Mayerling
The revival of Kenneth Macmillan's ballet "Mayerling" promised to be a highlight of the Royal Ballet's season at Covent Garden.
I was there on Saturday evening (14 April) and I must confess to finding it a little disappointing.
The ballet tells the story of the Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, whose life ended in a double death with his 17 year old mistress Mary Vetsera at the hunting lodge Mayerling. The music is a wonderful selection from Liszt's music put together and orchestrated by John Lanchbery, who described the task of assembling the material as 'a month enjoyably exhausting as any I remember'. The three act ballet enables Macmillan to show off many of his best qualities as a choreographer: real drama, yet allied with proper dancing; innovative and thrilling movements for the dancers.
Yet I still have my doubts about the work itself.
The story is too complex. There are too many characters (22 named characters plus the four Hungarian Officers). There are too many ladies in long frocks and too many men in moustaches: it took me the first few minutes of every scene to work out who was who - and then sometimes I got it wrong. The three pas de deux that end each of the three acts are individually stunning but too similar in style. To have the four Hungarian Officers hiding in the curtains once is a bit silly: to do it twice is absurd. There are too many 'ladies of the bedchamber' scenes, which look like padding. Too much of the work is not actually danced, which gives the piece something of the air of a silent film and makes the dancing when it starts appear somewhat incongruous.
Martin Harvey played Rudolf (his debut in the role?). He started tentatively but warmed up as the evening went on. His dancing and partnering were both hard to fault yet I felt he conveyed little of the character. His main attempt at showing Rudolf's madness was a fixed manic grin.
The women were rather better: Tamara Rojo as Mary and, especially, Victoria Hewitt as Stephanie - I thought her performance in the first pdd was excellent.
There was some superb showy dancing from Zachary Faruque, Valeri Hristov, Kenta Kura and Ernst Meisner as the four Hungarian Officers - although they did drop Martin Harvey on the floor at one point!
A special mention too for Paul Kay as Bratfisch: I love that jump he does with a wiggle of the hips.
I was there on Saturday evening (14 April) and I must confess to finding it a little disappointing.
The ballet tells the story of the Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, whose life ended in a double death with his 17 year old mistress Mary Vetsera at the hunting lodge Mayerling. The music is a wonderful selection from Liszt's music put together and orchestrated by John Lanchbery, who described the task of assembling the material as 'a month enjoyably exhausting as any I remember'. The three act ballet enables Macmillan to show off many of his best qualities as a choreographer: real drama, yet allied with proper dancing; innovative and thrilling movements for the dancers.
Yet I still have my doubts about the work itself.
The story is too complex. There are too many characters (22 named characters plus the four Hungarian Officers). There are too many ladies in long frocks and too many men in moustaches: it took me the first few minutes of every scene to work out who was who - and then sometimes I got it wrong. The three pas de deux that end each of the three acts are individually stunning but too similar in style. To have the four Hungarian Officers hiding in the curtains once is a bit silly: to do it twice is absurd. There are too many 'ladies of the bedchamber' scenes, which look like padding. Too much of the work is not actually danced, which gives the piece something of the air of a silent film and makes the dancing when it starts appear somewhat incongruous.
Martin Harvey played Rudolf (his debut in the role?). He started tentatively but warmed up as the evening went on. His dancing and partnering were both hard to fault yet I felt he conveyed little of the character. His main attempt at showing Rudolf's madness was a fixed manic grin.
The women were rather better: Tamara Rojo as Mary and, especially, Victoria Hewitt as Stephanie - I thought her performance in the first pdd was excellent.
There was some superb showy dancing from Zachary Faruque, Valeri Hristov, Kenta Kura and Ernst Meisner as the four Hungarian Officers - although they did drop Martin Harvey on the floor at one point!
A special mention too for Paul Kay as Bratfisch: I love that jump he does with a wiggle of the hips.
posted by Alnwickian at 10:17 pm
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