This promises to be the most fun critics round-up yet. Rarely have reviews been so unanimously foul. Being that there was so little to save, the critics left their stars in the drawer, and polished … [Read more...] about Critics round-up: Peter Schaufuss’ Tchaikovsky Trilogy
Financial Times
Tonight Roberto Bolle and Friends alight at the 15,000-seater Roman Arena in Verona
Tonight Verona's famous Arena is sold out. All 15,000 seats will be full to watch Roberto Bolle and his 'friends' dance in the open air. It is a magical place. Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore (the … [Read more...] about Tonight Roberto Bolle and Friends alight at the 15,000-seater Roman Arena in Verona
Critics round-up: Royal Ballet’s “Birthday Offering”, “A Month in the Country” and “Noces”
Monica Mason's last pickings from the Royal Ballet repertoire before leaving her post as the company's director included two works by the Royal Ballet’s founder choreographer, Frederick Ashton … [Read more...] about Critics round-up: Royal Ballet’s “Birthday Offering”, “A Month in the Country” and “Noces”
Critics Round-Up: An ‘imaginatively crafted delight’ or a ‘thin ballet’? Royal Ballet’s Alice
We know that the Royal Ballet's dancers are exceptional, we've seen that the designs and lighting are magical, but the jury is still out on whether Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in … [Read more...] about Critics Round-Up: An ‘imaginatively crafted delight’ or a ‘thin ballet’? Royal Ballet’s Alice
Barry Humphries on Dame Edna Everage’s first panto
Dame Edna Everage is starring in her first pantomime: Dick Whittington at the New Wimbledon Theatre. The Financial Times talked to her manager, 77 year-old Barry Humphries. On Melbourne in the … [Read more...] about Barry Humphries on Dame Edna Everage’s first panto
The FT’s Clement Crisp: Manon’s involuntary sexual charm, like Marilyn Monroe
The Financial Times has some, understandable, reserves in an otherwise excellent review: My cheers for the ensemble are as loud as anyone’s, as also my admiration for the principals: for José … [Read more...] about The FT’s Clement Crisp: Manon’s involuntary sexual charm, like Marilyn Monroe
Critics Round-up: Royal Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty
In 2006 Monica Mason decided to go back to the beginning with the Royal Ballet's signature ballet, The Sleeping Beauty: consign the 2003 Makarova disaster ("dramatically shapeless and emotionally … [Read more...] about Critics Round-up: Royal Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty
La Scala’s Raymonda “is a true banquet: pomp, circumstance, and an entire world on stage”, says the Financial Times
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 … [Read more...] about La Scala’s Raymonda “is a true banquet: pomp, circumstance, and an entire world on stage”, says the Financial Times
Critics Round-up: Anna Netrebko in Anna Bolena
This was very much Anna Netrebko's Anna Bolena. True, it is the title role, but the other characters have to work quite hard too. Her face was emoting from every review, and so here's a round-up of … [Read more...] about Critics Round-up: Anna Netrebko in Anna Bolena
Critics Round-up: New York City Ballet’s Ocean’s Kingdom
The review headlines ran "That Sinking Feeling", "Soggy Ocean Kingdom", "All Wet" - you get the idea. But this was Sir Paul McCartney's début in the world of ballet, the company was the great Yew … [Read more...] about Critics Round-up: New York City Ballet’s Ocean’s Kingdom
Critics Round-up: the Royal Opera’s Faust
Gounod's Faust is, on the one hand, a gift for directors and performers - as Geoff Brown says in The Times, "It’s a Cecil B De Mille film directed by Bob Fosse, and Hell on Earth in more ways than … [Read more...] about Critics Round-up: the Royal Opera’s Faust
Critics Round-up: Royal Ballet in Jewels
This production opens Monica Mason's last season as director of the Royal Ballet. To recall the company as it was 10 years ago, after the dreadful year in which Ross Stretton’s directorship had … [Read more...] about Critics Round-up: Royal Ballet in Jewels
Critics round-up: Mariinsky at Covent Garden, La Bayadère
Strangely, most critics didn't attend the Mariinsky's signature ballet La Bayadère, the sixth and last of their 2011 London season. Well, it was mid-August and the beaches were calling. … [Read more...] about Critics round-up: Mariinsky at Covent Garden, La Bayadère
Critics round-up: Mariinsky at Covent Garden, Anna Karenina
The fifth offering from the Mariinsky divided the critics. Most had reserves over Alexei Ratmansky's storytelling, but even Kenneth MacMillan's Manon received a hammering on its first outing. The … [Read more...] about Critics round-up: Mariinsky at Covent Garden, Anna Karenina
Critics round-up: Mariinsky at Covent Garden, Scotch Symphony / Ballet Imperial / In The Night
The fourth Mariinsky programme to grace the Royal Opera stage was another triple bill: Scotch Symphony and Ballet Imperial by George Balanchine, and In The Night by Jerome Robbins. Although this was … [Read more...] about Critics round-up: Mariinsky at Covent Garden, Scotch Symphony / Ballet Imperial / In The Night
Critics round-up: Mariinsky at Covent Garden, Don Quixote
