Giselle

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Giselle, with music by the French ballet and opera composer Adolphe Adam, and choreographed by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot, is a ballet from the Romantic period and was premièred at the Theatre de l’Academie Royale de Musique (then the Paris Opera) on June 28,1841. It is one of the few ballets of that era which has survived.

1 Synopsis of the ballet
2 A Varied Past
3 Trivia
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis of the ballet

In the first act, a young, innocent village maiden named Giselle is in love with a man she knows only as Loys. In reality, the man is Albrecht, a nobleman disguised as a peasant, and who is betrothed to Bathilde, daughter of the Duke. When Giselle discovers the deceit, she is inconsolable and goes mad, then dies of a broken heart. In the second act, her undying love for Albrecht saves him from the wicked magic of the wilis, vampiric ghosts of betrothed girls who have died before their wedding day. Though their leader, Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis, forces Albrecht to dance again and again, Giselle intervenes long enough to spare his strength and allow him to survive until the dawn. At sunrise, wilis must return to their grave; Giselle must return as well but not before showing Albrecht that she forgives him for his treachery. The two pledge their love to each other and she descends back into her grave, but will forever be separated. Giselle is now a wili for the rest of her life.

The dramatists Théophile Gautier and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges are the authors of the ballet's libretto.

[edit] A Varied Past

The version passed down to the present day was staged by Marius Petipa for the Imperial Ballet (today the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet), with Petipa retaining many of the elements from Coralli and Perrot's original. It is said that the Kirov/Mariinsky still dance the ballet in Petipa's original design nearly unchanged. Giselle passed out of the European repertory until it was staged by the Ballets Russes in 1910. The role of Giselle is one of the most sought-after in ballet, since it demands both technical perfection and outstanding grace and lyricism, as well as great dramatic skill. In the first act Giselle has to convey the innocence and love of a country girl, the heartbreak of being betrayed. In the second act Giselle must seem otherworldly, yet loving. Some of the most accomplished dancers to perform this role include Carlotta Grisi (for whom Théophile Gautier created the role), Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Olga Spesivtseva, Galina Ulanova, Alicia Markova, Alicia Alonso, Beryl Goldwyn, Antoinette Sibley, Karen Kain, Margot Fonteyn, Natalia Makarova, Gelsey Kirkland, Irina Kolpakova, Ekaterina Maximova, Carla Fracci, Altynai Asylmuratova, Alessandra Ferri, Diana Vishneva, Vand Alina Cojocaru. Famous Albrechts include Lucien Petipa (creator of the role), Vaslav Nijinsky, Rudolf Nureyev, Erik Bruhn, Vladimir Malakhov, Vladimir Muravlev.

[edit] Trivia

The Variation of Giselle in waltz rhythm from the second act Grand Pas de Deux was written by Léon Minkus in 1866 at the behest of Marius Petipa for the Ballerina Adèle Grantzow. Minkus fashioned the variation from Adam's leitmotive for Albrecht and Giselle (also known as the Love Theme or the He Loves me, He loves me not theme). Today this variation is performed in every production of Giselle.

The famous Pas Seul or Variation of Giselle from the first act was also written by Léon Minkus at the behest of Petipa in 1887 for the Ballerina Emma Bessone. The variation was originally the property of Bessone and was not performed for many years (specially composed variations were often the legal property of the Ballerina they were created for during the 19th century/early 20th century). It was resurrected by the Ballerina Olga Spesivtseva in the early 1910s, and is included in every production of the ballet today.

The so-called Peasant Pas de Deux was interpolated into Act I of Giselle at the last minute right before the ballet's original premiere for the Ballerina Nathalie Fitzjames. As mistress of an influential patron of the Paris Opera, her request to participate in the production was granted, though due to another engagement Adolphe Adam was unable to compose the music for her desired number. Instead an already existing Pas known as Souvenirs de Ratisbonne by the composer Friedrich Burgmüller was used. Likewise for the original production, the Dance of the Vignerons (a number which traditionally occurs before Giselle's famous variation in Act I takes place) was inserted as well, also to the music of Burgmüller. Both interpolations are included in every production of Giselle in the present day.

In 1884 Petipa revived Giselle especially for the Ballerina Mariia Gorshenkova, and it is this version which is the definitive staging from which all versions of the ballet are now based.

For his 1884 revival, Petipa commissioned Léon Minkus to score a Pas de Deux for Act I to be danced by Giselle and Albrecht. Though this Pas was retained in the St. Petersburg productions of Giselle, it did not become part of the traditional score for the ballet and it is no longer performed. Minkus' rather ravishing music for this Pas can be heard on the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra's recording of Giselle, conducted by Algis Zhuraitis (this recording was only released onto LP in 1967 and was never re-released. See 2 LPs, Melodiya SRB4118 1967).

In 1978, the choreographer Gerald Arpino used Minkus's rarely heard Act I Pas de Deux for his ballet L'air d'spirit staged for the Joffrey Ballet.

For Petipa's 1884 revival Minkus reorchestrated much of Adolphe Adam's score. This version of the music is still in use by Russian companies, most notably the Kirov/Mariinsky Ballet and the Bolshoi Ballet. The Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra recorded this version twice (Algis Zhuraitis, 2 LPs, Melodiya SRB4118 1967) and (Algis Zhuraitis, 2 CDs Pilz, 441003-2 and 441004-2 1989, also available in the 6 CD boxed-set of ballet music Original Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra)

The famous conductor Richard Bonynge recorded Adolphe Adam's complete, unedited 1841 score for Giselle in 1987 with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House (see 2 CDs, Decca 425 185-2).