Dances at a Gathering / The Dream (Royal Ballet)

As a result of the Royal Ballet not announcing any casting till just before the production opening (and even then switching a whole load of dancers as a result of injuries) both my sets of tickets were for the same cast. This wasn't such a bad thing, it makes for interesting comparison (my first review is here).

"Dances at a Gathering" is a wonderful ballet that I could watch over and over again. However it takes real flair to pull off and the performances weren't quite so strong this time. Marianela Nuñez replaced Alina Cojocaru and, unusually, wasn't quite up to her standards. Nuñez (so brilliant as Juliet only a few days before) doesn't have the pure, faultless technique of Cojocaru and whilst she usually makes up for it in character it didn't quite come together here. Lauren Cuthbertson was delightful as the Green Girl some weeks ago but didn't manage Mauve nearly as well, proficient but dull. The replacement Green Girl, Leanne Benjamin, was faultless but didn't bring the same verve to the role that Cuthbertson did. Probably a cleaner, tidier performance but not nearly as fun or witty, the flirtatious dance with three men became strangely boring where it had been one of my highlights. The men were all unchanged and Johan Kobborg again showed everyone how it's done, superb from start to finish. I managed to fail to mention Philip Gammon in my first review, so I shan't do that twice, he plays this music with such skill and clearly loves every note of it, the evening flows through him and it's success is in no small part due to him. On a side note, my favourite pas de deux between the Pink Girl and Brown Boy failed to materialise. Whether this means lots was chopped and changed I don't know, I only noticed this change because it's literally my favourite bit of the ballet. Presumably this was owing to injury and lack of rehearsal (Nuñez can't have had a lot) but it does make me question just how the Royal view this ballet. Is it just a series of divertissements that can be performed in any order? I don't think that's true. Would they be happy to cut a variation out of "Swan Lake" because it was under-rehearsed? I wasn't impressed.

"The Dream" despite being virtually identically cast worked much better. Ivan Putrov had a much stronger grip on the role of Oberon than at the first performance, handling the vast quantities of mime much better. I still feel Roberta Marquez is miscast as Titania but I felt a little more strength in her portrayal this time around. She lacks the regal edge but made up for it with a little more presence, dominating when she could. Their massive pas de deux still didn't soar but it worked far better than it did in the first performance. Michael Stojko danced Puck with such brilliance I doubt I'll ever see better. He's a springy fellow who seems to fly across the stage (his ballon is about the best I've ever seen). His dance work is amazing and he also imbues Puck with such fun that I wished Shakespeare had written the play about him. An absolute tour de force. The lovers were similarly strong with Pennefather again producing an extremely well timed comic performance.

Where "Dances" suffered at this performance (relative to the first, it still wasn't a bad performance) "Dream" really worked, suddenly the piece came alive with all the magic I expected at the first performance. If I could have taken "Dances" from the first performance and "Dream" from the second this would almost be the perfect double bill. A very fine pair of works danced incredibly well.

Romeo and Juliet (Royal Ballet)

My ballet obsession hit a new high on monday when I attended both the matinee and the evening of the latest Royal Ballet run of "Romeo and Juliet". There's been a lot of R and J this season, this is the second run by the Royal (I only went once in that run) and Stuttgart brought over the Cranko version around easter. You'd think at least at little fatigue must be setting in by now, but across both performances I was riveted. Pity they never squeeze three performances into a single day...

The Matinee was led by Marianela Nuñez and Thiago Soares, both on debut. When I think of Nuñez dancing it's in the light happy roles that seem to suit her sunny disposition. Juliet isn't the happiest of roles by any standards and Nuñez brings it off brilliantly. The first act was always going to suit her with the wonderful dance with her nurse (the impeccable Genesia Rosato) and a cuddly bear perfectly suited to her endless smile. She then managed a beautifully tentative duet with David Pickering (dancing Paris, a terrible part that he handled extremely well). She beautifully shaded her performance slowly moving from childhood to maturity. The Balcony scene started shakily (why must all the ballerinas leap the last few steps, it's risky and always seems to throw them off) but picked up with Soares handling her with such apparent joy, it a sight to behold. Prior to the Balcony pas de deux, Soares looked nervous and slightly wobbly, but he really picked up when it mattered. He doesn't have the strong technique that the role calls for (and is exposed for it dancing with Nuñez) but he gave a highly detailed acting performance that carried the action forward even when he didn't quite have the steps. The crypt scene was about the most intense I've seen it. When Nuñez let out a great thunderous cry to the heavens (it's a ballet so it was silent, but you could hear it anyway) shivers round down my spine. As she laid herself across the tomb to die, the world just seemed a terrible place. A simply wonderous performance.

The rest of the cast supported the leading pair excellently. Martin Harvey is an exceptional Mercutio nailing both the frivolity of the character and then ably shifting tone as he dances the overlong death sequence. Gary Avis is one of the most reliable actor/dancers in the company and he managed to make Tybalt more than a comedy villain. His fight with Soares was particularly ferocious and very exciting as a result. All the supporting roles were well filled although I failed to find the mandolin dance particularly entertaining with José Martin accurate but uninteresting. This was quite a performance and the evening run was always going to find it hard to compete.

As it happens, it didn't really. It had it's merits but Sarah Lamb (also debuting) missed it for me. She's entirely capable of the role but lacked any really colour and to be honest it grew a bit dull. She started well, being a maturer dance than Nuñez I thought she'd struggle with some of the immature early stuff but actually she handled it very nicely. More insecure than just childish, it worked very well. What didn't was her relationship with Romeo. Viacheslav Samodurov is a very fine dancer (technically much better than Soares) but he didn't really connect with the part and it left Lamb floundering. The Balcony pas de deux was impeccable but somehow dull. The crypt scene didn't carry the intensity it should have simply because I didn't really believe in anything that was going on. From a rational point of view R and J doesn't really work (I mean please, two days from meeting to suicide, that's some love at first-sight) but great performances make you believe. These two just didn't. Credit to Lamb for her solo turmoil in act three, the way she handled the sleeping potion was haunting. She probably could be a great Juliet she just wasn't helped by Samodurov (who might well be a great Romeo, with the right Juliet).

