On Monday night I went to see the Bolshoi for the first time, in a triple bill comprising Ratmansky’s ‘Go for Broke’, Petit’s ‘Pique Dame’ and Balanchine’s ‘Symphony in C’. I think I should apologise in advance to the Bolshoi fans - I must assure you I am not a philistine - but I really didn’t enjoy myself! There were several mitigating factors. First, I booked late and ended up in row N of the amphitheatre - about a mile from the stage - even here my ticket cost nearly £40. Secondly, there was a couple behind me who were bored and talked a lot, and also upset the old lady sitting behind them because they leaned forwards in order to be able to see. Unfortunately, when you sit so high up in the Opera House you need to sit right back in your chair at 90 degrees otherwise the people behind will only see your big head. (Here’s a big tip - don’t sit further back than row G or something.)

Anyway, I hate being so far back from all the action, but even so, I could tell that this was a fairly lacklustre performance. I’ve had a look at what the critics have had to say about the evening and they are firmly split down the middle. ‘Go for Broke’ was rather nice, although Stravinsky is always hit and miss for me. I think Ratmansky is clever. Then there was a very long interval, and we had ‘Pique Dame.’ This I absolutely hated. It was essentially a very dramatic 10-minute pas de deux extended into 50 minutes of dreary and over-dramatic walking about. Oh! I hated it. I don’t think I’ve ever been so bored at the ballet. But I must make a special mention for Nikolai Tsiskaridze and Ilze Liepa who danced the leads brilliantly.

The programme ended with ‘Symphony in C’ but I have seen this done better several times. The principal roles were danced by Anastasia Yatsenko, Svetlana Zakharova, Maria Alexandrova, Ekaterina Shipulina, and Dmitri Gudanov, Alexander Volchkov, Denis Matvienko, and Dmitri Belogolovtsev. I particularly enjoyed Alexandrova’s dancing, in this and ‘Go for Broke.’ She’s very lively, a very strong presence on the stage.

I must tell you I’m surprised by my strong reaction - I always see the Kirov when they are in town because I LOVE them. Perhaps I just saw the Bolshoi on an off night.

Tonight (Thursday) I’m going to see Don Quixote, a ballet I’ve never seen. I’ll be in row J this time. Natalia Osipova as Kitri and Denis Matvienko as Basil. I’ll let you know how I get on.