The Cellist and The Two Pigeons ballet program performed at the Royal Opera House. These are two of what appear to be the most popular short narrative ballets in the ROH repertory. Both recordings star Lauren Cuthertson. Both these titles were published before by the ROH/But Opus Arte:
The Cellist. Choreography by Cathy Marston. Music by Philip Feeney. Stars Lauren Cuthbertson (The Cellist), Marcelino Sambé (The Instrument), Matthew Ball (The Conductor), Emma Lucano (Cellist as Child), Lauren Godfrey (Sister as Child), Kirsten McNally (Mother), Thomas Whitehead (Father), Anna Rose O’Sullivan (Sister), Gary Avis, Nicol Edmonds and Benjamin Ella (Cello Teachers), Luca Acri, Paul Kay, and Joseph Sissens (Musical Friends). Scenario by Cathy Marston and Edward Kemp. Set by Hildegard Bechtler; costumes by Bregje van Balen; lighting by Jon Clark; dramaturgy by Edward Kemp.
The Two Pigeons. Choreography by Frederick Ashton. Music by André Messager. Danced by Lauren Cuthbertson (The Girl Friend), Vadim Muntagirov (The Artist), Fumi Kaneko (The Gipsy Princess), Ryoichi Hirano (The Gypsy Prince), and Marcelino Sambé (Gypsy Boy) supported by Elizabeth McGorian, Elizabeth Harrod, Meaghan Grace Hinkis, Chisato Katsura, Mayara Magri, Emma Maguire, Yasmine Naghdi, Romany Pajdak, and Leticia Stock of the Royal Ballet. Music is by André Messager adapted and arranged by John Lanchbery. Barry Wordsworth conducts the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (Concert Master Vasko Vassilev). Designs by Jacques Dupont; lighting by Peter Teigen; revived and staged by Chistopher Carr; ballet mistress was Samantha Reine; principal coaching by Gary Avis, Christopher Carr, and Lesley Collier; Benesh notator Gregory Mislin.
Long ago we gave a B+ The Cellist and a C+ to The Two Pigeons. It seems our grades were too low. We are maybe too picky.
The practice of republishing old stuff in new combinations creates other problems. We wonder if Amazon we be able to accurately list this title for customers to consider. But Prestomusic seems undaunted by the churning, and here’s the button to order Cellist/Two Pigeons:
