Firebird/ In the Night/ Raymonda Act III, Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, December 2012

What a terrific triple bill this is, and on the evening of 29 December it was beautifully danced.

Among cast changes in Raymonda, Zenaida Yanowsky and Ryoichi Hirano replaced Nuñez and Pennefather in the main roles, and Ricardo Cervera replaced Whitehead in the Hungarian dance. Cervera showed a fine cutting edge and dramatic sense, and his partnership with Kristin McNally worked like a charm, the two of them looking like dolls together in perfect time to the music. The dancers in the female variations, the same as before, were even better if that is possible. Hikaru Kobayashi showed beautiful control and musicality, Yuhui Choe’s arabesques en pointe with a bending of the leg were extraordinary, Itziar Mendizabal was lovely in the slow variation, and Helen Crawford’s jumps in the fourth variation were a thrill to watch.

Raymonda Act III, all images ROH/ Tristram Kenton

As a ballet Raymonda has a rather silly story, but the Act III wedding of its eponymous heroine with Jean de Brienne, recently returned from the crusades, is a feast of dancing, and Yanowsky and Hirano were outstanding in these roles. I can’t resist a quick mention of Fumi Kaneko, Emma Maguire and Yasmine Nagdhi who were brilliantly on the music in the pas-de-trois. Raymonda Act III makes a glorious finale, and as the curtain opened Barry Kay’s ravishing set once again elicited spontaneous applause.

Galeazzi and Watson as Firebird and Prince

Firebird, so often the finale itself, is the starter here, with Mara Galeazzi showing beautiful arm movements as the Firebird. Edward Watson gave a well-nuanced performance as Ivan Tsarevich, Alastair Marriott was suitably dramatic as the wicked Kostcheï, and Christina Arestis was a gorgeous princess. The story is the reverse of Swan Lake, the prince abandoning his passion for an exotic female to accept a royal and more appropriate partner, but Stravinsky’s music is, or should be, hugely dramatic, though Barry Wordsworth’s conducting with its elegantly rounded corners lacked energy and bite.

No problem on that score with the second item, In the Night, where Robert Clark gave an excellent performance of Chopin’s nocturnes to accompany some glorious choreography by Jerome Robbins.

In the Night, Campbell and Maguire

Against a starlit background, Alexander Campbell and Emma Maguire made a wonderful first couple, he so full of energy, she showing a gentle gracefulness. And in the third variation, Carlos Acosta and Roberta Marquez made a dramatic entrance on their shaft of light, moving apart and together with great passion. It was a super partnership, but in the second movement Zenaida Yanowsky and Nehemiah Kish did not manage the same success as a week ago. She seemed far less comfortable than with Hirano in Raymonda, and a couple of the lifts went slightly awry. In the Night ends with a delightful waltz, and interactions between the six dancers — it is a superb vehicle for the individual brilliance that this Company has in spades, and they should dance it more often.

In the Night, Yanowsky and Kish

Unfortunately all three later performances are sold out, but click here for details and possible returns.

The Nutcracker with Nuñez and Soares, Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, December 2012.

At the start of this Peter Wright production, we see Drosselmeyer in his workshop comparing his toy Nutcracker with a portrait on the wall of his lost nephew. Then at the very end, where some productions show Clara being put to bed by her mother, the Nutcracker prince finds his Uncle Drosselmeyer and they embrace. It’s a nice touch, and in the meantime we are treated to a glorious stage spectacle that reflects E.T.A. Hoffmann’s mixture of the real and imaginary worlds by having Clara and her beloved Nutcracker join in some of the Act II dances.

ROH image/ Johan Persson

In the December 10 performance, Emma Maguire was a magical Clara, dancing with the girls at the party as an equal, and joining in the character dances of Act II to perfection. She inspired the whole performance, precise in her movements, wonderfully musical, and full of a sense of wonder.

