Giselle

Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg, Russia

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Saturday 24 June 2023

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Important Info

Festival: Stars of the White Nights Festival 2023

Type: Ballet

City: Saint Petersburg, Russia

Starts at: 12:00

Festival

Stars of the White Nights Festival 2023

"Stars of the White Nights": bright events of the big summer festival in the Mariinsky.

Overview

Giselle is arguably the most mystical ballet in the repertoire today. Let’s start with the fact that its libretto is based on a fantastical story about a love that overcomes the barriers between two worlds. It is a story in which the young heroine, dying from a broken heart, mysteriously hears the call of ghosts tempting her to join their round dance, and having become one of them she saves the lover who betrayed her.

In the era of romanticism, the apogee of searches in ballet came with Giselle which was created in 1841, and tales of other worlds were well familiar to audiences. Giselle, too, was an ideal embodiment of a romantic dual world where the living energy in scenes from real life in Act I is contrasted with the bewitching incorporeality of the dance of the wilis in Act II. It was not without the influence of this popular production that that the subsequent ballet repertoire was enriched with different shadows, nymphs and other inhabitants of visions. Besides the plot, the history of the ballet is also full of enigmatic transformations. These transformations may not always be mystical, often they are easily explicable in terms of logic, but they are reminiscent of a detective investigation as an attempt to establish those who created the ballet and their share of the input into creating the masterpiece Giselle, and they have ensured the fame of this incredibly mysterious ballet.

Even before the premiere there were legends surrounding the ballet, conceived by the fashionable Parisian news-maker, the litterateur Théophile Gautier, the popular and handsome dancer Lucien Petipa who rehearsed at the Opéra de Paris and the rising star of the ballet world Carlotta Grisi. The success of the dances, ascribed on Paris playbills to the choreographer Jean Coralli, brought Giselle to theatres in cities throughout Europe, including St Petersburg. Over time, in St Petersburg the choreographer Marius Petipa revised these dances to suit his own taste. The production today remains Petipa’s version. In the early 20^th century it was performed by St Petersburg dancers in Diaghilev’s company in Paris, where by that time people had already forgotten about the erstwhile incredible glory of this masterpiece. The transformed Giselle once again enchanted audiences. And later researchers wove a story of a romantic relationship into the story of the romantic production, surmising that the creation of the ballet in Paris had included the involvement of Jules Perrot, the husband of the first performer of the title role, known to many from – alas – now lost productions. The list of choreographers who created Giselle brought together three great masters. And the transformation of the surname of the ballet’s composer Adolphe Adam to “Adan” on Soviet playbills continued the train of intriguing metamorphoses of Giselle.

In the 20^th century the St Petersburg blueprint of Giselle came to be in great demand and a venerable guest production at many theatres across the globe. A greeting from the age of romanticism, this ballet has come to be an encyclopaedia of performance skill. Judging by interpretations of the lead roles offered by outstanding dancers from different countries and generations, one can study the dynamism of artistic trends and aesthetic preferences of different times. For many performers this production has been an exam of their capacity as an actor, and for a second century now audiences are captivated by the touching and dramatic story of a great love, told using the ideal harmony of classical dance.
Olga Makarova

The prolific opera and ballet composer Adolphe Adam composed the music. Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot created the original choreography. The role of Giselle was intended for Carlotta Grisi as her debut piece for the Paris public, and she was the only ballerina to dance it at the Paris Opera for many years. The traditional choreography that has been passed down to the present day derives primarily from the revivals staged by Marius Petipa during the late 19th and early 20th centuries for the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg. One of the world's most-often performed classical ballets, it is also one of its most challenging to dance.

History

Premiere of this production: 28 June 1841, Salle Le Peletier, Paris, France

Giselle is a romantic ballet in two acts. It was first performed by the Ballet du Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris, France on 28 June 1841, with Italian ballerina Carlotta Grisi as Giselle. The ballet was an unqualified triumph. Giselle became hugely popular and was staged at once across Europe, Russia, and the United States. The traditional choreography that has been passed down to the present day derives primarily from the revivals staged by Marius Petipa during the late 19th and early 20th centuries for the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg.

