Category: Opera

YAGP Makarova Gala 2012

Saturday August 28, 2012 – The concluding event of the 2012 Youth America Grand Prix was a gala evening celebrating the great ballerina Natalia Makarova. I’m not really a fan of ballet galas (my idea of a perfect gala would be SERENADE, FOUR TEMPERAMENTS and SYMPHONY IN C) but tonight’s programme offered the chance to see so many dancers I love all in one place that I took advantage of the opportunity to attend. The audience were far better-behaved than at the previous night’s gala (though I’m always annoyed by Russians sitting near me at the ballet or opera – they can’t STFU for a moment, seemingly) and the performance (almost) started on time. There was still late seating, but less of it than on Friday evening.

The filmed presence of Makarova loomed over the stage almost ominously at times. Some of today’s greatest dancers were not allowed even to bow after their dancing; they were hustled offstage in the dark while the enormous image of Makarova re-appeared on the screen, relating anecdotes from her career. This was particularly unfortunate following a sublime White Swan pas de deux danced by Yuan Yuan Tan and Friedermann Vogel; no sooner had they struck their poetic final pose than La Makarova came looming out of the darkness, chattering away. No chance for reverie.

Well, anyway, there was lots of superb dancing and everything was a highlight basically. This was my first Osipova Experience and she was remarkable in a pair of very strongly contrasted works (both danced with the excellent Ivan Vasiliev): the jaggedly contemporary and exciting Serenata by Mauro Bigonzetti and a spell-binding GISELLE pas de deux. Osipova made a glorious impression and I very much look forward to seeing her again soon at ABT.

Yuan Tuan Tan’s silken sumptuousness as Odette (such a lovely filagree of rapid beats in those final slow supported turns) was enthralling, and Friedermann Vogel was a perfect cavalier for her. Later, in Black Swan, Ekaterina Kondaurova sizzled with dramatic fire and her dancing was on the grandest scale; she and Marcelo Gomes (at his most charismatic) had the chemistry going full-blast. A second couple (Tamara Rojo and Sergei Polunin) then took over, with Ms. Rojo unleashing a torrent of fouettes with some fascinating quadruples.

Veronika Part appeared all-too-briefly as Nikiya is the evening’s opening piece, the encounter from BAYADERE where Gamzatti exposes the temple dancer’s love for Solor. Ekaterina Kondaurova was the imperious princess, later switching gears impressively for a Forsythe solo from IN THE MIDDLE, SOMEWHAT ELEVATED. From the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, Catherine Hurlin paid tribute to one of Makarova’s first solo roles, dancing Princess Florine’s variation very prettily. Later in the evening, Ashley Bouder celebrated the Jerome Robbins/Makarova connection with a scintillating solo from OTHER DANCES. New York City Ballet’s Tyler Angle and Maria Kowroski honored Makarova’s Broadway triumph in ON YOUR TOES with Maria’s mind-boggling extension gorgeously displayed.

A trio of romantic pas de deux reminded us of Makarova’s flair for drama, and of her work with the 20th century’s greatest choreographers: Tamara Rojo and Federco Bonelli from Ashton’s A MONTH IN THE COUNTRY, Diana Vishneva and Marcelo Gomes in MacMillan’s MANON, and Alicia Amatriain and Friedermann Vogel in Cranko’s ONEGIN.

Tamara Rojo and Denis Matvienko commenced the evening’s closing work, from the Kingdom of the Shades, saluting Makarova’s glorious staging of BAYADERE for ABT which remains the best production in that Company’s repertoire. The evening’s final surprise came with the appearance of a seemingly last-minute addition to the casting: David Hallberg, who looked like a god in his simple white tights and tee-shirt. The audience welcomed him warmly and he was soon joined by the divine Kondaurova, a majestic Nikiya, also in white practice clothes. These two gave us a glimpse of Heaven on Earth, what more can be said?

As all the dancers made a final bow, Kevin McKenzie escorted Natalia Makarova onstage to a massive standing ovation. All the ballerinas laid their flowers at the Assoluta‘s feet, then Marcelo and David hoisted her into a high lift as a radiant sunburst-backdrop appeared.

April 28, 2012
Ballet Next: Choreographic Exhibition

Above: Michele Wiles and Kristi Boone in Mauro Bigonzetti’s LA FOLLIA, photo by Paul B Goode. Click on the image to enlarge.

