Haglund's Heel

Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Tony Bennett!

Oh, what a night at the Metropolitan Opera House.  Oh my, my, my, my, my.

At 85 years old, Tony Bennett made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera House this evening.  The concert tickets sold out pretty quickly when the date was announced last summer.  Haglund scored one of the last seats in the far-front side box of the dress circle.  Little did he know how perfect that awful seat would be.

The stage floor of the opera house was extended over top of the orchestra pit, and Tony's four piece orchestra was set up in front of the red curtain.  The sightline from the side box was such that not only could Haglund clearly see both hands of the pianist, but he could actually read the front of the teleprompter.  A teleprompter?  Why would Tony need a teleprompter?  Is he forgetting lyrics these days?  Hardly.

When Haglund opened the Playbill, he gasped in utter disbelief.  How did they manage to keep this a secret?!  Tony Bennett was bringing friends to the opera house to make their own debuts with him!  Aretha Franklin.  Unbelievable.  Alejandro Sanz from Spain.  Unbelievable.  And  S I R   E L T O N  J O H N !!  Unbelievable^10x10!

Haglund was losing it, right there in the Met.  He was trying to text everyone he knew, but couldn't get a signal.  All of a sudden, the house lights dimmed, and everyone calmed down waiting for the announcer to introduce Tony Bennett.

Announcer:  Ladies and Gentlemen.  Please welcome President Bill Clinton.

OMG!  BILL CLINTON!  Yes, THAT Bill Clinton walked right out onto the Metropolitan Opera House stage to do the warm-up for Tony Bennett.  Well, it was actually a tribute – and a pretty nice one at that.  He noted that as most singers age, their voices change and they sometimes have difficulty with pitch.  He then spoke about all the great humanitarian contributions that Tony Bennett has made as well as his Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in Astoria and his internationally acclaimed paintings.  Clinton concluded by saying that Tony Bennett had led "a life of perfect pitch."  He then introduced Tony who nearly got knocked over by the crowd's roar when he came out on stage. 

Clinton then left the stage and retreated to the Parterre where he sat for the whole concert with Hillary.  Yes, HILLARY CLINTON WAS THERE TOO.  Unbelievable^10x10!

Tony Bennett sang and sang, and then Aretha Franklin came out for a song.  They used the teleprompter to keep straight who would sing which lines.  Tony sang some more after which the young Alejandro Sanz came out for a duet.  Tony sang some more and then the Great Elton John came on stage dressed formally in black and nothing pink.  He and Tony sang one duet, and then Tony solo-ed the concert home.  He sang so many old favorites, and when he got to Shadow of Your Smile, he laid the microphone on the piano and came to the front of the stage to sing unamplified to the audience in the mammoth Metropolitan Opera House - just like all the great ones do.  The audience had to be especially quiet at this point, but Tony got his voice to the top of the house. 

Tony Bennett.  Tony Bennett.  Style.  Substance.  Staying power.  Oh, and he did tonight's concert free as a donation to the Met.  Style.

NYCB – Episodes, Apollo, 4 Ts – 9/16

Originally the Episodes of George and Martha, the section choreographed by Martha Graham and Balanchine's solo for Graham dancer Paul Taylor were excised after 1960.  What we're left with is something that looks like it might have been one of those legendary choreographed-in-thirty-minutes pieces by Balanchine that relies on a lot of passe pointe tendues, piques, and what would have been in the 1950s extreme flexibility and extensions.  But today, we are oh so over that, right?  Right.

The intellectualizing gobbledygook of the Playbill Repertory Notes – "succinctness of the score's musical speech," "gestural secrets," and "micro-structures of the music are paralleled by an analysis of classic dance motion"  – try to drug the viewer into thinking that he is about to have a religious experience.  Open your mind, breathe, accept all who are before you.  Haglund spent most of the time planning his escape out of the coffin of the 2nd Ring where many of the former 4th Ring Society members had been housed.  The bright light of the Blessed 4th Ring beckoned, and thankfully, there were many open seats from which to choose.

