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Swedish Royal BalletJanuary 2006 Stockholm, Opera House by Norman Reynolds |
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As posted on our Postings pages... I too ventured East to see 'Peer Gynt' at Stockholm on Friday and Saturday. I spent almost an hour on icy streets in driving snow with temperatures between -8 and -18 Celsius (fortunately I had the foresight to buy a pair of gloves at the airport before setting off and I had my 'Johann Kobborg' hat too - essential for covering the ears and most of the face), trying to locate the Operan, but after walking in circles across bridges spanning frozen canals and moving from island to island, watching the cars sliding to a halt at traffic lights, I eventually deduced that I was at the wrong end of 'Fredsgatan' - (what true balletomane could ever forget such a street name) and, proceeding in the correct direction there was the Opera House facing me, with the excellent Dance Museum on the left. I felt as if I had just taken part in my own classical ballet, and should have left a message 'I might be some time'. The house is well supplied with cloakrooms, to left and right for the Parkett and for the first circle levels at least, and many of the local patrons had checked in their snow boots too. The cloakroom charge is £1.15, but programmes cost only £2.30. I had not prepared for Peer Gynt, and if I ever knew the story I had forgotten it. The treatment is typical of John Neumeier and reminiscent of his 'Oddyssee' with the main character a man who is on stage for some 98% of the time, even his quick changes in Act 2 are carried out on stage, but that is part of the story. Males outnumber females, and where the men in grey suits move in slow motion across the stage in Act 3, I lost count at forty, but perhaps this was an optical illusion. The story clearly provides the framework, but the treatment delves into emotional and psychological aspects presented in dance form. This is the second full length ballet with music by Schnittke I have seen in the last few months. David Nixon used music by Schnittke, Rachmaninov and Daugherty in 'Dracula' last year. There are perhaps some similarities with Stravinsky and Prokofiev in terms of music for ballet. I had a feeling that the ballet was structured rather in the form of a symphony, with a slow first movement, then a fast second movement with lots of jolly dances, then an even slower last movement. Peer was danced on Friday by principal dancer Anders Nordstrom, giving a magnificent performance. Saturday it was soloist Sebastien Michanek, who started rather quietly, but gradually got more into it and his presentation improved. This is an extremely demanding role. On both nights the audience response at the end was tremendous. Friday's performance of 'Peer Gynt' was the first for this season, and I understand it was dedicated to the memory of Gunilla Roempke, former dancer and Artistic Director of the Royal Swedish Ballet, who died aged 65 in November. A letter from John Neumeier was read out before the performance.
The nearby Dance Museum is well worth a visit, not only for a warming cup of coffee. There is a selection of their collection of Ballet Russes costumes, various historic artifacts, pictures of Taglionni, model sets of ballets such as 'The Ice Rink' and 'The Toy Box' and much more. Three or four historic or rare films were showing on screens or TV screens, and they have a rolling programme of rare films combined with documentary films. In the shop there is a small selection of videos and DVDs, including some of the less usual, such as 'Mime Matters', 'Hobson's Choice', 'Judas Tree and Nutcracker Sweeties' and 'Ilusionen Wie Schwanensee'.
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