Sadlerâs Wells; Royal Opera House, London
Cue rapturous applause â and backbends â as the stars of ENB and the Royal Ballet storm back to live performance in two bold, future-facing programmes
âAccelerating mayhemâ: members of English National Ballet perform Arielle Smithâs Jolly Folly. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
âAccelerating mayhemâ: members of English National Ballet perform Arielle Smithâs Jolly Folly. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters
Sun 23 May 2021 04.00 EDT
Ballet is back, and itâs the little things Iâve missed. The slap of a sole on the floor, the skitter of a pointe shoe. That sudden intake of breath before a leap. The swoosh of a turn. Those tiny sounds of effort and release are signifiers of the bigger thing that makes live dance unique: its ability to embody a wide range of emotion in a tangible form.
Last modified on Wed 19 May 2021 06.46 EDT
It is a statement of intent that the Royal Balletâs first show back for 2021 is focused on living creators, not classics from the vaults. Weâre starting afresh, and the dancers are full of hunger and finesse, diving into new vocabularies and ways of storytelling.
Christopher Wheeldonâs well-loved Within the Golden Hour is a safe opener, with its twinkling costumes, the minimalist swell of Ezio Bossoâs score and the kind of dance you can melt into â in Francesca Hayward and Valentino Zucchettiâs serenely slow pas de deux you can almost hear your heartbeat decelerating. But the rest of the programme suggests artistic director Kevin OâHare is interested in things beyond pure beauty.
Verdi’s
Nabucco. Conductor: Marco Armiliato, director: Günter Krämer. With Plácido Domingo, Freddie De Tommaso, Riccardo Zanellato, Anna Pirozzi. Production from January 2021. Register for free and view here. 8 am ET: Wigmore Hall presents Timothy Ridout & Tom Poster. 2019 New Generation Artist Timothy Ridout joins Tom Poster from Wigmore Hall’s Associate Artists, the Kaleidoscope Chamber Collective, to bring the world première of Kurt Schwertsik’s
Haydn lived in Eisenstadt, written especially for this concert. This will be performed between two Brahms viola sonatas which were originally written for clarinet. Register, view here and on demand for 30 days. LIVE
7 pm ET: Lawrence Brownlee presents
The Sitdown with LB. The tenor’s Facebook Live series returns with an unfiltered and honest look inside the opera industry. This week: Management, featuring Matthew Horner (IMG Artists) and Alex Fletcher (Fletcher Artist Management). View here. LIVE 7:30 pm ET: Met Opera Streams presents Donizetti’s
Don Pasquale. Starring Beverly Sills, Alfredo Kraus, Håkan Hagegård, and Gabriel Bacquier, conducted by Nicola Rescigno. Production by John Dexter. From January 11, 1979. View here and for 24 hours.
7:30 pm ET: SalonEra presents
Jewish Diaspora. Recorder virtuoso Daphna Mor explores Sephardic song and Jewish liturgical poetry while viola da gamba player Elizabeth Weinfield highlights the contributions of 17th-century converso composer Leonora Duarte. Additional guests to be announced. View here.