“Giselle” was shown on the Bolshoi Theatre stage in 1843 after it had charmed the Parisian audience surviving the triumphant birth at the Grand Opera and gaining popularity among Saint Petersburg residents. The ballet was to the taste of Russian music lovers, and since then it has never left the main Moscow stage.
The music of the ballet presented on the disks corresponds to Grigorovich production that was performed in cooperation with the conductor Alexander Kopylov. The fragments that had not been issued by Adolphe Adam’s pen were still preserved and within the 19th century they were considered an inseparable part of the music of the ballet.
The name of a little known composer Adolphe Adam (1803–1856) became famous due to “Giselle” that won the international recognition. The idea seemed so intriguing to him that he managed to compose music to the ballet within a week.
Soloists: Sergei Amidyan, oboe (No. 13), Leonid Kaplan, alt (No.15)
The Bolshoi Theatre Symphony Orchestra. Conductor – Alexander Kopylov
“GISELLE”
(“Wilis”), a pantomime ballet in two acts
Libretto by Théophile Gautier and Jules Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges after Heinrich Heine’s legend.
SYNOPSIS
Giselle: “If you deceived me I would die – I feel it”.
(From Theophile Gautier’s libretto)
Act I.
In a small mountain village there live Berthe, a widow and her daughter Giselle. The young girl is in love and happy. Her darling is a handsome young man who has recently appeared in the village.
In the hunters’ hut Count Albrecht who is charmed by Giselle disguised himself as a peasant. Hans, a gamekeeper is watching him from a hidden place. He dreams to inspire Giselle’s love who reciprocates the disguised Count’s love. While the Count is away, Hans gets in his hunters’ hut and finds the Counts costume and his silver sword. Now he has a strong evidence of the Counts’ fraud.
Giselle and Albrecht meet in front of Berthe’s house. Albrecht tenderly courts the girl who is merrily dancing feeling happy. The lovers are telling fortune on an ox-eye daisy: Giselle gets a petal with “doesn’t love” whereas Albrecht gets the one with “loves”. The villagers who return after their work at the vineyard join the young couple’s dancing. But Berthe stops all merrymaking reminding that Giselle has a diseased heart.
The sound of the hunters’ horn heralds the noble guests’ coming. The Duke of Courland and his daughter Bathilda, the Count’s betrothed are among them. The peasants heartily meet the guests. When the guests recognize Albrecht they are rather surprised by his plain dress. Albrecht himself is also embarrassed by this unexpected meeting. Suddenly Hans appears and exposes the fraud. Giselle is shocked; she cannot stand the blow and goes out of her mind. She falls dead.
Act II.
It is night at the village cemetery. Myrtha’s shadow grows from the ground surrounded by ghosts – she is the queen of the Wilis. Giselle’s ghost appears and joins the round dance of the Wilis.
Hans, who is tortured by remorse, comes to the cemetery. On Myrtha’s order the Wilis frighten and haunt Hans involving him into their dancing. Exhausted and lifeless he falls down. Full of grief Albrecht comes to Giselle’s grave too.
Full of grief Albrecht comes to Giselle’s grave too. He is haunted by the beloved’s ghost.
Myrtha and the Wilis surround Albrecht threatening him with death. However, Giselle’s ghost tries to defend and save her lover. Her immortal love rescues the count from death. A sudden chime of the tower clock heralds the end of night. At the daybreak the Wilis’ shadows fade away. The beautiful alluring ghost of Giselle appears in front of Albrecht for the last time filling his heart with deep regret for the lost love.
“GISELLE” AT THE BOLSHOI THEATER
Giselle: “…love him and will love him for ever…”
(From Theophile Gautier’s libretto)
“Giselle” was shown on the Bolshoi Theatre stage in 1843 after it had charmed the Parisian audience surviving the triumphant birth at the Grand Opera and gaining popularity among Saint Petersburg residents. The ballet was to the taste of Russian music lovers, and since then it has never left the main Moscow stage. The choreographers took turns one after another – Peter Didier, Watzlav Reizinger, Alexei Bogdanov, Jose Mendes, Alexander Gorsky, Marius Petipa; each renewed the staging of the ballet according to his taste. The most impressive and interesting were the productions of the 20th century that were based on the Petersburg traditional staging. The authors of these ones were Leonid Lavrovsky (version of 1944), Jury Grigorovich (1987) and Vladimir Vasiliev (1997). The music of the ballet presented on the disks corresponds to Grigorovich production that was performed in cooperation with the conductor Alexander Kopylov. The fragments that had not been issued by Adolphe Adam’s pen were still preserved and within the 19th century they were considered an inseparable part of the music of the ballet. In particular, Pas de Deux (Peasants’ Festival) was written by Fredrich Burgmuller. Grigorovich’s production is especially zested with Simon Virsaladze’s scenery that was created by the way of combining and intertwining of various fabrics.
The idea of the creation of the ballet was prompted to Theophile Gautier by the old times legend about the wilis that Heinrich Heine had put down while travelling in Europe. He described it like this: “These are young brides who didn’t live up to the day of their wedding and died; however, they preserved their unspent passion for dancing and at the dead of night they get out of their graves, get together on the roads and abandon themselves to violent dancing. Wearing wedding dresses and bride’s diadems on their heads, with sparkling rings on the pale fingers, roaring with blood curdling laughter irresistibly beautiful wilis dance in the moon light. Their dancing turns more and more violent – they feel that the hour that was given to them for dancing is coming to an end and it is high time to get back to the icy cold of the grave”.
The name of a little known composer Adolphe Adam (1803–1856) became famous due to “Giselle” that won the international recognition. The idea seemed so intriguing to him that he managed to compose music to the ballet within a week. He created about 40 operas and many ballets but “Giselle”; another well-known work of this composer is the ballet “Corsair”.
Carlotta Grisi, whose real name was Caronne Adele Josephine Marie Grisi was the first dancer that performed the part of Giselle. The creators of theу performance – choreographer Jules Perrot and Theophile Gautier – were passionately in love with her. The first one married her, and Gautier was her passionate admirer. The part of Giselle immediately made Grisi primaballerina.
In Russia a long train of outstanding ballerinas performed the part of Giselle. Among the dancers who created the most integral image of the main heroine are Olga Spesivtseva and Galina Ulanova, Tamara Krasavina and Maia Plisetskaya, Anna Pavlova and Natalia Bessmertnova.
