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Music
by
Jules Massenet
Arranged
by
Leighton
Lucas
Choreography
and
staging by
Kenneth Macmillan
Design
by
Nicholas
Georgiadis
The
orchestra
of the
Royal Opera House
conducted by
Martin Yates
Manon
Sylvie Guillem
Des
Grieux
Jonathan
Cope
Lescaut
Thiago Soares
Monsieur
G. M.
Anthony Dowell
Lescaut's
Mistress
Mara Galeazzi
Madame
Elizabeth
McGorian
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Royal
Ballet at the
Royal Opera House
3 February 2005 |
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Kenneth
Macmillan was a genius at
portraying emotion in dance.
A story of love, jealousy
and renunciation like this
one, full of weight and depth,
gave him a subject perfectly
suited to his palette. The
result is a great ballet,
and this company with these
principals dances it with
wonderful elan and poignant
beauty. The dancing partnership
between Sylvie Guillem and
Jonathan Cope makes the love-relationship
between Manon and Des Grieux
come vividly, beautifully,
and at last heartbreakingly
alive on stage; with the superlative
support of Thiago Soares as
Lescaut and Mara Galeazzi
as Lescaut's mistress, the
principals offer a truly memorable
performance.
At the end the audience could
scarcely bear to let the artists
go, so enthusiastic was the
reception. Covent Garden audiences
are generous, but the applause
was special for this 190th
performance. Such a recurrent
presence on this stage makes
Manon a classic in the repertoire,
yet it was danced on this
night as freshly and vividly
as if it were enjoying its
premiere.
It is remarkable how economically
the story of the love between
Manon and Des Grieux is told
by Macmillan, who at the same
time allows the several eloquent
pas de deux to unfold as if
there were all the time in
the world for them. Some critics
think Macmillan's solos have
a tendency to trip themselves
on moments of fussiness and
over-complexity, but the pas
de deux are constructed out
of sheer poetry. The story
depends on the intimacy found
and enjoyed by Manon and Des
Grieux, and Macmillan truly
seems to have relished the
task of exploring it, and
painting its details. Guillem
and Cope likewise seem to
have perfectly understood
what he wanted.
In characteristic Covent Garden
style the production is handsomely
designed and staged, and the
music wonderfully performed.
Every detail is paid careful
attention, to good effect.
Anthony Dowell is an utterly
convincing Monsieur G. M.,
conveying the power and menace
of wealth, and the relentlessness
of the injured lover, with
great accomplishment. It is
usual to find the synchronisation
of the corps de ballet a little
approximate at Covent Garden,
but that idiosyncrasy of the
company did not detract -
it rarely does - from the
impression of the whole, which
in any case was so powerful
in the work of Guillem and
Cope, and so well abetted
by Soares, that nothing but
the impression of excellences
remains.
AC
Grayling |
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