<B>Conductor aims to give Fonteyn and Nureyev new life</B><BR>By David Ward in The Guardian <P><BR>A live orchestra is set to accompany dead dancers in a unique collaboration on one of the world's great ballets. <BR>The conductor Carl Davis, famous for live performances of his scores for silent movies, will direct the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic as Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn dance the leading roles in a film version of Romeo and Juliet made in 1966. <P>The event promises to be as eerily attractive as a prom concert in which a piano roll of a long-dead George Gershwin playing Rhapsody in Blue was accompanied by a live orchestra. <P>Romeo and Juliet, choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan to Prokofiev's music for the Royal Ballet, was hailed as a classic when first produced at Covent Garden in 1965 and was the climax of the spectacular partnership between the queen of British dance, then 45, and the 26-year-old flamboyant Russian defector. <P><A HREF="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,3604,687618,00.html" TARGET=_blank><B>click for more</B></A><BR>

Some are already up in arms at this innovation. I rate Carl Davies highly for his work in accompanying some of the greatest silent films. <P>There was also a splendid live orchestral and choral accompaniment for the brilliant 1936 russian film 'Alexander Nevsky' in the Royal Festival Hall a few years ago. This wqas particularly successful as the sound of Prokofiev's wonderful music had necome very scratchy on the film version.<P>However, I do have concerns about how successfully they will be able to phrase the music to accomapny these two glorious dancers on film and whether they will make them appear unmusical. At the end of the day if it doesn't work then no great harm is dome an it need not be repeated. Carl Davis is enough of an artist to be given a chance, although I wonder whether he has previously conducted for dance.<P>What do others think?

I hope he doesn't use the video as his model for the synchronization of the music and dancing, as a great deal of it is out of sync. I saw the film in a theatre before I saw the ballet live, so I don't know whether the synchronization was also off in the film. I don't know whether it's possible to be in sync in the film and out of sync in the video. But from having watched the dancers in quite a few rehearsals in San Francisco and seeing many performances, I find it very frustrating to watch the video and see so much of the choreography one beat off.<P>I think the idea of playing live for the film is odd, although I don't think there's any reason it shouldn't be tried. And if the conductor is correctly coached and actually plays the music with the right timing, I would love to see it.