Poplavskaya, Petersen, Leonard, Mattei, Abdrazakov Carmen, November 1: Heras-Casado; Hartig, Rachvelishvili, Antonenko, Abdrazakov The Death of Klinghoffer, November 15: Robertson; Martens, Panikkar, Szot, Opie, Allicock, Green Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg, December 13: Levine; Dasch, Cargill, Botha, Appleby, Reuter, Kränzle, König, Rose The Merry Widow, January 17: Davis; Fleming, O'Hara, Gunn, Shrader, Allen Les Contes d'Hoffmann, January 31: Abel; Gerzmava, Gerzmava, Gerzmava, Lindsey, Grigolo, Hampson Iolanta/Duke Bluebeard's Castle, February 14 (what a date to feature an opera about Bluebeard): Gergiev; Netrebko, Beczala, Markov, Azizov, Tanovitski, Michael, Petrenko La Donna del Lago, March 14: Mariotti; DiDonato, Barcellona, Flórez, Osborn, Gradus Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliaci, April 25: Luisi; Westbroek, Álvarez, Lucic, Racette, Álvarez, Gagnidze, Meachem Interesting that the last two operas are transmissions of the last performance of the season. They must figure they don't need HD's to draw people in for these.

I'm hoping against hope that "Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk" will be one of the HD broadcasts. I saw the Kusej production in Paris -- it was recorded at the Nederlandse Opera for DVD -- and Eva Maria Westbroek's performance was one of the greatest I've ever seen in opera.

I hope Fergus recovers quickly, Karen.

That's if there is a season and not a lockout.

Fascinating subject, and Nancy Buirski was informative, thoughtful, and gracious. And on the Left Coast, I miss the voices of NYC, and she was a delight to listen to.