Galas are not meant to be taken too seriously. These taffeta-and-black-tie fundraisers are essentially upmarket variety shows, with big-names stars in familiar excerpts from well-known classics. They can be good fun and even if they're not, knowing it's all for a Cause will usually win you over.
It was borderline last night for The World's Stage for the Royal Opera House Foundation, featuring dancers and singers from the Royal Ballet and Royal Opera. The main problem was the programme, a strange mix of 19th-century opera and recent-ish ballet (all post-Second World War). Ballet regulars might be happy to skip a Swan Lake or Don Q but galas need old moves to balance the new. Likewise, an excerpt from the recent opera rep enhances old arias.
The newest of moves came from Wayne McGregor, the Royal Ballet's resident choreographer appointed after his success, Chroma. Would his new work justify the appointment? In Nimbus, McGregor picks up where he left off, with a quartet diving and leaping in a style best described as extreme classicism. It is robust stuff, although time will tell if it's a new route - or artistic cul de sac.
The other strange things about this gala were the doubling up (two excerpts from Carmen and La Bohème) and wooden compering by Simon Callow and Diana Quick. The pair's grandeur would shame the Romanovs, when relaxed bonhomie gives galas zing. Callow also marched off stage ahead of Quick instead of accompanying her à deux, so looking both rushed and ungentlemanly.
Performances from the singers and dancers ranged from so-so to soaring. Leanne Benjamin was all serenity in Kenneth MacMillan's Requiem, Tamara Rojo was wonderfully curvy in Roland Petit's Carmen, and Joseph Calleja gave rounded, resonant form to La Bohème's Che gelida manina.
Royal Opera House Gala
Royal Opera House
Floral Street, WC2E 9DD