The supporting cast were strong. With the sudden injury of Ricardo Cervera, Brian Maloney took over at very short notice and you really wouldn't have known it (the front of house denied he'd changed at all when I asked at the first interval, but the change of hair colour was a dead give away). Simply stunning, a witty dancer who looked like he was having a great time. His death perhaps slid into histrionics but vividly portrayed histrionics that just about worked. Bennet Gartside didn't bring the same depth to Tybalt that Avis brought at lunch but he's very watchable and his fight with Maloney was laced with hatred. Michael Stojko brought great flair to the Mandolin dance and inserted back flips into it (not in the choreography as such but entirely appropriate).

A fantastic day with two great performances. Whilst Lamb and Samodurov didn't click it was still far from a poor performance and Nuñez is a great Juliet well supported by Soares. The company are on form and it's a very fine production of a very fine ballet. I'd go as far to say about the most exciting thing in London currently, it's just a pity I don't have time to go again.

New Works in the Linbury (Royal Ballet)

An afternoon of new ballets is something to be celebrated regardless of the situation, and with the current staid repertoire being produced on the main stage (two new one-act ballets a year is not nearly enough) is something to be shouted from the hills. Dismally it wasn't even sold out which is perhaps indicative of why Swan Lake is getting another twenty performance run. Regardless the afternoon was, perhaps unsurprisingly, a fairly mixed bag.

The opening piece "What if..." by Ernst Meisner was not to my taste. It looked like two (very athletic) children mucking around. Sergei Polunin and Melissa Hamilton were wasted here. Neither dancer had any opportunity to show off their skills appearing scrappy and inelegant, although that might have been what Meisner was going for (if it was, it wasn't attractive). The whole piece just felt a little clumsy and I'm not sure there was a point to it either. Thankfully it was brief at just four minutes in length.

Next came "b" by Viacheslav Samodurov. The programme notes made me groan, lots of stuff about chaos, balance and other such rubbish, but the piece itself was both enjoyable and subtly moving. A single roving spot light provided the majority of the illumination it was a joy to watch and Ivan Putrov and Sarah Lamb danced superbly both together and alone. I liked the score by David Noble but I suspect it was a bit of a love/hate thing.

"Of Mozart" by Liam Scarlett was the most substantial piece of the evening but running for nearly half an hour it only just sustained itself. This was also the only piece that with further development could probably be produced on the main stage. A witty work with some impressive lifts, carefully crafted to blend the movement with the music. The cast danced with absolute commitment bringing the entire piece off with aplomb.

"Agitator" came next, the only piece from an outside choreographer, by Matjash Mrozewski. Overwhelmingly bleak, I quite enjoyed this although the music was perhaps a little too oppressive. Isabel McMeekan and Thomas Whitehead (who after "Rushes" seems to be specialising in tortured figures) both danced exceptionally well reveling in the darkness of the steps. Ultimately I thought the work came off strongly although similarly to "b" the music was sufficiently "difficult" to turn off some audience members.

"Monument" by Vanessa Fenton was possibly the weakest piece of the afternoon. As with Wheeldon's recent "Electric Counterpoint", she attempts to blend Baroque music with contemporary music and, unlike in that production, it comes off as forced. The change is sudden and inexplicable. There are some attractive elements and Bethany Keating and Federico Bonelli have some decent choreography as the central couple. It just doesn't come together as an overall work.

The final piece "Stop Me when I'm Stuck" by Jonathan Watkins really bored me. The short solos that each dancer had were vaguely interesting, Lauren Cuthbertson and Yuhui Choe appearing particularly strong, but the group work was repetitive and uninteresting. I didn't feel any of the suggested themes from the programme were terribly evident and the opening and closing were a little clichéd. Overall, for me, probably the most disappointing work of the afternoon.

As an afternoon it was quite fantastic. Seeing these wonderful dancers up close in the small Linbury Theatre is brilliant and seeing new pieces, both good and bad, is always interesting. I hope we'll see more of Scarlett's "Of Mozart" in the future (he's a great talent) and maybe a longer piece from Matjash Mrozewski.

Dickens Unplugged

"Dickens Unplugged" is a whirlwind trip through the works of Charles Dickens in a very similar vein to the old Reduced Shakespeare Company (it's from some of the same people). Whilst that was a purely playful look at the "The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged)", this attempts to find a little more depth and look at some of the social aspects of Dickens work. I say all that, it's still pretty much fun and games but, disappointingly, it's gently humorous without ever really being hysterical. It's thoughly good natured and you can feel that the cast clearly adore the work they're satirising; it just ultimately doesn't amount to that much.

It follows a similar format to the original Shakespeare show of reducing most of the novels to short songs whilst allowing some works, "A Christmas Carol" and "David Copperfield" being the major two, to fill most of the time. Unfortunately the short songs suffer because not all the words can be heard (not really bad diction so much as the lyrics simply being too rapid and dense) and aren't nearly as funny as a result. The longer abridgings are stronger but none compare to the brilliance of the reduced "Hamlet" from the Shakespeare show. The funniest element for me was the relatively obscure musical pastiches. I'm sure I missed plenty but "Wicked" gets a neat lampooning and the final song is a nice riff on "Sweeney Todd". I'm pretty sure "Rent" gets a look in, although I might have been imagining that.

The staging is imaginative, the designs by the inimitable Lez Brotherston are a hoot with some spectacularly funny props, the Guillotine being really quite brilliant. The cast, led by Adam Long (who also wrote the script), are both incredibly talented and committed. As a group they manage to squeeze every last gag from the script, they can all sing well and throw themselves at everything with great gusto.

"Dickens Unplugged" is a fun evening but it's nothing special, not nearly on a par with the "Reduced Shakespeare". I suspect they're hoping for a long run but on the basis of the third empty house they'll be lucky. If you're looking for an endlessly charming, gently witty and throughly good natured take on the novels of Charles Dickens then this is your show (and who isn't?). Just don't expect to be in pain afterwards because you've laughed so hard, it just ain't that funny.

