I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Royal Opera)

I caught Anna Netrebko last week singing Bel Canto in Vienna and I wasn't greatly amused, she's back at it here and thankfully on much safer ground. The Royal Opera's revival of this rather staid 1984 production was lifted by the energy, if not the top notes, of Netrebko and the astonishing voice of Elina Garanča, an absolute star if ever there was one.

Whilst the Vienna production of "Lucia" I caught is an attractive museum piece, this production by Pier Luigi Pizzi is well past its sell by date. Between every scene the curtain lowers for a distressingly long period and when it rises rather than finding some massively attractive new set one finds that a few columns have merely been shuffled around. Considering the Royal Opera House stage can more or less move heaven and earth in full view of the audience you'd think the pillars could move a bit quicker. These spare (and rather dour) designs frame the action reasonably without adding much, the whole production is really just a vehicle for some star singing. That's all well and good but these days a little more is expected of an opera production. The big fight scene is almost hysterically badly done with lots of men waving swords at each other like small children before running in opposite directions (the victor being quite unclear).

Clearly most in the audience hadn't really come for the drama of the opera and its production but to hear Netrebko and Garanča go all syrupy in each others arms with some stunning vocals. Netrebko has the vocal sheen for most of the music, her "Oh! quante volte" was largely terrific (it's a terrific bit of music as well), but she sounded dangerously threadbare when faced with high coloratura (of which there is thankfully much less here than in "Lucia"). Garanča had none of these problems sounding positively radiant no matter what note she was singing. A more confident performance I can't imagine, this was simply sumptuous singing. She has a slightly resonant nasal tone that I'm sure is not to all tastes (although she did complain of suffering from a cold so that might have affected her) but I found it pleasant enough and the match between her and Netrebko was truly electric. The music often calls for them to mix in similar registers and together they almost blended into one which made for a wonderfully romantic effect. The men weren't quite so strong. Dario Schmunck is a lightweight vocalist, sounding rough around the edges when called to pipe out the big notes and never having the volume to compete with the other principals, especially in Act II when Garanča almost blew him off the stage. Eric Owens is an imposing singer, dominating the stage and Giovanni Battista Parodi, whilst a little husky, produced a restrained performance I rather enjoyed.

It isn't an opera I particularly like but in the company of these singers the time absolutely flew by. The final scene is horribly emotional, having Juliet wake up to find Romeo alive but already lethally poisoned is almost more effective than Shakespeare's version. The Pizzi production is serviceable enough but uninteresting and the long breaks put a brake of the rising tension. Netrebko is not a natural Bel Canto singer but she remains a very fine soprano and paired with the incredible Elīna Garanča this was quite a pairing. Both fine actors as well as singers, although Garanča is a little bit too pretty for a bloke. The men didn't blow me away but none were total failures either and the chorus whilst a little underwhelming at times were in good shape overall. Much credit to Mark Elder for keeping the orchestra in time despite the fun the two leading ladies seemed to have with some of the music metrics. A pleasurable night, if only for hearing two of the loveliest voices on the planet meld together into something special.

Swan Lake (American Ballet Theatre)

Completing my frankly ridiculous run of Swan Lakes, this being my fifth in about two weeks, another American Ballet Theatre performance. I probably wouldn't have bothered, I didn't much like the production the first time and wasn't impressed by the company, but I had a friend staying and in the end I was glad I did. Act I remains a mess but elsewhere there are some positives to the production and both corps and principals were looking in better shape.

I like the added prologue. Maybe it shows a lack of trust in classical ballet narrative (as many have complained) but to my mind, the traditional Swan Lake doesn't have a narrative of much clarity and this helps things along nicely. It's also darker than usual which I really like, the stuffed swan is perhaps overkill. Act I remains untidy and unattractive. The various dances have had their neat structure ruined with smudged groupings and weird formations. Excellent to see Frederic Franklin, a ninety-four year old, as the tutor. It's not exactly a major role but still, he's a bit of a legend. The pas de trois went off more or less without a hitch. Carlos Lopez is a tidy dancer with plenty of verve and both Renata Pavam and Simone Messmer danced impressively.

Paloma Herrera wasn't the most expressive Odette (especially next to Zenaida Yanowsky's amazing performance I'd caught the night before) but she's a more than decent. I think some blame must fall on the production. For reasons I cannot quite conceive the Siegfried/Odette relationship just doesn't seem to work and it's pretty much the hinge of the show. Maybe it was simply poor acting from the various dancers but I'm liable to blame the production especially when Herrera transformed herself into a flirty, sexy Odile and the sparks still failed to fly. The new dance for Rothbart and his general foregrounding is still startlingly effective, Jared Matthews giving a suitably vivid performance, but maybe it distracts from the central relationship to the production's cost. Herrera put together a beautifully refined but infinitely sexy performance and Ethan Stiefel was an ideal partner. Odile and Siegfried almost clicked but despite some strong dancing it still wasn't overly effective.

The final Act is so truncated it all feels abrupt and things weren't helped by Herrera jumping early such that the audience heard a big thump as she hit the crash mat and then Stiefel performing a ridiculously gymnastic leap, almost like a superman flying pose, into the lake. The corps was still far from world class but got through it without any major hitches.

Not a production I'm going to remember terribly fondly, despite the stronger performances from the leads, emotions were still far from evident. The narrative clarity fails to create any sustained tension or romance; it's all just a bit flaccid. It's hardly an unpleasant way to spend an evening but, the show just never takes flight. The ABT aren't what I expected but this was still a major improvement, from the corps to the principals, from the first performance I caught. Le Corsaire is coming up this weekend and hopefully it'll be a better production.

Swan Lake (Royal Ballet)

This is my third Royal Ballet "Swan Lake" and whilst I could watch the show almost every night and never get bored, writing a long review afterwards grows less interesting so I'll keep this relatively brief (you can find my longer reviews for this run here and here).

