Mashinka

The last time he sang in London, in Traviata, he had to be prompted. I think he should call it a day too.

Last night I went to Swan Lake to see Alyona kovalyova, she has a whole thread about her here so I wanted to take a look for myself. Not having seen the Grigorovich production for years, I suppose I had pushed it's horrors to the back of my mind, but it really is pretty grim. It wasn't well danced either, the pas de trois ladies, particularly the first, were off the music for their solos and the third act national dances were performed very indifferently. In the white act one of the big swans was unable to perform a satisfactory rond de jambe en l'air. The principals kovalyova and Jacopo Tissi, delivered up to a point, but couldn't save what was for me an acutely disappointing evening. kovalyova is a very attractive dancer but her height works against her, to me she wasn't in full control of her long limbs and I wondered if she had come to the role too soon, or indeed that it isn't her role at all. In the black act she pretty much mastered the difficulties apart from a couple of small hiccups, but her sweet, pretty face seemed unable to harden into a look appropriate for cruel Odile. I was also seeing her partner, Tissi, for the first time and I actually rather liked him, in fact I found his assured dancing a highlight of the evening. He has an innate elegance but also performs with typically Russian expansiveness. On reflection, he wasn't much of an actor last night, but taken all round it was a classy performance, he's tall but sadly he isn't tall enough to be the ideal partner for kovalyova, ideally she needs someone of the stature of a Kenneth Greve, though sadly I don't think there is currently anyone out there of that height. After the black act I called it a day, but that is a reflection on the production rather than the dancer and of course an excerpt from act four is actually performed in act three. What did I like best? the corps de ballet in act two, quite superb and without question the stars of the evening.

No, it isn't, sexual harassment of women is universal. Adult women cope with it. The worst type is by strangers, incidents in the workplace you cope with and if there's no redress you leave. In that respect being an opera singer is no different to being an office cleaner, sort out the problem or go.

Firstly one shouldn't conflate sexual abuse of children with knee squeezing. Child sex abuse is serious, these accusations sound frivolous to me and accusations by a bunch of nobodies (I assume, not many names provided) saying their careers suffered though acquaintance with him would have to be proved in court. So far I hear nothing that would. At the opera House this evening, incredulity and irritation, though one opera buff's explanation of why it's all tosh, gave me the biggest laughs I've had in a long time. Trying to think who is famous enough and rich enough to become the next victim in the arts world.

I actually see his point to some extent, if these women were so offended at his alleged behaviour, why didn't they complain at the time? Jumping on a bandwagon perhaps? We've had a lot of these historical cases in Britain of late and they are failing spectacularly, what's more accusers are now likely to face counter prosecutions, one is likely to go to prison for a very, very long time. What do they seek to gain? Compensation is most likely as I imagine old Placido has a bob or two in the bank, or is it more insidious and they want to tarnish his career because they were failures in their own?

Were he still alive, Rudolf Nureyev would have answered that question.

My advice is the opposite to Birdsall's, as I am a fraction under five foot five, I avoid the front stalls as they aren't raked, Personally I like the circle best, for a lot of classical ballets I prefer to look down to appreciate the floor patterns. Generally though the sight lines are good throughout the auditorium.

