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The Nutcracker – Tchaikowsky By my count, which isn’t definitive, there are 11 versions of this most famous Christmas ballet available online this December. I’ve chosen two, both of which I can recommend, but if you have a fancy for any other ballet company, look for them online and chances are they’ll have a Nutcracker they’re just longing to show you. The two I’ve suggested here below, one British, one American, are very different in style and choreography. There is no universal choreography for The Nutcracker unlike, say, Swan Lake where all versions are basically the same. The Nutcracker - New York City Ballet Dec 11-Jan 3 Click here to watch The great George Balanchine was the choreographer for this New York City Ballet production. He completed it in 1954 and what we have here is the spiffy new refurbished production made in 2019. Not a step or a gesture of Balanchine’s work has been changed but the sets, the costumes, the romantic ambiance of the work is huge and gorgeous and exactly what Balanchine wanted.Viewers will be able to start the performance at their convenience from Dec 11 to Jan 3, and will have 48 hours to finish watching after first play. Tickets are $25 in the United States and £23.99 in the UK. The Nutcracker - Birmingham Royal Ballet Dec 18-24 Click here to watch Birmingham Royal Ballet, under their new Artistic Director Carlos Acosta, wanted to present this new production live in The Rep but, at the last minute, because of the virus, they have had to put it online instead. This is a new production for Carlos Acosta’s debut as the Company’s Artistic Director and it’s a great pity that it won’t be seen this year in the theatre, as intended. The choreography is by BRB’s last Director but one, Peter Wright, arranged by Acosta’s predecessor, David Bintley. It’s a lovely production and well worth seeing. This production will be available to watch as a livestream event at 7.30pm on Friday, December 18th. It will then be available to view as a video-on-demand recording from Saturday 19th to Thursday 24th December. Video-on-demand sales close at midnight on 21st December but can be viewed until midnight on Christmas Eve. Tickets are £15 whether you are watching the livestream or the on-demand. A Livestream with Dillie Keane Dec 16 at 6.30pm and then available for 48 hours. Click here to watch Dillie Keane has a new show being livestreamed Dec 16th . She says it will contain new songs, a mix of her own songs plus some fabulous songs written by American songwriters you probably won’t have heard of. And best of all, she says, you don’t have to have a substantial meal! Pity that, the substantial meal is usually the best bit. (Not in Dillie’s case, of course, but usually.) The Frick's virtual anniversary Click here to watch The Frick is celebrating the 85th anniversary of its founding in the beautiful Henry Clay Frick Gilded Age mansion on Fifth Avenue. The Frick is one of New York’s cultural treasures, containing masterpieces by Bellini, Fragonard, Gainsborough, Goya, El Greco, Holbein, Houdon, Ingres, Rembrandt, Renoir, Turner, Vermeer, Whistler, and others. It’s currently closed, of course, but the curators have been doing a wonderful job throughout the pandemic by giving us a regular online diet of its paintings and artifacts. Two of them, Xavier Salomon and Aimee Ng, have kept me interested in the Frick with Cocktails with a Curator, a weekly examination of a single work in the Frick’s collection. I look forward to Fridays, when one of them takes me on a voyage around a Monet or a Tiepolo or, on one occasion, a Mughal carpet. This week it’s Vermeer with Aimee (I feel I know her well enough from weekly visits with her to call her Aimee) who is looking at his “Mistress and Maid”. The website will give you access to the whole series so you can browse among your favourite artists. There’s a new one every Friday. Opus Anglicanum - Mediaeval Carols Dec.16 at 7pm Click here to watch I love Early Music and have been following Opus Anglicanum, an all-male (no sniggering at the back) group of 5 wonderful singers for years. Here is a sample of what they do, with an improvised accompaniment from the jazz pianist Jason Rebello. If you like this kind of music, and I do, they are putting on a livestream concert of their Mediaeval Carols, interspersed with readings by Zeb Soanes from mediaeval spiritual thinkers, poets and artists, spanning a thousand years. Click on www.opusanglicanum.org and it will be available to watch until Christmas Day. The Winter in Lisbon - Ailey Forward Dec 16 Click here to watch I remember seeing both Glenn Allen Sims and Linda Celeste Sims dancing with the Alvin Ailey Company when they were in their early 20s. You could already see that they each had