Simon Boccanegra (Royal Opera)

On second viewing not a great deal has changed (my first review is here). I still found it emotionally un-involving and this is a flimsy production, with one cheap looking set and some comedy facial hair. Viewed as a concert however it's not a waste of an evening, and this time Anja Harteros was performing and she knocks the socks off the amateurish Ushakova.

Without Ushakova this is a pretty stunning cast across the board. Lucio Gallo overacts to the the extreme, I was reminded of Captain Hook more than once, but he powers through his notes effortlessly. Ferruccio Furlanetto has a rich voice that I could listen to all day, wonderfully forceful without any strain. Marcus Haddock sounds better if you shut your eyes. To look at him you'd think he was trying to force every note towards the back of the amphitheatre but he makes a very pleasant sound. Marco Vratogna grew on me this time, perhaps because I was much closer this time around and his voice carried better, but he still lacks weight and it weakens his villainous traits a little.

Harteros lifts the production to another level. Creating a marvellous luminous sound that fills the auditorium with it's brightness. Her coloratura towards the end of act one was unbelievably refined, perfectly pitched and flawless. She's also entirely pleasant on the eye and commands the stage throughout. Let's have her back please, we could do with much more of her.

Despite the various stunning performances, it's still a fairly slow evening. The prologue flies by as did the first scene in act one as I was totally won over by Harteros but events began to grind as the evening wore on. A couple of nice tableaux are conjured but otherwise there is little visually to interest and you're left with pretty much a concert performance. Heck, I saw this twice and was never entirely bored so it can't be all bad, it's just not that good either.

Dances at a Gathering / The Dream (Royal Ballet)

Wow. It's been ages since I've been literally blown away by a piece of ballet. "Dances at a Gathering" is ballet gold dust. Astonishingly effective in a way I don't really understand, devoid of plot and meaning (according to Jerome Robbins, the man who choreographed it) it still manages to be hugely affecting. The same can't quite be said of "The Dream" which I suspect is a very fine ballet but was let down by its principals at the opening performance.

"Dances at a Gathering" hasn't been revived by the Royal Ballet since the seventies and on the basis of this performance you have to question why. A glittering cast danced their all proving just how great the top ranks of the Royal Ballet are. I've very little knowledge of the Jerome Robbins style, outside of West Side Story I've only seen a few pieces (mostly the ones I saw at the New York City Ballet's tour recently), so I can't comment of the authenticity of the dance style. I was surprised at how British the whole thing felt but it didn't suffer as a piece for it. Of the cast of ten virtually everyone stood out. Alina Cojocaru was as nimble and perfect as ever, Sarah Lamb has a wonderful ethereal quality, Tamara Rojo managed remarkable elegance (in comparison to her usual aggressive, powerhouse performances) and Laura Morera gave quite the sassiest performance you could imagine. Lauren Cuthbertson, who is not quite in the top ranks yet, held her own, lending a particularly witty edge to her first solo. The men were similarly superb. Johan Kobborg's technique is so perfect he can make anything look effortless and Federico Bonelli is on potent form right now, crisp and exciting to watch. Martin Harvey looked like he was having a great time, exuding cool (despite his outrageously camp pink and purple outfit) and more than a little insouciance. José Martín wasn't completely clean everywhere but he has quite a leap and he showed it. Sergei Polunin (who is rightfully being given roles well above his company status) was least secure in the partnering but excellent elsewhere. I could wax lyrical about this all day, but I'm seeing it again this run so they'll be another of these eulogies in a week or so.

"The Dream" shows Ashton on top form when it comes to condensing long stories into brief ballets. As Month in the Country also showed (recently revived), Ashton had a tremendous ability to condense without losing the tight thread of the plot. In this revival there is much to enjoy but the two leads Ivan Putrov and Roberta Marquez didn't look quite right. Putrov had a few hiccups early on because his wispy cloak was too long and caught on his hands during some key mime (Oberon has an awful lot of mime). Some magic was performed (a stage hand must have kept ripping chunks out of it) and it was shortened but he still didn't look quite comfortable. Roberta Marquez danced her steps nicely but she was too weedy to pull off the powerful Titania. Ludovic Ondiviela danced well as Puck, the best I've ever seen him with some terrific leaps. However he tried one too many "terrific leaps" and damaged his Achilles Tendon. James Wilkie was put on and under the circumstances gave a very creditable performance. The delay broke the flow of the piece and the final pas de deux was a lost cause. Rupert Pennefather, completely unrecognisable in a dark wig, gave an impressive comic performance as one of the young lovers. Solidly danced by the corps and the various fairies, it was a creditable if less than fantastic performance all round.

After "Dances at a Gathering" whatever follows is bound to suffer in comparison and "The Dream" should have held up quite well, albeit weakened by less than ideal casting and an unfortunate injury. See this double bill if you can, "Dances" is special and whilst I doubt it'll be long before it's back on, you wouldn't want to wait another thirty years.

Simon Boccanegra (Royal Opera)

This isn't an opera I find particularly appealing. I don't find it emotionally involving (I'm sure some do) and it doesn't give many opportunities for vocal fireworks. This is also a massively static production, one slightly flimsy set is used throughout, which only adds to the general feeling of boredom. The vocals made up for this to a degree but not to the extent that I came away feeling I'd enjoyed myself.

In the title role Lucio Gallo acquits himself very nicely vocally. An absolute power house in his upper range he brings across the character beautifully. Outside of the big brassy stuff though he had a tendancy to swallow his words, apparently playing for the front stalls only, he still sounded decent it was just a little more inward and less expressive. His acting walked a fine line between effective and just downright overblown. His physicality was excellent, especially as he neared death. In his use of eyebrows however, he is a terrible actor. As a pair, both seemed in perpetual motion and his right one had a habit of arching whenever he was angry, dangerously like a pantomime villain (he's not helped by his facial hair either). Putting the binoculars down, it's all good.