Wednesday April 25, 2012 – “You’ll be close enough to see us sweat and breathe,” said ballerina Michele Wiles in a brief film shown at the start of this evening’s presentation by Ballet Next. She was right, and there’s nothing more beautiful – for me at least – than watching dancers dance, especially at close range. Some dance-goers want to see an effortless sheen of ‘artistry’ which masks the physicality of the dance; myself, I love to see the body working, the minute flickerings of facial expression as the dancer ‘edits’ herself, the sense of stretch as the muscles respond, and the mechanics of delivering a triple pirouette. In a large theatrical setting, you’re at a remove from all of this. Tonight at Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, the dancers exposed themselves to our keenest scrutiny. They looked superb.

Michele Wiles and Charles Askegard created Ballet Next as a continuation of their top-flight dance careers after they ‘retired’ from ABT and New York City Ballet respectively. They certainly don’t look like any retirees I know; their vitality and their eagerness to share their excitement about Ballet Next with an ever-broadening audience are infectious. Michele and Charles have set forth to bring us classic and new choreography danced by ballet’s greatest talents to live music. So far they’ve been succeeding admirably.

Tonight’s programme delivered four works, each created especially for Ballet Next. The Company’s music director Elad Kabilio and his troupe of gallant young musicians delivered inspired playing of works by Stravinsky, Shostakovich, Satie and Vivaldi. Setting their musical barre very high gives Ballet Next an added lustre in my view; the better music you use, the better your choreography and dancing will look. It’s that simple.

And so we started with Stravinsky, violinist Hajnal Karman Pivnick and pianist Ben Laude treating us to shimmering suite of music from Baiser de la Fee. I have a special love for this music since Balanchine’s gorgeous setting of the score was the first work I ever saw danced by New York City Ballet (by Patricia McBride and Helgi Tomasson, no less…)

Charles Askegard entitles his duet to this music simply DIVERTIMENTO. Danced with teriffic flair by Charles and NYCB‘s Georgina Pazcoguin, his choreography is witty and wonderful with some very inventive partnering motifs threading thru the music. Physically demanding, the dance evoked genuine enthusiasm from the packed house. Ms Pazcoguin, always a dancer to lure the opera glasses when she’s on the big stage, is a fascinating technician and personality to experience in this more intimate setting. Charles, one of the ballet world’s most valuable partners, doesn’t give himself any easy breaks in his own choreography. DIVERTIMENTO is a pure pleasure in every regard.

By way of contrast, Brian Reeder’s summer-shadowy PICNIC proved to be a small jewel of a narrative ballet. Drawing inspiration from the film PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK, the choreographer turns to Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata in D Minor with its alternating currents of pensive and slightly ominous feeling, and shows us three schoolgirls in white frocks setting out on that fatal picnic from which two of them never returned. Michele Wiles, Kristi Boone and Misty Copeland comprised a stellar trio, each (like the girls in the film) with her own unique little quirks. Kissing, chaste but inquisitive, delicately projects the Sapphic undercurrents found in the film. Meanwhile, Charles Askegard, perhaps drawing on his incredible portrayal of the death figure in Robbins’ IN MEMORY OF…seems silently to draw Misty and Kristi into his thrall, leaving Michele to awaken, alone and mystified. Cellist Elad Kabilio and pianist Ben Laude supported the dancers with a poetic rendering of the Shostakovitch.

Following an intermission during which we were up-dated as to the success of the evening’s live- streaming (people tuning in worldwide), Margo Sappington spoke briefly about her creation of ENTWINED for Ballet Next. I’ve seen this ballet evolve from a single, sensuous duet thru the addition of a pas de trois and a solo (for Michele Wiles); Margo revealed she has one more idea up her sleeve, a duet for two women; then ENTWINED will be complete. Or, she might even go on from there.

What she has crafted to date is an atmospheric piece set to Satie Gnossiennes (played by Ben Laude) which opens with a pas de trois danced by Charles Askegard, Georgina Pazcoguin and Ana Sophia Scheller. The choreography here flows thru a misty setting, as in a dream. Images of sleep and wakefulness drift by. The solo for Michele Wiles (beautifully danced, of course) evolves seamlessly from the pas de trois and this in turn floats into the pas de deux danced by Misty Copeland and Charles Askegard. By turns sculptural and steamy, this duet borders on the erotic, temptingly lush in its signature choreographic entwining of two bodies. Misty looked gorgeous.

(My only tiny complaint about the evening was that we didn’t get to see more of Ana Sophia Scheller; a ballerina in my super-top echelon of favorites, she danced gloriously in ENTWINED…and we did have the delightful experience of watching her warm up before the performance. Major beauty.)

