richard53dog

That's true. That has an "ouch" factor built into it. I didn't think of this until this morning but with consumer spending down so significantly, I would guess there may be a lot more in the way of overstocks and so Berkshire may have a lot more bargains in the coming months. Those that have the cash may see a lot of great deals. But there are always bargains on this site. I've shopped there for many years, even going back to the pre-Interent days where they would mail out a paper catalog. I never really had the patience to sift through several hundred pages of small type, the online version with all those handy search options has proved MUCH more damaging to my budget.

Cristian, you may have hit on something here. Maybe Valdes is the cuban Somova...one shows off her extensions whenever she can and the other shows off her balances!

...arguable-(If I may...). I would go more for the "relative nationally unknown" title-( in reference to the lack of reciprocal relationship Cuban company/American audience. (E.g- the constant European/South American touring fact etc...) Well, I guess it's all on your point of view. Let me add another factor here. Personally, having seen a lot of clips with Valdes, I wouldn't buy this disc even a cheap price. It's possible a lot of other potential buyers are turned off not only by the hefty list price but also her way of performing. Again this is also very much matter of both individual taste and expectations

Berkshire's bargains are usually on the up-and-up. The specialize in overstocks and cutouts. So if the Don Quixote isn't selling well at that rather high price without real internationally known names, there may well be a lot of inventory hanging around. Therefore we have a "buyer's opportunity". You do have to read the details because they sometimes do have pirates, but they are pretty good about the descriptions and if they say that the DVD is a Bel Air Classiques release, it most probably is. If it was a knock off, the pirate's ( and they DO sometimes have these) name would usually be listed as the release company. Note, although I've never seen this on DVDs, occasionally CDs have a hole or notch punched in the case, not affecting the actual media itself. These are discountinued items, or "cutouts", hence the name. I've spent $$$$$$$$$$$$$ over the years with this outfit and have usually been satisfied.

Judging from youtube clips (so take it for what it's worth) , she seems like a very flashy dancer. She inserts balances seemingly anywhere she can get one anchored, even in something like Odette's Act 2 variation. This is too , too much for me. She seems willing to break the musical line anywhere to get a roar from the audience. Sorry, it seems pretty tasteless to me.

Depends on where you are. N. Sergeyev's is kind of the standard for western Europe and environs. K. Sergeyev's is the Maryinsky and associated spheres of influence. Marc, agreed. Also, a bit similar to it's Swan Lake, I think the Royal Ballet has a version of SB with a very good pedigree. On a telecast of Sleeping Beauty from the ROH in the late 70s, Nikolai Sergeyev was still listed as "after Petipa". Until the Kirov unveiled their reconstructed new/old version, it was probably the most authentic one around . I would say the MT now does have the most "authentic" version now but they seem to be unimpressed by it and favor the watered-down K Sergeyev instead. But I think we are veering from Paquita!

Yep, it looks like it. And London, like Washington DC, is getting the 1952 Sleeping Beauty.

That is discouraging. But I imagine that touring with the reconstructed version is difficult.

It certainly may turn out that way but as of today, the MT website still shows several hundred tickets unsold for the gala.

I hear what you are saying. Certainly as a long term strategy that would be counterproductive...at least to the audience! But I just wonder at the difficulty of putting together even a limited season that might start as soon as November 1, which is the date that I've heard the renovations at the NYST are supposed to be complete. NYCO may try a short season before NYCB comes back late in November. I have to think that options with finding singers for later this year or early next year are very, very limited. Oh well, I really hope that NYCO can pull it off. They do have Superman at the helm. (George-Man-of-Steel)

