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As posted on our Postings pages...

To start with things as they struck me at the time (without a cast sheet till the end):

The orchestra was playing with great clarity and precision (although the tempi were sometimes a little slow - I assume to accommodate Darcey's height) with lovely woodwind playing and an exceptionally beautiful violin solo (from the female assistant concertmaster whose name I've temporarily forgotten) in the pdd.

The nymphs in the first act (the romantic-tutu wearing ones not the tunic-ed ones) were extremely ragged (and so were the men) - out of time, out of line. The performance from the corps sharpened up as the evening went on. Sarah and I spent a long time wondering who was playing Eros - the stillness was AMAZING as was the creepiness when he appeared in disguise. Roberto Bolle danced nicely as Aminta - this role could be considered money for old rope, though, as he didn't get much to do. He didn't set the stage on fire, either. Just - well, nicely danced. Darcey, on the other hand, was a joy. She is just soooo beautiful to watch. I was talking on the chat page about how few truly beautiful voices you get in opera these days - Kiri being one of the last I think - and to me, Darcey is the balletic equivalent of the Margaret Price/Kiri te Kanawa/ Elly Ameling creamy, beautiful sopranos. She's not the greatest dance actress in the business but her dancing is very very lovely. Still the best legs and feet in the company I think. Some clever business with the arrows although Sarah was sure Darcey had aimed for Roberto's RIGHT side and he clutched his LEFT... The local peasants I'm afraid to say had me reaching for the hanky to put in my mouth. First, why were the men wearing graeco-roman tunics and the women pseudo-mediaeval frocks? And second, what was with the toy lambs and the wheelbarrows full of flowers? Before I left my 3-year old was saying he wanted to come too. If I'd known about the toy lambs I'd have let him!

On to Act II. I kind of guessed that it was Thiago Soares as Orion - it's his sort of role - but behind that moustache it could have been anyone. He acted up a storm as usual; his comedy oriental attendants did their thing very well, and Darcey was excellent in this act. She seems to have developed a nice line in understated comedy and also did some good sinuous shimmies. When Eros appeared in his boat at the end of the act his identity was immediately clear - the thighs were less easy to recognise in statue guise. Some excellent dancing from Mr. Harvey.

Final act silly beyond belief, really - just as an aside, I did not recognise Belinda Hatley (as Ceres I think) - I could have sworn it was Jaimie Tapper. Some nice dancing from her and from Christina Arestis (easily recognisable!) as whichever muse it was. A shame perhaps not to do more with the muses but there you go, you can't fit EVERY mythical convention into a ballet lasting an hour and a half, can you? Mara Galeazzi gave a lip-curling, eye-flashing turn as Diana (another money-for-old-rope part? 5 minutes just before the curtain...) - a shame not to see more of her too.

In summary? Well, there was some evidence of RB first-night syndrome (look forward to reading Judith Mackrell's opinion - passed her on the way in) but on the whole the work was well-performed. Was it worth reviving? ummm.... I don't see it as an enduring piece. I rather enjoyed the music, most of which I knew without knowing what it was iyswIm; but the story is even by ballet standards pretty lame and the choreography not sufficiently outstanding. A pleasant way of passing a couple of hours, but I would give higher priority to almost anything else in this year's repertoire. And for those who were terribly disappointed that they wouldn't be seeing Mr. Cope - well, given the very small amount of time that he would have been on stage, it really wasn't a big deal!