richard53dog

Yeah, I noticed it the other day. They did do a nice job with it. But I wonder what's going on with this? Swan Lake Black Swan Pas de Deux with Lupe Serrano Helen Hayes as Nadezhda von Meck Farley Granger as Tchaikovsky Music: Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Choreography: Petipa/Ivanov Bell Telephone Hour • November 25, 1960 Do Siegfried and Odile have an audience? (Looking forward to seeing Lupe as Odile again after many years) Richard

Well, in the Dance Magazine article cited above, she says, when asked of any roles she would still like to do, she has an SOS policy." Stay Off the Stage". But there could be an exception, no......?

I was thinking EXACTLY the same thing (among other thoughts!!!) when I read Dale's post yesterday. Richard Okay, why do you both think that way. Well for myself, the thought of seeing Gelsey Kirkland on a stage again, even if she hasn't danced, is very appealing. My "other thoughts" are not connected with her

I was thinking EXACTLY the same thing (among other thoughts!!!) when I read Dale's post yesterday. Richard

And how long will her time with NYCB be? I'm thinking she may be setting a record. Richard

Well, I'll start with some opera, Die Tote Stadt at NYCO and then maybe Madama Butterfly at the Met. Maybe some Fall for Dance, but definitely Sadlers Wells in Push, followed by some dates (not yet determined ) at ABT. That takes through most of the Fall, ending with maybe a Nut or two at NYCO (want to see Sylve as Dewdrop) Richard

Rachmaninov also created an opera based on this Pushkin story. I don't know much about it or how often this Aleko may be performed, though but I believe I've seen a recording or two floating around Richard

I agree, I think she has to be on the planning lists. But how old is she? It seems the committee tends to honor artists "of a certain age".

Well, Peter Gelb is letting no grass grow under his feet, unless this is a leftover from Joe Volpe which is doubtful. One way or another it shows thinking on a very large scale. The Met's cobwebs are being blown away.

The great Swedish-American soprano Astrid Varnay died yesterday morning in Munich. Varnay started off her career with a huge splash, she made her operatic debut on 24 hours notice , replacing the indisposed Lotte Lehmann as Sieglinde in Walkure on a Met broadcast. The December 6, 1941 triumph was overshadowed by the bombing of Pearl Harbor the following day. Varnay's career spanned almost 55 years. I saw her in the "second" part of her career where she took on character roles which she performed vividly. She wrote a truly enjoyable autobiography 55 Years in Five Acts. A wonderful singer and a lovely lady RIP http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/009200609052110.htm Richard

Terrific news!! Richard

Helene, Thanks for setting this up. I took it for a test drive and it worked just fine for me Richard

Paul, I saw Verdy in Jewels just one time but your description ties in pretty well with my long ago memory. I didn't catch the time lag between her lower and upper body, that would have been a little too subtle for me to notice at that early point in my experience. She was very feminine in this role and very "on", not acting or emoting, but "on". But I agree a dancer trying to model their approach after Verdy could easily come off as "too much" Richard

Now why didn't the advertising people for NYCB think of that??????? Richard

No, I wasn't too impressed either. Shpilevsky was shown to disadvantage by one of the young contestants who also did Albrecht's variation. I was much more impressed by the more youthful Albrecht. And Shpilevsky's partnering of Kent seemed weak to me.

Lovebird, I don't think that the operatic version Tsar Sultan is done all that often. Maybe once in a great while. But Janacek's operatic treatment of The House of the Dead, which inserts "From" into the title, is done fairly regularly. Peter Gelb, the new honcho at the Met Opera, has included it in his plans for future seasons. I'm a real fan of Janacek's music. Richard

Sorry, I wasn't writing clearly. The ballet was made in 1972. Plisetskaya would have been in her late 40s at that time. The Times review was of a 1988 performance in Boston, when she was 62. Well, I may have not been reading all that clearly, too! It's amazing how long she has keep on performing. She made an appearance in NYC somewhere in the mid 90s. I didn't see it , only hearing about it the next day. But did she perform as part of her 80th birthday? I remember a report in the archives here of a performance she gave shortly after her 79th birthday. OK, I'll give up Maya and let this go back to Russian lit. Richard

Lovebird, if we count things such as poems and plays, Pushkin's writings generated a heap of operas. In addition to the ones you mention, there are Boris Godunov, Ruslan and Lyudmila, the Golden Cockerel, The Tale of the Tsar Sultan, Mozart and Salieri, The Stone Guest as well as some less well known ones. An oddity opera-wise is Franco Alfano setting of Resurrection. This doesn't stay too close to Tolstoy! Richard

Um, I think perhaps Plisetskaya is having some years added on to her. Sources seem to agree that she was born in 1925; I think she celebrated her eightieth birthday last year. Bart, maybe you are thinking of Ulanova or some other older Russian ballerina? I have a cheap Russian bootleg VHS of her in Anna Karenina with the ill-fated Alexander Godunov. I think it's a lot of fun, there are more costume changes for Plisetskaya than one can imagine. Tolstoy???? Was he involved??? This movie is sort of nostalgic for me because it brought back memories of when I first saw Plisteskaya, it was late in the game, but geez is the game over yet? But it captures that period when she was a bit dimished but her magnetism was intact. Richard

My guess is that the casting, even what has already been shown in the NYT, will shift around and change a bit. Richard

Paige makes some legit points but even he makes mention of the dreaded term "opera". ST has often been treated as such, as have some other Sondheim pieces and I find this is almost always unsuccessfull. To me the key to making most Sondheim numbers work is a very precise, CLEAR, delivery of his words, tied to the rhythm very tightly. Few opera singers can do this reliably. Of course in the film the issue of opera singers goes away, which is good but it still leaves the issue of Sondheim requirement for "singing" his songs. Maybe a close parallel is Gilbert and Sullivan where again a very precise delivery is needed and the music is there mostly to provide the framework. Of course there are songs that need to be sung in a more conventional way in ST as in Follies, etc. Richard

According to The Ballerina Gallery she was born in 1976 which makes her 30 this year. Richard

This is noted on IMDB as well. Hmmmmm..... Tim Burton and Johnny Depp. Maybe during production the title will change to Sweeny Razorhands. Seriously, I had heard that the whole movie musical revival had run out of gas with Phantom. Personally I don't liked filmed musicals a lot , non stage-based examples such as Moulin Rouge aside, but will wait to see what Tim and Johnny do. Who does Mrs Lovett will be important, too Richard

Helene, I've heard this variant used regularly here in NJ at work. I had assumed it was "corporate-speak". I'm no longer working there but we we all always waiting on someone (like Joe) or even something (like a new version). I worked for AT&T which was a NJ based company up until late last year. Now it's Texas based but the changes will no long impact me (there's ANOTHER one) Richard

Yes, you're right. I was wound up because I thought there was just one item on the disc that was only available here. That's the type of thing that gets to me . But I was wrong, the item I thought was unique here, the Still Point is on (I believe) the D'Amboise disc, which has a lot of other new stuff (as you pointed out) . So I take back my complaint about this issue, I'll pass on this disc but I'll get the other two. Richard