ABT: Sleeping Beauty, Orange County July 19, 2007
I saw ABT’s Sleeping Beauty on Tuesday evening, with Gillian Murphy as Princess Aurora, and Ethan Stiefel as Prince Désiré. I saw this new production a few weeks ago in NYC, and I didn’t really love it then either. Thankfully, there have been a few changes, no more “flying” or “suspending” (more like) in this production; seeing Carabosse clawing while suspended in mid-air and the Lilac Fairy trying to look dignified while being tilted in the air sideways was a bit too much. The stage is much smaller in Orange County than it is at the Met; so it was odd to see the tower, and the cenery so much closer together, with not as much free space for the dancers. Gillian looked like she was going to crash into some of the dancers during her solos, however, they adjusted beautifully so no collisions occurred.
The second viewing has confirmed a few things in my mind:
- The “dream” sequence in which Prince Désiré “flies” through the air (held up by 5 fairy knights) is the most awkward ballet scene ever. No prince can look princely and dignified while being held up by 5 men with blue glitter in their hair.
- Gillian Murphy is a beautiful, energetic, youthful dancer, but unemotional. Her smile seemed a bit frozen on her face; but are we asking too much that dancers are good actors as well? I’m not sure. She seemed to exude youth and innocence, which is correct characterization. There just didn’t seem to be much difference in emotion throughout the whole ballet.
- Sascha Radetsky’s dancing as the Bluebird was beautiful. The heights of his jumps rivalled Herman Cornejo’s, who hopefully will recover from his sprained ankle soon. (I see he is scheduled to dance the part of the prince on Sunday! FINALLY….he gets a prince role, it happens waay too rarely). I think I am in the minority when I say that Sarah Lane did not impress me as much as Sascha did in their pas de deux. I must be missing something because she just got promoted as soloist, and is scheduled to Princess Aurora on Sunday. I look forward to seeing her in other roles to help make up my mind.
- Stella Abrera was beautiful as Lilac Fairy. She didn’t bat an eyelash when her “boat” (riding with the Prince, leading him to Aurora) stopped for a second, then sped up across the stage… even though the whole audience laughed. Stella was my mom’s favorite dancer, my mom thought she was so regal. And indeed, she was.
- Gelsey Kirkland is a brilliant presence on stage; she mastered the balance between evilness and humor
And I think one of the biggest surprises of the night was the lush sounds of the Pacific Symphony orchestra, under the baton of Ormsby Wilkins. I’ve never heard ABT accompanied by such lush, rich music (somehow, ballet orchestras alway sound so thin and tinny), I was very impressed by the talent of the local community symphony. Perhaps they had more time to rehearse than the ABT ballet orchestra, and I think Ormsby Wilkins did a superb job of urging an emotional performance of the musicians, complete with a beautiful lush, musical cello solo for the Prince dream sequence (although what was happening on stage made me cringe), and violin solos that did not sound squeaky or out of tune (which is a rare occurrence). The OC REgister review disagrees with me about Ormsby Wilkins though, but I am pretty sure I’m right. =D
I totally agree with everything you said. None of the ballerinas I saw who danced the lead here impressed me much — I thought it was just because it wasn’t my favorite ballet, but maybe they don’t have enough to work with in this production. I feel the same way about the fairy knights, or whatever they’re called, carrying the prince around — very corny and undignified! No matter who is dancing the prince! And Sascha — I loved him as bluebird — i thought he was every bit as good as Herman. I didn’t see Sarah Lane in any major roles; I just remember liking her in Sinatra Suite, but I haven’t seen her in a major role in a full-length story ballet, so am interested to hear how she does as Aurora.
oh my, sarah lane is going to dance aurora?? i’m really curious how she’s going to do.
You were TOTALLY right about the Pacific Symphony. They sounded fantastic on Tuesday night, and Wilkins kept the score moving at a crisp pace, and balanced out the orchestra’s coloring beautifully. The orchestra sounded so warm and full – I’ve never heard the ballet score performed so well in a live stage performance before. I must defend the Pacific Symphony, though… I’d hardly characterize them as a community orchestra anymore – music director Carl St. Clair has elevated its national profile significantly, and they’re playing magnificently as a major orchestra in the new concert hall across the plaza.
I agree with everything you said about the awkward sections of the ballet. The prince looked nervous everytime they rushed around him to pick him up! I did, though, end up enjoying the production much more than I thought i was going to, being prepared for the worst after New York reviews…
Art, “community” orchestra has *never* had a negative connotation with me…my clarinet teacher in high school was principal at the Pasadena Symphony; Jorge Mester, their music director has also elevated the quality of their music immensely. Even though my teacher was principal clarinetist at LA Opera, sub for L.A. Phil, musician for Hollywood movies… her first passion was Pasadena Symphony, a community orchestra.
I agree with you; I’ve never heard such an orchestra accompany a ballet before. Sounded better than the ABT orchestra in NYC.
Leave a Reply
That was a very nice review.
I have seen Gillian in that Swan Lake DVD, and I must agree with you that she does not convince that much as an actress. She’s beautiful , but not so emotional.
Hello,
Thank you for your kind comments about the Symphony’s playing. I have served as President for nine years, and we are proud of our role performing with great ballet companies including ABT.
Pacific Symphony’s budget now rank it among the top 25 symphony orchestras in the US. It performs vastly more services annually than a group like Pasadena and it is drawing audition candidates from around the nation.
In the national symphony scene, “community orchestra” implies one which draws amateur players and serves only a small local audience. With a highly successful recent international tour to Europe, arguably the Pacific Symphony has achieved national stature.
Community orchestra is not a term representative of the Pacific Symphony or the caliber of musicians who occupy its ranks.
Thank you again for your kind comments.
John
john,
perhaps pacific symphony could redefine the term “community orchestra”? pasadena symphony, like the pacific, is made up of professional musicians, not amateurs, coming from juilliard, eastman, USC, Indiana, San Francisco, Curtis, and other music schools around the country. while pacific may have a larger budget than pasadena, my heart has a special place for the pasadena symphony; esp since the untimely passing of my clarinet teacher and the amazing concerts i have enjoyed as a high school student in its audience.
thanks for your comment!
Jen,
On behalf of my colleagues in the Pacific Symphony, thank you very much for your kind words about our performances! We’re thrilled that you enjoyed the music. It was especially nice to hear from one of Emily’s students. Many of us worked with her and we miss her.
Thanks again!
Christine Frank
Pacific Symphony Players’ Association
Christine,
Thank you for your comment and glad to meet one of Emily’s colleagues! Emily will always be remembered as a kind, ever-patient clarinet teacher, as well as a phenomenal musician.