In Act I at the Stahlbaum’s house there was an air of spontaneity underlying everything including the adult dances, and Gary Avis as the father exerted quiet authority while allowing Lovely performances with Christopher Saunders an admirable Drosselmeyer in his light blue cloak, Valentino Zucchetti sparkling as his assistant, and Kenta Kura and Akane Takada dancing an excellent vignette as the soldier and his lady. Ryoichi Hirano was a powerful Mouse King, bravely hit twice by Clara with her slipper, and when the Nutcracker recovers, Koen Kessels in the orchestra pit allowed the music to swell forth with emotion and then really let it rip, giving huge force to Alexander Campbell’s spectacular coupé-jetés round the stage.

ROH image Johan Persson

Campbell was a fine Nutcracker, miming the battle beautifully when they arrive in the Kingdom of Sweets, and as he and Clara join in some of the character dances they inspired them with joy. Maguire as Clara was a lovely addition to the Spanish dance, great fun with the four men in the Chinese dance, and a perfect mirliton with the four others. Campbell too was a strong addition to the Russian dance and the Waltz of the Flowers. As the Rose Fairy, Yuhui Choe was brilliantly on the music, but more rehearsal was needed for the four leading flowers and particularly their cavaliers, fine dancers though they be.

In the final pas-de-deux between the Sugar Plum Fairy and her cavalier, Marianela Nuñez showed a lovely line in her slow poses with Thiago Soares, and as things warmed up, the conductor moved the orchestra into top gear. Soares suddenly dropped out for some reason, but Dawid Trzensimiech, who was dancing one of the four cavaliers in the waltz of the flowers, seamlessly stepped in and completed the role.

Soares and Nuñez, ROH image/ Bill Cooper

Koen Kessels gave a top quality performance with the orchestra, and although performances continue until January 16 they are sold out, so call up for returns, and for details click here. Also see the live cinema relay on Thursday, December 13.

Royal Ballet Triple: Birthday Offering/ A Month in the Country/ Les Noces, Covent Garden, June/July 2012

This triple bill offers an evening of glorious choreography, opening with the exuberance of Ashton’s Birthday Offering.

Rojo and Bonelli, all images ROH/ Tristram Kenton

Birthday Offering, first shown in 1956 for the 25^th anniversary of the Company (then known as the Sadler’s Wells Ballet), starts with the melodious phrases of Glazunov’s Concert Waltz No. 1, and Tom Seligman in the orchestra pit made it swell with pride and energy. The choreography is full of charm and inventiveness, and the fourteen dancers, led by Tamara Rojo and Federico Bonelli, performed it beautifully. Among the six supporting men I particularly liked Brian Maloney, who showed wonderful head and arm movements, and the seven variations for the girls were a delight, starting superbly with Yuhui Choe. Helen Crawford showed excellent technique in the very difficult variation number seven, and Tamara Rojo came last in variation six, dancing brilliantly, both alone and with Bonelli. Costumes by Andre Levasseur are stunning, and this made a perfect start to the evening, but where was the floral bouquet for Rojo? A similar thing happened to her with the recent Prince of the Pagodas — very odd.

Yanowsky and Pennefather

From the unalloyed pleasure of Birthday Offering the evening moved to the drama of A Month in the Country, created by Ashton in 1976. To music by Chopin, arranged by John Lanchbery, this one-act ballet condenses the main aspects of Turgenev’s play using choreography that fully expresses the emotions of the characters. Zenaida Yanowsky gave a superb portrayal of the mother, exhibiting her customary flirtation with Rakitin at the start, followed by her attraction for the new tutor and finally her anguish at his departure. As he flees the house she struck a lovely pose of pensive regret by the doorway before stepping very slowly into the room, bringing the ballet to its close. In the meantime her sudden loss of interest in Rakitin was perfectly expressed, and Gary Avis gave a finely drawn portrait of this family friend. Her jealousy of Vera was beautifully judged, and Emma Maguire was superb as Vera, with her own fit of jealousy stunningly expressed. As the attractive young  tutor, who brings such immense confusion to the household, Rupert Pennefather was perfect, showing in his solos just the right joy and angst on occasion, and his partnering of both the mother and Vera was beautifully done. This performance of Month was worth the whole triple bill, with Birthday Offering as one bonus, and Les Noces as another.

