cobweb Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 3 hours ago, BalanchineFan said: It's 80 minutes with no intermission. Um, wow. This is certainly ambitious. I was assuming I would see this, but now I'm thinking maybe I'll wait for a few reviews from my fellow BA buddies. Aside from Wagner, this would be long even for opera. Are there any ballets at all, even Goldberg Variations, that are this long with no intermission? Link to comment
Olga Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 As I suggested, Goldberg. 84 mins. Link to comment
California Posted January 10, 2023 Author Share Posted January 10, 2023 5 minutes ago, cobweb said: Um, wow. This is certainly ambitious. I was assuming I would see this, but now I'm thinking maybe I'll wait for a few reviews from my fellow BA buddies. Aside from Wagner, this would be long even for opera. Are there any ballets at all, even Goldberg Variations, that are this long with no intermission? Goldberg is 84 minutes. https://www.nycballet.com/discover/ballet-repertory/the-goldberg-variations/ But Goldberg isn't performed alone. Don't they usually have one other ballet on the program? With a 7:30 curtain, we'll be out at 8:40. Will that seem like a full evening? This reminds me of the season fall 2021 when they did brief pauses, but no intermissions, apparently so people wouldn't congregate in the lobby areas or lines at the restrooms. Link to comment
abatt Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 (edited) 36 minutes ago, Olga said: I guess Peck’d taking that BS about him being Robbins successor seriously 😂😱 (Goldberg) 36 minutes ago, Olga said: I guess Peck’d taking that BS about him being Robbins successor seriously 😂😱 (Goldberg) Laughing out loud. Thanks. I attended an All Peck program at NYCB a few years ago because a friend wanted to see it. It was way too much Peck for me, and that program had the standard two intermissions. Goldberg Variations is considered a masterpiece, but even that ballet fails to attract an audience. This is a big risk considering the number of times NYCB has programmed the new Peck work for Winter and Spring . Edited January 10, 2023 by abatt Link to comment
matilda Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 The Goldberg Variations is a long piece of music though, and meant to be played continuously. The Copland ballet is using an array of separate musical works. Just WHAT is the point of not letting people up for a restroom break? Link to comment
abatt Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 Rodeo was one of Peck's best works. It's not common for a choreographer to revisit the same music with different choreography. I assume he will not repeat his choreography from Rodeo, since that was a stand-alone work. Link to comment
cobweb Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 16 minutes ago, matilda said: Just WHAT is the point of not letting people up for a restroom break? I don't always need a bathroom break, but I do like just a break break. This piece is ambitious already in being so long; no intermission ramps up the expectations even higher. This better be good! Hoping.... Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 Another weird advertising campaign. You'd think it would at least use the actual music. Link to comment
matilda Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 46 minutes ago, abatt said: Rodeo was one of Peck's best works. It's not common for a choreographer to revisit the same music with different choreography. I assume he will not repeat his choreography from Rodeo, since that was a stand-alone work. According to the podcast, the 2015 "Rodeo" is being reused for the new piece. Link to comment
vipa Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 (edited) 4 hours ago, volcanohunter said: Another weird advertising campaign. You'd think it would at least use the actual music. I agree volcanohunter, I wonder what audience they have in mind? I much more enjoyed the one they used pre-pandemic that I pasted below. Edited January 10, 2023 by vipa Error fix Link to comment
BalanchineFan Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 21 minutes ago, Olga said: 54 minutes ago, abatt said: There are very few choreographers who could sustain interest continuously for 80 minutes. This should be interesting. I guess Peck’d taking that BS about him being Robbins successor seriously 😂😱 (Goldberg) If the ballet doesn't appeal, one might also follow Balanchine's advice, "Close your eyes and listen to the music." 🤣 Link to comment
BalanchineFan Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 2 hours ago, matilda said: The Goldberg Variations is a long piece of music though, and meant to be played continuously. The Copland ballet is using an array of separate musical works. Just WHAT is the point of not letting people up for a restroom break? You might listen to the podcast. It sounds like there are choreographed, musical transitions between the works. Not that they're adding music, they flow from one to the next. Link to comment
Helene Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 That's like when Martins made Esctatic Orange and then there was Verdant Music and Purple. If I remember correctly, Purple is part of the Esctatic Orange score, but was added later. But it did take an existing piece and expanded it to a full evening. Martins A Schubertiade was a long work and was a compilation of music by Schubert. But I can't find a running time for it. Liebeslieder Walzer has a long pause, but that's for the set and costume changes, as the women have to squeeze their feet into pointe shoes after dancing the first part in heels, oy. The longest ballet I ever saw was Neumeier's Mahler Symphony No. 3. It was about a week long. The Met Opera is going the way of many other houses in the US by eliminating intermissions. There is nothing unusual anymore about a 75-90-minute stretch of opera with only a minute or so pause for a set change, if that. The new Fedora combines Acts I&II and is 75 minutes long according to the Met website. L'elisir d'amore's first act is about 75 minutes, too, depending on the conductor. Link to comment
