Waelsung

I am seriously considering going to Berlin at the end of October, but unfortunately cannot figure out how to buy tickets to the Staats. Ideally I'd like to see both Bolshoi Swan Lakes, Onegin and The Sleeping Beauty. Could somebody please suggest the best way to order/reserve tickets online (my German is a disaster, so ordering over the phone is out of the question).

Also, when do they normally announce the casts? If I can see Polina Semionova, I'll probably rearange my travel plans. Any rumors on what/when she will be dancing in the upcoming season?

Thanks a million in advance!

Vishneva was on fire tonight. One of the most intense performances I have ever seen. She wobbled and almost lost ger footing during the fouettes, but otherwise was a delight to watch. True, her Odette is not poetic enough, because she's a real girl. Not an otherworldly creature, but very much flesh and blood. Passionate, desperate, doomed. Her black swan, on the other hand, is evil incarnate. It's quite easy to turn Odille into Salome (as most do), but Vishneva turns her into Herodiade.

Gomes, I thought, was exquisite - a true prince and a great partner for her.

Everybody else - an extremely poor showing. Especially, Abrera, Saveliev, and the corps.

But it all didn't matter with D.V. on stage. Breathtaking...

Just got home from Ferri's ABT farewell. What an unforgettable evening. Especially Act III which did not require A.F. to pretend she's a 14-year-old. That was a mature woman in grief over her dead husband's body. Very powerful performance.

Bolle was nice, but I liked Corella better.

Cornejo felt well enough to perform the Mandolin dance himself, but cut it a little bit short.

The house was packed and understandably ecstatic. Ferri got flowers from what looked like the entire ABT roster. They were all on stage hugging and kissing her.

The curtain calls were innumerable. The last few of them she took with her daughters.

I miss her already...

Outstanding performance tonight. Heartbreaking. Vishneva simply out of this world. The last act especially.

Corella also much more dramatic than he usually is.

But Vishneva... words fail me. Worlds, by the way, fail me too:)

I'll probably write more when I recover:)

Very memorable performance tonight. And with a pretty unusual twist: with this Manon being almost twice the age of des Grieux, it was finally possible to understand why she dumped the rich old man for him

Hnh? Ferri is 44; Bolle 32. I am arithmetically challenged here.

But he looks barely old enough to be of legal age:)

Very memorable performance tonight. And with a pretty unusual twist: with this Manon being almost twice the age of des Grieux, it was finally possible to understand why she dumped the rich old man for him

The second act was especially incredible - Ferri's Manon looked and behaved schizophrenic to the point when she was painful to watch.

Murphy and Cornejo were also great.

But was the Jailer really Sasha Radetsky?

I was extremely disappointed not to see Vishneva last night and am crossing my fingers that she'll be well by next week's R&J.

That being said, I wasn't moved by Julie Kent's Manon at all. She's a good dancer, but no actress. I preferred Marcelo Gomes who has elegant technique and kept my attention.

I'm sorry but I almost left after Act II. Kent is definitely not my cup of iced tchai. I'm rarely completely satisfied with Vishneva's performances lately, but for me, she's in a totally different league. Kent was falling apart in all major scenes and not even Gomes could keep her together.

If D.V.'s illness is serious and she cancels the rest of the season, it will be a major catastrophe.

Julie does (did) a marvelous performance in the role last year. I think it will well be worth seeing. I am dismayed that Diana is not performing tomorrow. I just hope she is OK and this doesn't portend her departure from the ABT.

Seems like a lot of pinch hitters in the ABT line up this season.

My wife was at today's dress rehearsal (I couldn't go) and absolutely loved Kent. I saw Diana's Manon last year with Malakhov, but still wanted to see her again. My second choice would have been Ferri/Bolle, but apparently there are no good orchestra seats left for Thursday. On the other hand, there are still great seats availble for Friday night. Choices, choices:)

I'm crushed by the news of Visheva's cancelling tomorrow's performance. I have such a good seat. What am I to do? Try to exchange it for Friday or give Kent a chance?

"How much time she has left"? She's only 30, in great shape & strong enough to dance another ten years minimum.

Is there something we should know?

I never meant to imply that there was something wrong with Vishneva's health and apologize if my post was construed in such a way that it could be misinterpreted.

All I meant to say was that D.V. is clearly entering the second half of her stage career and her performances should not be missed without a very serious reason

Question - Help wanted.

I've never seen Vishneva dance. I saw Murphy (replacing Kent) the other night. I really disliked the production, but enjoyed much of the dancing. I can still get a ticket for Vishneva on Sat. althought it would be a stretch budget wise. Is it worth it??

Thanks in advance for your input

First, I must admit that I'm impartial - I love Vishneva. Even though this season she's not quite her usual self, I think you will not regret going to see her. Even when she's not great, she's incredible, and God knows how much time she's got left. Maybe there will not be another chance to see her, especially in one of her signature roles.

If you do go, please post your impressions here.

I saw Part/Gomes on Monday and Vishneva/Hallberg last night - these performances could not be more different. Part got through the Rose Adagio, but barely. The Vision, on the other hand, was absolutely divine - gave me goose bumps. And the Grand pdd was incredible. Out of this world.

Vishneva was pure perfection in Act I - so much better than Part, it's even unfair to compare them. I was sure it was going to be one of the best ballet nights of my life and was already thinking about getting tickets for Saturday night. But the Vision turned out to be bland and the pdd - ordinary. I think Hallberg is largely responsible for this - he was absolutely atrocious. Looked like a lifeless corpse in desperate need to be awakened himself.

