Classical Ballet Adolphe Adam "Giselle" (Fantasy ballet in two acts) Alexandrinsky Imperial Ballet Theatre (established 1756)
Running time: 2 hours 10 minutes
The performance has 1 intermission
Schedule for Adolphe Adam "Giselle" (Fantasy ballet in two acts) 2022
Composer: Adolphe Adam Set Designer: Vyacheslav Okunev Choreography: Marius Petipa Choreography: Jules Perrot Choreography: Jean Coralli Costume Designer: Vyacheslav Okunev Ballet company: The Saint-Petersburg State Leonid Yacobson Ballet Theatre Libretto: Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges Libretto: Theophile Gautier Libretto: Jean Coralli
Orchestra: Symphony Orchestra "Congress"
Classical Ballet in 2 act
World premiere: 28 June 1841, Theatre de l`Academie Royal de Musique, Paris
Premiere in Russia: 18 December 1842 Bolshoi Theatre
The romantic ballet Giselle premiered in 1841 at the Paris Opera Theatre. It is based on the legend of the ‘villi’ – young girls who were betrayed by their lovers and did not live till their wedding, dying of a broken heart and later turning into vindictive and merciless female spirits; this grizzly tale was given a poetic flair by Heinrich Heine. The librettists Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Theophile Gautier helped turn the legend into a ballet, with music by Adolphe Adam and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot.
The opening night was a triumph. The ballet became hugely popular among the top theatres across Europe. And ever since then, Giselle has been a constant in the ballet world.
But what is the secret of this unwavering interest? How has this romantic ballet managed to survive for over two hundred years and to pass on into the twenty-first century without ever losing its popularity?
Maybe the answer lies in the depth and ardour of affection that Jules Perrot, the ballet’s choreographer and the main mastermind behind its creation, bore towards his beloved wife and star pupil, Carlotta Grisi, who was the one he staged the ballet for? Maybe that is why Giselle, the fruit of Perrot’s passionate talent and inspiration, conceals a certain magical power that does not fade way with time?
In Saint-Petersburg, the ballet Giselle still retains the choreography of Marius Petipa, who was the first ballet master of the Royal Mariinsky Theatre in the second half of the nineteenth century. The Yacobson Ballet Theatre also follows the same tradition.
Schedule for Adolphe Adam "Giselle" (Fantasy ballet in two acts) 2022
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