Gorgeous costumes, splendid sets (except for the forest scene, which had trees like those in a children's toy farm) and many fine performances did not entirely compensate for the lack of magic in the Russian State Ballet's production of The Sleeping Beauty at the Point. Perhaps the last minute withdrawal of soloists from the Bolshoi upset the performance or maybe it was the chapter of minor mishaps such as the jamming of Carabosse's chariot and the spindle falling from the bouquet before Aurora could prick her finger on it.
Yet such things hardly explained the disastrous Bluebird pas de deux, the shaky Rose Adagio, nor the fact that Maya Dumchenko's Aurora, despite her technical excellence elsewhere, showed no excited anticipation of her 16th birthday party, but seemed cold even to Yevgeny Ivanchenko's tall, elegant and beautifully-danced Prince. The corps-de-ballet, too, compared poorly with that of the Perm State Ballet Company, seen so recently. Dmitri Protsenko's splendid Carabosse, Svetlana Ustiujaninova's fine Lilac Fairy, a delightful double by Galina Guzheleva as the Songbird Fairy and Little Red Riding Hood and Ekaterina Bykova's excellent White Cat helped to make the evening enjoyable nonetheless, as did the fine playing of Tchaikovsky's much-loved score by the National Symphony Orchestra, though conductor Alexander Sotnikou's tempo completely undermined the start of the Prince's solo at the end of Act 2. It was a nice touch, however, to start the famous Adagio at the top of the Palace stairs.
Given the fine Nutcracker by the same company and its artistic director Vyatcheslav Gordeev seen at the Point two years ago, expectations were high and this may have contributed to my disappointment. Let us hope tonight's Nut- cracker will equal the earlier one.
Sleeping Beauty will be repeated tomorrow at 2.30 p.m. and 7.30. p.m. The Nutcracker is at 7.30 p.m. tonight. To book phone 01-8363633