A pre-curtain announcement that Rebecca Krohn would replace Sara Mearns in the final section drew an equal mix of oh-no and oh-yeah.  The only section of Episodes that Haglund enjoyed last year was danced by Mearns who can take any steps tossed her way and pummel them into something entertaining, usually.  Where Mearns is the power-generating gush of Niagara Falls, Krohn is the serene, crystalline beauty of an unspoiled stream.  So her "take" on the final section, which was also her debut in the role, was indeed different but probably more in keeping with the temperament of the piece and the other performers who included Abi Stafford & Tyler Angle, Teresa Reichlen & Ask La Cour, and Wendy Whelan & Craig Hall.  Krohn's partner, Jonathan Stafford, was so good that he nearly disappeared behind his ballerina as he smoothly rotated her from position to position.  His elegance simply and beautifully highlighted his partner's. 

Robert Fairchild had an exceptional NY debut as Apollo.  As expected, he was much more theatrical than Apollos of recent years.  His responses to the music were bold and intense.  His responses to his three muses – Sterling Hyltin, Tiler Peck, Ana Sophia Scheller – were honest and generous.  Fairchild with his dark hair, handsome features, and sculpted torso and limbs looked god-like in white tights.  The awkwardness in a couple of pirouettes seemed to stem from a hesitation in getting fully to releve.  In the end, Fairchild made you care about Apollo and feel his anxiety in trying to learn so much from the muses before leading them off on the journey to that incredible final pose of arabesques that fan out from Apollo's base.  Haglund will be buying a ticket to see this cast again soon.

The Four Temperaments saw a number of standout performances including Gonzalo Garcia's Melancholic and Ashley Bouder's debut in Choleric.  Garcia was riveting.  His backbends had an almost Graham-like intensity to them.  His was a melancholy that no Paxil could contain.  While watching Bouder's Choleric, Haglund kept wondering why we've had to wait so many years to see it.  As a compact explosive driven, high voltage, pulse propelled Choleric, Bouder managed to make this role as fascinating as ever.  Her anger came through her movement not her face - fantastic. 

Amar Ramasar's Phlegmatic seemed to be a little mixed with Melancholic, but it was very well danced.  Savannah Lowery and Jared Angle in the Sanguinic section were a little plodding, perhaps only in comparison to the interpretation by Jennie Somogyi and Tyler Angle who are tough to match in terms of precision and authority.

The Theme section was, as expected, superbly danced by Lydia Wellington & Christian Tworzyanski, Lauren King & Allen Peiffer, and Ashley Laracey & Adrian Danchig-Waring.  The corps was sharp as could be, and the formations from the 4th Ring vantage point were picture perfect.

All in all, a terrific opening night for the rep, and it seemed like everyone was happy, if not relieved, to be dancing the real stuff – as we say in academic dance bloggerland.  The first H.H. Pump Bump Award of the fall season, a black & white zebra number from Alexander McQueen for a cool $805, must be shared by Gonzalo Garcia and Ashley Bouder for their socks-knocking performances in The Four Temperaments.

Ananiashvili @ AFH in Ratmansky program

Nina Ananiashvili will return to Lincoln Center with dancers from the State Ballet of Georgia and Musicians of Russia in an all-Alexei Ratmansky program at Avery Fisher Hall on Saturday, November 5 at 7:30 p.m.  Tickets are on sale now from $35 to $150.  Tickets for a reception are also being sold.

The program will consist of Ratmansky's Charms of Mannerism, Bizet Variations, and Dreams About Japan.

Performances will also take place at Brooklyn Center for the Arts on Friday, November 4 at 7:30 p.m and at the G.W. Lissner Auditorium in Washington DC on Sunday, November 6 at 6:30 p.m.

This is awesome news!  Buy online at lincolncenter.org or at the AFH box office.  For performance/reception tickets, call 646-383-7972 (International Concerts).

 

ABT – Nutcracker @ BAM

Tickets for ABT's The Nutcracker go on sale Monday, September 12th at BAM for performances December 14 through December 31.  The only principal casting released thus far is for the opening night performance which will be Veronika Part and Marcelo Gomes.