Unusually the dropping out of one singer brought in a much higher calibre one. Orlin Anastassov, a young Russian, fell ill allowing Ferruccio Furlanetto, who's in town to rehearse Don Carlo, to step in. Furlanetto was brilliant. Vocally he was flawless and he made the part of Fiesco wonderfully ambiguous, a dark but conflicted man. Marcus Haddock doesn't quite have the power to pull off his big act two outbursts but he managed fine elsewhere and managed a nicely restrained performance opposite Gallo's histrionics. I wish Marco Vratogna sang a bit louder. His acting was appropriately vicious but in volume terms he just couldn't compete with the rest of the cast.

For me the biggest disappointment was Natalia Ushakova. She's only doing a few performances (thankfully I'm hearing Harteros sing this later in the run) but just didn't seem in control vocally. She had all the notes, I was just never sure if she was going to cleanly hit them and some of the more sustained ones waivered. I didn't find her voice terribly appealing either, lacking any real excitement. She didn't exactly have the acting prowess either, offering very little of anything. To her credit, she's very young but she's playing with the big boys now and not nearly up to standard.

The production helps no one. For the prologue it's quite effective, big, imposing (if a little wobbly looking, with the fakest marble you could imagine) and very dark. The political turmoil is nicely evoked. Moving forward twenty five years and into a garden you'd think the big imposing set might move a little. No luck here, we get a branch with some light foliage lowered from above and the lighting gets just a little bit brighter. Thus the scene is set for a long turgid staging, tiresome stuff indeed. I assume this was put together on a shoe string budget but it seems odd then to get such a decent cast (it would have been even better if Nina Stemme hadn't dropped out six months ago).

I didn't really enjoy this but then I continually failed to really involve myself in the political machinations. Vocally it's strong excepting Ushakova. I'm seeing this again without her but even if Harteros is the best thing since sliced bread I suspect I'll struggle as I did this time. As a staging I can't see it as anything more than mediocre with just a hint of melodrama. Go for Furlanetto and Gallo only, otherwise it's just not worth the trouble.

Royal Ballet Triple (Serenade/Rushes/Homage)

My second visit to this triple (my first can be found here) and none of my views have changed much. Serenade as an absolute delight as great the second time as the first. Rushes has depth enough to withstand repeat viewings and I hope will soon be revived. Homage is a total turkey and should slip quietly into oblivion.

In "Serenade" the female members of the corp were once again on top form. If anything even more synchronised and serene than they were at my first visit. Each dancer follows a different path and I could watch this over and over again trying to work out each person's movement. Marianela Nuñez was on particularly strong form (having been weak in "Homage" but then it seemed to have that effect on most dancers) radiantly beaming her way through all her steps. The final tableaux (which is a stunning bit of theatre) was divine. Federico Bonelli looked in great shape handling Nuñez with great gravity and poise. Pennefather is perhaps a bit British for this kind of dancing and looked a little out of place, a bit heavy and lacked bounce, but he none the less commanded the stage.

Rushes" grew on me as a three hander but I still fail to see the point of the corps, who flit about in the background performing what felt like increasingly repetitive choreography. They didn't work terribly well together either with one section for two men irritatingly out of time. The central trio had a slightly different feel with this cast. Carlos Acosta makes a much stronger more aggressive man who appeared more crazed than tortured. As a result the two women shifted slightly. As the red lady Laura Morera was similarly callous at the start but when Acosta turned on her she was more desperate and afraid of him. I prefered the Tamara Rojo red lady, who somehow seemed to retain control even when so abused by the man, but this weaker red lady still worked, perhaps even enhancing the viceral thrill of some of the lifts and his final hurling of her. Alina Cojocaru was a terribly fragile grey lady whose longing for the man was so evident. As she leant forward trying to put her head on his shoulder I wept inside. There's a moment towards the end when she finally gets the man but facing away from him she suddenly reaches back to check he is still there, not believing he might finally have accepted her love. It's a moving gesture in a ballet filled with beauty.

"Homage to the Queen" is trite, repetitive and worst of all, boring. The music is cheesy and overlong. Each section feels like a series of steps strung together for no reason other than to fill the time. This was a stronger performance from the company but to no avail. Earth feels like a strange classical pastiche that never really amounts to anything. Bonelli injected a bit of energy in his solo but otherwise it was a very mediocre affair. Water which is possibly my least favourite section was given a real lift as a result of a truly stunning turn by Yuhui Choe. The largest role I've seen her dance, she was beautifully balanced managing a real star turn. Johan Kobborg seemed a little off colour with a rather disappointing solo with several under-rotated turns. I'm not sure it's possible to dance the Fire Queen well, but Sarah Lamb had a decent crack at it and was well partnered by Eric Underwood. Kenta Kura again danced the Spirit of Fire and made a decent fist of it, not spectacular but perfectly respectable. Air, the best sequence although coming after the other three one begins to grow weary, was well danced although Tamara Rojo seemed oddly heavy, especially in the upper body, which didn't lend itself well to the leaps. The apotheosis is quite a pretty tableaux (although the Royal Crest is overkill) and provides the welcome relief that one has reached the end of the ballet (it's almost fifty minutes long).

A fine evening spoilt a little by the sugary sweet dessert. Regardless it's still a strong programme with plenty of exciting performances to enjoy.

Chess in Concert

The Royal Albert Hall is not a venue that is world renowned for its acoustics. It's a stunning venue but has major problems with reverb from the roof. That said there was absolutely no excuse for the absolutely shoddy sound set up for "Chess in Concert". The place has never sounded more dreadful. Now before I get to the review proper let me set one thing straight (since this may be heavily critical). I like Chess the Musical, I've even got the original album. In this incarnation however, it was not well served.

A semi-staged production of the tackiest nature. A large screen at the back had very dated looking (think student quality, computer generated imagery from about ten years ago) projections of chess related objects. Chess tiles flying around in formation and other very silly, very pointless and very distracting images. The lighting was impressive but badly done with the orchestra regularly glowing a strange neon blue except when the Russians came on and the stage was then lit red (imaginative). The lighting cues weren't terribly precise either with several songs starting with the singers in total darkness. The dancing bordered on the pathetic, I've been in school productions with more original choreography. The more balletic chess sequences were reasonable; they were clearly pretty sharp dancers who were just laboured with bad choreography, but many of the others dances bordered on the cringe worthy. The general staging was quite well done with the chess matches played out behind the orchestra on a higher level from the main stage. It was simple but effective. No marks for originality but the singers movement was clean and efficient, a small mercy in the otherwise tawdry production.

