Royal Ballet (live broadcast), 10/12/2019
Delibes : Coppélia
The Royal Ballet
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Barry Wordsworth
This production of Coppélia, like the Royal Ballet's current productions of The Sleeping Beauty and La Fille mal gardée, is what one might call a legacy production. It originally dates from 1954, produced by the company's founder Ninette de Valois, and with designs, like Fille, by Osbert Lancaster, and, like Fille, it's bearing its age very well indeed. By contemporary standards, the sets seem a little heavy, and cramp the stage space, particularly the town square set for the outer acts, but they're fresh and colourful, just the right side of twee, while the costumes are charming.
This is my fourth Coppélia in as many years, and putting aside Charles Jude's 1950s American version seen in Toulouse, the other three have all been pretty similar. They've also been similar in something I consider a fairly fundamental flaw; they don't allow Doctor Coppelius that edge of danger. Like The Nutcracker, the source material for Coppélia is an E.T.A. Hoffmann story. Unlike The Nutcracker, Hoffmann's Der Sandmann is one of his most terrifying tales. Very little of the original tale survives in the ballet, which is certainly a feel-good comedy, but in the second act, there should be, as I've said before, just a hint of menace, a suggestion that Franz's life may actually be in danger, or at least, that Swanilda can believe for a short while that such might be the case. Of all the Dr. Coppelius's I have seen recently, Gary Avis tonight came the closest to it, though not quite, but he was also the subtlest about the comedy (except for the business with the house key, but that's impossible to do subtly), and managed to be funny without being a complete caricature.
Swanilda, whose show this really is, as she's rarely off-stage throughout the evening, is exactly the sort of peppy, sassy character at which Marianela Nuñez excels. She also demands the kind of razor-sharp precision of footwork that is another of Nuñez's strong points, so this was an excellent match for her, and she was a joy to watch from start to finish. I have to admit that before the performance, I had slight misgivings about Vadim Muntagirov; not about his dancing, which never disappoints, and his partnership with Nuñez is tried, tested and true, but he's such an elegant dancer I thought he might be a little princely for the cocky Jack-the-lad Franz. However, he showed an unexpected turn for comedy, and delivered a bright, cheeky performance in a role where, alas, he has really not all that much serious dancing to do. When he finally did, in the Act 3 pas de deux, he fairly flew across the stage in a truly exciting display. Claire Calvert produced a lovely, light-footed Aurora variation, unfortunately not matched by Annette Buvoli's Prayer, who was not quite as steady as would have been desirable.
With a solid, crisply delivered contribution from the corps, and sparkling playing from the ROH orchestra, this was, on the whole, a fine performance, and an enjoyable evening's entertainment.
[Next : 12th December]
The Royal Ballet
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House
Barry Wordsworth
This production of Coppélia, like the Royal Ballet's current productions of The Sleeping Beauty and La Fille mal gardée, is what one might call a legacy production. It originally dates from 1954, produced by the company's founder Ninette de Valois, and with designs, like Fille, by Osbert Lancaster, and, like Fille, it's bearing its age very well indeed. By contemporary standards, the sets seem a little heavy, and cramp the stage space, particularly the town square set for the outer acts, but they're fresh and colourful, just the right side of twee, while the costumes are charming.
This is my fourth Coppélia in as many years, and putting aside Charles Jude's 1950s American version seen in Toulouse, the other three have all been pretty similar. They've also been similar in something I consider a fairly fundamental flaw; they don't allow Doctor Coppelius that edge of danger. Like The Nutcracker, the source material for Coppélia is an E.T.A. Hoffmann story. Unlike The Nutcracker, Hoffmann's Der Sandmann is one of his most terrifying tales. Very little of the original tale survives in the ballet, which is certainly a feel-good comedy, but in the second act, there should be, as I've said before, just a hint of menace, a suggestion that Franz's life may actually be in danger, or at least, that Swanilda can believe for a short while that such might be the case. Of all the Dr. Coppelius's I have seen recently, Gary Avis tonight came the closest to it, though not quite, but he was also the subtlest about the comedy (except for the business with the house key, but that's impossible to do subtly), and managed to be funny without being a complete caricature.
Swanilda, whose show this really is, as she's rarely off-stage throughout the evening, is exactly the sort of peppy, sassy character at which Marianela Nuñez excels. She also demands the kind of razor-sharp precision of footwork that is another of Nuñez's strong points, so this was an excellent match for her, and she was a joy to watch from start to finish. I have to admit that before the performance, I had slight misgivings about Vadim Muntagirov; not about his dancing, which never disappoints, and his partnership with Nuñez is tried, tested and true, but he's such an elegant dancer I thought he might be a little princely for the cocky Jack-the-lad Franz. However, he showed an unexpected turn for comedy, and delivered a bright, cheeky performance in a role where, alas, he has really not all that much serious dancing to do. When he finally did, in the Act 3 pas de deux, he fairly flew across the stage in a truly exciting display. Claire Calvert produced a lovely, light-footed Aurora variation, unfortunately not matched by Annette Buvoli's Prayer, who was not quite as steady as would have been desirable.
With a solid, crisply delivered contribution from the corps, and sparkling playing from the ROH orchestra, this was, on the whole, a fine performance, and an enjoyable evening's entertainment.
[Next : 12th December]