Mauro Bigonzetti’s LA FOLLIA is a grand finale for a Ballet Next presentation. I’ve seen this duet now four times and it’s just incredible. The two women – Michele Wiles and ABT‘s fantastic Kristi Boone – nailed the complex in-sync steps and launched their complex solos with real bravado. This is dancing that’s taxing to the max, and the girls gave it a splendid energy. Meanwhile the excellent quartet of musicians (violinist Francesca Anderegg joining Ms. Pivnick and Mssers. Kabilio and Laude) played the dazzling Vivaldi theme and variations for all it was worth. This brought the evening to a truly exciting close.

So glad I ran into my young dancer-friend Alejandro Herrera whose easy, outgoing personality helped me overcome my innate shyness for once. Chatting with Chuck Askegard, Amanda Hankes, Rebecca Krohn, Adam Hendrickson, Sterling Hyltin, Gina Pazcoguin and Kristi Boone was a pleasure, while MMAC‘s Erin Fogarty let a couple of cats out of the bag for what is sure to be a grand night of Dancing Against Cancer at MMAC on May 7th (Matt Murphy will photograph that dress rehearsal for me).

As for Ballet Next, the future looks bright indeed with a season scheduled for The Joyce this Autumn and plans for growth and development running apace. Michele and Charles are not only great artists but great people who have a real passion for ballet and who have the connections in the dance world to make Ballet Next a truly dynamic force. I look forward to following their every step.

April 25, 2012
Bewitched? We Bitched! Met MACBETH

Tuesday March 20, 2012 – I have no one to blame but myself, really. When the Met calendar for the current season came out, I skipped easily over MACBETH even though it is an opera I love: “Not with that cast!” But then a few weeks ago I was listening to the Leinsdorf recording and decided it would be good to experience MACBETH in the opera house. Despite the currrent Met trend for unmemorable productions and often brainless casting, I decided to give it a try.

I’d seen this production before; I love the huge moon with the black, scudding clouds that fills the proscenium as we wait for curtain-rise. But then the opera starts with the trivialized witches in 30s housedresses, coats and purses (each purse contains lightbulbs, how clever!). They are not sinister or even mildly interesting dramatically. And thus the production is off to a ho-hum start, and proceeds on its dreary way with injections of blood and vomit meant to shock us. It doesn’t work.

Gianandrea Noseda is often a fine helmsman at the opera, but tonight his MACBETH was workaday, and the chorus seemed uninspired. I very much liked the firm and dark-hued basso of Gunther Groissbock as Banquo; to hear his aria would have been the only reason to stay longer than we did. But not reason enough.

Over the years I have greatly enjoyed Thomas Hampson’s performances at The Met, but although he’s been fine in the more lyrical Verdi roles of Posa and Germont he simply doesn’t have what it takes for the big-guns parts like Boccanegra or Macbeth. It’s a bit like the borderline between a Merrill and a Warren: the former never trespassed into the Nabucco/Boccanegra/Macbeth region which suited (or would have) the latter so well. It’s a matter of amplitude. The sound of the Hampson voice is still fine, steady and more resonant than I expected. But it’s not Italianate in the least, it doesn’t billow and bloom with the turns of phrase or sail grandly on the words. Verbal over-emphasis, a common gimmick for over-parted singers, was a distration in a few places, as was a tendency to be ever-so-slightly sharp pitchwise. Yet still there was a lot to admire in his vocalism.

I’d heard Nadja Michael about ten years ago singing the mezzo part in the Verdi REQUIEM at Avery Fisher Hall. She sounded awful. Of late her name has cropped up as Salome in a European production that has made it to DVD (so many productions do these days, god knoweth why). I was expecting nothing from her vocally as Lady Macbeth, and that’s what I got. I’ve heard lots of bad, unattractive or hopeless singing in my day but usually it either has to do with a ‘beloved’ singer being past his/her prime, or a perfectly respectable singer attempting a role beyond his/her capabilities, or being indisposed but giving it a go to ‘save’ the evening. In these instances, you can usually still perceive that there is a real instrument at work but just not suited – for whatever reason – to the task at hand. There’s no such excuse to be made for Ms. Michael: this is how she sounds.

Obviously no one at The Met these days knows or cares enough about singing to have sorted this out in advance. Would this woman have passed an audition for the East Buttfcuk, Idaho community choir? I dunno, but somehow she’s entrusted with a great Verdi role at The Met. Her first aria was a mess and wtf is up with giving her a repeat of the cabaletta? Once was more than enough: the voice is shallow, desperate, breathy, wobbly, harsh and grossly unpleasant. Some people have said: “At least she has the high notes!” Yeah, if ill-pitched, desperate screeching counts. Following “Vieni, t’affretta” there was one prominent ‘brava’ (husband? manager? paid goon?) and one boo from a neighboring box, plus tepid applause for an aria that should bring down the house. There was also an oddly rustling sound to be heard which I soon determined to be the joint spinning in their graves of Callas, Rysanek, Nilsson, Dimitrova and Verrett.