Onto the singers. On paper, if one believes the hype, this lot should have been astonishingly good. No one was helped by the acoustics but it still became obvious who the real stars were. Josh Groban, who has a fine voice (and was impressive last week at the Classical Brits) was not on the strongest form here. His voice is perfectly suited to musical theatre (much more so than the pseudo operatic stuff that occupies a thankfully small part of his albums) but he can't act at all. Clearly not much rehearsal had gone into this production so some leeway must be given but he had only two modes, happy and sad, and his sad was pretty forced. He was very strong in the recitative sections managing to get at least some of the words across (more than most) but tended to fall below the note in his big numbers. "Anthem" a truly spectacular song which should suit him wasn't nearly as strong as it should have been; he got simply swamped by the orchestra and organ (which swamped virtually everything at one point or another). In the context of the clear lack of rehearsal and the terrible acoustics he still managed a respectable performance; it just wasn't in anyway special.

Accepting the acoustics and rehearsal problems Idina Menzel was still woefully out of place. For no reason whatsoever she sang in the style of a Sesame Street character (Avenue Q beckons) with a very squeaky upper register. She also has several very irritating Broadway style traits. She puts undue emphasis on the ends of phrases and has a knack of launching into her entries at full blast (regardless of the situation) and then falls away to a more suitable level. She fared better in her solos than she did in the group scenes (forgetting one excruciatingly off-key wail). I don't know whether someone shifted the key to suit her but she sounded much more at home in "Nobody's On Nobody's Side" than elsewhere. It still wasn't particularly good but she did manage to eliminate most of her register sliding, lyric swallowing sound to deliver a more rounded performance. All in all this wasn't her night, she was good in "Wicked" so she clearly can sing in the right role, nothing really worked for her in this.

The third major part was sung by Adam Pascal whose fame pretty much centres around "Rent" (he's brilliant in the film, I can't comment on his stage performance). Here he puts in a decent performance but had a knack for "Rent"ifying (so to speak) several songs. His voice belongs in the nineties and Chess is not really that sort of musical. That said, Freddie is a seriously difficult part in vocal terms and he held his note well. He can also act a little which was a rare commodity in this cast although he lost a great many of his words to the acoustics. The same happened to Marti Pellow who was simply terrible as the Arbiter. His role is very wordy, heavy on exposition, and thanks to the acoustics virtually none of them reached my ears. He was amplified to an even greater extent than the others, owing to a weaker voice I would imagine, and it rendered him completely unintelligible. Since his role is almost exclusively vocal it was a pretty hopeless performance but he weakened it yet further with highly irritating cabaret style hand movements, that were only emphasised further by his white gloves.

Despite all these complaints, two singers almost made my evening. David Badella has quite the richest, deepest musical voice I've heard in a long time. He was strong in "Jerry Springer" but that didn't call for quite the range that this does. He absolutely nails everything thrown at him. The real kicker was his diction. Proving to the rest of the cast it is entirely possible to do so, he managed to convey almost every word. His rendition of "The Soviet Machine" was exceptional, an object lesson in musical theatre performance. At that point in the show, I assumed he would be the highlight. I had not counted on the relatively unknown, Kerry Ellis. She was Idina Menzel's understudy in "Wicked" and damn do I wish Menzel had been ill the night I went to that. Ellis' performance of "Someone Else's Story" was quite the most heartrendingly powerful moment in the entire evening. She too managed decent diction and achieved a wonderful clarion sound throughout. I cannot praise her performance enough; I wish she'd been cast as Florence. She was simply revelatory. Clarke Peters had by far the smallest part, with most of it spoken, but he managed everything he was given very professionally. The chorus were decent if not amazing. Cantabile put in a small cameo which was successful and surprisingly witty (another rarity in this production). The Choir didn't have a huge amount to do but were given incredibly camp choreography for several sequences that were sufficiently awful to be absolutely hysterical (deliberate or not? I'm not sure).

I can't say I particularly enjoyed this performance. It's a decent musical with a couple of great tunes but it wasn't well served on any level except perhaps in the orchestra, who under David Firman made a great sound (albeit with significant echo). Josh Groban could be great in this sort of repertoire but it wasn't his night. Idina Menzel didn't have a hope. Adam Pascal's tone isn't really suited to this but he managed a respectable performance. Thankfully Kerry Ellis and David Badella showed exactly how it's done with absolutely smashing performances. I hope "Chess" gets a West End run because it has its merits (more than much of the dross floating round at least) and deserves another stab at a fully staged production.

Tosca (Royal Opera)

Tosca is a magnificent work, perfectly structured with some stunning arias. The Royal Opera's 2006 production is a bit creaky in places but serves the piece reasonably well. The first two acts have massive, singer dwarfing sets that belong to a long dead school of Opera whereby bigger is better. They seem to have run out of money by the third act which has a slightly less intimidating and altogether more stylised look but it doesn't prevent the whole show looking a little dated. Grand and impressive but dated none the less. The casting however pushes the slightly pedestrian staging to another level.