If ABT was able to release the principal cast for its premiere of The Firebird out in Orange County, CA next March, then it sure as heck should be able to release the principal casting for City Center, Nutcracker (DC & NYC), La Bayadere in DC in January, and Giselle in Chicago in March.  Tickets for these performances are or will shortly be on sale.  What's the point of withholding the information from the ticket buyers?  Oh, wait, maybe ABT isn't done lining up all of the guest artists as part of the company's Barnum & Bailey Initiative.  Maybe they're trying to sign Chaz Bono to dance with Osipova for our enjoyment.  It could happen.  Really.

Still waiting for those promotions for the deserving soloists.  Honestly, ABT must love wallowing around in the Public Relations Sewer.

Confirmed: Corella Ballet is bringing Tippet's Bruch Violin Concerto to City Center

From BroadwayWorld.com today:

CORELLA BALLET CASTILLA Y LEÓN

April 17 - 20, 2012 Tickets on Sale Sep. 12

Spain's Corella Ballet returns to New York City Center for a second engagement following several successful U.S. tours, this time presenting Clark Tippet's Bruch Violin Concerto, Christopher Wheeldon's For 4 and the world premiere of a new full-company ballet by Nuevo Ballet Español Artistic Directors Ángel Rojas and Carlos Rodríguez. In the vein of Soléa, the flamenco-inflected ballet that was the hit of the company's 2010 City Center season, the work fuses classical ballet and traditional Spanish dance.

Tickets: Starting at $25

Read more.

NYCB – Ocean's Kingdom preview clip

Sounds very cool.  Melodies.  Winds.  Brass.  Percussion.  Drama.

Go here to pre-order.  All versions include an exclusive bonus download of the live recording of the world premiere gala performance by the New York City Ballet Orchestra.  OMG!  But what about the souvenir tee shirts, Sir Paul?

 

 

Corella Ballet coming to NY City Center in April!

The New York City Center Theater has a mobile box office set up in a trailer outside the theater to handle ticket sales during the renovation.  Signs posted along the wall of the theater indicate the dates on which tickets will go on sale for various events.  Tickets for the Corella Ballet's performances on April 17 - 20 go on sale September 12 - according to the signs, although there is no mention of the performances on the City Center website yet.

This is such good news!  On Saturday, April 21st CB will be in Purchase with a rep program that includes Bruch Violin Concerto by Clark Tippet.  On April 27th, they open a Detroit run with Swan Lake.  Wow, either program - or both - at City Center would be phenomenal.  Imagine finally being able to see Herman Cornejo as Prince Siegfried.   Imagine finally seeing Bruch Violin Concerto again after such a long time.  Imagine being able to see Angel dance in New York more than once during ABT's season.  The CB website promises a lot of new repertory for the coming year as well.  No matter the program, it will be such a fabulous series of performances and so good to see Angel back in New York.

Hopefully, we won't have to wait long for the details.  But in any event, don't wait to buy tickets which will go on sale next week.

Wiles + Askegard = new ballet company

On Friday, November 11th at noon, the 92nd Street Y will present as part of its Fridays at Noon series a program featuring Charles Askegard who is retiring from NYCB this fall.  He will discuss his career and a new venture, the Signature Artists Ballet Company, which he is forming with Michele Wiles, who left ABT this past summer.  They will premiere a dance created in collaboration with composer John Zorn and artist Will Cotton.

It is FREE!  Mark your calendars: 11/11/11 at 12 on 92nd Street.

UIEX: ABT's Innovation Initiative 2011

Fresh from the H.H. Unofficial Information Exchange (UIEX) tickertape:  This year's Innovation Initiative showcase will be at the Joyce Theater on Saturday, Sept. 17th at 7:00 pm.  Choreographers are Marcelo Gomes, Gemma Bond, Mikhail Ilyin, and Zhong-Jing Fang.

Haglund has no idea why tickets aren't on sale on the website yet.  Let's all call the Joyce tomorrow and ask:  212-242-0800. 

Update 9/2
The folks at the Joyce Theater confirmed that the performance will take place, but said that ABT is simply renting the theater and is doing its own ticketing from its offices (212-477-3030).  Sounds suspiciously like a potentially expensive fundraiser.

Oh well . . .