The booer got up and left; I eyed my friend Alan to see if he was ready to leave but the opera was going forward and I didn’t want to cause even a slight disruption for those around us, so we stayed on thru the end of the great ensemble that marks King Duncan’s murder. Luckily no one attempted the traditional top note to crown the choral finale. I would like to have heard Mr. Groissbock’s aria but that meant listening to “La luce langue” first. No way.

Despite the mess she made, Michael won’t be bought out. The Met can’t afford to do that anymore. So if she shows up, ready to sing, she sings and gets paid leaving the audience with the stick end of the lollipop. One might wish for her to vanish from the scene, but apparently they have her down for BLUEBEARD’S CASTLE two seasons hence. I won’t go to that, regardless of who sings the Duke.

Alan and I staggered down to the Plaza in disbelief at what we’d just heard. There’s no excuse for it, really. A sad commentary on the state of things at The Met. And then there were all those empty seats…

March 20, 2012
Tom Gold Dance @ Florence Gould Hall

Monday February 27, 2012 – Tom Gold (above in a Matt Murphys photo), formerly a brilliant and popular soloist at New York City Ballet, has been touring with his own chamber ensemble of dancers for the past four years, performing in Israel and Europe. Tonight he brought his stellar group of City Ballet colleagues (and a luscious ABT guest) to Florence Gould Hall in a full evening of his own choreography.

On the program were four works, three of which were danced to live music. This added to the immediacy of the evening, which was marked by top-notch dancing (a given, considering Tom’s roster) and genuine enthusiasm on the part of the audience. Tom’s choreography is rooted in the classical ballet vocabulary; even when the ballets take on aspects of Chinoiserie or of Argentine tango, the combinations stay true to the essence of classic technique. The dancing is non-stop – there’s no standing about or promenading in Tom’s ballets: if you are onstage, you are dancing…unless you are sitting out one of the tangos. To me it seemed the choreography was really demanding, calling for absolute technique which, of course, these dancers have.

The opening work, ELEMENTAL, immediately set the dance in motion. Alexandre Desplat’s Far Eastern-coloured score (the only recorded music of the evening) along with the delicate gestures of the girls in their silky, short tunics gave the feeling of Orientalia with a contemporary touch. While the dancers played with the subtle wit of their characterizations, there was no stinting on the steps. Duets for Abi Stafford and Robert Fairchild, and for Sara Mearns and Jared Angle, gave us a chance to savour the star quality of four of NYCB’s finest dancers. Meanwhile a sprightly trio for Amanda Hankes, Lauren King and Kristen Segin was particularly appealing. The stage at Florence Gould seemed barely able to contain the energy of these dancers, with Russell Janzen towering over his colleagues and dancing handsomely.

NYCB concertmaster Kurt Nikkanen and pianist Susan Walters gave luminous life to music of Satie, Poulenc and Faure for Tom’s SUITE FRANCAISE, an extended pas de deux in three movements, each with a different mood: lyric, dramatic, romantic. ABT soloist Simone Messmer was partnered by NYCB’s danseur noble de luxe Tyler Angle, a duo I’d love to see more of.

Simone Messmer was simply ravishing; only a handful of ballerinas in my experience have the perfumed radiance of this enigmatic and sublime dancer: total gorgeousness from the moment she stepped onstage. I was thoroughly bewitched.

Tom Gold’s MOZART VARIATIONS is an elegant tutu ballet, and a complete delight. This is the perfect point to commend Tom for his excellent musical choices, and send a signal to other choreographers that great music invariably makes your choreography all the finer. Here my lovely Abi Stafford reveled in her technical refinement with Jared Angle ever the prince of cavaliers. Russell Janzen again made his mark, as did one of NYCB‘s emerging bright lights: Kristen Segin – rather a late addition to Tom’s group – who danced charmingly. In recent seasons, my opera glasses have often been trained on Amanda Hankes, a particular favorite among my beloved NYCBers; she’s simply so fetching and I really enjoyed having the opportunity to see her dancing in this more intimate setting. Rounding out the cast of this Mozart jewel was Devin Alberda, a perfectly polished young dancer whose work always has a distinctive quality. Duo pianists Ms. Walters and Jeffery Moore gave the dancers perfect support.