Jonas Kaufmann debuting in the role of Cavaradossi simply steals the show, one almost wishes he was given a little more music. From the his first entry to his chilling end he commands the stage, a natural actor, his voice flying above all others. As he let loose his upper register towards the end of "Recondita armonia", his first big aria, it was clear we were in for something special. His "Vittoria, Vittoria" made me want to jump up and join the revolution. His weakest moment came in the exposed final duet with Tosca "Trionfal, di nova speme" which felt under rehearsed as they weren't quite in unison. Otherwise he was perfect all evening, delivering a near perfect performance. He was well matched by Paolo Gavanelli (who not that long ago was a hysterically funny Dulcamara), quite the most repellent Scarpia. Summoning a vast vocal performance achieving both great power, especially at the end of act one against the backdrop of "Te Deum", and a surprisingly chilling, quiet tone that sent shivers down my spine. Except for his death which was completely overacted (although it's a crudely staged sequence so not entirely his fault) he gave a well rounded and surprisingly personable performance. Not a pleasant character, but by no means a comedy villain either. I never quite warmed to Tosca herself. Micaela Carosi has all the notes but she never really convinced me of either her diva status or her love for Cavaradossi. Vocally she's strong, although wavered at the top a couple of times, but I just couldn't buy into her performance. Whilst I winced as Kaufmann died, I couldn't careless when she jumped. That's not really what I expected or wanted. In many casts she'd probably be fine but against seriously fine performances from Gavanelli and Kaufmann she just doesn't hold up so well. Of the smaller roles I particularly liked Hubert Francis as Spoletta. He has a nicely piercing voice that totally creeped me out. More of him please. Kostas Smoriginas, who is one of the current "Jette Young Artists", more than held his own against the more senior members of the company as Angelotti.

As a production it isn't a complete turkey it's just a little dated. Act one isn't helped by some iffy lighting making it hard to always see what's going on. As a result the very opening is a little confusing, it was quite hard to make out Angelotti moving in the darkness. The set's all have nice varied levels, allowing for interesting positioning of singers (ladders and stairs are well used), but are just a little big for their own good. Act two has a particularly expensive looking statue placed at the back for no particular reason, impressive but just a little distracting. Scarpia's study gives a wonderful impression of a philistine in residence with a massive, empty bookcase filling one wall. One panel has books but it transpires this is a secret passage (not so secret as a result) a lovely touch. Act three suddenly shifts to a more open setting and, ignoring the random shirtless guard, it works quite well. Why the designer decided to raise the entire stage by about a metre for the third act I will never know (maybe to give the stalls major neck problems).

It isn't the finest of productions but served by such a fine cast it hardly mattered. Jonas Kaufmann is on top of the world right now (he was incredible in Traviata not all that long ago) and is well supported by Paolo Gavanelli and Micaela Carosi. As thrilling nights out go, they don't get much better than this.

Royal Ballet Triple (Serenade/Rushes/Homage)

On paper this bill looks great. Having missed the Balanchine programme when the New York City Ballet came over recently (I caught two other programmes, here and here) I was looking forward to seeing "Serenade", one of Balanchine's greatest pieces. "Rushes" is new which is always exciting. "Homage to the Queen" sounds great on paper, four different exciting choreographers and a cast sheet to die for.

"Serenade" didn't disappoint. Blissfully beautiful throughout, as a piece it also showed off the Royal Ballet corps at their very best. Beautifully in sync, they were a joy to watch. The principal roles were all danced similarly well. I was disappointed Ansanelli wasn't dancing, I've seen her make a right hash of several bits of Ashton and have yet to see her where she should be at her strongest, in hardcore Balanchine. Mara Galeazzi was no disappointment speeding through her steps with a surprising amount of grace. Sarah Lamb was absolutely stunning, her face shining as she waltzed through her steps. Yet when the final powerful tableaux came she was a model of absolute serenity. Isabel McMeekan continues to impress, more than holding her own against her higher ranked companions. The men both danced strongly alone although whilst Valeri Hristov commands as a partner, David Makhateli looks nervy and lacks grace in the partnering of Lamb. The Royal Ballet is currently in fine form and this really shows them at their very best.

"Rushes - Fragments of a Lost Story" seems to be dividing opinions but I really enjoyed it. The corps aren't terribly well used and perhaps it would benefit from a smaller stage but the designs are stunning and the central love triangle beautifully evoked. Across the stage hang two chain curtains that images are projected onto. It gives the piece a very cinematic feel with black and white count downs starting several sections. I didn't really understand what the corps were there for. Presumably someone pointed out that a three hander probably wouldn't work well on the main stage of Covent Garden but they still feel a little tacked on. The lighting, which is otherwise superb, is a little dim as well which doesn't help the group work which largely occurs behind at least one of the screens (and sometimes both when you basically can't see anything). The love triangle is tense, moving and endlessly exciting. Thomas Whitehead was the man at this performance and he brings a wonderful sense of torment to the role, I hope they never revive it again but he'd be good in Different Drummer. He also partners his ladies exceptionally well with some very tricky lifts coming off perfectly. The grey girl was well portrayed by Leanne Benjamin who showed a much softer side to her dancing, portraying the colourless, suffering girl who's so desperate to win the love the man that she'll accept whatever's left of him at the conclusion. Tamara Rojo's red woman was cold, calculating and throughly nasty. Which worked brilliantly. She didn't have the opportunity to show off her immense technique but proved she can act a part, as well as she can dance it. It's an engaging work that I look forward to seeing again. Visually exciting, with a fantastic central core.

"Homage to the Queen" looks good on paper. In reality, it's the naffest ballet I think I've ever seen. Four short ballets (all totally superficial) dressed up in fluffy costumes and silly sets. The choreography didn't seem to suit the dancers none of whom danced to their best. No real imagination seems to go into any of it. The water section had lots bourées with rippling arms. Air was similar but the rippling arms are replaced by a balletic variation of spirit fingers. Tamara Rojo managed to come out of the experience relatively unscathed (although a couple of leaps weren't fantastic) and pulled off one show stopping balance. Kenta Kura is perhaps a little tall for the choreography but managed an exciting, visceral performance as the Spirit of Fire. Rupert Pennefather continues to the be the absolute gentleman dancer, partnering with great strength and composure. Marianela Nunez has rarely looked worse. She didn't miss any steps but it was characterless and boring to watch (where her usual flair was I have no idea).

Up until "Homage" this is a really strong programme. The Royal Ballet are in top form and "Serenade" shows them off at their very best. "Rushes" is as good a new ballet as I have seen recently combining a stunning staging with some strong dancing. "Homage to the Queen" is sadly a complete turkey. Maybe danced exceptionally certain sections might work but it's a real hotch potch of a work achieving very little. Still I'm going again and looking forward to it. I could watch "Serenade" over and over again and I doubt it would ever bore me.