Earlier this week NYCO issued a press release announcing two new additions to their artistic adminstrations one in artistic planning and one in casting. This is good news, at least they are still a going concern and I'm hoping that they will be able to release details of a 2009-2010 season soon. To my way of thinking, it's critical that they try to reconnect with their audience base this year. Details of the release , with info on Edward Yim and Steven Blier follow: "New York City Opera announces key appointments, as George Steel forms the company's new artistic team. (New York, NY, February 23, 2009) New York City Opera today announced the appointment of two new members to its artistic team, and confirmed the continuing participation of two key existing members, as the future City Opera began to take shape under the leadership of its new General Manager and Artistic Director, George Steel. Joining City Opera will be Director of Artistic Planning Edward Yim, perhaps best known for playing an integral role in the exciting and highly successful multidisciplinary programming at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Casting Advisor Steven Blier, an eminent pianist and vocal coach who is equally at home in the traditional operatic repertoire and American popular song. Conductor George Manahan, Music Director of City Opera since 1996, will continue in a role to which he has brought distinction. Also continuing with the team will be the outstanding accompanist and recitalist Kevin Murphy, a veteran of The Metropolitan Opera and the Opera National de Paris, who came to City Opera in September 2008 as Director of Music Administration..... Edward Yim, the company's new Director of Artistic Planning, joins City Opera from IMG Artists North America, where since 2006 he has managed a roster of conductors, composers and instrumentalists and directed the Conductors and Instrumentalists Division for IMG's New York office. Previously, as Director of Artistic Planning for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association from 2000 to 2006, he oversaw programming across a wide range of musical genres at both the Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Hollywood Bowl. Over the course of fifteen years in the field, he has cast the concert versions of a wide range of operas, from Tristan und Isolde and Carmen to Nixon in China and Ainadamar..... Steven Blier, the company's new Casting Advisor, is Artistic Director and co-founder of the New York Festival of Song, which spans the repertoire of art song from Schubert to Szymanowski and popular song from early vaudeville to Lennon-McCartney. He also enjoys a notable career as an accompanist and vocal coach, having performed in concert throughout North America and Europe with Renee Fleming and having enjoyed a collaboration with Cecilia Bartoli since 1994. Among the many other artists he has partnered are Samuel Ramey, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, Susan Graham, Frederica von Stade, Jessye Norman, Wolfgang Holzmair, Susanne Mentzer, Sylvia McNair, Jose van Dam, and Arlene Auger. A champion of American music, he has premiered works of John Corigliano, Paul Moravec, Ned Rorem, William Bolcom, John Musto, Richard Danielpour, Tobias s leading artists, including Michelle DeYoung, Bejun Mehta, Gary Lakes, lvarez, PlC!cido Domingo, Frederica von Stade, RenC)e Fleming, Paul Groves, Cecilia Bartoli and Kathleen Battle. He also enjoys a career as a soloist and chamber music artist. He is a graduate of Indiana University (BM in piano performance) and the Curtis Institute (MM in piano accompaniment)......." (balance of release omitted)

My first opera was La Boheme at NYCO back in 1967. I was in high school at the time and got interested in going to the opera partially because of all the publicity that the Met got when it opened at Lincoln Center in the Fall of 1966. Life magazine did a big photo spread on the Met Opening Night and it looked just too cool for words...... Actually Life also did a big spread on the closing of the old Met a few months earlier. The two big spreads gave me a snapshot at what appeared to be a very glamorous (to use a word from another thread) world I didn't understand that there were two opera companies at Lincoln Center and bought my NYCO ticket assuming I was going to the Met. eventually I figured the whole thing out. (I finally got to the actual Met itself much later in 1967.) I really enjoyed the opera, I had some background because my mother usually had the Met Saturday broadcasts on so I knew what it sounded like, but it was a real experience to be in the theater and experience the whole visual side. I still think La Boheme is a great first opera for a newbie. The acts are short and very active so you are not tossed into sitting for an hour and a half at a stretch. The story is easy to follow and not too convoluted and the music is very sparkly.

This makes a very effective case for a glamorous creature brought to us by mother nature!

