Herefordshire Visit

In July we visited Hellens Manor www.hellensmanor.com near Much Marcle.

Hellens is a Jacobean house with later alterations and has remained in the same family for hundreds of years. The nearby church of Much Marcle is also worth a visit. We shall have a lunch break in Ledbury, a market town famed for its black and white architecture. During the afternoon we shall proceed to Highnams Court Gardens www.highnamcourt.co.uk which were originally laid out in the C19th, but fell into neglect and disrepair.

In 1994 the estate was sold and the new owner has totally restored the gardens to their former glory.

Bolshoi Ballet

There is also a visit to the Bolshoi Ballet planned in July to see a performance of Spartacus at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden www.roh.org.uk.

Royal Opera House Covent Garden

Royal Opera House Covent Garden

The ballet is based on the story of an uprising of gladiators against the might of Rome in the C1st BC. With music by Khachaturian and choreography by Grigorovich, it promises to be a spectacular and exciting afternoon.

Bolshoi is one of the leading ballet and opera companies in the world.

The imposing home of the internationally-famed Bolshoi ballet and opera was constructed in 1824 by Osip Bove, though the company itself was begun in 1773 as a dancing school for the Moscow Orphanage. For much of its history the Bolshoi was overshadowed by the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg, but with Moscow's restoration as the capital in 1918 it gained pre-eminence. For most of the last three decades the Bolshoi was led by Yuri Grigorovich, an artistic director known as much for his accomplished, classical choreography. Under Grigorovich's tenure, and graced by the presence of a series of remarkably gifted dancers, the Bolshoi's became known as one of the world's great ballet companies. Its performances elicit international acclaim, and an evening at the Bolshoi remains one of Moscow's sublime pleasures.

Spartacus
Carlos Acosta and Anna Antonicheva