The third ballet programme brought to London by the Marrinsky Ballet was Don Quixote, the perennial crowd-pleaser with which the Bolshoi scored such a success a year ago. Strangely only two days of … [Read more...] about Critics round-up: Mariinsky at Covent Garden, Don Quixote
Critics round-up: Mariinsky at Covent Garden, Swan Lake
The Mariinsky kicked off their 3-week stay at the Royal Opera House with Swan Lake. An obvious, and right, choice, Immutable is the Mariinsky’s root foundation in classical tradition. Everything they … [Read more...] about Critics round-up: Mariinsky at Covent Garden, Swan Lake
The FT gives a one-star review and a thumbs-down to Acosta and Yanowsky
In one of the worst reviews of the season, the Financial Times' Clement Crisp finds almost nothing to like in Carlos Acosta's Premieres Plus at the London Coliseum: I remember visiting East Berlin … [Read more...] about The FT gives a one-star review and a thumbs-down to Acosta and Yanowsky
Critics’ Roundup: the Mariinsky in London, Swan Lake
In a splattering of mainly four and five-star reviews it was, perhaps surprisingly, the Financial Times's Clement Crisp, maybe the hardest critic to please, who showered compliments over the company … [Read more...] about Critics’ Roundup: the Mariinsky in London, Swan Lake
Critics round-up: Romeo & Juliet… Osipova, Vasiliev, Lendorf & Ashton
Her Osipova's Juliet starts out as a hyper teenager, whirling on brilliantly fast feet. There's an immediate abandon to her dancing, movement sweeping through her small frame. As an actress, she … [Read more...] about Critics round-up: Romeo & Juliet… Osipova, Vasiliev, Lendorf & Ashton
Critics round-up: Tyne Daly in ‘Master Class’ – “remarkable”
Tyne Daly plays that greatest of divas, Maria Calla, in Terrence McNalls Mast Class at New York's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. Her much anticipated performance has been well … [Read more...] about Critics round-up: Tyne Daly in ‘Master Class’ – “remarkable”
Alan Hollinghurst’s new novel, The Stranger’s Child: “an extraordinary achievement”
Lovers of Hollinghurst's writing have been waiting a long time for the end of June 2011 and the publication of his new novel. In fact, the wait has been seven years, but now we know that it was worth … [Read more...] about Alan Hollinghurst’s new novel, The Stranger’s Child: “an extraordinary achievement”
Apollinaire Scherr on the Bournonville style
In Scherr's Financial Times review of the Royal Danish Ballet's performances at the Lincoln Center, she gives a highly original account of what constitutes August Bournonville's choreographic … [Read more...] about Apollinaire Scherr on the Bournonville style
Critics round-up: Strictly Gershwin with the English National Ballet at London’s Royal Albert Hall
Difficult-to-please Clement Crisp gives a four-star crit for the English National Ballet's dance show "Strictly Gershwin": For this show is jolly, welcoming, coasting along on tunes that everyone … [Read more...] about Critics round-up: Strictly Gershwin with the English National Ballet at London’s Royal Albert Hall
Simon Keenlyside is “singing on the top of his form” or has a “tendency to shout tonelessly”?
Simon Keenlyside's British début as Macbeth at The Royal Opera House has both bemused and wowed the critics. After the live relay we can all have our say, but here is a smattering of divided opinion … [Read more...] about Simon Keenlyside is “singing on the top of his form” or has a “tendency to shout tonelessly”?
Critics round-up: American Ballet Theatre – The Bright Stream
His two-act comedy ballet “The Bright Stream,” new with the Bolshoi in 2003 and danced by that company at the Metropolitan Opera House in 2005, joined Ballet Theater’s repertory this January and is … [Read more...] about Critics round-up: American Ballet Theatre – The Bright Stream
The Meistersinger of Snoozeville – yawning at Glyndebourne
In 35 years’ acquaintance with Meistersinger, this was by far the slowest, dullest, most insipid I have seen. Apparently oblivious to the composer’s instruction to take the music at a “moderately … [Read more...] about The Meistersinger of Snoozeville – yawning at Glyndebourne
Critics round-up: Ballo della regina (Balanchine) – Live Fire Exercise (Wayne McGregor) – Danse à grande vitesse (Christopher Wheeldon)
The Royal Ballet's new triple bill brings two new pieces: Balanchine's Ballo della Regina, and a new creation by Wayne McGregor called Live Fire Exercise. The critics were almost all in agreement … [Read more...] about Critics round-up: Ballo della regina (Balanchine) – Live Fire Exercise (Wayne McGregor) – Danse à grande vitesse (Christopher Wheeldon)
Critics Roundup: South Park creators’ musical ‘The Book of Mormon’ triumphs on Broadway
It looks as though everyone got the joke after all. Even in Utah, it seems, with no damning articles or negative reviews. Time reports: “I was prepared for scatological humor, generous doses of the … [Read more...] about Critics Roundup: South Park creators’ musical ‘The Book of Mormon’ triumphs on Broadway
“Ideas batter me like hailstones. Who am I?” – Frankenstein at the National Theatre
Frankenstein, the play, directed by Danny Boyle, is just the latest in an almost innumerable sequence of stage, television and film versions of Shelley’s book. Ever since it was published, almost 200 … [Read more...] about “Ideas batter me like hailstones. Who am I?” – Frankenstein at the National Theatre