I have a thing for tango ballets…yes, really. Tom Gold’s TANGO FANTASIE provided a flourishing finale for the evening, keeping things on the up-and-up musically (tango king Astor Piazzolla and other works in the genre) while allowing the dancers to let their hair down a bit, yet with no slouching in the choreographic demands. Hot red frocks for the girls and red billowy shirts for the boys gave everything a sultry feel; when not dancing, the dancers observed their colleagues from chairs placed along the sidelines. Abi Stafford and Jared Angle danced an enticing duet, and Sara Mearns and Tyler Angle crossed paths in this nightclub more than once. Outstanding dancing from Robert Fairchild, exuding star quality even when standing still. As the dancers dipped and swayed thru the dangerous rhythms of the tango, one moment captivated: swirling out of a sexy solo passage, Sara Mearns sank into a chair where she magically arranged herself with the provocative languor of a silver screen goddess. You couldn’t take your eyes off her.

Kurt Nikkanen and Susan Walters gave the tangos all the sinuous allure they deserve; Kurt’s silky style also stood out in an interlude before the final work began.

Maria Kowroski, Wendy Whelan, Stephen Hanna, Suki Schorer, and Anne Bass were among the crowd, along with Stacy Caddell and Willy Burmann, both of whom are working with Tom Gold and his dancers. This was a most enjoyable evening of dance and I hope it heralds more opportunites to see Tom’s work in the future.

February 27, 2012
Stravinsky & Desyatnikov @ New York City Ballet

February 23, 2012 – New York City Ballet has been my home away from home since I moved to New York City in 1998. In fact, NYCB was a major factor in my desire to move here in the first place. This season has seen the effects of changes in ticket pricing and seating availability, along with the marginalizing of the 4th Ring Society and the way long-time friends and supporters of the Company feel they have been treated by the powers that be. The official stance seems to be that the changes are working and that everything’s hunky-dory, but the gaping emptiness of the 4th Ring (ten people sitting up there tonight) is a sad commentary on the real situation.

Increases in ticket prices are a necessary evil from time to time, but it’s the way it was done and the lack of sync between the website and the box office in terms of availability and pricing that is off-putting to say the least. The level of dancing is very high and the lure of Balanchine is as strong as ever, but the sheer joy of attending often and feeling you are part of a happy family of ballet-goers is greatly diminished these days. In this Winter season where I’d ear-marked 14 performances on my calendar, I ended up only going six times.

At any rate, when the curtain rose on STRAVINSKY VIOLIN CONCERTO tonight and Janie Taylor was standing there with four handsome boys, I forgot my misgivings. On the podium, George Manahan brought out individual voices in the orchestra – as we might expect a seasoned opera conductor to do – and violinist Lydia Hong conveyed the angular beauty of the concerto in an overall very pleasing performance.

Janie and her partner Ask LaCour gave an especially fine rendering of their duet; in the course of it I noticed things in the choreography that I’d somehow never picked up on before. The allure of the two dancers, and the Taylor mystique, seemed in a way to create a narrative where there isn’t one. I really enjoyed watching them.

Maria Kowroski and Amar Ramasar are developing into a powerful and vastly appealing partnership. Their pas de deux was marvelous in its sense of nuanced dramatic detail and in the dancers’ technical strength and clarity which both underscored the complex choreography and made it seem inevitable.

The corps danced beautifully, and it is wonderful to see Faye Arthurs onstage again after a hiatus. It was a performance of this classic work that re-affirmed its iconic standing in the Balanchine pantheon.

Ratmansky’s RUSSIAN SEASONS is an unique ballet in many ways; drawing on aspects of Russian peasant life, the choreographer presents characters who are anonymous yet differentiated by finely detailed aspects of gesture and movement. The music, with it’s prominent violin (Arturo Delmoni) and soulful singing (Irina Rindzuner) all came back to me from the moment of Manahan’s downbeat. The score, and the rich colours of the dancers’ costumes, weaves a particular spell. I was very glad to see this piece again after a few seasons’ absence from the repertoire.

The Playbill now denotes role debuts at NYCB, and only Georgina Pazcoguin had previously appeared in her role as the Woman in Red. Abi Stafford danced in the premiere of RUSSIAN SEASONS but has now switched to the role originally created by Jenifer Ringer. Beyond that, the cast drew together some of the Company’s most attractive personalities.

Amanda Hankes, Marika Anderson and Lauren Lovette were each lovely and distinctive to watch, while the presence of Taylor Stanley, David Prottas, Andrew Veyette, Adrian Danchig-Waring and Christian Tworzyanski showed off the strengths of the Company’s male contingent.

Abi Stafford’s performance had a nice sense of freshness to compliment her clarity of movement. As the central couple, Rebecca Krohn and Robert Fairchild used their personal magnetism to full advantage. Rebecca’s dancing was serene – and poignant in the passage where she seems to have been abandoned. Rob Fairchild seized the opportunity to make yet another ballet ‘sing’ to his charismatic approach. His dancing was technically impressive and dramatically vivid.

