Thursday 3 July 2014

Nederlands Dans Theater 1 - Sehnsucht/Schmetterling - Sadlers Wells

It is a long time since I have seen Nederlands Dans Theater 1 at Sadlers Wells.  If I remember it was still in the heady days under the leadership of Jirí Kylián.  Things have obviously moved on with this double bill from Sol León and Paul Lightfoot currently on at Sadlers Wells.  <<http://www.sadlerswells.com/whats-on/2014/Nederlands-Dans-Theater-1-Sehnsucht-Schmetterling/>>.

In Sehnsucht the staging is simple, apart from a rotating room at the back of the stage where a couple of dancers stretch and roll about.  (Too much gusset for my taste!)  Musically it's a lot of Beethoven.  I did not get over-excited by the 'trio' at the start.  I found the ensemble choreography more interesting, if not particularly innovative.  You can clearly see the classical roots of the company as well as more contemporary touches.

For Schmetterling the staging was more complex - openings focusing towards a backcloth.  Dance-wise it was much more fragmented than the first piece.  I'm not a great one for whimsy and humour in dance so there were sections that did not ignite me!

I think León and Lightfoot have some issues about gender boundaries.......in Sehnsucht most of the dancers are dressed in black trousers and black socks, with torsos bare.  This is for both the men and the women.  They then flip the coin in Schmetterling and have most of the men and women in black dresses and headscarves.  Very confusing!

Wednesday 2 July 2014

Ariadne auf Naxos - The Royal Opera House

It's many years since I have seen Ariadne, I think it was a production at ENO in the 1990s so I did not really have much of an idea what to expect.......

The Royal Opera's production directed by Christof Loy is a wonderful event.  <<http://www.roh.org.uk>> The staging of the Prologue is marvellous - as the lift goes down the whole stage goes up to allow the action to take place in the basement.  I'm not sure I've ever seen such a huge scene shift at the opera house in recent years - very impressive.

Essentially you get two short operas - the very short Prologue and the Opera.

The Prologue had some great action and great singing.  Thomas Allen as the Music Master was his usual excellent self.  Ruxandra Donose gave an impassioned performance as the Composer.  We had hints from some who were to appear in the second part, but they were just hints.

The Opera itself is much more interesting with the mixing of the two opera companies to produce a weird hybrid at the whim of the rich patron.  Karita Mattila sang the role of Ariadne wonderfully.  Jane Archibald threw herself into the role of Zerbinetta with gusto.  Sofia Fomina, Karen Cargill and Kiandra Howarth sounded lovely as the Naiad, Dryad and Echo.  Although we had to wait a long time for him to appear, Roberto Saccà provided us with a full voiced Bacchus.

The ensemble singing was also spot on and the orchestra deserved the rousing applause it received at the end.

A very entertaining evening.