The production is a joke, but this has been discussed thoroughly already, and I don't have much to add. However, Vishneva's Adagio and Part's Vision redeemed everything for me. I feel incredibly lucky to have witnessed and experienced dancing on such a high level of artistry and virtuosity.

I'm going to see it this week - with Vishneva, of course

I have to second (or rather third) <b>Dale</b>'s and Michael Popkin's impressions. Of course, it's all a matter of expectations - mine are always so high for Vishneva that even slightest failure on her part to meet them seems a big disappointment. For a different dancer a performance like the one I saw Wed. night would be spectacular, but considering what Vishneva standards usually are, it was a rather distant and disengaged outing.

I also agree with M.Popkin's take on Stiefel, Abrera, and the corps - it was plagued with problems in Act I, but looked surprisingly impressive in the Kingdom of the Shades scene.

I saw Vishneva (last Wednesday) and Part (Friday) and found both absolutely exquisite. While DV is much more emotional, VP is regal and so "retro" it's outright scary.

I was rather disappointed in Stiefel's performance, but really liked Gomez. Also, I thought that Wiles was a much more interesting Gamzatti, than Abrera.

The corps did a very good job and overall it were extremely enjoyable evenings and a great kick-off of a very promising season.

Well, I was not looking for the very first rows, but rather for row E or F. I think they're sufficiently removed from the stage to allow the full picture including the feet. Am I wrong on this?

As for the seemingly eternal Orchestra vs. Balcony argument, I do like to be able to look down and see the whole stage, but the first rows of the Grand Tier do not seem to be for sale, either and I can hardly tolerate leaners

Please correct me, if I'm wrong, but Kirov itself is not selling tickets when they go on tours. Sure, they get some seats reserved for them, but the first 9 rows? I have an impression Ardani Artists (the agency that represents the Kirov Ballet in the States) decided they would need to accomodate a lot of V.I.P.s later on and simply pulled all the best (or what is perceived as such by uninitiated) seats.

They may change their mind, but I completely agree with you, Carbo, about the risks involved in waiting to see if these seats ever do go on sale, that's why I decided to take what was offered to me.

Now I might need a good bankrupcy lawyer

I hope it will not look too inappropriate if I ask what kind of seats everybody managed to secure.

I bought mine at the box office and was told that the best orchestra seats that were actually available started at row K or (in some instances) L. I found it quite unbelievable that they had sold all the center seats in all the front rows for all the performances in just a couple of days (I went to get mine early last week) and was told by the gentleman in the window that those seats (center, rows A through J) had been reserved by the "house". I understand that this is a common practice everywhere and that not every single goes on sale to the general public. But all of the first 9 rows? I was absolutely stunned.

Hence my question. What kind of seats did YOU get? What section were you interested in and was your request accomodated? Were you disappointed in what they offered you or pleasantly surprised? Did you get the section that you wanted? Or is it possible that I was discriminated against and am actually the only person that the box office clerk decided to move as far away from the stage as possible?

Should we assume that the Kirov Ballet is not coming to Washington D.C. this summer? (Otherwise they would have announced it by now.) Are they coming one more time this year? Or does Romeo and Juliet fulfill their 2007 commitment?

And while we're on this subject: is anybody aware of Kirov's plans to come to the U.S. this year at all? Boston? New York? Palookaville, IL?

Does anybody know when ABT will begin selling the "make your own series" subscriptions for 2007 Met season?

Thanks in advance:)

I just purchased my tickets for the ABT Spring series and this includes two Mannon performances, One with Ferri (6/14) and one with Vishneva (6/12). I doubt my wife will want to go to ballet 2x in one week... but who knows??? Depending on which one she chooses I could have an extra ticket for one of the perfomances. Anyone interested please contact me. I suspect she will choose Ferri, but who knows...

Thinking of you....

Where is your seat for Vishneva? I might be interested, if it's a very good seat.

Also, do they already let you "make your own series" or did you just purchase two different series with a Manon in each one?

Web and phone sales are now on. If you don't like the specific seats offered to you by their site, the phone service will allow you to be specific re row, or centering, in particular. Terribly important for City Center.

What whould you say the best seats in City Center are?

I normally try to get orchestra row E-F as close to the center as possible, but I wonder if I'm missing something here.

Thanks in advance!

My impression for the moment is that she was performing the Dance, 'the intense drama of the Dance itself' and not primarily a character.

I like that.

For me, Pavlenko was the most rational, the most thought-through, the most detached Giselle out of the three that I saw in D.C. She was personified perfection - true otherwordly, unattainable beauty, statuesque and utterly tragic.

one never does know with the Kirov, does one?

Absolutely - I was really surprised they never acknowledged the substitution. Let's say, at the Met, where these things also happen relatively often, if there are any changes in the cast, they insert a little piece of paper in the program stating who is replacing whom. I'm always looking at the programs with dread, scared to see the white paper sticking out of it. But still - not announcing the change is even worse than that and terribly unfair to the performers as well as the audience.

Alina Somova as Myrtha was unfortunately the dim spot in this production. Between her weak and floppy movements, almost total lack of a jump, and her determination to get her legs as high as they could possibly go regardless of aesthetics or even good technique, what ought to have been one of the highlights of the ballet was a mess.

Sorry, but it was Tereshkina. Unfortunately, the program did not make any note of this substitution.