In a glorious performance, Georgina Pazcoguin’s Woman in Red was suffused with her highly individual beauty and intensity; as she swirled with a restless spirit through the many swift pirouettes and space-filling combinations of this demanding role, Gina seemed like a woman possessed. Truly breath-taking at every moment.

STRAVINSKY VIOLIN CONCERTO: Taylor, la Cour, Kowroski, Ramasar

RUSSIAN SEASONS: Pazcoguin, *Krohn, *A. Stafford, *Lovette, *Hankes, *Anderson, *R. Fairchild, *Prottas, *Stanley, *Tworzyanski, *Danchig-Waring, *Veyette

February 23, 2012
Balanchine in Paris
BALANCHINE IN PARIS, a film by Dominique Delouche, was shown at the Walter Reade Theater on Monday afternoon, January 30th. In the movie, we see footage of Ghislaine Thesmar (above), Alicia Markova, Nina Vyroubova and Violette Verdy coaching dancers of the Paris Opera Ballet and the Bayerische Staatsballett in Balanchine repertoire:

Le Palais de Cristal/Symphony in C
Musique de Georges Bizet, chorégraphie Balanchine (1947/1949)
Ghislaine Thesmar coaching Isabelle Ciaravola et Hervé Moreau, étoiles de l’Opéra de Paris

Le Rossignol
Musique Igor Stravinsky, chorégraphie Balanchine (1929)
Dame Alicia Markova coaching Myriam Ould Braham, première danseuse de l’Opéra de Paris

La Somnambula
Musique Rieti, chorégraphie Balanchine (1960)
Nina Vyroubova et Milorad Miskovitch coaching Muriel Hallé et Valery Colin, sujets à l’Opéra de Paris

Liebeslieder Walzer
Musique Brahms, chorégraphie Balanchine (1960)
Violette Verdy coaching Lucia Lacarra et Cyrille Pierre, étoiles au Bayerisches Staatsballett

Sonatine
Musique Ravel, chorégraphie Balanchine (1975)
Violette Verdy coaching Monique Loudières, étoile de l’Opéra de Paris

The entire film is a delight for ballet fans, and for Balanchine’s admirers in particular. The most moving segment for me was Thesmar coaching Palais de Cristal. And the refinements of Liebeslieder Walzer as coached by Violette Verdy make me more appreciative than ever of that perfumed masterpiece. I certainly hope this film will be released on DVD in the USA.
The showing was prefaced two films by Gabrielle Lamb: En Dedans is a ten-minute reverie on dancers’ dreams which she created for Philaelphia’s Ballet X and which I like especially because my friend Colby Damon is in it. Gabrielle showed me a raw copy of this film on her computer one day last year down at Gibney Dance Center. The finished work is truly dreamlike, the dancers moving in a studio that seems to be drifting through the clouds.

The jewel-like miniature Figment may be viewed on Gabrielle’s website here. Evolving from a dream that she had about a woman with a sword dancing in a tall, slender space this movie has an eerie charm. I also enjoyed hearing Gabrielle, a dancer with a powerful dramatic resonance, speaking about her filmworks.

From Figment
Gabrielle Lamb (2010)
January 30, 2012
Unenchanted Evening

Monday January 30, 2012 – The Met’s Baroque pastiche ENCHANTED ISLAND made for a dismal night at the opera. Placido Domingo as Neptune, in a Ken Howard production photo above, gave the performance one of its few perk-up moments. His voice, though aged, remains a distinctive instrument and he brought a real personality to his relatively brief appearance, something no other singer in the cast was able to do.

The Playbill featured a two-page synopsis. Drawing on two complex and brilliant Shakespeare masterpieces, THE TEMPEST and MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, the plot is a mishmash of characters and situations that do not engage us emotionally, and rarely even theatrically. The libretto is cheesy and stilted; avoiding Shakesperian style, it has a contemporary feel at odds with the setting and the music. Forced humour abounds, and the characters are made to sing uncomfortably-structured sentences. Unable to understand much of the diction, I flipped on my Met Titles and regretted it because reading the script added to a sense of deflation as the first act progressed.

The opera is much too long. The 90-minute first act seemed to have reached a pleasant climax with the Neptune scene, but then there was another prolonged slow aria for Prospero. Oddly, the house lights suddenly came on at full brightness during the postlude of this aria, then were dimmed and turned off again.

