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Music
by
Hans Werner
Henze
Choreography
by
Frederick
Ashton
Designed
by
Lila de Nobili
The
Orchestra
of the Royal Opera
House conducted by
Richard Bernas
Ondine
Tamara Rojo
Palemon
Jonathan
Cope
Berta
Elizabeth
McGorian
Tirrenio
Ricardo Cervera
Act
III
Divertissement
Mara Galeazzi
Jose Martin
Deidre Chapman
Isabel McMeekan
Jonathan Howells
Joshua Tuifua.
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Royal
Opera House
The
Royal Ballet
19 April - 24 May 2005 |
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The
consensus on Ashton's 'Ondine'
is that it has some very good
things in it - and this is
true; as is the implication
that it is otherwise unsuccessful,
not least because the music
(which greatly disappointed
Ashton himself) largely fails,
except in the storm of Act
II and the divertissements
of Act III. If anyone could
rescue the passages in need
of succour, it is Tamara Rojo,
whose liquidly undulating
arms and submarine fluidity
are perfect instantiations
of her part.
Ashton is a great story teller,
and even here, with refractory
materials, he manages to convey
the haunting quality of the
tale, and succeeds in conveying
its ultimate poignancy well.
But too much of the choreography
is less than Ashton's best,
and only the charm of Rojo
and the unfailing solidity
of Cope - helped by excellent
staging - keeps the eye alert
during the flatter passages.
The staging is marvellous.
Act II's storm is almost the
real thing: heaving seas,
waves pouring over the deck
rails, the sailors and passengers
swaying to the pulse of the
deep. The gothic gloom of
Act III is a fitting frame
for the fulfilment of love's
fatal power; and the moonlight
on the sea when Ondine emerges
as Palemon thinks of her is
a touch of magic.
But without question the best
thing about the performance
is Tamara Rojo, a dancer of
enchantingly eloquent talent.
Some are reminded by her of
Fonteyn, not least because
of her expressive acting;
but she is distinctively individual
as a dancer, with a lightness,
quickness and grace that make
her a quintessential ballerina.
She can inhabit any role,
from princess to pauper, from
lost girl to ghost of the
sea, because the stories flow
through her as she flows through
the music that makes her dance
- like one of the bird's in
Marvell's 'The Garden': 'waving
in their plumes the various
light', except in her case
it is dance she weaves into
the texture of sound.
Ricardo Cervera deserves a
mention for his vivid, angry,
energetic and vengeful Tirrenio,
and Elizabeth McGorian is
a convincing Berta, aristocratic
and beautiful. The Act III
Divertissement was a high
pleasure, Jonathan Howells
as usual shining brightly
among some bright stars.
AC
Grayling |
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