That Face

"That Face" is every bit the product of the Royal Court. Written by Polly Stenham when she was just nineteen years old (and in the "Young Writers" progamme at the Court) it bears all the hall marks of Royal Court drama. Drugs, Urination, Family problems. It's not exactly original stuff. That said, in the current climate, it's a breath of fresh air in the commercial West End.

The opening scene is brilliant. Any scene with jokes about life, death and UCAS gets my vote. Constructed around an entry trial for a girl in a boarding school, it's recognisable stuff and I know people who I could believe have done similar things. If the scene is a little too similar to much of the television drama we get today (there are numerous "Skins" similarities) it doesn't matter, there's more than enough wit to carry the scene through. The rest of the play lacks in comparison. Too episodic to ever build to any intensity, and far too intimate to be played out in such a large venue. I didn't see the piece when it was at the Royal Court, but I suspect it was served much better in that space. The conclusion feels abrupt arriving after too little build up, or maybe it was just the build up felt disconnected to the final. Either way it didn't carry the power it should have. The urination just felt gratuitous and raised titters from parts of the audience which was clearly not the desired effect. The production is quite efficient and understated for the most part but the scene changes are needlessly trendy. Loud indie music, colourful lighting and lots of throwing objects around. It just smacks of producers trying to make the play cool and relevant to the youth of today. The play doesn't need it, it stands perfectly well on it's own.

The cast is uniformly strong although I didn't feel any performance was particularly exceptional. This may partly be because the style of the piece and the acting that should have come from that suits a much smaller space. The detail of the acting is lost in the large auditorium. Even the stage itself feels far too large for the staging. It's a large white box with a bed at the centre (that slides in and out when required) and the performances get lost on this large canvas. Lindsay Duncan still manages a decent performance as a woman out of control. Her relationship with her son (played by Matt Smith) was well drawn and she managed to hold together the final scene when the piece rapidly comes to a close. Matt Smith achieves a similar feat at the conclusion although he perhaps shifts a little towards the histrionics. Hannah Murray (Cassie from "Skins") pretty much played Cassie from "Skins" but it served the piece quite well.

From responses to the Royal Court run I would guess that this is a much better play than this current run suggests. Robbed of any intimacy, the episodic nature grinds and nothing consistently builds across the piece. Why this piece was chosen as a potential commercial work I'm not sure. It has subsidised theatre written all over it and despite the flashy scene changes it isn't much fun, falling into the "rewarding" play basket rather than the "entertaining" one. Worth seeing, if only because producers need to see that straight drama without film stars can make money and whilst not the greatest of plays or productions, it's far from a damp squib offering up a degree of witty dialogue, if nothing else.

Classical Brit Awards 2008

A slight variation on my usual but it's been a slow week and there were plenty of performances worth commenting on, both good and bad (and terrible). The Classical Brit Awards are a slightly painful mish mash of top notch artistry with the worst of commercial "classical" music. However the line up of stars was impressive on paper (Netrebko was on the bill, I went to Vienna to hear her... I didn't much care what the others did) and if anything it showed the true stars from the pretty pop opera stars that I know and hate.

We opened with a duet from Andrea Bocelli and Sarah Brightman. From everything she's done in her life I'd have expected Brightman to be impressive live. I wasn't at all prepared for the twee warblings that emerged from her throat. Much is made of her ability to sing comfortably through three octaves, up to the F above High C in the theory (impressive on paper), but it doesn't much matter when it all sounds like it's being squeezed from a kitten. Bocelli sounded strong singing in her company (although came undone when paired with stronger partners later) and belted out the notes with reasonable tone. It was pretty overblown stuff called "Canto della terra", not unpleasant just not terribly powerful.

With the departure of Nigel Kennedy vacancies had appeared in the evening one of which was filled by Danielle de Niese. The current belle of Glyndebourne Opera. She sang quite well with lots of colour and feisty performance. The highest stuff seemed to be stretching her range with one particularly harsh sustained note. I had no complaints though, I'd take her over an egotistical fiddler any day.

Steven Isserlis grounded the evening with virtually the only traditional classical performance. He played the Sarabande from Bach's 5th Cello suite and this was moving stuff. It's quiet, slow and meaningful yet he played with such skill that even this audience (which had a large young, whooping, female component) was reduced to absolute silence. Curiously I think his microphone had been left on, so there was a rather heavy breathing quality to the whole thing that was actually quite effective. Not ideal but it didn't ruin the performance.

Next came Josh Groban. Now I must confess that I have something of a soft spot for Groban's voice. He's irritatingly good looking but don't let that make you believe he's another of the pretty warblers. He can genuinely sing and he does so without the faux opera pretensions that plague much of the singing that classical crossover seems to bring. Singing "February Song" he had me hanging on his every word (and the aformentioned female component clearly weren't complaining). He came back quite quickly to sing "Smile" by Charlie Chaplin. This stetched him a little more and the shift into falsetto wasn't entirely clean but he has great stage presence and his voice remains an absolute dream no matter what he's singing.

The second more traditional performance came from the unusual two violin and guitar piece performed by David Garrett, Valeriy Sokolov and Xuefei Yang. It had a level of Garrett flair with a totally pointless section where he fell to his knees, I'm not sure why... I can't imagine it made the playing any easier. They are however an undeniably talented young trio and were a pleasure to listen to. Solo guitarists are a rare breed and that's probably a little unfair since the instrument makes a lovely noise so this was a welcome addition to the programme.

At this point in the evening I glanced at the programme and realised that apart from the divine Netrebko the rest of the evening was purely filled by pretty warblers. My hopes were not high. Thankfully the next pretty warbler was Hayley Westenra, the prettiest of them all. She's also probably the best of them vocally although she did herself no favours in her choice of song. Paired with Jonathan Ansell (male but still a pretty warbler) they sang "Un giorno per noi". All well and dandy you'd think, but it happens to be on one of Josh Groban's Albums. I wept to think that he stood in the wings and could have sang it much, much better. Where Groban delivers this with moving clarity, Ansell laboured it with pseudo opera vibrato and tone. It didn't do the song any favours and served only to make me wish that Groban was singing it. Hayley Westenra sings quite nicely but the piece works better as a solo number.