Slow arias in fact abound; but that proved as well since none of the singers had the needed vocal facility to astonish us with their coloratura. The annoying voice of Danielle DeNiese as Ariel went in one ear and out the other; she made no vocal impression at all. Anthony Roth Costanzo, replacing David Daniels as Prospero, seemed over-parted in the big house; pushing for volume, his sustained notes sometimes took on a steady beat. At other times the voice vanished behind the orchestra. Joyce Di Donato was announced as indisposed but she had “graciously consented…blah, blah, blah.” Please singers: if you are unwell enough to need an announcement, don’t sing. We don’t pay Met prices to hear sick singers. At any rate, Di Donato only had one bad low note, but her voice – even in full health – lacks a distinctive colour, the sort of personal timbre that made singers like Teresa Berganza, Dame Janet Baker and Frederica von Stade so instantly identifiable. Luca Pisaroni tended to be over-emphatic in his fiorature which verged on barking at times. Lisette Oropesa sang attractively as Miranda as did Paul Appleby as as Demetrius. The libretto did them no favors, but they – and in fact everyone onstage – went at the words gamely enough, even if they felt foolish doing so.

The idea of doing a Baroque pastische is not a bad one but it seemed to me that between the tedious libretto, too many ‘laments’, and the too-busy plot, ENCHANTED ISLAND was going nowhere. Two 45-minute acts with a 20-minute intermission should have sufficed; instead there were expendable arias, unnecessary da capos, and overdrawn recits as the first act stretched onward. We left at half-time and so, it seems, did lots of other people.

January 30, 2012
Three Robbins Ballets @ NYCB

Tuesday January 24, 2012 – Three works by Jerome Robbins, each featuring an ideal ballerina in its central role, were performed tonight at New York City Ballet. The music? Ravel, Berg, Chopin. What a great way to spend a cold Winter’s evening! In the Paul Kolnik photo at the top, Wendy Whelan borne aloft by Jared Angle and Ask LaCour at the end of IN MEMORY OF…

The evening opened on a beach where the dancers, in pastel 1920s beachwear, cavorted to the Ravel piano concerto IN G MAJOR. Maria Kowroski (above in a Paul Kolnik) gave a radiant performance and Tyler Angle was a frisky young god in his solo. In the ballet’s central adagio, the two dancers found a fine rapport and a sense of freshness that kept the audience spellbound as they shaped their long limbs into a series of beautiful snapshots. The final lift, as Maria’s leg sweeps heavenward and her pointed foot seems to brush the sky, was thrilling. Excellent corps dancing: a neat moment when Maria is partnered by the tall and slender Austin Laurent made me wish that principals and corpsmen could dance together more extensively. IN G MAJOR has a striking backdrop by Erté , a designer perhaps forgotten nowadays but whose work resonates with Art Deco elegance. His set features a fanciful sunburst and dark outlines suggesting clouds and waves: a remarkably classy beachscape.

With George Manahan (of New York City Opera) as a guest conductor bringing out some lovely nuances in the score and pianist Susan Walters giving a polished performance at the keyboard, the musicians and dancers conspired to make this a wonderfully gratifying performance in every regard.

Mr. Manahan also took up the baton for IN MEMORY OF…, the poignantly dramatic work that Robbins set to the violin concerto of Alban Berg. The composer crafted this, his only concerto for solo instrument, in reaction to the death from polio of Manon Gropius (daughter of Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius) at the age of 22. Berg was deeply shaken by the girl’s demise and wrote “To the Memory of an Angel” on the score’s title-page. Tonight the City Ballet‘s concertmaster Kurt Nikkanen gave the work a lustrous performance.

Robbins sets the ballet in a three-part narrative where we first see the young woman dancing with her beau, later joined by friends. Signs of the girl’s illness begin to manifest and as the corps stride in unison across the stage, the figure of Death appears.

In a long and intense pas de deux, Death stalks the girl (Ask LaCour and Wendy Whelan, above). She puts up a mighty struggle but in the end she is bested by his implacable strength. Her crumpled body is borne away as the stage fills with the corps, now white-clad angels, who eventually welcome the young woman to the celestial realm.

Of the many and varied roles in Wendy Whelan’s repertory, the central character in Robbins’ dramatic IN MEMORY OF… suits her most particularly well. Here she is able to convey the girl’s passionate love of life, her confused state as Death begins to attack her, her frantic attempts to stave off the inevitable, and her luminous vulnerability as she succumbs. In the ballet’s final moments, Wendy re-appears, now in virginal white with her hair down, moving among the spirits. Every element of technique, dramatic instinct and expression that Wendy embodies are filtered into this character and her performance is a complete marvel in every sense.

Ask LaCour, towering over the ballerina, brings an interesting sense of nobility to the Death figure. As he gains control over the girl’s soul, Ask uses his long arms and expressive hands to keep her in his thrall even as she tries to escape. An excellent portrait. Jared Angle was handsome and gently ardent as Wendy’s mortal lover, and I was especially happy to see Faye Arthurs back onstage – after a long hiatus – dancing with the very attractive corps ensemble.