As a result of the hideous number of injuries in the company and Zenaida Yanowsky's height, Roberto Bolle was drafted in for the role of Siegfried. He's a marvellous dancer who we only occasionally get to see on these shores and it's a real pity Siegfried does so little dancing. Yanowsky is probably the only dancer I've ever come across who makes her Odette more interesting than her Odile. Here was a truly captivating Odette, horribly cursed and saddened for it yet suddenly pulled into the happiest of loves. The Act II pas de deux was pure radiance, Bolle a slick and attentive partner. Act III found Yanowsky on slightly less fine form. Odile seemed to have taken laughing gas such was the slightly inane grin that seemed fixed on Yanowsky's face. It wasn't very sultry. She got through the material reasonably although without the flair shown by some of the other dancers. Bolle wasn't exactly amazing either. Dependable enough but somehow lacking in something special that would lift his performance to another level. Act IV flew by with considerable impact, Yanowsky's Odette again returning to the fore and being incredibly moving.

The rest of the cast were largely unchanged from the two performances I'd already caught. Impressive work from Helen Crawford in the pas de trois and some more exciting work from Laura Morera and Ricardo Cervera in the Neapolitan. The corps was precise without being mechanical and the production continues to be a slightly dusty but very attractive one. That's the last Royal Ballet "Swan Lake" for this season. I've no doubt that it'll be back on the stage sooner rather than later.

Twelfth Night, after William Shakespeare

I think in all likelihood how much pleasure one derives from the slightly bizarre adaptation of "Twelfth Night" hinges heavily on whether one actually likes Kabuki. Personally, I can't get enough of the stuff. It's so seldom seen in Britain but I find the vocal style utterly beguiling and the slow controlled movements transfixing. Others, I have no doubt, find this unbelievably dull and not a little bit silly.

As a Shakespeare it isn't a brilliant reinvention, the gains from the all male casting and having several actors play multiple parts are rather undone by the unsatisfactory problems this causes in the closing moments. The vocal style, which I love, doesn't easily translate and it's very difficult to tell to what extent Shakespeare is being properly delivered. Emotions aren't always clear because they are so stylistically presented. When Kabuki last came to London, a headset fed in-depth analysis of everything on stage and intellectually it was quite an experience, here much of what makes Kabuki what it is totally eluded me.

As a Shakespeare then this is pretty much a failure. As a piece of entertainment, it's first rate. The stage is filled with some of the most spectacularly beautiful images. The constant presence of floor to ceiling mirrors only accentuates the unbelievably attractive costumes and sets. I'd kill for one of the kimonos; western clothes have nothing on these. The rapid costume changes never cease to amaze.

The performers are a fairly astonishing bunch. Kabuki is their lives and it shows in the impossibly precise motion and vocal work. Onoe Kikugoro VII is the head of this group and his Malvolio was fantastic, a bundle of self-important arrogance, but his Feste lacked interest and little was gained from the doubling of the role. Onoe Kikunosuke V did an absolutely smashing job as Viola and Sebastien, for the majority of the piece this was a clever bit of doubling and he differentiated the characters (and sexes) brilliantly. His male playing female playing male was startling impressive. Stealing the limelight was Ichikawa Kamejiro II as Maria who was so consistently hysterical I wished Maria was a larger role. There wasn't a weak link in the cast, the style might not always lend itself to Shakespeare but I couldn't fault the performers for that.

Ultimately this "Twelfth Night" amounted to very little substantial content but there was barely a dull moment in a show of more than three and a half hours and for that one cannot really complain. Such is the skill of the performers and the beauty of the designs that just sitting back and absorbing is an experience to remember.

Swan Lake (American Ballet Theatre)

The first three minutes of the American Ballet Theatre's "Swan Lake" are (although some I have no doubt consider them sacrilege) brilliant. The addition of a brief prologue during the overture works impossibly well. For those few minutes I thought I was in for a treat; the gritty kidnap of Odette as a young girl, really creepy murder in a back alley overtones, with some slick lighting and terrific costuming makes for spellbinding theatre. It sets up Rothbart as a true fiend, far more substantial than the one that flounces about in most productions and gives the whole performance an emotional context that is usually missing. My hopes of an amazing show were soon dashed by Act I, but at least things started well.

Kevin McKenzie's production has some bright spots but in places but it often amounts to an unhappy marriage of old and new nowhere more so than in Act I. Gone are the attractive lines to be replaced by messy formations with dancers cluttered around the stage. The peasant dances just didn't look good. Things weren't helped by the apparent lack of rehearsal with dancers brushing into each other with alarming regularity (the stage might be on the small side for the production but their doing nearly a dozen shows so it's something they are going to have to cope with). The pas de trois remained intact and was decently danced, Hee Seo in particular put in some lovely work. Blaine Hoven looked fantastic on his own but his partnering left something to be desired, it appeared like he nearly pushed a poor girl over on an assisted turn. Regardless of the production quality things looked up with the stunning entry of Maxin Beloserkovsky who delivered some of the finest grand jetes I've seen, few dancers can appear to float so impressively (even fewer men). The usually charming maypole looked terrible thanks to a badly design top, something you'd think someone could fix.

The shift to Act II returned the company to safer ground with fewer McKenzie additions and the good, time old Petipa steps. The Cygnets offered a weird case of déjà vu with both Gemma Bond and Caroline Duprot dancing having recently jumped ship from the Royal Ballet. It was relatively neat work although they started badly with some mistimed legs. The entry of Irina Dvorovenko brought the realisation that this wasn't going to be a performance to test the tear ducts. She's a more than decent dancer but neither she nor, as it turned out, Beloserkovsky had much interest in creating characters. They spent more time in the Act II pas de deux looking at the audience than each other. Love was not exactly evident. The corps looked in better shape here though still some way off what I expected from one of the world's premier companies.