Les Noces with Christina Arestis (top) as the bride

Les Noces is an extraordinary work, supported not only by an orchestra, but four pianists, and four vocal soloists plus chorus. Bronislava Nijinska’s stylised choreography to music and song-text by Stravinsky shows the preparations and ritual surrounding a peasant wedding, and Natalia Goncharova’s costumes in brown and white express the unifying power and conservatism of the local culture. There are analogies with the Rite of Spring, but here the chosen one is the bride whose previous life is being converted to one of procreation and duty to her husband, according to the implacable force of tradition and the collective will of the community. The dancers brought the choreography to life with huge force, and Ryoichi Hirano made the bridegroom a tall and powerful figure, with Christina Arestis suitably pliant as the wife. This ballet, always an invigorating experience to watch, brought the evening to a perfect close.

It’s a triple bill not to be missed, and I shall report on a different cast next week. Performances continue only until July 7, so book immediately — for details click here.

Ballo della Regina, with Nuñez and Kish/ La Sylphide, with Cojocaru and McRae, Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, May 2012

Ballo Della Regina (The Queen’s Ball) is a short Balanchine work set to music that was cut from Verdi’s opera Don Carlo.

The corps in Ballo, all Ballo images Bill Cooper

This ballet involves a sequence of variations, first with twelve girls in blue, joined by two principals in white. After a pas-de-deux for the principals, four soloists in violet come on one at a time, and more variations follow. It demands huge precision, and the principal roles, Marianela Nuñez was beautifully partnered by Nehemiah Kish. The soloists, Beatriz Stix-Brunell, Yuhui Choe, Emma Maguire and Samantha Raine also danced exquisitely, as did the twelve girls from the corps. Daniel Capps conducted with a suitably regal tone while maintaining a fine rhythm for dance, and this was a delight to watch.

Nuñez and Kish in Ballo

La Sylphide is quite different, a narrative ballet in two acts by Danish choreographer August Bournonville, and this excellent staging is by the Royal Ballet’s Danish principal Johan Kobborg, who has added some choreography of his own. The fine set designs by Sören Frandsen are beautifully lit by Mark Jonathan, and I love the costumes by Henrik Bloch. In the principal role of James, Steven McRae danced the difficult choreography sublimely. He is about to be married to Effie, beautifully portrayed by Emma Maguire whose fine deportment and épaulement created a glorious stage presence. So confident at first, until upset by James’s mysterious lack of desire after his encounter with the sylph who woke him from sleep.

Cojocaru in Act I, all Sylphide images Johan Persson

Alina Cojocaru was a lovely sylph, always apart and never actually dancing with James. This is a story about a young man’s self-destruction, aided by the appearance of the sorceress Madge whom he suddenly notices sitting by the fire in a place where the sylph had been. Who is Madge? Possibly a fallen sylph, jealous of the one who seems able to win James, and Kristen McNally was superb in this role, reading palms and defiantly predicting that Effie would not marry James but the farmer Gurn, who adores her. Her mime sequences were clearly and beautifully done, and Valentino Zucchetti danced Gurn with huge presence and power, performing effortless leaps in the air.

Cojocaru in Act II

This Bournonville ballet in its recent staging by Johan Kobborg was once a new departure for the Royal Ballet, and dancing this style along with the many other styles they perform is a remarkable feat. The music by Løvenskiold, composed when he was just twenty-one, was brilliantly conducted by Daniel Capps who gave it all the necessary momentum to sustain the narrative. A wonderful evening, but such a pity to see empty seats in the Amphi.

