19/7/02<BR>I didn't have very high expectations after the lukewarm reviews Yseult Lendvai got but I've had a complete turn-around. How many times am I allowed to say "that was the best I've ever seen!"? Because I think I've already overstepped my quota. I was all hyped up to fawn over Tewsley again, but I'm going to write about Lenvai instead. She danced THE BEST Tatiana I have ever seen. In my eyes she actually outshone Tewsley, and if you've seen my past posts of him you'll know that's a near impossible feat!<P>Lenvai - she's luminous. You can't take your eyes off of her. She isn't classically beautiful and without a smile her face she can look pretty grim. At the start her Tatiana is a cold fish, stern, almost school-marmish. She has been untouched by passion. Even her interactions with Olga are cool and not so affectionate - very different from the very warmth the RB dancers have shown. In fact, this Tatiana rarely smiles, and when she looks into the looking glass, she sees a plain Jane and her disappointment is obvious. She does not see a future with love. <P>But when Onegin lifts her for the first time, the transformation is amazing. She has this sudden intake of breath, breaking into a smile, and she looks like she's overwhelmed with new emotions. Tatiana suddenly blossoms and becomes beautiful. These things, yes I've seen in Rojo, Cojocaru, Galeazzi, etc, but never with the kind of clarity that Lendvai has. There is nothing forced about her acting and she is so utterly unique. And it's curious to see how differently she dances the role to the others. Those four flying lifts in the mirror pdd for example, she makes such beautiful shapes in the air with her legs. And watching her here made me realise how unfinished Cojocaru's Tatiana is, which I had always loved. It's so hard to describe how much better Lendvai's dancing is, but she is in a completely different class. She is a brilliant actress - dragging Onegin behind her in the final pdd, she seemed to break into tears with such terrible pain in her face. And she just has this resonance, this maturity that I've never seen with the others, though it may have a lot to do with the greater experience she has with the role. In Act III, when she entered the ballroom with Gremin, everything about her, her face, her poise, her dancing, was true royalty. I have to confess I've snoozed through this pdd before but with Lendvai I was riveted. Can I say again, that was the best Tatiana I have ever seen!<P>Ok, everyone else. I have to confess, I was barely watching Tewsley at all. His dancing and acting was as usual excellent, and the electricity between the two of them was terrific. I've posted about him before. 'Nuff said. <P>I REALLY enjoyed Belinda Hatley's Olga. On par with Cojocaru and Nunez. Hatley is so graceful, so musical, with a very expressive face. She was petulant and immature without losing her sweetness. Hatley makes a good match with Johannes Stepanek, her Lensky. Their pdd was a dream to watch. I was very impressed with Stepanek. He had such a sweetness to him in his first solo, and it's a wonder that it is he who is infatuated with her and not the other way around. I liked his different shades of moods - when Onegin started flirting with Olga, the way he went from good humour, to tolerance, to unease and then hurt, the way he manfully tried to put a brave face on, and how young he seemed at that moment. It made his motive for challenging Onegin seem much clearer. Like it stemmed from his immaturity, trying to mask it and be a real man. His solo was very nice, a little wobbly I thought! <P>A really fantastic evening, probably one of my best, and I would love to see Lendvai guest again. I'm very sorry that she only had two performances. I'm tempted to write to the director and ask him to ask her to stay! <P>It was a full house which is what all the dancers deserve. I was a bit disgruntled to hear that all tickets on their Tuesday performance were half-price - unheard of at the ROH except when performances are selling particularly badly. London just doesn't know what it missed. Did anyone else see this wonderful cast?
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