Hérold (arr. Lanchberry) : La Fille mal gardée
Royal Ballet
Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Barry Wordsworth
This was an absolute delight from start to finish. Arguably Sir Frederick Ashton's most popular ballet, certainly one of his most enchanting, Fille has never left the repertory since he introduced this version in 1960, and when you see a performance as sparkling as this one, it's very easy to understand why. It represents most of the best aspects of Ashton's choreography; carefully patterned, yet apparently artless corps numbers, deft humour, and lyrical romanticism. Even the props, which can be a little irritating in other places, just add to the charm here, and tonight, with the company on top form, there was nothing required of us but to sit back and revel in every moment.
Roberta Marquez (Lise) and Steven McRae (Colas) were an excellent pair of lovers, she vivacious and sweet, he a bit laddish, but steadfast, an excellent partnership, well balanced and physically very much in tune with each other. Philip Mosley stayed just the right side of a pantomime dame with his Widow Simone, pugnacious but good-hearted underneath it all, a strong presence without hamming it up too much. Ludovic Ondiviela was a wonderfully gormless Alain, daft but touching, making the tricky, deliberately awkward choreography look not natural (it's hardly meant to) but right for the character.
The cockerel and hens were the usual runaway success in the first act - one of my companions, who had never seen the complete ballet before remarked regretfully that she would have liked them to have returned in Act 2 - and Gary Avis was a fine, blunt, blustery father of the putative groom. The whole corps de ballet was in fine fettle, dancing with crisp grace and good humour. As if all that was not already enough to ensure our enjoyment, the production, for all its 50-year old designs, looked as fresh as a daisy, gaily coloured and picture-book pretty, and the orchestra was playing at its very considerable best. This was a superb performance, and a real credit to the Royal Ballet; it's good to know that there is now a permanent record of an evening of such a calibre.
[Next : 24th May]
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