Venue Info

Mariinsky Theatre - Saint Petersburg
1 Theatre Square

The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th-century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. Through most of the Soviet era, it was known as the Kirov Theatre. Today, the Mariinsky Theatre is home to the Mariinsky Ballet, Mariinsky Opera and Mariinsky Orchestra. Since Yuri Temirkanov's retirement in 1988, the conductor Valery Gergiev has served as the theatre's general director.

The theatre is named after Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Tsar Alexander II. There is a bust of the Empress in the main entrance foyer. The theatre's name has changed throughout its history, reflecting the political climate of the time.

The theatre building is commonly called the Mariinsky Theatre. The companies that operate within it have for brand recognition purposes retained the Kirov name, acquired during the Soviet era to commemorate the assassinated Leningrad Communist Party leader Sergey Kirov (1886–1934).

The Imperial drama, opera and ballet troupe in Saint Petersburg was established in 1783, at the behest of Catherine the Great, although an Italian ballet troupe had performed at the Russian court since the early 18th century. Originally, the ballet and opera performances were given in the wooden Karl Knipper Theatre on Tsaritsa Meadow, near the present-day Tripartite Bridge (also known as the Little Theatre or the Maly Theatre). The Hermitage Theatre, next door to the Winter Palace, was used to host performances for an elite audience of aristocratic guests invited by the Empress.

A permanent theatre building for the new company of opera and ballet artists was designed by Antonio Rinaldi and opened in 1783. Known as the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre the structure was situated on Carousel Square, which was renamed Theatre Square in honour of the building. Both names – "Kamenny" (Russian word for "stone") and "Bolshoi" (Russian word for "big") – were coined to distinguish it from the wooden Little Theatre. In 1836, the Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre was renovated to a design by Albert Cavos (son of Catterino Cavos, an opera composer), and served as the principal theatre of the Imperial Ballet and opera.

On 29 January 1849, the Equestrian circus (Конный цирк) opened on Theatre Square. This was also the work of the architect Cavos. The building was designed to double as a theatre. It was a wooden structure in the then-fashionable neo-Byzantine style. Ten years later, when this circus burnt down, Albert Cavos rebuilt it as an opera and ballet house with the largest stage in the world. With a seating capacity of 1,625 and a U-shaped Italian-style auditorium, the theatre opened on 2 October 1860, with a performance of A Life for the Tsar. The new theatre was named Mariinsky after its imperial patroness, Empress Maria Alexandrovna.

Under Yuri Temirkanov, Principal Conductor from 1976 to 1988, the Opera Company continued to stage innovative productions of both modern and classic Russian operas. Although functioning separately from the Theatre’s Ballet Company, since 1988 both companies have been under the artistic leadership of Valery Gergiev as Artistic Director of the entire Theatre.

The Opera Company has entered a new era of artistic excellence and creativity. Since 1993, Gergiev’s impact on opera there has been enormous. Firstly, he reorganized the company’s operations and established links with many of the world's great opera houses, including the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, the Opéra Bastille, La Scala, La Fenice, the Israeli Opera, the Washington National Opera and the San Francisco Opera. Today, the Opera Company regularly tours to most of these cities.

Gergiev has also been innovative as far as Russian opera is concerned: in 1989, there was an all-Mussorgsky festival featuring the composer’s entire operatic output. Similarly, many of Prokofiev’s operas were presented from the late 1990s. Operas by non-Russian composers began to be performed in their original languages, which helped the Opera Company to incorporate world trends. The annual international "Stars of the White Nights Festival" in Saint Petersburg, started by Gergiev in 1993, has also put the Mariinsky on the world’s cultural map. That year, as a salute to the imperial origins of the Mariinsky, Verdi's La forza del destino, which received its premiere in Saint Petersburg in 1862, was produced with its original sets, costumes and scenery. Since then, it has become a characteristic of the "White Nights Festival" to present the premieres from the company’s upcoming season during this magical period, when the hours of darkness practically disappear as the summer solstice approaches.

Presently, the Company lists on its roster 22 sopranos (of whom Anna Netrebko may be the best known); 13 mezzo-sopranos (with Olga Borodina familiar to US and European audiences); 23 tenors; eight baritones; and 14 basses. With Gergiev in charge overall, there is a Head of Stage Administration, a Stage Director, Stage Managers and Assistants, along with 14 accompanists.