their own line and approach, married to Ailey’s signature verve and style. Married, in this case, is the operative word as they have been married now for 17 years and this season they will be retiring together after 24 years with the Company. This virtual Ailey season will feature the couple’s farewell performance on Wednesday, which will include an array of video excerpts from their repertoire; as well as a new film of the romantic central duet in The Winter in Lisbon, a celebratory work by Billy Wilson to the music of Dizzy Gillespie. There are other treats in store as part of the online season but this is the one I’m looking forward to seeing. Ronnie Scotts Livestreams Dec 17 at 9pm Click here to watch And a little jazz to leaven the mix. On Thursday, a livestream from Ronnie Scott’s that sounds like fun – Motown and More with Natalie Williams’ Soul Family. Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure – Chicago Shakespeare Theater Dec 19-Jan 1. Click here to watch This is a free stream of the CST production filmed live in 2018. It’s American, so not a panto, but suitable for children. Based on J.M. Barrie’s beloved tale about the boy who wouldn’t grow up, this heartwarming musical has a score written by George Stiles and Anthony Drewe—the award-winning songwriting duo behind Broadway’s Mary Poppins. Sail away on a high-flying journey with Peter, Wendy, John, and Michael to the enchanted world of Neverland—but beware of Captain Hook and the ticking crocodile. Handel’s Messiah – Royal Albert Hall Dec 17 Click here to watch It’s one of the most popular musical events of the year – the Messiah from the Albert Hall with 5000 people singing their hearts out. This year won’t be the year of the 5000 because of the pandemic but it will be streamed from the Albert Hall starting Dec 17th, featuring the voices of the Philharmonia Chorus, accompanied by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, combined with special guest vocalists Francesca Chiejina, Katie Bray, Trystan Llŷr Griffiths and Dingle Yandell. The website makes it look as though this event is sold out but that's just for seats live in the Hall. Streaming tickets are available but you have to persevere. The website is difficult to negotiate. £16. Christmas Carols – Royal Albert Hall Dec 20-31 Click here to watch The Albert Hall’s Christmas Carols concerts have become a festive favourite over the years and 2020 is no exception as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Richard Cooke, along with the Royal Choral Society and the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain sing the world’s favourite carols, with organ accompaniment on the Voice of Jupiter – the Hall’s 9,999 pipe organ. Tickets are £16. Anytime and Anywhere: A Sleigh Ride Through the Great American Songbook with Shana Farr & Steve Ross Dec 14 Click here to watch The greatest living cabaret performer, singer/pianist Steve Ross, and the wonderful Shana Farr have combined for this holiday show. If you like secular Christmas songs, or just the company of two great cabaret singers, this one’s for you. Tickets are on a Pay What You Can basis and range from $8-$100. A Christmas Carol – Jermyn Street Theatre Dec 17–27 December Click here to watch You knew I wasn’t going to escape this week without mentioning at least one A Christmas Carol, didn’t you? This one is a new online adaptation of Dicken’s classic story, starring Penelope Keith and Brian Blessed, as the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present, with Jim Findley, Paula James, Robin Morrissey, Lucy Pearson and a cast of young actors form Guildford Shakespeare Company’s drama clubs. Jim Findlay is Scrooge, Tickets are £20 per device. Looking a Lot Like Christmas - St Paul’s Covent Garden Dec 16 at 7.30pm Click here to watch This Christmas concert has a classy line-up which includes Imelda Staunton, Minnie Driver, Rosalie Craig and Giles Terera, performing in the beautiful setting of St Paul’s Church (affectionately known as The Actors’ Church), in the heart of Covent Garden. Free. A Puppy For Chanukah Click here to watch And for a bit of fun to finish off this week. To mark the end of Chanukah just in time for the beginning of Christmas, here's a new song about a child who gets a present for every day of Chanukah but isn't getting what he wants most. I’m not famous for my love of hip hop, in fact, until I saw Hamilton, I’ve been known to be scathing about the mere idea that reciting against a rhythmic backing track is music, but I fell in love with this song by Tony-award winning Hamilton actor Daveed Diggs. You might too.
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AuthorRuth Leon is a writer and critic specialising in music and theatre. Archives
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