McKenzie's Act III has some impressive moments. Rothbart is given a passage in which he dances with the four princesses and it pretty much stole the show. Cory Stearns danced exceptionally well and he picked the women like a rapist picking his next target, it was truly chilling stuff. The various national dances were all solid enough; Patrick Ogle in particular looked like he was having a great time in the Czardas. The Spanish Dance suffered a little as the dancers seemed to be struggling to keep up with the breath neck pace Charles Barker decided to conduct it. The fireworks driven pas de deux was cleanly but unspectacularly danced by the two principals, Dvorovenko strung together a tidy set of single fouettes, which was good, but it was disappointing that she failed to properly complete the double at the end. Beloserkovsky didn't put a foot wrong but wasn't especially memorable, managing the steps without much flair (whatever happened to the sterling leaps of Act I, I'll never know). Both spent more time mugging at the audience that flirting with each other. The conclusion is very neatly staged, as with much of this production, the most theatrically exciting moments seemed to happen when no one was dancing much.

Act IV has been massively culled but it works well enough. This offered the strongest work from the corps and placed Rothbart centre stage which was ideal since he was the best thing in this (well the two of him at any rate). The requisite leaps came and went without much excitement, the reductions of the score make for a slightly abrupt finish but it's staged attractively enough. The designs are grand enough but curiously dull, a rather pallid colour palette reigns throughout. The costumes are very pretty, Rothbart looks a bit like Nite Owl from "The Watchmen" but that's not really a bad thing. Barker got a decent sound out of the English National Opera orchestra but there were too many fluffed notes in the brass.

I can't say I like this production. Despite the brilliant reinvention of Rothbart both in the prologue and Act III, there's too much mucking around generally, especially in Act I, the formations are just hideous, and Act IV which is unduly foreshortened. Neither of the principal pair truly impressed, neither danced badly but they never inhabited their roles (or even tried to do so). Nor did they have the technical fireworks to overcome this lack of emotional content and it just became flat. This was my first experience of the ABT and I can't say I'm overly impressed, the corps wasn't poor but wasn't world class by any stretch of the imagination either. I'll be catching another "Swan Lake" this weekend and then "Le Corsaire" next week so there's time for them to recover but this wasn't a good start. On an even more depressing note, even if they were world class they'll still be losing a boatload of money on this tour. The house was about fifty percent full which is more than a little sad (kind of their own damn fault for running "Swan Lake" at the same time as the Royal though).

Billy Twinkle: Requiem for a Golden Boy

I've always liked puppets. To describe Ronnie Burkett as a good puppeteer would be a grotesque understatement. He's really pretty awesome. I'm told he's a great writer as well although that was less clear in this stodgy, self-indulgent show that works only as a result of the tremendous marionette work.

From the start it's pretty clear the show is going to meander. The opening moments offer some clever work, a puppet striptease is a novelty and a technically impressive one at that, but there is little drive. The sentimental journey through Billy's life is pacy enough but has a wildly divergent tone and throughout the stakes feel very low. A sudden trip into a rather uncomfortable situation with a businessman is hugely effecting but is quickly washed over as we return to the rose tinted story. The conclusion feels so hideously inevitable that tension never kicks in as we speed towards the happy ending. Burkett places himself very much front and centre but is constantly upstaged by his brilliant creations. He's an exciting performer and his bitchy wit is consistently funny but the combination of puppeteer and puppet doesn't always work, he just gets in the way.

Triumphing over everything though, and entirely saving the piece, is the sheer magic of these marionettes. If I'd seen more high quality puppet shows I suspect I'd have been less kind to the uneven plotline but staged with these little wooden dolls who give better acting performances than many actors it's hard not to be entranced. They truly come to life in a manner I really didn't expect. Their movements aren't precise or even necessarily terribly accurate, each marionette isn't controlled by several people as in Bunraku and other styles seen recently in London (War Horse and Shun-kin being obvious examples), it's just Burkett and often just one hand. Yet they come alive in a very real way. The staging is pretty slick with music and flashing lights covering scene changes in a manner that totally follows the cruise ship theme and the set is a clever construction (although placed too far from the audience to my mind).

All in all, style triumphs over substance. I didn't particularly take to the more meaningful elements which are buried in the overlong and self-indulgent, quasi-metaphysical plot but that didn't prevent my enjoying myself even if it was for rather shallow reasons. If Burkett fails here as a storyteller, he has succeeded on every level at breathing life into wooden mannequins.

Eugene Onegin (Vienna State Opera)

After yesterday's ancient but not unpleasant production of "Lucia di Lammermoor" comes a shocking case of directorial insanity. This production, new in Vienna but premiered in Tokyo last year, is up with the most pointless stagings I've ever come across. It's not terrible as such, the actual stagecraft is actually quite effective, but the designs have so little bearing on the opera itself one has to question how they ever arrived at them.

Act I of the Opera is pretty much fixed during the harvest season. Falk Richter has here decided to set this Act (and all the others) in winter. Heavy snow falls virtually continuously and even more bizarrely everything appears to be made from ice. Maybe this is some kind of frigid, emotionally stunted environment for the action to take place in (being generous to the director) but Richter has taken the idea way too far. I don't think I've ever seen anything on stage quite as incongruous as the peasants' song in Act I. The peasants, dressed like factory workers, sing about bringing in the harvest whilst heavy snow falls and other peasants do back flips across the stage. It looked pretty cool but had little to do with the text. The same could be said of most of the production which whilst relatively attractive could have been used as the basis for almost any Opera. Tatyana's bedroom appeared to be in an ice palace (I kid you not) and the party in their house had a massive rotating ice bar (plus so much sleazy behaviour you'd think this was Rigoletto). "Onegin" has three wonderful dances in the score but none were performed beyond a few acrobatic tricks and the famous polonaise was particularly disappointing with Richter apparently uninterested in staging anything during it. What's fascinating is that the basic stagecraft is actually fairly astute. For example, the final scene is staged on a staircase and the interaction of the two protagonists is beautifully done. Why they're on a big staircase with snow falling behind I will never know but at least the movement is carefully constructed.

Amongst this bizarrely irrelevant staging is a crack team of singers. Simon Keenlyside takes the lead role and sings with his usual staggeringly adaptable baritone. It wasn't the finest of acting performances, a little too reserved. This Onegin had a boy next door kind of quality that didn't entirely make sense in the context of his later actions. Keenlyside just never dominated the role, and whilst much of this can be put down to the difficult production it was still a little disappointing. Ramón Vargas brought a wonderful warmth and joy to Lensky although failed to entirely make the transition to love crazed aggression. Thankfully his voice is every bit as warm as his portrayal and his Act II aria was a wonderfully lyrical display of vocal prowess. Stealing the show from these impressive male performers was Tamar Iveri. This was the first time I've ever truly believed in a Tatyana. Drawing on her immense but supple soprano to produce a fragile and naive but ultimately resilient portrayal of a girl trapped in a world she doesn't understand. A more compelling letter scene I cannot imagine. I was less taken by Nadia Krasteva's Olga. She sang accurately but with little joy and the fun loving Olga came across as a bit miserable. Excellent support came from Ain Anger's far too young but weightily sung Gremin and Aura Twarowska's not nearly matronly enough but loving Larina.

If you shut your eyes this was a stellar performance. Open them and you might get confused as to which opera you're watching. Between Keenlyside, Vargas and Iveri this was an incredibly well sung performance and Seiji Ozawa, whilst perhaps a little indulgent with his tempi, raised a vibrant sound from the orchestra. Ultimately the music came out on top and I was whipped into a swirl of emotion in the final scene. Emotionally potent despite the production doing almost everything to prevent it. Chalk one up to Tchaikovsky I guess.

Lucia di Lammermoor (Vienna State Opera)

The Vienna State Opera's "Lucia di Lammermoor" is from a different age of Opera. The sets are attractive but have a dangerously stale feel to them and such is their scale that each scene change requires the house lights come up. "Lucia" has seven scenes. That's seven large sets with accompanied time for moving them round. To compound this archaic feel, curtain calls were taken after every scene. As you can imagine, this wasn't a short evening. Were it not for Marco Armiliato regularly stifling applause by cracking on with the music we'd never have left the theatre. What's more, the Viennese like Anna Netrebko even more than I do and they'd give her an endless ovation just for turning up.

As it happens this wasn't really Netrebko's night. I won't deny I'm a big fan, her abilities as a performer (regardless of her voice) put the vast majority of singers to shame and she's not exactly a weak singer either. Hers is an opulent voice, producing an expansive sound that radiates through the auditorium. What she isn't is a great coloratura soprano and if I'm honest Lucia isn't exactly to her strengths. It wasn't a bad performance by any stretch of the imagination. Her passagework in the key mad aria was a little smudged but she broadly hit the notes and elsewhere she sounded fantastic especially in her middle register. George Petean has a well schooled voice but isn't a particularly exciting singer. He sounded a little strained on some of the high stuff and struggled against the orchestra in places. What's more he isn't a particularly fine actor. Good enough but nothing special. I rather took to Giuseppe Filianoti. It wasn't exactly a performance of refinement, with an emphasis on volume over control but he makes a pleasant sonorous noise and provided a worthy foil to Netrebko. The most consistent performance came from Stefan Kocan who, if not revelatory, brought a sage like quality to Raimondo. Less strong was Peter Jelosits who just didn't have the power to compete, especially next Filianoti.

The production is massively old-school but apart from the dismally long scene changes it's a dependable enough staging. You won't find any directorial insights here and there's a bit too much singing at the audience but nothing is particularly wrong about this production. The forest looks like a forest and the crypt like a crypt although some refurbishment wouldn't hurt; the sets have a faded, dusty look. The chorus work is decidedly old fashioned as well; their movement as a group looked almost like an opera lampoon. They shuffled around as a squad, then stood stationary and sung when called upon. Heck, I can't really complain. It's a quaint production from a different period of stage direction but at least it looks good and gets us from start to finish. New to this production, as the fashion seems to be currently, was the flute being replaced by a Glass Harmonica (The English National Opera did the same in their recent production). Interestingly it wasn't actually a Glass Harmonica here but a Glass Harp which is much more fun to watch (pretty much just a set of wine glasses), a mite distracting some might say.

I'm not entirely sure what I really expected of this performance but in the end it was a decent enough evening. Netrebko might not be entirely robust on all the notes but she was as charismatic as ever. Petean is a bit of a damp squib, not so much poor as uninteresting, but Filianoti is a compelling performer despite some vocal inconsistencies. It was a truly thrilling account of the score from the pit under Marco Armiliato, a blaze of terrific playing from all. Maybe not a night that will stay long in the memory but a very enjoyable one nevertheless.

Falstaff (Vienna State Opera)

Back in Vienna again for a very short stint. I'm mostly here for the joys of Anna Netrebko and Simon Keenlyside over the weekend but to kick things off pleasantly, "Falstaff" with an unflashy but dependable cast and a production that doesn't try too hard, producing an easy going evening.

"Falstaff" is a pretty odd work. Aside from a few Verdian moments (mostly for the young lovers), it's largely an ensemble based, even Mozart like at times, piece with some terrific patter type numbers. The production plays to this strength with an unfussy open stage for the majority of the action. The appearance of Falstaff's lair (not exactly a pub in this case) is a clever bit of engineering but as well as technically impressive it also feels artistically relevant (this production could teach the recent Royal Opera "Dutchman" a serious lesson). The bare (but colourful), open setting adapts to the various settings with just a few minor props and the final scene in the wood is cleverly evoked through a steadily rising silhouette of a forest tree line (plus the consistantly effective lighting). Despite the marvellously colourful sets, the whole evening was almost stolen by one of Falstaff's costumes, an orange blamange creation I won't soon forget. I have no doubt that some would hope that one could find greater meaning in "Falstaff". Social and moral commentary is not to be found here but I can't say I'm disappointed. Witty and attractive, everything about this production appealed.

The cast might not have been littered with stars but it was more solid than a great many more glittery line-ups. Alan Titus goes from strength to strength in the title role. His comic timing isn't his strongest suit but he's endlessly charming and vocally he's absolutely perfect. Suitably rough edged but weighty and robust. Worthy opposition comes from Fabio Capitanucci's dark baritone, I'd love to hear him in some weightier Verdi. The young lovers both looked the part and thankfully sung well. Teodora Gheorgiu sounded a little thin in places but overall has a very pleasant voice, ideal casting as Nannetta. Gergely Nemeti didn't appear to have much confidence as Fenton and gave a rather reserved acting performance but he has a lovely bright tenor voice that he used expressively, passion came from his voice if not his face. The three senior ladies were all tremendous. Ildiko Raimondi offered up a beautiful Alice Ford and the Mistress Quickly of Elisabeth Kulman was simply sublime. I wasn't totally enamored of Sophie Marilley in her solos but the ensemble of the four ladies had an almost perfect balance. Herwig Pecoraro and Zoltan Nagy weren't particularly interesting as Bardolfo and Pistola but both sang competently throughout. The only dud for me was Michael Roider who tended towards the shouted end of singing.

For what I was expecting to be a regulation repertory night this was pretty fantastic. The orchestra under Marco Armiliato tended towards the forte rather than the piano but made their usual wonderful sound. It's a fun production, it doesn't reinvent the wheel or do anything particularly creative (which some would deem a good thing), but it keeps the evening on the rails and never looks less than attractive. From Titus's marvellous Falstaff to Kulman's radiant Quickly there was plenty of excellent singing. A great start to my weekend in Vienna.

Swan Lake (Royal Ballet)

After the superb performance on Monday, tonight's cast were always, somewhat unfairly, going to have a hard time impressing. The corps remain in very fine fettle and the lead pairing, whilst never electric, were technically sound but elsewhere things were less strong.

The glorious opening pas de trois was not well served. Elizabeth Harrod dances attractively but seemed insecure, quite apart from a few minor wobbles she looked anxious to get through it which isn't something I find terribly pleasant to watch. Kenta Kura has a lovely leap but musicality eluded him at this performance, crisp but not very precise. Emma Maguire fared best, accurate and with some gorgeous lines. Not exactly a brilliant opening then. Johan Kobborg is a born actor and he's one of the few dancers who can make Siegfried interesting in Act I but what went on around him wasn't quite so exceptional. Act II brought more solidity with the security of the massed corps. Helen Crawford danced a decent swan but Hikaru Kobayashi is far too sharp and show-offy for an oppressed swan, it was excellent dancing just far too exuberant. Roberta Marquez has nearly the technique that Marianela Nuñez brought to the role but little of the flair. Her Odette was rock solid but curiously dull. I can't quite put my finger on why (such is dance I suppose) but despite some beautiful dancing I found myself drifting. Kobborg partners her well but there were few sparks, this was not love at first sight.

Act III brings the fireworks and the audience certainly weren't short changed here. The Spanish Dance wasn't particularly strong but Laura Morera and Ricardo Cervera delivered a marvellously watchable Czardas, the supporting dancers all on top form. I always have a go at the Neapolitan dance but in reality I really like the choreography, I just despise the tambourines which ruin the music and distract from the steps. Paul Kay was remarkably frenetic but highly entertaining and whilst Iohna Loots failed to match his energy it was a strong performance. Robert Marquez lacked true sex appeal but she smouldered in a not unattractive manner and flitted through the steps with real skill. A bit too much travel on the fouettés but that'd be nitpicking. Kobborg didn't stint on the spectacle either with a remarkable set of turns to follow hers.

The final Act flew by with some lovely corps work but the deaths felt forced because the relationship never really took off. The novelty came from a costume malfunction that worked so well I'd quite like them to keep it. Rothbart's headpiece got pulled off just as the fatal blow of love was delivered. The skull cap revealed, Alastair Marriott looked shockingly helpless. I don't think I've ever seen the fall of Rothbart be nearly so effective and all because of an accident.

It wasn't an awesome performance but I'm unfairly judging it against the amped up version they filmed on Monday. Kobborg and Marquez are both great dancers and partner fairly well but they have little chemistry and emotion is lost as a result. The Royal Ballet have been on great form of late and I couldn't recommend their "Swan Lake" more highly, I think my repeat visits alone are testament enough of my opinion of the piece and I've got at least one more trip to come.

Royal Ballet Double Bill (Isadora/Dances at a Gathering)

Oh dear. The Royal Ballet for reasons that only they truly understand have decided to whip out another Kenneth MacMillan failure (he wasn't short of successes). To all intents and purposes they've taken a full length ballet, which was a long, tedious work if the original press is anything to go by, and cut it down to a sixty minute one act ballet, which is a long and tedious work. In fact it's the worst thing the Royal Ballet have done since "Different Drummer", another MacMillan work that was in no need of revival.

Depressingly I actually saw some positives in "Drummer" it just failed to come together as a cohesive whole, "Isadora" is a mess of silly erotic pas de deux and faux Isadora Duncan style dances. Don't even get me started on the potentially fascinating but in reality overlong and ridiculous looking Loie Fuller section (all I could picture was Ursula from the Disney's "Little Mermaid"). Ashton did this so much better. The voice-over is quite well delivered but it was all cod philosophical rubbish that lent zero clarity to the narrative nor acted as a particularly illuminating view of Isadora Duncan. Of the various pas de deux; there's an attractive balletic tango and an almost moving sequence after the death of her two children (although the carried bodies are massive overkill). There's a funeral sequence that offers nothing that isn't in "Mayerling" (down to the identical black umbrellas). Indeed there's little here that doesn't feature in one of MacMillan's better ballets. The new staging is efficient enough, the black box designs aren't unattractive and the projections whilst not overly well integrated don't distract. The potentially exciting finale (she was strangled by her scarf becoming trapped in the tyres of her convertible car) is limply staged, it's hard to tell what has happened and only after the curtain drops does anyone realise the piece is over.

Upon this load of codswallop a large number of very fine dancers are flung. Tamara Rojo takes the title role (must a knackering one at that) and fares better than the piece deserves. Seldom does she fail to impress and here she dances with real commitment but limited impact. Her silent cries are the death of children is chilling but otherwise we never discover who Isadora Duncan truly was and no amount of fantastic dancing can change the that. A host of men are thrown into the mix and all come off strongly from an abstract perspective but are non-entities as characters. Edward Watson dances particularly well, a more lyrical performance than I'd expect from him and he demonstrated some lovely turns but his character amounts to nothing more than a slammed book. Gary Avis comes the closest to three dimensional role but his choreography is less interesting, mostly fairly explicit ballet sex with Rojo and occasional outrage as Rojo wanders off with another man. Ricardo Cervera looks like he's having a great time as the Tango Man, as does Brian Maloney as the, imaginatively titled, Man on Beach but neither comes close to creating anything real. Three further female dancers are credited but barely feature

After that waste of sixty-one minutes comes "Dances at a Gathering", a piece that lies so utterly at the other end of the quality spectrum from "Isadora", it's almost impossible to conceive of them on the same bill. I gushed over this piece several times last season (here and here) so I'll keep this relatively brief. The work itself is pretty much flawless, exactly the right length leaving you wanting just that little bit more. The Royal Ballet ranks have been decimated through injuries of late which has given a few younger dancers a chance at this piece, mostly to great success. Yuhui Choe was her usual radiant self, lovely upper body lines and a happy, infectious grin. Carlos Acosta looked wonderfully at home in this choreography; he made his solos look easy and nailed the playful insouciance of the piece. I haven't seen Bennet Gartside in any major roles before and he justified his place here with an accomplished performance. He struggled a little when paired with Acosta, dancing cleanly but with a more effortful air than the casually brilliant Acosta. Samantha Raine is a gorgeous dancer who we don't see nearly enough of and she demonstrated some deliciously floaty dancing. Watson who must have been tired after slogging through Isadora danced here as well and managed another exceptional performance. The whole cast throw themselves at it and whilst perhaps not as technically accomplished as at the last revival, it had more character with all the dancers seemingly perfectly on home territory with this work.

A night of two distinct halves. "Isadora" is a total failure and in some regards a predictable one. What was ambitious twenty years ago, now condensed for today just looks foolish. MacMillan created three of my favourite full-length ballets but some things are better left buried. As a study of Isadora Duncan herself it leaves the audience more perplexed than anything else (which is not an argument for the work being ahead of its time, the standard excuse for confused work), her work hardly gets a look in amongst all the sex. Tedious. "Dances at a Gathering" is a masterpiece that I dearly hope won't stay off the stage for long. A fantastic demonstration of the strength of the company, who come through brilliantly despite injuries. Chalk and cheese really, except lets be honest, who really likes chalk?

Jenůfa (English National Opera)

"Jenůfa" is never going to make for an easy night at the theatre. Baby killing doesn't exactly make for an uplifting tale. For all that though, it's easy to forget the ultimately redemptive conclusion. To my mind it's one of the finest stage works around. Melodrama woven with such panache that you can't help but love every minute of it. Miserable maybe, but rewarding never the less.

David Alden's production transposes the piece to a setting with a communist feel but gives it a timeless spin. The stagecraft is terrific throughout but the expansion of the community, the mill becomes a factory type setting, serves only to make the Kostelnička something of a villain, exacerbated further by Michaela Martens aggressive performance. The repressive world, where a illegitimate child was an absolute disaster and the death of it is possibly of benefit, is missed and this removes the moral shading that makes the Kostelnička's actions more than just selfish. Both sets work extremely well but sit somewhat uncomfortably next to each other; one a largely naturalistic factory, the other a huge, skewed perspective room. This room that looms over the characters throughout the second two acts works extremely well. Rather than compressing the action to gain intimacy (as Katie Mitchell did to great effect in her production) Alden opens up this huge expanse and it serves to oppress the characters brilliantly. They appeared so small and helpless against the massive grey walls and the clever lighting only enhanced this further.

The performances are pretty stunning across the board. Amanda Roocroft rightly takes top billing and delivers a performance to remember. I've never been convinced that she has a particularly strong voice but she knows this part inside and out and embodies the role impossibly well. That's not to say she sings badly, she has a wonderfully plush voice throughout her range, I've just never found it particularly attractive on the ear. Act II is terrifically moving thanks in no small part to the very genuine acting of Roocroft, never has a woman looked quite so believably broken on stage. Martens tends towards volume over control but she dominates effectively and it's more a fault of the staging than her own performance that she comes across as such a villain. Tom Randle doesn't have enough weight for sections of the score and tended to pale into the background during the ensembles but he's a fine actor and this was a Števa to both despise and pity. Robert Brubaker portrayed an oddly simple Laca, he had an almost mentally disabled manner, but his voice packs a serious punch, hitting the big notes with real oompf and bring a nicely ambiguous attitude to a difficult role. The smaller roles were all exceptionally sung; Susan Gorton showing a wealth of experience whilst at the other end of the age scale Mairéad Buicke gave a vibrantly youthful performance (although her long blond wig looked weird juxtaposed with her jet black eyebrows).

