The Royal Ballet: Giselle, Feb-April 2016

[SPD444]

Great response on the ROH website so far for Nela/Vadim DVD , keep it going .

[Balletfanp]

I was just about to post exactly the same thing! Lots of very heartfelt comments appearing - surely they can't ignore it? Keep up the pressure....

[Balletfanp]

I have just added a post re the DVD to the ROH Facebook page as well. If you feel inclined, please go there and add supporting comments. Let's make this a full-on campaign! If you can't find it, here is a direct link:-

 

https://m.facebook.com/royaloperahouse/posts_to_page/

 

Otherwise it is hidden under the Posts to Page or Visitor Posts links.

[Jamesrhblack]

I was just about to post exactly the same thing! Lots of very heartfelt comments appearing - surely they can't ignore it? Keep up the pressure....

Sadly, it had no effect re Rhapsdy with Hayward / Hay and / or Pigeons with Choe / Camobell / Mendizabal...

[Jamesrhblack]

I'm surprised that there doesn't seem to be more positivity re Takada. I have to been honest and write that I'm yet to see her in a major role live but the critics seem to have been very positive on her performances in Beauty and Don Q, and management seems very sure of her potential. She also looks absolutely lovely in the ROH rehearsal video for Don Q (although I can appreciate her delicacy might not read well in a large theatre).

[Lenore]

Sadly, it had no effect re Rhapsdy with Hayward / Hay and / or Pigeons with Choe / Camobell / Mendizabal...

I thought that was because they had no footage from their performances though (they only had the cinema cast)? I'm pretty sure they commented with that when people were asking.

[Balletfanp]

Yes, that was the reason they gave.

[Lindsay]

I saw Takada and Kish yesterday and was very pleasantly surprised. He made Albrecht quietly touching in a way I haven't seen in a very long time. She was the real revelation though - a proper romantic era ballerina, never forgetting the tilt of the torso and the arms and hands exactly right for the period. She balances forever and has an incredible jump. Not the same speed as osipova of course (but who has?) but it was a really classy performance with impeccable technique. And the whole company rose to it last night - a very tidy show all round.

 

Unlike tonight, which with the exception of very clean and stylish dancing from bonelli never really got off the ground. Quite a few edge-of-the-seat moments technically from various soloists too. I wonder whether some of the casting is too generous or whether the run is just too long?

[alison]

"Very pleasantly surprised" was how I felt, too, particularly since I have no idea how much practice they'd had together - she still has another performance to come with Soares, too - but early on in particular I was surprised at how "together" they were.  Kish's Albrecht differed from the RB "standard" in several respects, but I thought it worked on him - I've not liked him as much in anything else that I've seen recently.  Her Giselle was clearly thought out and well danced.  I'd be happy to see them together again, if it came to it.  And my appreciation of the whole was helped by the support of Kobayashi and Stepanek, neither of whom I'd seen this run .

[Lindsay]

Agreed Alison. Kobayashi was very secure and light, even in that horrendously difficult opening solo, and Stepanek is a good and subtle actor.

[jmhopton]

Still coming down to earth after Vadim's and Marianella's performance last Thursday. I thought everything was wonderful including the pas de six. The synchronised turns of the men were amazing and Naghdi and Hayward just get better and better. it is a pity neither were given a chance to be Giselle but perhaps Mr O' Hare is keeping them back for the next run. I hope they get chances for more solo roles in the next season which should be being announced soon. Marianella and Vadim were a revelation. I hope this is a partnership that continues. He has danced with so many dancers it would be great if he could have at least have a semi-permanent partner to dance with regularly if not every time. She was excellent but I thought his performance totally mesmerising; possibly the best Albrecht I've ever seen. in the first act he seemed totally in love with Giselle; she didn't seem to be a 'bit on the side' for him. When I saw Bathilde being so 'cold' I wondered if his marriage was 'arranged' in the same way that Giselle's mother would have liked to arrange her marriage, and he was turning to Giselle for the love and warmth she couldn't give him. Can't wait for Wednesday to see it all again at the cinema. There must be a dvd. It would be criminal not to preserve this performance (though tv would be better; what a Christmas treat. Who'd need anything else!)

