For those who loves Tchaikovsky, opera and ballet Gala Tribute to Tchaikovsky was a real pleasure to watch. It's a perfect tribute to one of the greatest composers who ever lived and one where pretty much everything works. The sets are bare and not really sets but the costumes are colourful and flattering and the lighting is dynamic and very complimentary to the moods of each piece. The music is all magnificent, Tchaikovsky quite rightly gets the lion's share, with a healthy dose of both opera and ballet, but the Rachmaninov and Rimsky-Korsakov pieces are very well-chosen and suit the performers really well and the Anastasia Pas De Deux was interesting(completely new to me). There was a questionable addition and that was Puccini's Quando M'En Vo, it is a fun and great aria and characterfully sung by Kiri Te Kanawa but I was not sure of its relevance and it did seem out of place. The orchestra sound wonderful and play with power and pathos throughout and Steven Barlow accommodates the singers while never compromising the styles of moods of each piece. The dancing is poised and enthusiastic, especially the truly sweet Anastasia Pas De Deux and the Sleeping Beauty Pas De Deux which boasted truly graceful dancing from Lesley Collier and Irek Mukhamedov with smooth transitions, beautifully placed arm and leg movements and effortless lifts, very expressive acting from both especially Collier and their partnership truly looks like their characters are really in love. The Nutcracker Pas De Deux with Leanne Benjamin and Tetsuya Kumakawa fared very much likewise and the Nutcracker Dance of the SnowFlakes was enchantingly festive. The vocal items are even more fantastic, especially Placido Domingo's heartfelt Net Tolko Tot'kto Znal(None But the Lonely Heart), Kiri Te Kanawa's ethereal rendition of the Rachmaninov Vocalise and Paata Burchuladze's incisive and resonantly sung Iolanta aria. Though Sergei Leiferkus is very affecting in the Aleko aria, the Sadko songs are sung with warmth by Burchuladze and Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Hvorostovsky sings Yeletsky's aria from Queen of Spades eloquently, Anna Tomowa-Sintow is movingly dignified and while there are better renditions of Kuda, Kuda you still feel the emotion and like a waterfall rather than in spats. Domingo conducting the 1812 Overture is surprisingly good as it's not his usual repertoire and Dance of the Clowns from Snow Maiden rouses the spirits appropriately. The chorus and dancers do a wonderful in the Eugene Onegin ball scene. All in all, a beautiful, near-perfect tribute apart from the bare sets and one aria that seemed out of place compared to the rest of the pieces in the gala. 9/10 Bethany Cox
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