Thursday, April 14

[dirac]

A review of the Scottish Ballet in "The Scandal at Mayerling" by Graham Watts for Bachtrack.

Quote

Mayerling needs a large company and a big stage and neither Scottish Ballet nor Glasgow’s Theatre Royal have the necessary capacity, hence the need for this distillation of the ballet into the essence of the personal relationships leading to the murder/suicide of Mary Vetsera and Crown Prince Rudolf in the Imperial Hunting Lodge at Mayerling, outside Vienna, in 1889. MacMillan’s ballet has been cut to two acts, including the excision of two entire scenes – Emperor Franz Josef’s birthday at the Hofburg Palace and the imperial shooting party – which enable acts 2 and 3 to be conjoined. The downside is that these omissions showed key elements in Rudolf’s mental degeneration: firstly, in the hypocrisy of his parents’ open affairs with the singer Katherina Schratt and Colonel ‘Bay’ Middleton (neither character appears in this new iteration); and secondly in Rudolf’s killing of a bystander by carelessly firing his rifle. 

Lorna Irvine reviews the production for Fjord Review.

Quote

After a slightly wobbly start (first night nerves, perhaps) Evan Loudon settles into his lead role as Prince Rudolf admirably, and with no amount of challenges—he is present on the stage almost constantly, and it is a hugely physically demanding character study. He is the epitome of entitled malignant narcissism—a whirling, strutting, deeply troubled but spoiled brat scything his way through ballrooms, whore houses, royal courts and bedrooms. He swaggers, preens, and in one uncomfortable scene, forces himself on his new young bride Princess Stephanie (Constance Devernay) whom he pulls and throws around like a ragdoll, before pouncing on and sexually assaulting her. 

 

[dirac]

A review of the Scottish Ballet by Róisín O'Brien for The Guardian.

Quote

It’s a “refocused” one and a half hours, to quote Hampson. The shorter first act rapidly escalates from repressive courtly etiquette to Rudolf’s morbid fascination with death. All the action is held by a stunning set design from Elin Steele. Minimal yet brutal, a dark backdrop with wide brushstrokes and bloodstained side panels frame the court scenes, with no other effects cluttering the stage. The courtiers, in their stiff finery, become gaudy cut-outs parading on their fixed courses. By the end of the ballet, the walls have literally closed in – jagged beams cut across the space, penning in Rudolf and Mary in their last morbid scene.