Sterling Hyltin talks about her role in THE CONCERT here.

No performance at the ballet or opera these days can ever be free of audience distractions. I had such a nice seat for the evening but on returning from the intermission two idiot girls sitting a couple of seats away had brought in snacks and a bottle of water which they decided to enjoy during IN MEMORY OF… they were just far enough away so that shushing them was to no avail.

I therefore decided to move for the closing ballet; but having heard that the ushers now don’t allow people to move to another part of the house (even if you’ve paid $100 and want to sit in an unused $29 seat), I decided to try watching THE CONCERT on the screen on the Promende. This did not work out too well, but at least got to watch Sterling and Joaquin de Luz for a while.

The saddest aspect of the evening was seeing the vast emptiness of the 4th Ring which was open but occupied by only 2 or 3 spectators. I’m simply at a loss to comprehend what the administration is doing to my favorite dance company. It’s disheartening and alienating. They can spin it however they want, but empty seats are empty seats. It’s especially depressing because the Company are dancing so well.

January 25, 2012
Rita Gorr Has Passed Away

Another colossal figure from my early days as an opera lover has passed away: the Belgian mezzo-soprano Rita Gorr died on January 22, 2012 at the age of 85. The great singer had a relatively brief but busy career at the Metropolitan Opera; from 1962 thru 1966 she sang 42 performances in New York City and on tour, including Amneris, Eboli, Dalila, Santuzza, Waltraute in GOTTERDAMMERUNG and Azucena. It was in the last-named role that I heard her live for the only time, at the Old Met:

Metropolitan Opera House November 25, 1965
IL TROVATORE {350} Giuseppe Verdi Manrico.................Bruno Prevedi Leonora.................Gabriella Tucci Count Di Luna...........Robert Merrill Azucena.................Rita Gorr Ferrando................Bonaldo Giaiotti Ines....................Lynn Owen Ruiz....................Charles Anthony Messenger...............Hal Roberts Gypsy...................Luis Forero
Conductor...............Georges Pretre

Her singing was powerful and intense, and all evening long she and her colleagues received vociferous applause and bravos. What a great evening for a young opera buff!

Rita Gorr extended her career into the 21st century; her final stage performances were in 2007 as the Old Countess in Tchaikovsky’s QUEEN OF SPADES at Ghent and Antwerp.

Only recently I acquired a copy of the Leinsdorf recording of Wagner’s LOHENGRIN and have been listening to it over the past few days. It now takes on greater significance since Ms. Gorr is the majestic Ortrud, singing in the grand manner. In the great duet for husband and wife which open Act II, William Dooley as Telramund expresses his fear that his defeat by Lohengrin in Act I was a sign from God. “Gott????!!” Gorr/Ortrud responds ironically, then lets out a daemonic laugh. Brilliant!

Rita Gorr’s classic EMI solo disc of arias seems to be unavailable now; I owned it on LP as a young man and literally wore out the grooves. But several tracks can be found on YouTube. Here is her Liebestod from TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, sung with an Old World grandeur that seems to have vanished as opera moves away from its voice-centric uniqueness into a more generalized feeling of being mere entertainment.

January 23, 2012
The Angel

December 23, 2011 – Today is the birthday of Mathilde Wesendonck (above) who wrote five poems which Richard Wagner set to music in 1857-1858; the cycle became known as the Wesendonck Lieder. At the time, Wagner and his wife Minna lived together in the Asyl, a small cottage on the estate of Otto Wesendonck, Mathilde’s husband. It is unclear whether Wagner and Mathilde actually had an intimate physical relationship but the composer certainly was infatuated with her, causing his mentally unstable wife to erupt in jealous fits.

The poems themselves are wistful and dreamlike; their language reflects the emotional intensity of the Romantic style which by that time was highly developed. Wagner called two of the songs in the cycle “studies” for TRISTAN UND ISOLDE: in Träume we hear the roots of the love duet from the opera’s second act, and Im Treibhaus uses themes later developed in the prelude to Act 3. The chromatic-harmonic style of TRISTAN suffuses all five songs and creates the musical unity of the cycle.

Wagner initially wrote the songs for female voice and piano alone, but later produced a fully orchestrated version of Träume, which was performed by a chamber orchestra under Mathilde’s window on the occasion of her birthday in 1857. The orchestration of the whole cycle was later completed by Felix Mottl, the famed Wagnerian conductor.

Tiana Lemnitz sings the cycle’s opening song, Der Engel here.

“An angel came down to me
on shining wings
and bore my spirit heavenward.”

December 22, 2011