richard53dog

My almost unwatchable VHS copy has an interview/discussion with Schaufuss between the two acts. I'm not sure if it's Drummond there or not. I'm missing the first few minutes so I don't have the intros. The thing is really terrible to watch , I really need to throw it out so that I don't make myself crazy about thinking I can successfully watch it.

You have to wonder what he was thinking singing Radames anyway. The reports indicate that the causes was the booing and/or the review . Who knows if there were also administrative issues that he was angry about. Too bad, I like Alagna as a performer, but again I shake my head at him singing Radames.

I agree, they were skipped at the performance I went to also. I miss them and it would really be nice to have the Coffee pirouettes back. I agree with sz that the NYCB women can certainly do them, so where are they??

Yes, but how did you feel about the incessant grunting? I sat three or four rows behind him when he was conducting Boris and, frankly, I wanted to throw my program at him. Well, I always had cheapo seats up in the high side balconies so I could see him very well but not hear him!

My experiences with Gergiev have all been operatic but I've seen similar things there that match up to Leigh's comments. I must admit I was mesmerized by his showy, fluttering hand technique the first time I saw him, conducting the Queen of Spades about a dozen years ago. A follow up Boris also impressed me but after that it was the law of diminishing returns, particularly in non Russian rep such as Salome, Traviata, etc. In the opera house the orchestra and singers HAVE to follow him, he won't adjust. Again, this matches up with Leigh. So I'm not really up for his appearance at NYCB. Nor am I willing to shell out $$$$$$ for his Kirov Ring Cycles in NYC next Summer.

Thanks much, rg, for the wonderful stream of fascinating and beautiful photos you've been scanning. Speaking for myself, I am very appreciative!

Awwww......no Carlos That's really too bad. I'm disappointed. Maybe 2008?

And this very appealing warmth is audible on the abridged cast album of On the Town made about 1960 with mostly the original cast. Although her voice is a bit on the thin side, I love Comden's versions of Carried Away and the lovely, bittersweet Some Other Time. She gets to the heart of the songs like no later interpreter I've heard. She must have been quite a performer too!

Well let me play a sort of devils advocate here. The paragraph above refers to "classical music". Technically, in music parlance, classical means "of a certain period", that is after Baroque and before Romatic. But that's sort of spliting hairs, most people use the term "clasical music" to refer to what can also be called "serious music" What I have a problem with is the "benchmark" to denote quality. Who has the say here? Not the critics , surely, I doubt many readers would grant that them that authority. The academics? Staying with music, since Leonid commented on it, in the early 20th century R. Strauss, Stravinsky, Janacek and some others were all "convicted" of making noise. That wouldn't be said today, that's for sure. For myself, I would say that time will be the ultimate authority on all these forms as them evolve, because evolve and grow they must. In the immediate time frame it's hard to tell what is a trip down an artistic dead end and what is a trip down a true path of growth. "Vulgar" marketing ploys generally don't have lasting "legs" so in the long terms it isn't much of a concern

Before she left to go on pregnancy leave, I saw Irina Dvorovenko dance the piece. While I wouldn't put her in the platinum class, she does have tons of personality and also a suitable style. She made the piece work for me.

Good point! Maya's DS was HUGE in scale. I never thought it out the way you described it, my reaction was just instinctual but I really think you hit the nail on the head.

Of the handful of DSs I've seen live, Maya P was the only one that really made the piece work for me, I saw her in the early 70s. My memory is hazy but I think I saw Makarova dance the piece, like Kirkland, to Stern's accompanment. I didn't think her's (Makarova)was much of a triumph either.

Yikes, there better be second run theaters. No way will I pay $25 for a MOVIE. It's just possible it will be a limited first run in order to qualify for Oscar consideration.

I have to add to the comments on The Player. It's one of those movies that are special to me.

Right, that's the pair I remember. But Carla Fracci also did it in the early 70s and I don't remember who she was paired with. Maybe Nagy? Alas, almost all my programs from this period are gone.

Oh well, don't I know the feeling! Ok, how about a wishlist for a theoretical program honoring Tudor's 100th birthday? They can be revivable or not, this is just what we would LIKE to see. Mine: Undertow Judgement of Paris Romeo and Juliet (not to be confused with another current thread!) Of these I only have firsthand knowledge of R&J

Well, I certainly wouldn't say that Tudor's legacy has increased, not like Blanchine's, as volcanohunter rightly points out, but at least Tudor gets some periodic showings at ABT. His work is certainly not something that dominates their rep, but it does pop up from time to time. Also , although I don't follow the Royal Ballet's rep all that closely, I think they were programming Lilac Garden off and on . Richard

Hmm......Tiler Peck as the Dewdrop AND Marzipan....looks like some sloppy editing. NYCB hasn't updated their website yet. The casting on the website has been updated. Peck keeps Marzipan and Dewdrop goes to Bouder. I loved Bouder's Dewdrop when I saw it two seasons ago.