[Sim]

I saw the Cuthbertson/Bonelli performance last night, and thought they were both marvellous.   Having danced together for so many years, they have such a connection.  I loved how everything in Act 2 was slow and langurous so that every move could be absorbed by the audience.  I loved their characterisations.  It was just beautiful. Lauren's portrayals are deepening with each passing season.  She has always been a wonderful actress, but there is now a depth of emotion and pathos in her performances that wasn't there even five years ago.  Bonelli is in good form and interprets with such passion.  His Albrecht is a Latin Lover kind of cad, slightly arrogant right to the end but displaying remorse for his deception and realising, too late, what he has done and what he has lost.

 

I have really noticed this run how Myrtha can be interpreted in different ways.  There is simply vengeful and angry (Itziar Mendizabal, Tierney Heap, both of whom I loved), smirkingly gloaty (Helen Crawford who I also really liked) or slightly wistful (Marianela Nunez, the best of all).  For Myrtha to work for me, she has to really make some kind of statement or strong impression and have imperious presence on the stage, and Claire Calvert didn't quite do that for me last night,  but I'm sure it will come.  She danced very well, but there wasn't enough there to instill any fear or wonder into me.   The corps were, as always, fabulous.  Their beauty in Act 2 chokes me up a bit.  

 

Valentino carried the pd6 on his own last night.  The rest of them didn't look ready to dance it.   It is not the most interesting of pieces, so you need an excellent central couple and two good or very good side couples for it work, and there hasn't been enough of that.

 

A highlight for me was Olivia Cowley as Bathilde.  I couldn't take my eyes off her, and was so grateful for my powerful binocs!  She was haughty, condescending, bored.....I loved how during the mad scene she looked up to the sky when Giselle did (apparently already seeing the Wilis starting to hover), saw nothing and giggled with the Duke of Courland about this silly peasant girl who thinks she's seeing things....then the horror on her face a minute later when Giselle is dead.  She gave so much detail to every minute she was onstage:  the way she pursed her lips in disgust before having to sip the rough peasant wine, the way a sarcastic little smile played around her lips any time anyone tried to do anything for her.  I loved it.  Cowley is another dancer who I am liking more and more as the season passes, and I really hope to see more of her in future.  

[Terpsichore]

I saw the Cuthbertson/Bonelli performance last night, and thought they were both marvellous.  .................  I loved it.  Cowley is another dancer who I am liking more and more as the season passes, and I really hope to see more of her in future.  

 

I was also in Covent Garden last night and could not agree with you more.

[Jacqueline]

I saw Giselle last Thursday and am sorry to say found it disappointing. I know that I will be in a minority,possibly even all alone here, but for me it just never really took off. I was very much looking forward to the performance and I can't really put my finger on why it didn't move me, perhaps it is over familiarity with the story and the memory of Kobborg/Cojocaru. 

The tale unfolded as expected, although I found the mime rather leaden and repetitive this time. I also thought that Hilarion was under powered to the point where his character became almost insignificant, despite the pivotal role he plays in events. Nunez and Muntagirov danced beautifully and special mention to Hayward and Naghdi, two obvious principals of the hopefully near future. 

Act Two picked up a little and Hilarion seemed more animated, but his death was not particularly involving, as he had seemed so colourless in the first act. The Wilis were in sync and Mendizabal was quite an effective Myrtha. The dancing was very lovely, with very few fluffs but again, it just didn't move me. I just can't as I said, put my finger on why. The presence of cameras didn't bother me where I was sitting and the audience seemed to be on good behaviour. I had a good seat, with an uninterrupted view. All the components were in place for a good time. It just didn't happen for me.

I may go along and see it at the cinema. Having read Sim's review and comments about the detail of expression as seen through her binoculars, I think I would benefit from the close ups of a cinema showing. It certainly helped with The Winter's Tale.

[Lindsay]

You're absolutely right about the pas de 6 Sim. Zucchetti makes me laugh - his first entrance downstage when he "announces" their arrival was so cheesy and showoffy that I wondered if he was doing Puck by mistake. But his technique is just absolutely reliable and I would far rather an amusingly overblown stage presence with all the steps every time than a series of nervous missed landings, which is really not good enough from a company the size of the RB. Look forward to seeing zucchetti do the pas with yuhui on Wednesday.