Performances continue until June 15 — for details click here.

Sleeping Beauty with Cuthbertson and Polunin, Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, December 2011

All images by Johan Persson

This performance, broadcast by live cinema relay, had a super cast along with plenty of musical excitement from the conductor and the orchestra, right from the very beginning of the Prologue. As we start, at the christening of the baby princess, those wonderful fairy variations were danced by Yuhui Choe, Beatriz Stix-Brunell, Fumi Kaneko, Iohna Loots, and Emma Maguire. Yuhui Choe in particular was wonderfully soft and musical in the first variation, and Emma Maguire was superbly musical in the fifth (pointy) variation. Claire Calvert was the Lilac fairy, and Kristen McNally a defiantly dramatic Carabosse. She was super.

Cuthbertson as Aurora in Act III

In Act I Lauren Cuthberston was delightful as the young Princess Aurora, and Nehemiah Kish showed strong stage presence as the English Prince who plays the main supporting role among the four suitors. The Rose Adagio that she performs with them came over entirely naturally, and Cuthbertson danced beautifully in her solo just before Carabosse enters to give her a spindle and ruin the party. Lovely acting from Cuthberston as she collapses and the English Prince catches her.

Polunin as the prince in Act II

 

In Act II, Sergei Polunin as the Prince demonstrated real excitement at the moment the Lilac fairy showed him the vision of Aurora, and the musical accompaniment for the journey to the sleeping forest came through with great charm. When the prince awakened the sleeping princess the music rang forth with huge power — congratulations to Boris Gruzin in the orchestra pit. Then as we swept forward into Act III, with barely a break for the curtain to close, the wedding party moved into full swing with Florestan and his sisters dancing to Tchaikovsky’s gold, silver, sapphire and diamond variations. Emma Maguire and Melissa Hamilton danced peerlessly in this pas-de-trois, supported by Dawid Trzensimiech who seemed to be on a different beat to the ladies, though his technique was excellent. As Princess Florine and the Bluebird, Yuhui Choe and Alexander Campbell were wonderful, their partnering outstanding, and their solos superb, but where was the applause? The audience was remarkably subdued throughout the evening, though they finally woke up for the grand pas-de-deux with Polunin and Cuthbertson, who were excellent.

Comparing this performance with the one I saw on October 31, the music was better this time by orders of magnitude. Since it was the same conductor, Boris Gruzin, the only explanation can be rehearsals. This is the big problem with the ballet at Covent Garden — rehearsal time. But what a pleasure to be at such a fine performance, and those costumes, recently updated and recreated are glorious.

This is a Sleeping Beauty to be proud of, and performances in the present run continue until December 21 — for details click here.

Review of Sleeping Beauty, with Rojo and Bonelli, Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, October 2011

Colourful new costumes with Oliver Messel’s original designs updated by Peter Farmer, fine ensemble dancing and some excellent solos, what more could one want? Well … coordinating the conducting better with the dancing would help.

Tamara Rojo in Act II, all photos Bill Cooper

During the first interval, a lady from the audience told me she thought only one of the fairy variations in the Prologue was well danced, and that was Emma Maguire in the fifth variation (Fairy of the Golden Vine). Certainly she showed enormous poise and control, as she did in the pas-de-trois from Act III, along with fine performances by Hikaru Kobayashi and Kenta Kura. But what went wrong with the other variations in the Prologue? The audience was lukewarm about the first four (Yuhui Choe, Helen Crawford, Hikaru Kobayashi, Samantha Raine), but I’m inclined to blame the conducting, which I found sluggish. After Itziar Mendizabal followed with the Lilac Fairy’s variation, the young men dance, but the music was terribly plodding, which makes it hard for the dancers. Good performances on stage however, as the king throws the invitation list to the floor, realising his master of ceremonies has omitted Carabosse, and then on she came with her ghastly attendants. Genesia Rosato was a fine Carabosse, but as her coach exited something crashed. A bit of extra excitement was welcome and the audience around me were amused.

