richard53dog

Yeah but all but one of them have been previously released on other discs. Dale, I know you commented when I complained about this a few weeks ago that you took the position that at least VAI was releasing the stuff, and that's true. But it irritates me that they are marketing their discs in this way. Eight already released pieces and and ONE new one? That's robbery . Three old pieces and five new ones, ok I can like with something like that. :blush: Richard

Yeah, I was going to add Salstein to my picks too but I thought my list was long enough. Who knows if they will do any promotions. Logic would say so but............ Richard

Joe, I don't know if they will promote any corp member up to soloist but if they do, individuals I'd like to see promoted would be Fang, Lane, and Stappas. Richard

No Helene, you are not having a senior moment. I pulled out my copy of Dancing for Mr B yesterday basically to see Hayden coaching students and there is a clip of her in Stars and Stripes. It has that same made-in-the-studio-with-a-gauzy-overlay look as the Tallchief/Eglevsky Scotch Symphony clip. The Scotch Symphony pdd was a Bell Telephone Hour piece and has been released on a VAI disc devoted to Tallchief. So perhaps the Hayden Stars and Stripes clip is part of a longer excert from the ballet that still exists in a vault somewhere. Richard

I get your point exactly. I could go there and spin out yards of "stuff" on a topic I know nothing about. Don't get me wrong, it's an intriguing idea and there is some interesting information there but you can't make assumptions on the accuracy of what you read. Richard

In addition to the Met, the San Francisco Opera and the Lyric Opera of Chicago have online annals. Chicago's is the plainest, it's just a chronological list of performances. The Met's and SFO's are searchable with flexible search criteria. ABT has a very basic repertory archives with each ballet they have done, the premier and the premier cast. No later performances though, and that's the difficult part to assemble. You can sort by ballet title, choreographer, and composer. This is very bare bones, but it's better than nothing. Richard

I got my copy today. I would agree that the large photos are really beautiful, a nice improvement on some past brochures. Importantly, I could see the larger photos generating interest in a new-to-ballet or occassional audience. Those thumbnail photos though, someone who knows the piece is not going to pay much attention to such a tiny photo and someone that doesn't isn't going to be able to get much of them. This is a tough problem; I can see the need for a photo of each ballet but if every ballet got a largish photo the cost and brochure size might become unwieldy. I'm not sure what the solution is here. Richard

How about Mayerling? Richard

Well, my first choice is to see Sylve as Aurora. I'm flexible as to the rest of the casting as long as it doesn't include Borree. Richard

I'm also very sorry to read this. She was a real favorite of mine when I was a new ballet goer. I loved watching her use her powerful attack; it was really something to see. I also remember her as a very nice lady, very cordial to us pesky fans. RIP Richard

Can't that also be said about Russian artists who joined the party? Well, I don't think I would make any judgements on Russian performers who joined the Communist Part. First it was in business many times the life span of the Nazi party and I do believe it was more entrenched and harder to avoid. But, like canbelto, those who would spy on collegues I have a problem with. To me that's a bad line to cross. Galina Vishnevskaya, the soprano, talks at great length about dodging requests to spy in her autobiography Galina. It's almost comical. Then she got a high ranking protector (I think I'll leave that alone) The irony is that Vishnevskaya was more than willing to rat out on her collegues that were willing spies. Still it seems that neither she nor Rostropovitch were willing to carefully walk the party line. Richard

Bart, You were sort of already anticipated in this little detail, kind of anyway. ABT put on Kudelka's Cinderella a few months ago and of course Cinderella only has one of her slippers in Act 3. Kudelka has her dancing around her kitchen with one pointe shoe on and the other foot bare, including a series of fouettes. The theme is "personal growth" I kid you not. Richard

I believe , but am not sure, that ES is not an aunt but rather a more distant relation of Norman Schwarzkopf, not that I see how it matters all that much about anything anyway . What angers many people about ES is that, as you say, she admitted joining the Nazi Party AFTER retiring. Earlier she always dodged the question. If it was so harmless, and like joining a "union", why did she hide it? Why did Rudolph Bing refuse to engage her to sing at the Met until 1964? In his book 5000 Nights(Knights?) at the Opera He claimed she did "more than she needed to" to support the German war effort. He engaged other singers active in Germany during the war much earlier, some in the early 50s. Well, certainly many other artists made political decisions based on career directions, so she wasn't alone. Richard

The German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf has died, age 90: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5243582.stm She was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in 1991. RIP Richard

Yeah, I've used that a lot . But it only works real well when you are trying to avoid the LAST piece on the program. An unwanted MIDDLE piece (drb's donut analogy is good) is reaaalll messy. Richard

Sandik, There may have been some more recent performances, but I recall 3 Kylian pieces put on during ABT's Oct-Nov- 2004 season at City Center in NYC. The three pieces were Sinfonietta, Petite Morte and Sechs Tanze. Again it's possible there have been some other Kylian pieces put on in the NYC area since then but they may have slipped under my radar. Richard

Bart, I really like Bussell too. I first saw her two years ago in the Ashton 100 that was incorporated into the Lincoln Center Festival. She did a pdd from Birthday Offering and I was very struck by the beauty of her dancing. But since then I haven't noticed her here in NYC except for her two appearances at the YAGP gala last April. I would have picked something different than the last pdd from Manon but I was grateful for a chance to see her again. I'm hoping she uses her looser arrangement with the RB will allow her to do more guest appearances before she quits (I think she's 37). Maybe her "low profile" on this country is due to the not so frequest appearances and her not very exotic persona. I hope she comes back and does a guest appearance her in the US. Also, it would be nice if the BBC telecast of Sylvia with Bussell and Bolle gets released on DVD. And Leigh, I don't think she was part of the RB visit to DC unless I missed her name in one of the mixed programs. She wasn't in any of the Beauties . Richard

