Nothing special here in the third YouTube clip from Decca in advance of the new Norma recording. Just a minute in length, with Cecilia giggling, Sumi Jo clowning and John Osborn smiling broadly during the recording sessions.
The clip announces at one point, “Tempos, keys and cut sections are re-established following Bellini’s own sources.” It will certainly have lots of critics digging deep into their insults dictionary, though this blogger can’t wait!
After fiddling around with clues for the Mission cd, and trying out a couple of days ago an on-screen puzzle for the new Norma recording, Decca have now decided to keep their promo campaign plain and simple and have put out a teaser on Youtube.
The clip shows scenes in and around the recording studio, while we listen to a minute and a half of Mira, o Norma, with Cecilia Bartoli as Norma and Sumi Jo as Adalgisa.
Ballerina Joyce Cuoco was famous for her astounding technique. Her long balances, multiple pirouettes and changes of spot can be seen in this new YouTube video clip. While she’s maybe not the most elegant ballerina the world has ever seen, what she does is certainly extraordinary.
Cuoco was born in 1953, and at the age of 13 appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show as a ‘baby ballerina’. She was always something of a phenomenon for her improbable technical feats which even led her to headlining at Radio City Music Hall in New York, but she was also a serious artist and later became a soloist with the Stuttgart Ballet.
This clip is from a 1988 gala performance of The Flames of Paris pas de deux.… [continue reading]
Vladimir Vasiliev in magnificent form in this extraordinary document of a fragment of a Kasyan Goleizovsky’s ballet “Leili & Madjnun” which was choreographed for the Bolshoi in 1960.
Kasyan Goleizovsky (1892–1970) Russian dancer and choreographer. Leader of the experimental movement in Moscow in the 1920s.
Sergei Balasanyan (1902–1982) Russian composer.
Vladimir Vasiliev (1940), Russian ballet dancer. Was principal dancer with the Bolshoi Ballet, best known for his role of Spartacus and for his powerful leaps and turns.
Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe of China’s Swan Lake, premiered in 2005, has been delighting YouTubers for years, and more recently the company started touring its version even to important ballet centres. The performance’s fusion of dance and stunts has given the company global recognition.
The concept of infusing acrobatics into the performance of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece was born when two troupe members — Wei Baohua and his wife, Wu Zhengdan — created “Oriental Swan Ballet” when she balances in pointe in her husband’s head.
Ballet came to China 45 years ago and is viewed as a high-class art form. Acrobatics are a Chinese tradition, dating back to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), struggling to survive market competition. It seemed a risky venture to intermingle the two art forms, but doing so zapped new life into both, says Zhao Ming, the production’s choreographer and director.… [continue reading]
The Financial Times visited Milan’s historic theatre to witness Sergei Vikharev’s reconstruction of Raymonda — a production which is sending ripples of interest and excitement around the ballet community.
This blog alone, and its associated YouTube channel, has received thousands of extra visits to read about Raymonda, pushing the associated posts to the top of the most viewed list. The countries most interested seem to be America, Russia, Britain and, of course, Italy.
During August when the Mariinsky Ballet was visiting at the Royal Opera House in London, The Financial Times awarded many 4 and 5-star reviews during the three week run. But this is unusual, and they are handed out with caution. With Raymonda, La Scala got a 5-star review and some glowing words for a company which has often puzzled visiting critics in recent years.… [continue reading]
On August 11 and 12 of this years dancers from the American Ballet Theatre, Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Paris National Opera, New York City Ballet, Bejart Ballet Loussane, Staatts Ballet Berlin, the National Contemporary Dance Company and Ballet of Teatro Colon gathered on stage at the Teatro Coliseo of Buenos Aires.
The First International Ballet Gala featured some of the best dancers of classical, neoclassical and contemporary ballet: Mathilde Froustey and Mathias Heymann who, two years ago, at 22, reached the rank of “danseur etoile” at the Paris Opera Ballet; Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev, principal dancers at the Bolshoi; Daniil Simkin of the American Ballet Theatre and others.
These three contributions to the gala are now on YouTube: Delibes Suite (Froustey/Heymann), Les Bourgeois (Simkin) and Don Quixote (Osipova/Vasiliev).… [continue reading]