Kathleen O'Connell Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 Your average Hollywood movie is longer than 80 minutes, no? Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 (edited) 1 hour ago, Helene said: The longest ballet I ever saw was Neumeier's Mahler Symphony No. 3. It was about a week long. Yes, The Third Symphony of Gustav Mahler lasts two hours with no intermission. But Mahler symphonies are also performed in concert halls with no break. Added: The Hamburg Ballet site says 2 hours, but looking back at my own notes, what I saw clocked in at 1 hour and 45 minutes, and I managed it two nights in a row because the protagonist (Alexandre Riabko) was genius. How he managed it is the greater mystery. Edited January 10, 2023 by volcanohunter Link to comment
cobweb Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 1 hour ago, volcanohunter said: Another weird advertising campaign. You'd think it would at least use the actual music. Very odd. Kind of psychedelic and mesmerizing, though. I wonder if the audience drawn to this ad will also like the actual ballet. Link to comment
Fernie M Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 17 hours ago, uptowner said: https://podcast.nycballet.com/episode-76-new-combinations-copland-dance-episodes The City Ballet Podcast has an episode out today where Wendy Whelan discusses the experience of working on the new Peck piece. Excellent podcast. Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 59 minutes ago, Kathleen O'Connell said: Your average Hollywood movie is longer than 80 minutes, no? I will acknowledge that audience experiences in cinemas and concert halls are different. Movie audiences are allowed to eat and drink, encouraged, even. No one thinks worse of concert audiences for reading their programs in the dark, provided they don't make any noise, or staring at the ceiling. Link to comment
canbelto Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 Many operas now combine acts to longer than 80 minutes. And then some Wagnerian operas each act is over 80 minutes. The final act of Die Meistersinger is 2 hours long. Link to comment
On Pointe Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 Based on their recent ad campaigns, NYCBallet appears to be trying to attract people who don't know much about ballet and what little they do know they don't much like. In my opinion, that's a mistake. There's an old showbiz axiom that has implications in politics and other fields: Always play to your strongest audience. Hardcore ballet fans, who will stick with the company for years, want to see dancers dancing. The Peck commercial - that's what it is - looks like a scene from a boring arthouse film. The Sleeping Beauty spot might appeal to the visual arts crowd, but where are the dancers? Nobody goes to the ballet to see projections of flowers on the stage. It's all very abstract and arty, but it's not ballet, it's not dancing, it's not music. The company needs to have more confidence in what it has to sell. (And if they opened the fourth ring and sold those tickets for $20.00 each, they would have sold out houses for every performance.) Link to comment
Marta Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 4 hours ago, volcanohunter said: Another weird advertising campaign. You'd think it would at least use the actual music. UGH. The 30 second visual doesn't evoke SB in the slightest. Does NYCB have a new designer/photographer for visuals? They are so unsatisfying. Link to comment
vipa Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 (edited) 21 hours ago, uptowner said: https://podcast.nycballet.com/episode-76-new-combinations-copland-dance-episodes The City Ballet Podcast has an episode out today where Wendy Whelan discusses the experience of working on the new Peck piece. Thanks so much for sharing this. After listening to the podcast, I'm much more excited about seeing the ballet. It sounds like it could work as a concept, and perhaps as importantly, there are about 34 dancers in the cast, and there are two casts. If nothing else it will be a great opportunity to see a lot of company member shine. Edited January 11, 2023 by vipa Link to comment
volcanohunter Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 Years ago there was an American Express ad to the Rose Adage. It sort of evoked the choreography in that the CGI card would be turned and stretched, as if to suggest its flexibility and myriad uses, plus an upscale glamour. Personally, I thought the allusion was too obscure for the average TV viewer, but it's ironic that the music was considered suitable to advertise a credit card, but isn't used to advertise a run of The Sleeping Beauty. Link to comment
Lizzy Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 9 hours ago, volcanohunter said: Another weird advertising campaign. You'd think it would at least use the actual music. Just saw this. No idea what NYCB wanted to express, a non-classic weirdo version of SB? Link to comment
bellawood Posted January 11, 2023 Share Posted January 11, 2023 22 hours ago, abatt said: Rodeo was one of Peck's best works. It's not common for a choreographer to revisit the same music with different choreography. I assume he will not repeat his choreography from Rodeo, since that was a stand-alone work. I think he is, though -- the podcast suggested that it's the same choreo, just tweaked a little bit. It sounded like Sara is first cast and from photos on Instagram, Mira Nadon second cast. Link to comment
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