The PAC center in Newark, NJ uses something like this. You select a tier and then the screen displays the section ; seat by seat , row by row with the row numbers visible. The seats already sold are shaded a different color. You select the seat(s) you want from ones still available by clicking on them and they go into your basket. I don't know how long they are using this, I bought last March for Perm Swan Lake using this software. Richard

Mel, As a watcher, #3 is sort of outside my range of experience but I'll take it on faith. #1 and #2 , I certainly agree .

dnznqueen, Per Nina's site, she plans to return to dancing in 2007. She had her child back in February so she may be giving herself plenty of time to get back in shape. I first encountered her on the VAI International DVDs too. On the Corsair you saw, perhaps it was an off night. But I did notice that in the performances I saw of Nina when she last appeared with ABT/NY in 2004, some things were no longer coming quite so easily, although much of her dancing was still very beautiful. I'm hoping she will return to ABT next year in the right pieces. Richard

Yes, exactly. And some City Center seasons had the smaller scaled full lengths. So they would program Giselle at City Center (Makarova's ABT/NY debut for instance), Coppelia, maybe some other small set pieces. And like the Summer programs , they were sprinkled with mixed bills. Richard

Thursday night Sylvia This is really such a difficult piece to pull off. I love the score but it's saddled with a difficult libretto. During Act 1 last night I was thinking this plot is so complicated, it's like one of those operas that have plots that are almost impossible to explain . Then during the intermission I read Morris' comment in the program that said roughly the same thing. Morris tried to set all the parts of Act 1 but it came off awkward and cluttered. Sylvia and her Nymphs came clomping in after the orgy scene with the satyrs; their choreography was successful is showing that these were powerful women but visually not that interesting to me. I did like the Sorcerer/Eros number a lot. Act 2? More than a little cartoonish. Sylvia stomps out the bad guys. Eros appears to get Sylvia out of the cave. I agree with Michael's comments on the shallow set compromising the third act, which I otherwise greatly enjoyed. For me it made the piece worthwhile. Paul Parish described the complexity of Aminta's choreography very nicely, in general I liked the big pdd a whole lot. Also, I enjoyed the Pirate/Eros stuff. The plot is resolved in a very campy way; Eros reminds Diana of her past very vividly! I saw Miner as Sylvia, Molat as Aminta, and Vilanoba as Orion with a special mention to Sofranko as Eros. I thought Miner was a bit rough in Act 1 but did very well in Act 3. I was taken with Morat and Sofranko, too. I was happy to see this, after seeing the Ashton last year with ABT. Two different takes at this complicated piece. But what a beauty of a score. Richard

Yes, indeed. It IS a beautiful photo. Thanks from me too, rg! Richard

The Delius pieces Tudor used are: A Walk to Paradise Garden from A Village Romeo and Juliet, Eventyr, Over the Hills and Far Away, Brigg Fair. Dorati made the arrangement. All this discussion has made me nostalgic to see the piece again but from Glebb's and Leigh's comments , it doesn't seem promising. The sets and costumes were beautiful; Eugene Berman did a lot of wonderful work and this was really lovely. Richard

The Metropolitan Opera has announced that next seasons Orfeo performances will be dedicated to Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. Taking over the role of Orfeo will be countertenor David Daniels http://listserv.cuny.edu/Scripts/wa.exe?A2...a-l&T=0&P=14386 (the Opera-L List Serve owner Bob Kosovosky forwarded the press release onto his board ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > T H E M E T R O P O L I T A N O P E R A > Press Release > > Contact: Peter Clark > Metropolitan Opera > (212) 870-7457 > pclark@metopera.org <mailto:pclark@metopera.org> > > > The Metropolitan Opera dedicates > Orfeo ed Euridice performances > to the memory of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson > > > New York, NY (July 18, 2006) - The Metropolitan Opera will dedicate the May > 2007 performances of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice to the memory of > mezzo-soprano Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. The untimely death of this beloved > opera singer, who was to have sung the role of Orfeo, has been mourned by > the international artistic community since her passing on July 3. > The role of Orfeo, which may be sung by either a mezzo-soprano or a > countertenor, will be performed by American countertenor David Daniels. He > will be joined by Lisa Milne (Euridice) and Heidi Grant Murphy (Amor). Met > Music Director James Levine will conduct and Mark Morris will stage the new > production, which is funded by a gift from Mr. and Mrs. Wilmer J. Thomas, > Jr., with performances on May 2, 5 (matinee), 9, and 12 (matinee), 2007. > Peter Gelb, who becomes general manager of the Met on August 1, said, > "Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's death is a profound loss for the music world. > Joseph Volpe, James Levine, and the entire Met community join me in > extending our condolences to Lorraine's husband, Peter Lieberson, and to her > family, friends, and admirers around the world. We are dedicating the Orfeo > performances to her memory to commemorate Lorraine's extraordinary artistry > and tremendous generosity of spirit." > > # # # > > PRESS DEPARTMENT The Metropolitan Opera Press: 212.870.7457 > press@mail.metopera.org > Lincoln Center General: > 212.799.3100 www.metopera.org > New York, NY 10023 Fax: 212.870.7606 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * For help on commands, files, pictures, etc., visit the homepage: http://www.OPERA-L.org