Not if you have HD TV. Then the scenery and awful costumes will be upfront and personal. I think the costumes and scenery will look even more hideous on TV than in person. For the sake of J. DeLuz, I hope the poor guy doesn't get stuck wearing that ghastly canary yellow costume on national television. Sorry, I really think the stage dressing is a dismal secondary issue. Far more obvious is the undistinguished choreography, and possibly even more pressing in a story piece, the muddled dramatic development.

You should worry! Years ago San Francisco Opera did it without intermission. At the time I was broke and decided to go standing room. Three hours and twenty five minutes (if I remember correctly) standing ab-so-lute-ly still. You know how opera fans are: the sound of an eye blinking sends them into paroxysms of fury. Enjoy! Well at this point the intermissions at the Met Opera have become ridiculous, 40-45 minute intermissions have been noted. And I really don't like them. I've seen Dutchman played straight through without breaks and it works for me. I think it's actually a little under 2 1/2 hours in running time. I think the suspense of the piece builds and I like going from the big Dutchman/Senta scene directly into the final scene. Along the same lines, I also think Wozzeck works played straight through . The running time there too is somewhat shorter than Dutchman .

Agree on Vishneva. She radiates glamour for me. Julie Kent on stage always has struck me as being glamorous in a very American sort of way(without stage makeup she looks very different!) Going back a bit, Patricia McBride always looked very glamorous and sexy to me. I think it has a lot to do with the eyes. Certainly Vishneva and McBride have large, almost oversized eyes, and this is very telling on the stage. Ringer has also been mentioned and she too has very expressive eyes.

Helene, I'm a bit too lazy to check for sure but I believe Verdi wrote the ballets for insertion in the versions used for the Paris premiere of both these pieces. Trouvere followed the Italian Trovatore within months but I don't think Macbeth made it to Paris until Verdi revised the 1847 version in 1965, which then was presented in Paris. I believ in Macbeth the ballet was an extended version of the second appearance of the witches. (Hopefully my memory isn't too rickety)

Well, I'm not in NYC itself but rather the burbs. In my mind I refer to the two companies as "ABT" and "City Ballet" . Go figure.

I have this sequence on one of the old VHS collections that I own. Maybe "Legendary Kirov" or something to that effect. In any event I like it a lot. Agree with Helene that Chaboukiani shows terrific charisma. But also Dudinskaya impresses me here, I have to admit that I find her a bit OOT looking on some of the other films I have of her (SB Carabosse, Odile, Raymonda) but here I see that strong classicism that she was evidently noted for . And she looks great. I also think the filming has a slight MGM kind of overtone to it, really in a beautiful way. Imagine that this was done during the second World War!

Her feet look all thick and swollen when they are flat on the floor in the Sylvia clip. It looks like there are some unattractive side effects for the illusion of a greater degree of arch when her feet are pointed. I don't really like the effect.

The Met did this piece back in the mid 90s with a revival around the turn of the century. It's a "regie" type production which worked for me given the comic accents Shostakovich put into the score to provide contrast to grim plot. We were due to have another revival at the Met in 2009-2010, however the revival was dropped due to budget problems related to the economy. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/arts/mus...1&ref=music. On a related note, the Met is due to announce full details of their 2009-2010 season just as I am typing this (10AM EST)

What a lovely honor for her! I spoke with her several times after performances at the NYCB way back when and she was always SO charming. She was also very candid about her performances, surprisingly so. After a SPF....."Oh but the balance wasn't there.....you didn't mind?" This of course in her wonderful French accented English.

I'm surprised, no one has mentioned Peter Martin's version at the NYCB yet as their favorite????? Just kidding!!!!!! This doesn't exist.............yet

To take this to its extreme, I have seen dancers that look ANNOYED that there is someone watching them. In my view, they need to find a new career. Not naming any names.....and not saying this happens tooooo often, but..........

Marc, I found this to be a wonderful interview. Ratmansky seems to me to have such vision and insight. And what a diplomat!!!!! I hope the relationship with ABT works out well for us here in the US. Great job!