Back for Act I with the delightful Tamara Rojo as Princess Aurora, and Gary Avis showing fine stage presence as the English prince. Pity about the ragged brass at the start of Act I, and pity about the Christopher Wheeldon’s new choreography for the Garland Dance, which is supposed to be a waltz. Problems with the brass reappeared in Act II, but Boris Gruzin’s conducting warmed up later in that Act, and the journey to the sleeping realm came over effectively.

Rojo and Bonelli in Act III

Act III contained some very fine dancing: the pas-de-trois of Florestan and his Sisters by Kobayashi, Kura and Maguire, as I mentioned earlier, and Yuhui Choe was a brilliant Princess Florine with her partner Alexander Campbell as the Bluebird. They danced beautifully together, and Red Riding Hood and the Wolf were wittily portrayed by Leanne Cope and Johannes Stepanek, with the little trees that now come on stage adding a nice touch. As the principal characters, Tamara Rojo and Federico Bonelli formed a fine partnership and came over as real fairy tale characters, he the perfect dark haired prince and she showing the reserve befitting a princess who is manipulated by forces outside her immediate control.

This revamped production with its new costumes is certainly worth seeing, though I hope the Company can make more rehearsal time available for putting the orchestra together with the dancers.

Performances with various casts continue until December 21 — for details click here.

Rhapsody, Sensorium, and Still Life at the Penguin Café, Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, March 2011

Why were there empty seats? This is a wonderful Triple Bill, and the Royal Ballet gave a glorious performance, yet on the Grand Tier four boxes in a row were empty. All paid for no doubt, but unused for some of the finest dancing the Company can produce.

Steven McRae in Rhapsody, photo by Tristram Kenton

The evening started with Rhapsody to Rachmaninov’s well-known Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, a delightful ballet created by Frederick Ashton in 1980. He made it for Baryshnikov in the lead role, and the quick darting steps for the leading man were brilliantly executed here by Steven McRae — his pirouettes with jumps were terrific. Yet McRae was not alone in his fabulous performance, but beautifully partnered by Alina Cojocaru, who danced with consummate musicality. Barry Wordsworth in the orchestra pit breathed life into Rachmaninov’s music, particularly during the big pas-de-deux, and the whole cast responded with warmth. This was a super performance, and although Ms. Cojocaru got only a relatively small bouquet in the curtain calls, she and McRae received enormous applause, and fully deserved it.

Benjamin and Whitehead in Sensorium, photo by Johan Persson

Following this was Sensorium, a ballet by Alastair Marriott, first performed in May 2009. The music is Debussy, from his Preludes, and the way it captures light and shade is beautifully assisted by Adam Wiltshire’s simple designs along with lighting by John Read showing subtle changes of intensity and colour. The principal couples were Marianela Nuñez with Rupert Pennefather, and Leanne Benjamin with Thomas Whitehead, and they and the other ten supporting dancers gave a wonderfully controlled performance. The choreography doesn’t flow and excite in the way that Rhapsody does, but as the middle item in the programme it was just right before leading in to the exciting romp of Penguin Café.

Its title may say Still Life, but this extraordinary work by David Bintley is nothing if not full of movement, eloquently expressing the life and energy of animals who are being left behind in a changing world. Emma Maguire was charming in the first movement as the Great Auk, a type of penguin that became extinct in the nineteenth century, and Zenaida Yanowsky was in sparkling form in the second movement as the Utah Longhorn Ram, excellently partnered by Gary Avis. These largish animals are followed by the Texan Kangaroo Rat, danced with wonderful fluidity by James Hay, and then come the dancing fleas, with Iohna Loots dancing brightly as the skunk flea in orange. After that comes the large Southern Cape Zebra with his bevy of charming ladies, and Edward Watson portrayed him with great stage presence.