Monday's performance opened with former RB director Monica Mason giving a curtain speech in tribute to the recently deceased impresario, Victor Hocchauser, there was also a brief biography of his remarkable career in the giveaway cast sheets. Wholly appropriate for such a titan of the classical arts world. Opening with Spartacus proved the right choice as it is a big audience pleaser and in the three performances I've seen so far there was a lot to admire. On opening night Denis Rodkin danced the title role and although up to now I've liked him best in princely roles he gave Spartacus his all, his intensity and burning eyes stay in the memory, but it's a killer of a role and I felt he was flagging a little in places. Denisova, his Phrygia couldn't match Rodkin's passion, she looked nervous and her acting was a look of permanent anxiety. Perhaps it would have been wiser to put a more experienced dancer in the role. In the other female lead Zakharova was very good if you ignored her ugly jetes, Aegina has always been one of her best roles and she throws herself into it with vigour. Artemy Belyakov danced Crassus as an out and out maniac, relentlessly insane from start to finish, if he could give more thought to his acting he could make this role his own because his actual dancing was phenomenal. I don't think he has danced a leading role in London before and people I spoke to were overwhelmed by what they saw, extrovert technique in a role every bit as tough as the title role. He made himself a lot of fans on Monday night. On Tuesday Igor Tsvirko took on the lead, Tsvirko is popular in London, not just for his performances in the last London Bolshoi season, but because he has been appearing in one off galas here too (I have a fond memory of him in Flames of Paris at the Savoy Theatre). Tsvirko is of similar height and build to the role's creator, Vladimir Vasiliev, and the choreography fits him like a glove, his elevation is jaw dropping and he can act too. His partnering was faultless, but I did feel his Phrygia, Maria Vingradova, was a little too tall to be his ideal partner. She was however far more convincing in the role than Denisova the night before. I also felt that Smirnova was a bit too tall for Ovcharenko as well, but apart from that they were utterly convincing as Aegina and Crassus. A scheming amoral pair that shared a ruthless nature. Smirnova was perhaps more sexually aware in the role than others I've seen and brought a real erotic charge to the scene where she corrupts Spartacus's men. Too often the pole/thyrsus dance can look ridiculous, but not with Smirnova, a girl who clearly understands the phallic significance of that particular prop. Mikhail Luboukin was the third Spartacus, more gritty than heroic and ultimately more moving in the role, his final scene really tugged at the heartstrings. His elevation wasn't as great as the other two but his tremendous speed and stamina made up for that. His Phrygia, Nikulina, was the best of the three by far and you felt her tragedy was almost as great as his. Crassus was played by Ruslan Skvortsev whose acting was superb, a haughty patrician unable to restrain his blood lust, less virtuosic than the others dancing Crassus, his nuanced approach to the role compensated for that, but he wasn't helped by the vulgar posturing of Shipulina who simply couldn't compete with Zakharova and above all Smirnova. A word about the orchestra, wonderful, exciting playing. There is a lot of brass in Spartacus and I never once heard a wrong note. As the playing and conducting of the RB's orchestra becomes progressively worse year on year, getting to hear faultless playing becomes a real pleasure. Lots more performances to go, I'm crossing my fingers that the standard will match what I've seen so far.

Presumably she agreed to the make up as part of the role, she is after all portraying a cat, not a person. Actually Ms Hayward is relatively fair skinned under stage lighting, her African background must have surprised many. She's sensational, gorgeous and a true ballerina to her fingertips.

First of all let's make something abundantly clear, this kind of journalistic exercise is nothing out of the ordinary in Britain, neither the format not the celebrity editor thing, in fact it is becoming more common with even radio stations engaging celebrities to edit their programmes. The Standard has been particularly enthusiastic with it's features on Londoners you will know, and this years top twenty influencers, and so on, that paper has been doing it for years. Usually they try to include someone in the arts world, particularly if the publication reviews the arts, but mostly to prove that they aren't complete philistines. I don't see the Vogue article as anything other than following a common trend. Okay the head of Vogue is African so wants black and mixed race notables chosen by a royal, fine, its his magazine and his prerogative. I don't have a problem with that. Apart from the fact I'm a republican, but that isn't important here. Francesca Hayward is causing a stir in the ballet world because she is something very special. Ballet thrives on its stars and there is no question that she is going to become a huge one. I imagine having a prominent role in a film will give her career an even bigger boost. As for back stories, we generally don't get to hear about them until a dancer achieves star status and even then they may be reticent to talk about things other than their careers. I can remember just one exception to that when Time Out interviewed a random group of RB dancers. A corps member told of his early life in a mining village in the north of England, when asked if he faced prejudice for his choice of career he replied no, everyone was pleased for him and proud of him, the general sentiment being that anything was better then going down a pit. I always remembered that. Just think if he'd been a star and that story better known, the film Billy Elliott would never have been made.

I've been several times and it does seem the company is a fixture there now. The Festspiellhaus has an ideal stage for a ballet company and the transport links to other German towns are very good. Speaking to some German ballet goers it seems they are keen to make the journey now that certain companies veer away from classical ballet. Personally I find the town very attractive and the locals very friendly, though it's a shame some of those amazing antique shops have closed down.

Much of Darcey Bussell's wider fame came from appearing as a guest on a popular UK comedy programme, so if Francesca Hayward can win some fans outside of the ballet that decide to take a look at her in her day job, so much the better.

Over here there is some interest in Zakharova because she is a name and has an international career, on the other hand Obraztsove has danced with the Royal Ballet and is therefore better known. Male dancers don't receive flowers in London except perhaps at a last performance prior to retirement. Generally speaking the London audience responds to warmth/strong personalities, the hard Russian ice queens aren't admired. Also I fear the Russian Dancer cachet goes for very little now that we have home grown stars of our own

But apparently French law can.

There is a 1964 Glyndebourne recording of Pavarotti with Gundula Janowitz in Idomeneo singing the role of Idamante, not usually a tenor role. It gives a wonderful idea of the young Pavarotti and in many ways it was this performance that kicked off his career. He had impressed so many people that when a last minute replacement was needed for a TV programme that was to supposed to feature Di Steffano, Pavarotti was rushed in to replace him. The rest is history.

There is however a great deal of footage of Jackson with the children involved, adult males do not hang out with other peoples children. How no one ever drew attention to his perverse behaviour is quite shocking. From the testimony of the parents his enablers, entourage, call them what you will, actually colluded with his assaults on these kids. The whole thing stinks.

Extraordinary that with so much evidence from testimonies and actual film footage anyone would ever seek to defend him.

I think you have to separate the music from the creator, think Wagner, Gesualdo. In Britain we had paedophile pop singers, but they weren't as rich as Jackson so finished up in jail.

Par for the course, Russian ballet marriages tend to be somewhat fragile. Not something we generally hear about though.

With less than twenty days to go before first night I'm saddened that so many tickets remain unsold. Only Swan Lake has sold out and most performances of Spartacus are selling well too. However Bright Stream is doing badly and so too is Don Q. For the last night there are literally hundreds of tickets available whereas the first night is sold out. My solution would be for Vaziev to recall Alexandrova or negotiate with the RB for one of its principals, either Osipova, Nunez or Naghdi to get backsides on seats for the evening of the 17th.

The Empress Elizabeth, "Sissi" was a fascinating woman in her own right and had MacMillan read a book about her before seeing the Mayerlng film, he may well have considered her worthy of a ballet instead. Sissi was in many ways as obsessed with her appearance as a modern a day celebrity and was probably the first woman of her era to regularly work out in her gym, at one time considered the most beautiful woman in Europe, she wanted to keep it that way, At the time the ballet is set she would have still resembled a young girl, so casting a svelte young dancer is actually appropriate. Giving her a grey wig might help audiences work out she's the mother, but on the other hand showing her as she actually was, a rather chilly woman without maternal feelings who cared most about her own image really is best served by someone who looks that part.

Osipova is the dancer that comes closest to Lynn Seymour, the role's creator, but perhaps the uninhibited quality may be unsettling for some. Seymour also had a lot of detractors.

No, only the two principals, the casting for the RB is similarly inadequate.

Casting has been available for some time, though there have been changes since then and I imagine there will be more changes before opening night. I would hang on before upgrading. ROH has increased its prices and the Bolshoi prices reflect the regular ticket prices. That policy might misfire and tickets may not sell so with luck there may be reductions closer to the day. On Wednesday I went to see Carmen and in the 50+ years I've been going to ROH I've never before seen such swathes of empty seats before.

I recommend the books of Ivor Guest, mainly French Ballet history. The best comprehensive book on Russian ballet is probably Era of the Russian Ballet by Natalia Roslavleva. I note you are based in Amsterdam, do you ever visit Britain? The town of Hay-on-Wye on the border with Wales is book lovers' heaven with more book shops than you can shake a stick at. Almost all have a performing arts section and it's possible to pick up some real gems. Not sure if the town is accessible by public transport though.