I love this opera. It might tend towards the histrionic but the music is so potent as to make it seem almost real. The production is beautifully directed even if the conception isn't completely effective. With Amanda Roocroft in the title role and the crack team around her aurally this was quite an evening (high marks in the pit as well) and every one of the singers through themselves entirely into their acting producing a hugely impressive show. Pity the English National Opera who seem to have had dreadful ticket sales for this run. Anyone with any sense should get a ticket for one of the remaining performances; theatre doesn't get much better than this.

Swan Lake (Royal Ballet)

There's nothing like television cameras to sharpen a performance. I'll be catching a scarily large number of Swan Lakes over the next few weeks thanks to long runs from both the Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. I doubt many will be able to top this one. Marianela Nuñez is always a lovely dancer to watch and last night her Odile was simply mesmerising.

The Royal have already wheeled out Swan Lake once this season, in fact it opened the season, and I caught it once then (as it happens with pretty much the same cast). Things have improved dramatically on virtually all counts. The cameras might play a role but the corps hasn't looked stronger in awhile. The various divertissements weren't all top draw but none were poor either. A pretty stunning pas de trois came from Yuhui Choe, Laura Morera and Steven McRae. The precision of Morera was simply delightful and despite the unhealthily smug look on McRae's face he truly can dance. Act II brought the female corps out in full force and they managed a happy balance of synchronicity and individuality. If I have one complaint, and it's a minor one, the misery of the swans now seems to be evoked by all the dancers frowning excessively. It's not pretty and I couldn't help but feel that, whilst accurately danced, the cygnets might be on the brink of killing each other such was the anger on their faces.

Still, it didn't much matter and soon Nuñez and Thiago Soares were united and all was well in the world. The Act II pas de deux was a luscious display of poise. To my mind, the character of Odette doesn't greatly suit Nuñez, who's far too vivacious for the angsty, sombre role, but her sheer elegance was impossibly beautiful. Soares doesn't have anything like her level of skill but he's a dashing hero if ever there was one and a caring partner. Whilst Odette might not be Nuñez's cup of tea, Odile most definitely is. In one of the most outrageously vampish performances I've ever come across, Nuñez whipped across the stage with an astonishing display of sheer brilliance, at one point virtually stopping the show in order to hold one of the most audacious balances I've ever seen. What's more, Odile is one of the few roles where ridiculous athletic feats can be taken as character development and Nuñez used this brilliantly. She approached her fouettés with an almost comic eye flare that just oozed sex appeal before launching into a fantastic set with a few doubles tossed in for good measure. Hell, I'd have married her. Soares might not have the same technical abilities but he was clearly lifted by the feats of his partner and danced better than I've ever seen him before. Some under-rotation remained in places but he leapt with impressive ease.

What surrounded these two fireballs was largely just as impressive. I'm going to continue to hate the Neapolitan Dance for the rest of my life but Morera and Ricardo Cervera made a decent fist of it and Cervera was good enough to actually break his tambourine allowing the audience to actually hear the wonderful music that is usually smothered by its rattling. The return of the swans for the final act continued the high standards with a particularly fine pair of swans danced by Helen Crawford and Francesca Filpi (a dancer I would love to see more from). Emotions ran high as Nuñez leapt to her death and there can be few more genuine moments in ballet than Soares's leap after her. For all this very fine work I wasn't over compelled by Christopher Saunders's Rothbart, he just faded rather heavily into the background which is never ideal.

An absolutely marvellous performance. I don't usually go for ballet dvds but this one's probably worth picking up just on the basis of Nuñez's one Act III balance. The company were in fine form and it's an attractive, if slightly aging production. The gothic sets and creepy costumes of the black act combined with the divine lines of gorgeous lines of white of the other acts make for quite a visual spectacle. A "Swan Lake" to remember.

Eonnagata

A piece conceived and performed by a group of people of this calibre is always going to have excessively high expectations surrounding it. Robert Lepage is a minor deity in my book, Sylvie Guillem still one of the loveliest dancers and Russell Maliphant a top notch choreographer. Put them together and miracles are expected. "Eonnagata" is sadly no miracle. It isn't a bad show either. Taken as individual parts there's some absolutely astonishing material, more than up to Lepage's best. As a coherent whole though, it amounts to far less than the sum of its parts.

The brief passages of dialogue that are tacked onto (I'd say interwoven, but they aren't well integrated) the action don't really work. Guillem's thick accent makes understanding her difficult, the dreadful Sadler's Wells acoustics/sound system only compounds this, but it doesn't much matter as what she says is hardly worth hearing. Some credit must go to Lepage and Maliphant who both manage to make this insignificant twaddle sound compelling, but it still remains just that, naval gazing rubbish.

I'm a Lepage nut usually and his usual brilliant visuals are threaded throughout the work. Never have tables been used in a more fascinating manner. A trick with a mirror is simple yet wondrous. Guillem's dancing in silhouette apparently inside a kimono is an absolute masterstroke. The emergence of Maliphant from a Japanese puppet, his casual deconstruction of it forming a shapeless pile of cloth and a pole, which he then uses as a weapon, is a coup de theatre of the highest order.  The three are helped along by Michael Hull's superb lighting and some astonishing costumes from Alexander McQueen. Seldom have dance costumes been both so visually interesting and thrillingly practical. The melange of a score works surprisingly well, albeit with perhaps a few too many electronic, bass driven sounds amongst the Baroque.

Despite the elaborate and at times brilliant staging what fails is any coherent content. Within each scene one could read much into the work's theory of the false dichotomy of gender but as a whole the theme barely registers. The narrative barely gets a look in with random musings taking much of the spoken time. Unusually for Lepage ("The Andersen Project" was the epitome of slick), the scene links aren't nearly efficient enough with too many blackouts and slow changes. One might charitably, and I'm always liable with Lepage to be charitable, suggest the work needs far more development time and perhaps with more work something substantial could emerge but at the moment this work amounts to a series of pretty (very pretty to be fair) pictures.