Steven McRae as the Monkey, photo by Tristram Kenton

Towards the end, Steven McRae burst in as the Brazilian Woolly Monkey, dancing up a storm with fabulous jumps and fluid movements. It’s a glorious ballet to watch, and the music by Stephen Jeffes is an eclectic mix of Charleston, ballroom, jazz, folk and Latin American, superbly conducted by Paul Murphy. I particularly loved the huge bounce he gave to the movement with the fleas, but it was all enormous fun.

This is a Triple Bill not to be missed. The company is doing an extraordinary job in putting on these evenings with three ballets, and the idea that there are empty seats in well-appointed boxes is appalling. There are five more performances, finishing on March 28 — for more details click here.

Swan Lake, with Nuñez and Soares, Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, March 2011

Swan Lake shows Tchaikovsky at his very best, and although this is a perennial favourite, I find the production slightly unsatisfactory. More on that later, but the dancing was wonderful. Marianela Nuñez was lovely as the white swan, and seductively assured as the black swan in Act III. Thiago Soares was excellent as Prince Siegfried, showing suitable aloofness from Elizabeth McGorian as his mother, and fine technique in both his solos and in his pas-de-deux work with Nunez.

Marianela Nuñez as Odette

Most of the solo roles were also brilliantly performed. Akane Takada, Hikaru Kobayashi and Ludovic Ondiviela danced with great verve in the pas-de-trois of Act I — both girls danced beautifully, and Ondiviela was outstanding — and Iohna Loots, Emma Maguire, Romany Pajdak and Sabina Westcombe as the cygnets in Act II were right on the music and wonderfully in sync with one another. Emma Maguire and James Hay were terrific in the Neapolitan Dance of Act III, and all the character dances were extremely well performed. The only solo role I found disappointing was Christopher Saunders as Von Rothbart. He failed to exhibit a spirit of evil possessiveness in the white acts, and lacked the necessary menace in Act III, seeming more like an avuncular figure — albeit with a spooky hairstyle — taking his niece to a party.

The corps de ballet was superb, but the music was not quite as exciting as it ought to be. The first few bars were dull and it never really came alive. Boris Gruzin does a reliable job with the orchestra, but he took the solos for Nuñez rather too slowly, and some of the music for the corps sounded a bit rumpty-tum. Certainly there were stronger moments too, but on balance there was a lack of tension.

Nuñez and Soares in Act III

As for the production itself, improvements could very easily be made by getting rid of the supers in Act III. Their movements are entirely at odds with those for the rest of the company, and when the man in pink holds his white-gloved palms out, as if he might start directing traffic, he looks like something from another planet. They are at best an irrelevance, and I find them an annoying distraction. In Act III I’d be relieved to see some of the side sets eliminated because they take away from the space for dancing, and in Act IV I’d be glad to see some of Ashton’s choreography put back in again.

But, as I say, the dancing was superb, and the auditorium was full to the gills — performances of this run continue until April 8 — for more details click here, and for my review of another performance, with Rojo and Acosta, click here.

Cinderella with Rojo and Côté, Royal Ballet, Covent Garden, December 2010

For a description of the production, see my earlier review of a superb performance in November. This was a second view, in which we had Tamara Rojo as Cinderella, with guest artist Guillaume Côté from the National Ballet of Canada as her prince.

Tamara Rojo as Cinderella, photo by Bill Cooper

Tamara Rojo — a superbly accomplished ballerina — made a strong start with a somewhat minx-like portrayal, rather than being a poor ingénue, but she was insufficiently matched by Jonathan Howells and Alastair Marriott as the step-sisters in Act I. They got off to a rather mechanical start, and though things greatly improved in the Act II ball scene, the humour in their roles never fully came over. The performance as a whole took some time to warm up, but in Act II, Rojo and Côté, surrounded by the ‘dancing stars’ gave a display of classical ballet at its best. Ashton was a master of large ensemble dances and this was magical.

