The Sleeping Beauty at the Royal Concert Hall Nottingham Review

Reviewed by Nigel Chester

The concert hall itself is a large modern theatre, with huge seats and leg room to match. The staff were helpful and the audience seated in a very efficient manner.

In 1996, Marina Medvetskaya formed her company, the St Petersburg Classic Ballet whose newest production of The Sleeping Beauty by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky has had its UK premiere in 2019.

Surrounding the theatre are many bars and restaurants to allow you to start or end your evening with a meal or a drink. We chose to have a drink at the theatre bar and settled down with the programme of the St Petersburg Classic Ballet, it wasn’t cheap at £7, however, I still feel it was worth it as the photographs are beautiful, packed with information, and for me, most importantly, a synopsis of the evening’s entertainment, it was invaluable and if you plan to see any other of the current productions of the St Petersburg Classic Ballet, the programme is a one-off purchase.

The evenings performance was split into three acts with a 20-minute interval between each.

We settled down in our seats and could see and hear the Hungarian Sinfonietta Orchestra, conducted by Vadim Perevoznikov, warming up, I think that knowing the evening of ballet is to be accompanied by a full orchestra is so exciting.

In Act One, we see King Florestan and his Queen, enjoying the christening of the new Princess Aurora taking place, and what a celebration it was! The court was present; a master of ceremonies overseeing the events, ensuring the proper and smooth conduct of the elegant and elaborate rituals. Six fairies, each with a perfect pancake tutu and complete with wings, displayed artistry and performance that was perfect and enchanting.

Costume has to be mentioned, as it was truly stunning, I later learned that many are made by the craftsmen of the legendary Mariinsky Theatre workshop.

Make-up was also outstanding, eyes shone from the stage and each smile, so important to the ballet, was beautiful.

The evil witch, Carabosse danced by Evgeniy Silakov, who I feel should be a name to watch, was genius from every point of view, who, on taking exception at being left off the guest list, curses the princess to die when she pricks her finger on a spindle.

Fortunately, the fairy of goodness, the lilac fairy, appears, to temper the curse so that the princess and the court will sleep for a mere one hundred years.

We were introduced to Aurora (Margarita Demjanoka-Skutelska) took the role and danced with feet that appeared to make her weightless, remaining en-pointe for extended periods and making the Fouette look easy.

Aurora then dances with her four suitors, lovingly watched by her parents and the court. In disguise, Carabosse, as malevolent as any villain ever written, produced the gift of a spindle and, having never seen one before, Aurora refused to part with it, despite the protestation of her parents and the assembled court, the resultant prick to the finger leads us to the descent into sleep.

Following the interval, we took our seats and act two opened, one hundred years later. Here, the Prince is introduced and, while out with a hunting party, wishes to be alone, in a vision, he dances with Princess Aurora. The lilac fairy, on seeing this, helps the prince to defeat Carabosse and find the sleeping beauty, who he awakes with a kiss.

In the final act, the story continues with the wedding celebration a host of fairytale characters join the celebrations, firstly, Puss in Boot dances with the White Cat, every move, feline in nature. Red Riding Hood stalked by the menacing Wolf. Finally, came the Bluebirds,

As the company took their bows, the audience showed their obvious appreciation. The dancers received their applause, Carabosse received both vigorous applause and boos.

If you get the opportunity to see this marvellous, magnificent ballet, you will not be disappointed.

Rating: 5/5

For other shows at the Royal Concert Hall in Nottingham visit www.trch.co.uk or call the box office on 0115 989 5555.

Theatre Royal & Royal Concert Hall, Theatre Square, Nottingham, NG1 5ND