St David’s Hall has enjoyed a highly successful ballet season this Christmas hopefully demonstrating that there is a healthy audience for classical dance in the city. Sadly, that does not seem to be reflected the amount of programming.
This performance by the Russian State Ballet of Siberia was excellent with a very traditional interpretation, high premium quality that was evident in both dance and music.
The orchestra, though small, was strong, especially the all-important solo violin. Not being a conventional theatre space, St David’s Hall does not accommodate large scene changes: this was accomplished by effective back-projection, so both acts ran without interruption.
Both principal parts were danced beautifully, by Anna Fedosova and Dmitry Diachkov balancing artistry and elegance with energy and enthusiasm. As usual, and surely as intended by Tchaikovsky, the dances by the various contenders for Prince Siegfried’s hand in the ball-scene were very entertaining. The corps de ballet met their challenges superbly, especially in the lakeside scenes.
Under the baton of Alexander Yudasin the orchestra delighted with Tchaikovsky’s evergreen, heart-breaking score with playing as virtuosic as the pirouettes and leaps executed on stage.
Until December 31.
http://www.stdavidshallcardiff.co.uk/whats-on/ballet-2017/
http://www.asiw.co.uk/reviews/nutcracker-st-davids-hall-cardiff