Act I also had its moments, particularly after Francesca Filpi as the fairy godmother introduced the Seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter (danced by Emma Maguire, Hikaru Kobayashi, Samantha Raine and Itziar Mendizabal). This forms a wonderful interlude after the real world has been swept away and replaced by the realm of magic for the remainder of the Act. Ms. Kobayashi was wonderfully warm and fluid as Summer, and Ms. Mendizabal showed great musicality in her dancing of Winter.

Paul Kay as the Jester, photo by Tristram Kenton

Guillaume Côté made a perfect prince in Act II partnering very well with Tamara Rojo, and Paul Kay danced the jester with perfect timing, jumping as if he were made of nothing more than the wit and charm he represented. Along with the principal couple, he was the star of the evening. Act III was beautifully executed by Rojo and Côté, and she gave a fine portrayal of the poor girl who retained the slipper matching the one she dropped in rushing away from the ball. Her sudden transformation there, from beauty to rags, was very well done, as were all the transformations in this production by Wendy Somes. It’s a delightful representation of Prokofiev’s imaginative score, very well conducted by Pavel Sorokin, and no matter which cast you see it’s an evening to savour.

Further performances are scheduled for December 9, 13, 17, 21, 28, 29 and 31 — for details click here. If you cannot get tickets, another run takes place around the Easter period — April 7, 10, 12, 13, 16, 19, 23, 25, and May 3 and 6, though booking is not yet open.

Sleeping Beauty, Royal Ballet, January 2010

Marianela Nuñez as Aurora, Royal Ballet photo by Bill Cooper

With the old Oliver Messel designs, this production by Monica Mason and Christopher Newton is simply wonderful, and with a superb cast on this first night of the present short run, we were all set for a terrific evening. In fact the dancing was excellent, so why was it that the applause during the performance was lukewarm? The answer, I’m afraid was the ragged conducting and occasional poor tempi from Valeriy Ovsyanikov. What is his excuse? That he had insufficient time for rehearsals? Maybe, but he conducted the same ballet in October and November, and his failure to start the music up in Act III immediately Aurora and her prince appear on stage just gave a sense of negligence. A one or two second gap may not seem important, but it ruins the impact. This was near the end, of course, but the problems showed themselves already in the Prologue with very slow tempi ruining the first and third fairy variations, and then the Lilac Fairy’s solo too. This music needs to sound exciting, but it failed, and the woodwind was occasionally out of phase with the brass. A world-class company like the Royal Ballet deserves better. Having got that off my chest, let us turn to the dancers.

The fairy variations in the Prologue were very well danced by Yuhui Choe, Hikaru Kobayashi, Helen Crawford, Iohna Loots and Emma Maguire, in that order. All were the same as I saw in October, except for Emma Maguire replacing Laura Morera, who in this performance danced the Bluebird pas-de-deux with Steven McRae. Both of them were excellent, and the Act III variations — Florestan and his sisters — were brilliantly performed by Sergei Polunin, Akane Takada and Yuhui Choe. Laura McCulloch did well as the Lilac Fairy, Elizabeth McGorian was beautifully dramatic as the wicked fairy, Carabosse, and I thought Gary Avis was excellent in the small part of the French prince in Act I, where too often, Princess Aurora has a weak partner for her first small pas-de-deux. She was gloriously danced by Marianela Nuñez, with Thiago Soares as a fine Prince Florimund.

Such a shame that the superb dancing could not be matched by some really good conducting, but like last October’s performance, which was also conducted by Ovsyanikov, there was not a single cheer except during the bows at the end, and for Nuñez after her Rose Adagio. This is not how it should be, and the Royal Ballet needs to use better conductors. Boriz Gruzin did an excellent job with Romeo and Juliet last week, so it can be done, but not apparently by Ovsyanikov. And he had the sauce to take a solo bow after the entire orchestra pit was empty!