Tag Archives: Alexei Ratmansky

Swans, severed heads and a deerstalker: 2018 in review

“Wow! That’s some year you’ve had!” was a message written in one of this year’s Christmas cards. “Aiming to top it in 2019?” I’m not sure I have the energy! My outstanding operatic experience of the year was easily Salome at … Continue reading

Posted in Ballet, CD, Comment, Concert, Opera | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tolstoy speed read: Ratmansky’s Anna Karenina with the Mariinsky Ballet

Shchedrin: Anna Karenina *** Mariinsky Ballet, Royal Opera House, 3rd August 2017 How does one condense a Tolstoy epic for the stage? Prokofiev squeezed War and Peace down to a four hour opera, although it still contains some 70 named characters in … Continue reading

Posted in Ballet | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Bolshoi reflections: creaky drama and a rising star in London

Don Quixote, Swan Lake, The Taming of the Shrew, Le Corsaire We’re over a month into the BBC Proms season, yet I’ve only attended one concert thus far. What gives? Apart from a week away at Verbier Festival and Dorset … Continue reading

Posted in Ballet | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Augurs of Spring: strong Mariinsky double bill in Cardiff

Mariinsky Ballet: Concerto DSCH/Sacre **** Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, 17th April 2016 It’s difficult to know what shocked Parisian audiences more when The Rite of Spring caused a near riot at its 1913 première: was it Stravinsky’s music – pounding dissonances … Continue reading

Posted in Ballet | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Augurs of Spring: strong Mariinsky double bill in Cardiff

Ratmansky’s Mariinsky Cinderella: Once upon an urban fairy tale

Prokofiev: Romeo and Juliet **** Mariinsky Ballet, Royal Opera House, 15th August 2014 It was clever programming to bookend the Mariinsky’s three-week London Summer Season with two Prokofiev full-length ballets – starting with its classic, but dated, Romeo and Juliet, … Continue reading

Posted in Ballet | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Ratmansky’s Mariinsky Cinderella: Once upon an urban fairy tale