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The Royal Ballet: Giselle, Feb-April 2016


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Before the start of this run of Giselle, I thought along similar lines to some of the posts above about what would & would not work for me in Giselle. But seeing Marianela & Vadim's slightly different interpretation completely won me over. 

 

Personally, I'm finding that I enjoy seeing the dancers who play Giselle, Albrecht etc portray the interpretation that works for them, tying it in with other key cast. I feel the leeway permitted brings an extra dimension to the performances & have wondered if it may help to keep developing the dancers as actors too. 

 

The possibility of slightly different interpretations - whether it's Albrecht as a thoroughly selfish cad or as a man who becomes more in love etc - is one of the main reasons that will keep bringing me back to the RB to see different casts in Giselle in the future. It also makes for interesting discussion on threads like this. As inevitably, not everyone will agree with or like a particular interpretation. It's similar to the theatre, when actors portray classic roles in plays such as Hamlet, King Lear, Othello & bring their own "take" on the character. 

 

So I can appreciate why others prefer Giselle performed / interpreted in a particular way. I may well find I feel the same about other ballets in the future!  :)
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Regarding the release of a DVD with Nela/Vadim, up to 20 comments now. I give below part of the last contributors comment.

 

 

"This superlative cast and Peter Wright's definitive production make this the best Giselle ever. I believe that you will be failing in your task as custodians of the Royal Ballet's heritage if you fail to preserve it."

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Of course they'll preserve it. Releasing it is another matter.

 

Why preserve it if it is going to be kept out of the public domain. Just to gather dust on a shelf or sit on a hard drive somewhere.

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The powers that be have relented over the Acosta Carmen. Perhaps they will do so again over this cast. I understand that  Muntagirov  has a following in Japan as he guests there. Perhaps  commercial factors will make them relent on this occasion as well. 

Edited by FLOSS
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Regarding the release of a DVD with Nela/Vadim, up to 20 comments now. I give below part of the last contributors comment.

 

 

"This superlative cast and Peter Wright's definitive production make this the best Giselle ever. I believe that you will be failing in your task as custodians of the Royal Ballet's heritage if you fail to preserve it."[/size]

Unfortunately the preceding poster on the ROH site, after citing their satisfied attendance at three of last week's "Giselle"s, deems a new DVD surplus to their requirements and therefore everyone's.

I quoted an excerpt here originally but on reflection I think it's better you read it for yourself on the ROH site, hence my edit.

 

Words do not fail me, but they are not printable.

Edited by Grand Tier Left
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I am looking forward to seeing this at the cinema on Wednesday, but I am a bit concerned about the way in which some of the leading roles seem to have been played.  For me, Albrecht has to be a very privileged, almost arrogant young man, used to getting what he wants, and Giselle has to be a rather innocent wisp of a girl, otherwise the second act doesn't really have the same impact. 

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So am I, I love Giselle. I have both Alina's and Natalia's DVD's and am sooo looking forward to watching Nela dance it. I like Vadim too, so looking forward to that as well. Roll on Wednesday.

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I have just added my two cents' worth on the site. The more, the better chance there may be of changing their minds. I should have added that the money I save by not buying Carmen would be spent on another copy of Giselle for a gift.

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There is a nice interview with Nunez in the Dancing Times where she talks about Myrtha being a ballerina role. I couldn't agree more and feel that the casting for this role seemed somewhat underpowered in this run, having Nunez dance a Myrtha really drove that home for me.

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There is a nice interview with Nunez in the Dancing Times where she talks about Myrtha being a ballerina role. I couldn't agree more and feel that the casting for this role seemed somewhat underpowered in this run, having Nunez dance a Myrtha really drove that home for me.

 

I agree, Coated.  For me Nunez's Myrtha is prime.  It now sits up there on that superior shelf aside my memories of van Hamel and Terekhova.  The arc of each of those artists' vivid characterisation pulsated through the precision of their detailed spontaneity and individual focus.  Can't say better than that.  

Edited by Bruce Wall
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There is a nice interview with Nunez in the Dancing Times where she talks about Myrtha being a ballerina role. I couldn't agree more and feel that the casting for this role seemed somewhat underpowered in this run, having Nunez dance a Myrtha really drove that home for me.

 

Although less so than in the last run, IIRC.

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The greatest Myrtha ever was the Royal Ballet's Deanne Bergsma with Monica Mason coming a close second.  Only Maria Alexandrova gets anywhere near their standard.

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Although less so than in the last run, IIRC.

Last time I saw Heap who was hugely promising, and seems to have built on that promise this time round, and Kobayashi, who didn't do it for me. I'm not seeing a live performance this year but am looking forward very much to Mendizabal who I imagine will be ideally suited - was astonished that Ismene Brown was so dismissive of her. Can't imagine Crawford in the role (I've only seen her three times in featured roles, twice as Lescaut's Mistress and once as Lilac and she stumbled each time, and she's also not good in the Concerto DVD) but would imagine Calvert might grow in to it well. I'd agree with Nunez that it is a ballerina role and am sure she was wonderful last week. My mind's eye remains haunted by Mason (with input from the Nureyev film, late in her dancing career but still hugely compelling) and would very much like to have seen Yamowsky. DId anybody see Bull in this? She was one of my favourite dancers and I'm sure her strength and attack would have been well suited although I wonder if her jump was big enough to make the fullest impact. I also have generalised but positive memories of Manola Asensio with LFB dancing an even longer version of the role (that was a lovely performance with Patricia Ruanne and Jay Jolley at the Coliseum).

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Can't imagine Crawford in the role (I've only seen her three times in featured roles, twice as Lescaut's Mistress and once as Lilac and she stumbled each time, and she's also not good in the Concerto DVD)

In her defence, I think she was a rather last-minute replacement for an injured Lauren Cuthbertson, at a time when pretty much all other viable candidates were involved in other parts of the triple bill.

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