Despite the beauty that never leaves the stage and a series of decent scenes, plus a couple of interesting pas de deux for Guillem and Maliphant, at the moment this show never really gets anywhere. Lepage proves himself a surprisingly impressive mover for a man of his age and Maliphant displays some reasonable acting chops but beyond a bit of personal reinvention little else is achieved here. I'll definitely give the show another look when it returns in June (I suspect it will have changed substantially) but at the moment it's a damp squib. Model good looks but very little intelligence.

Der Fliegende Holländer (Royal Opera)

Someone needs to give Tim Albery a hug. After his unremittingly bleak Boris Godunov at the ENO, he's now managed to turn Wagner's great ghost opera into something nearly as depressing. Good grief, I've no problem with him using Wagner's first version but to rob the work of all redemption just seems mean. That's not to say it's a bad production, apart from the opening and closing (both of which seem half-baked), it's a solid enough affair albeit safe and rather uninspiring. Some top singing lifts the evening above the stodgy staging but, as with the Rigoletto I caught earlier in the day, it doesn't entirely redeem the evening.

The designs are about the only interesting element of the entire staging. The stage is dominated by a steeply raked skewed-perspective side of a ship. It makes for a lovely image and paired with the versatile lighting conjures the murky environment for the narrative to live in. There's some spectacle to be had during the arrival of the spinning equipment, although it's more of a technical feat than an artistic one, but otherwise only the clever appearance of the ghostly inhabitants of the ship really works. The floating boat is a neat motif but not the most imaginative one. What really fails is the opening, a billowing curtain that looks naff and is entirely unnecessary, and final moments when after announcing she'll love the Dutchman forever, Senta just lies down looking miserable. The raked set could have been designed purely for a dramatic leap off the back yet Albery decides to let this epic work just fizzle out.

The performances however offer some of what the production misses. Bryn Terfel is the headline act and he doesn't disappoint vocally. Endlessly secure and focused, his meaty voice is never less than pleasant and projects magnificently through the auditorium. His acting was passable but the miserable dog expressions only took him so far. The steep rake seemed to affect him more than most with some rather unsteady plodding about the stage, it didn't ruin the performance but for an undead figure it stripped him of a good deal of his menace. His Senta was the magnificent Anja Kampe who came out of nowhere and more of less stole the show. A healthy sounding voice with unbelievably assured top notes, she stormed through the part, fearlessly tossing out her music. Her performance too was hugely impressive, the emotional core of the opera, there was little to fault. Hans-Peter König made for a rather jovial Daland, he has charisma in spades, and a rock-solid bass voice. Torsten Kerl was less impressive, he had the notes but sounded oddly pinched in places (perhaps an off-night, it was hard to tell). John Tessier sounded superb in the role of the Steersman, fluently delivering the difficult music and making something of the tiny part.

Whilst the production only has a few bum notes, it's a safe, rather predictable and even a little dull affair. Without the fine singing it would have been a very long evening but thankfully between Terfel and Kampe there was much to enjoy. Marc Albrecht conjured impressive things from the pit, adding to the intense music with some restrained conducting. In these financially turbulent times I suppose playing safe was a prudent thing to do, but the outcome is a production that whilst no doubt easily revivable might not be worth the trouble.

Rigoletto (Royal Opera)

The latest revival of David McVicar's solid production of Rigoletto is extremely long on musical excellence but depressingly short on drama. Leo Nucci has a marvellous voice but he's a performer from a different age of opera and he's woefully out of place in McVicar's gritty staging. Much of the staging seems weakened since the last revival, even the orgies fell from being nastily enjoyable to unintentionally amusing.

The casting of Nucci pays great dividends musically and vocally it's difficult to criticise. He could clearly sing the role in his sleep yet he invests every note with a power that's hard to fault. His acting, on the other hand, amounts to very little. A good deal of hand waving seems to be his version of character development and his pitiable, victim of a Rigoletto makes little sense in McVicar's more balanced production. The grotesque physicalisation of Rigoletto, all insectoid creeping with sticks, seems to have vanished to be replaced by a wonky gait. Shut your eyes and Nucci might be the perfect Rigoletto. I rapidly fell for Ekaterina Siurina's beautifully voiced, if slightly insipid Gilda. I can't say I was overwhelmed by the weight of her vocals but her tone simply captured me and didn't let go. Francesco Meli didn't have the depth of character that one might expect, this was a pretty one-dimensional Mantua, but he had has a charming voice that came particularly into its own when the Duke charms Gilda in disguise. Kurt Rydl might be the finest performer in the world when it comes to playing the nasties and his Sparafucile is delightfully foul. A dark, meaty voice that comes up trumps every time. Of the smaller roles, Iain Paterson shone with a potent Monterone and Vuyani Mlinde (A Jette Young Artist) continued his run of decent cameos with another solid performance.

Whilst the music really soars here it's the production that seems to be suffering and much of this blame must fall on Daniel Dooner, the revival director. The designs will never be the most radical or exciting but it isn't dull either and at this performance, stretches of it were. The chorus meandered the stage with the requisite vigour and none of the principals achieved anything like believable relationships. The sets remain bleakly effective and the costumes attractive but as a piece of drama things were not quite right. Even the finale failed to move me and to my mind it's one of the most heart rending moments in all opera.

Despite some real dramatic failures there was much here to enjoy and impress. Nucci is a singer of real calibre and whilst not exactly in his element (although Rigoletto is plainly his forte) he delivered some winning airs. Siurina has a voice I could listen to all day and few in the world can compete with Rydl for sheer evilness. The Royal Opera House orchestra sounded particularly fine under Daniel Oren, the musicality of the performance near flawless. Shut your eyes and this is a Rigoletto I must recommend, but the staging is not nearly as tight or effective and it needs to be.