Next up after Andrew Lloyd-Webber had received his lifetime achievement award which in the context of these awards, I totally agree with, we received a chunk of his Requiem, Pie Jesu. Now forgive me, but as sung by Sarah Brightman, this bordered on the unpleasant. I felt desperately sorry for Andrew Swait, the boy treble, who sang really well, impeccably in fact but Brightman actually has the worst tone of any singer I've ever heard (I'm not sure I'm even exaggerating here). Somehow she's sounds curiously like Chinese opera singers, having a strange nasal quality. I'm struggling to see how she ever made it in the music business although maybe in better repertoire, she emits cat like noises so unsurprisingly she was probably good in "Cats", she might be stronger.

The evening closed with a Bocelli and Netrebko duet. In theory some proper singing. However when paired with Netrebko it becomes quite clear that Bocelli doesn't quite have it. Singing "Libiamo ne' lieti calici" (yup, La Traviata, so I'd heard Netrebko sing this before) was perhaps a bad idea. Not the easiest piece rhythmically owing to his blindness there was some disconnection with the orchestra and David Charles Abell had to work very hard to keep time. Bocelli's voice which sounded quite rich next to Brightman felt thin when heard next to Netrebko's. Whilst this was more of cameo from her and far from the greatest performance she was ever going to give, her voice still has a weight and sheen that far outpaced his. In reality a pointless world debut duet, it'll never happen again because there are far better tenors in the world to partner her.

As an evening it was pretty good fun. The London Chamber Orchestra were stunning throughout, providing a variety of classical excerpts as stage hands scurried around. David Charles Abell kept everything flowing throughout carfefully covering every entrance and exit with some entirely appropriate bit of music. Myleene Klass was a reasonable Compere. She wasn't particularly funny but she kept the evening on the move and managed to navigate the stage in her large dress with much aplomb. The (free) programme could have been checked slightly more thoroughly though with a couple of amusing bloopers. Xuefei Yang is probably very young but I seriously doubt she was born in 1997. "Chess" the musical, which I'm hearing Josh Groban and Idina Menzel sing in concert next week, is attributed to Andrew Lloyd-Webber, which is a crediting that would probably offend both the actual authors and Lloyd-Webber himself. Of the awards I totally agreed with Sir Colin Davis being awarded best Male and Netrebko got Best Female (I'm hardly going to disagree with that). Best Album showed the frankly criminal state of popular classical music. Not one of the nominees was really a classical album, the vast majority being popularist pop opera singers performing lightweight repertoire. The winners "Blake" are too young and too pretty to be truly fine singers, serving up pleasant music of no particular merit. An entertaining evening that's being shown on ITV next week. I'm not convinced I'll be watching but as a taster of a variety of styles it's a good evening.

The Minotaur (Royal Opera)

Some would say attending "The Minotaur" once is brave. Attending it twice probably veers dangerously towards the masochistic. My first trip I enjoyed greatly and "The Minotaur" is without doubt a tremendous achievement for all involved. It's beautifully staged, wonderfully sung and the music, if difficult, well deserves high praise. That said, I feel I was slightly taken in by the excitement of the evening and the sheer shock factor that the piece carries.

Birtwistle has given us a series of incredibly depressing scenes with virtually no let up (aside from the toccata interludes). It's gruelling stuff that's staged mercilessly by Steven Langridge. Blood oozes from hearts ripped from the writhing bodies of dead innocents. It's certainly not romantic date material. Yet stepping back from the blood and guts, structurally I think the piece has problems. The first half hour is long and exposition heavy. Ariadne has a wonderfully, creepy section where she motions to re-enact the conception and birth of the minotaur (another "pleasant" scene) but otherwise it's pretty slow going. No one is helped by the silly projected water that served only to put me to sleep. Throughout Langridge seems quite happy to allow the music to stand on it's own terms (so much the better) yet he saddles the moments of brief respite with monotonous CGI water. Once the minotaur himself appears things pick up, but we're already half way through the act by that point. The final scene I also found less poignant than it probably should have been, the minotaur's speech felt forced and veers toward pop psychology. Of course the tremendous, unforgettable appearances of the Kers distract from these flaws but once you get past the wailing there are weaker elements that perhaps don't appear in Birtwistle's earlier phenomenal Punch and Judy.

Some elements feel even stronger a second time through. John Tomlinson proves an amazing force powering out the words with great conviction. His diction is absolutely wonderful, a depressingly rare quality these days, every word carrying beautifully. His physical appearance is really quite wonderful, assisted by the creative costume, excellently conveying this half and half. Christine Rice's clarion voice rings out to great effect, she really owns the stage whatever she's doing. No small praise must go to Johan Reuter who has possibly the hardest acting role (albeit smaller) which he handles with great skill. He's no slouch in the vocal department either. Andrew Watts and Philip Langridge provide relative comic relief but to great impact. Their brief scene is one of the finest in the work. I only noticed on second hearing the curious decision to cast the two male innocents as counter tenors, but it works well to increase the youthful qualities of the innocents and both Tim Mead and Christopher Ainslie sing well. Amanda Echalaz is given a great deal of shrieking but she pulls it off with much aplomb. If I passed her on the street I'd be crossing the road, she's absolutely terrifying.

This remains a stunning production (the Oracle sequence is up there with my all time favourite scenes), strongly performed and designed. I'm now less convinced that "The Minotaur" is the masterpiece I thought it was. Leaving aside the shock and awe effect I'm not sure it carries nearly the substance it might have. The minotaur's dream sequences don't really reveal much about beast/man duality offering little beyond the ambiguous human trapped in animal theme. I've probably been unduly negative in this review. It's more that having been overwhelmingly positive on my first viewing, I was disappointed at just how simplistic I found the evening on repeat listening. It's still a strong work, no small achievement for a contemporary opera, I'm just not nearly as convinced as I was.