Yes, it is odd but just as you note, my copy of the Swan Lake (as well as the Giselle) shows Bel Canto--Lincoln Center Video. Then in tiny print Paramount Home Video. I think your comment about the condition of the tapes is apt, I got a new copy of the Swan Lake about two years ago and the color shows sign of deterioration. It would really be nice to get a nice, remastered release of this and the Giselle.

I saw this today and also had mixed feelings. Mirren was good in a difficult part to pull off. Her QEII played her cards very close to the chest and sometimes I had trouble reading them. Of course it's a much more colorful character but her QEI for HBO was a much showier job for an actress. Other than that , Frears plowed through the events of 1997, helped by tons and tons of documentary footage. At times I thought I was watching a made for TV piece, other times I felt the atmosphere opened up. Again, mixed feelings.

It's possible that an additional element added to the music, such as dance, or singing, or even spoken word is a kind of corruption for purist musicians and musical writers. I'm all for hybrid forms but not everyone agrees. Many musicians would rather hear the prelude and liebestod from Wagner's Tristan und Isolde performed in the arrangement that eliminates the soprano. And many prefer the Rite of Spring as a concert work. So at this point I don't find it all that strange, it's too bad they are limiting themselves but there may be a bit of snobbery at work in the musical academia.

Hmm......Tiler Peck as the Dewdrop AND Marzipan....looks like some sloppy editing. NYCB hasn't updated their website yet.

Sorry, this notice is a bit late, we are already 2 broadcasts in the run but the Met is running FREE internet broadcasts to the end of the year(Note the traditional Saturday afternoon radio ones are separate and apart from this as are the new Sirius series) Here's the schedule: Rigoletto (Siurina, Calleja, Pons) Wednesday October 25 SORRY, Past Cavalleria Rusticana/Pagliacci (Guleghina, Racette, Licitra) Monday, October 30 SORRY, also over Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Damrau, Flórez, Mattei) Friday November 10 Madama Butterfly (Gallardo-Domâs, Giordani, Croft; Levine) Saturday, November 18 Tosca (Millo, Fraccaro, Morris) Saturday, November 25 Idomeneo (Röschmann, Deshorties, Kožená, van Rensburg; Levine) Wednesday, November 29 La Boheme (Netrebko, Villazón) Tuesday, December 5 Don Carlo (Racette, Borodina, Botha, Hvorostovsky, Pape, Ramey; Levine) Monday, December 11 (7:00 PM/EST) The First Emperor (Futral, DeYoung, Domingo, Groves; Tan Dun -- world premiere) Thursday, December 21 I Puritani (Netrebko, Cutler) Wednesday, December 27 Go to http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/ and wait for the slide that says "click here". Also you must have RealPlayer I haven't heard any of them, I forgot to listen to the Cav/Pag but I will try to catch some of Barbiere. Again, these are free, no trial or obligation. They are not part of the Sirius broadcasts. Richard

Whitelight, I think your fear for that spike is legit. I can see it being even more difficult to manuever around the programs, trying to avoid the PM stuff.

I went to last night's program and really enjoyed myself. I thought Drink to Me was a light but very enjoyable piece. It DOES have some classroom aspects and like Michael earlier I got a sort of flashback to Etudes. But this is more delicate and I liked the Thomson pieces which are also a bit lightweight and a good match. I'm guessing the idea of the programming was to bookend Dark Elegies with much more upbeat pieces. Dark Elegies impressed me although I think maybe it could have used a bit more rehearsal. But what a powerful piece, set to towering music. I thought Wiles was good but frankly I liked some of the soloists and corps members more. Fancy Free. I haven't seen this in many years. I got absolutely burned out on it in my early ballet days. It was fun to reencounter it after dodging it it so long. (I was going to try to catch it at NYCB earlier in the year but never made it) This performance was a bit over the top, but I don't see this as much of a fault here. Marcelo Gomes mugged a tiny bit but oozed "sailor on leave" big-time. Lots of chemisty with Julie Kent in the pdd. Cornejo and Lopez gave fun performances too. So I felt this was the other bookend for Elegies, but considering that it closed the evening, it was much more high octane than Drink to Me. I had a fine time all in all.