[alison]

I was expecting Campbell to be doing the pd6 on Wednesday?

[Beryl H]

I was expecting Campbell to be doing the pd6 on Wednesday?

 

It is Alexander Campbell, the full cast sheet is already on the ROH website.

[Lindsay]

Ah well, I'm sure he will be good too. Wasn't it zucchetti with yuhui in the last run? I must be thinking of that.

 

Thanks for the information.

[nycitybird]

I saw the first bonelli cuthbertson performance and a couple of the pd6 boys struggled to land their jumps.

[Balletfanp]

Was it Teo Dubreil and Solomon Golding in the Pd6? I saw somewhere on the social media that it was their "surprise debut", so presumably they weren't expected to perform then. It might explain a lack of polish in the performance.

[Sim]

No, it was Kevin Emerton and Benjamin Ella.  Perhaps the other two danced it in the schools matinee yesterday afternoon?

[capybara]

Teo and Solomon were down to dance on Friday night. I didn't see them but noticed them on the cast sheet en route to Reimagining Giselle.

[LinMM]

Not seeing Giselle this time round still feel satiated from Osipova and Costa last year but am enjoying reading this thread

 

It's really nice to see names like Naghdi....Mendizabal....and Cowley being celebrated right now.

 

I've been sorting out my ballet shelf in the home "library" and the other day I found some programmes from about six and seven years years ago or so where I'd circled these three names along with dancers called Lara Turk and Romany Pajdak and a certain Yuhui Choe. but I thought these showed promise then. They weren't principals or even soloists ....just those I'd picked from doing group dances.

 

Of course since then Hayward has also joined the ranks of really promising dancers so it's looking really exciting for the Royal at the moment.....just hope these dancers get a chance at some good roles in the not so distant future.

[Lindsay]

I saw Teo and Solomon on Friday, Capybara. A little nervy and they don't (yet) have the technique of the first choice cast but overall a very decent effort. (Mostly) secure landings but more importantly a sense of cohesion and enjoyment to the pas de 6 that let the audience enjoy it. Whereas on Saturday some early blips seemed to induce a loss of confidence that put me on the edge of my seat just praying for them to get through without major mishap.

[FLOSS]

Theo and Solomon danced on Friday night and they were very good apart from a slight mishap on Solomon's part at the very end of their variation after he had landed. The Friday night pas de six was Maguire, Acri, Harrod, Dubreuil, Hinkis and Golding(S).The Saturday night pas de six cast was Kobayashi, Zucchetti, Pajdack, Emerton,Stock and Ella.

 

All in all I found the Friday night pas de six much more satisfying than the Saturday evening cast which seemed a bit of a throwback to the days when the pas de six usually contained two dancers who let the whole group down. The Friday night cast had a freshness about it that was lacking in the Saturday evening one. On Saturday Zucchetti performed his variation well but his partnering was not of the same quality.As a result Kobayashi almost ended up facing her partner at the end of their pas de deux rather than the audience. Kobayashi's account of the peasant girl variation seemed more mechanical than most accounts of it but I am far from sure that anyone is assisted by the speed at which it is now danced, As far as the rest of the group is concerned perhaps it is just me, but I find Emerton always looks rather uncomfortable in this sort of exposed choreography. While Emerton has more stage presence than Ella it was Ella who gave a better account of the choreography.

 

None of the Myrthe's that I saw last week were steely and implacable.Only Nunez dominated the stage and that was a result of the quality of her dancing rather than her characterisation.Neither Kobayashi nor Calvert have the technique nor the stage presence to make the struggle for control of Albrecht's life and presumably his soul,since Hilarion kills himself, the drama that it should be.

 

Last week Osipova gave her only performance of this run. Hers is a unique account of the role. She is the only Giselle who I have seen who suggests an element of demonic possession in the second act and the danger that the Wilis represent. All the other Giselles and most of the Myrthes in this run seem sweet and gentle in comparison. Golding appears to believe that the second act is little more than an opportunity for Albrecht to display his abilities as a dancer and as a result there is little attempt at characterisation and the events of the second act seem to occur for no other reason than because they are in the script. The lift which was substituted by this pairing for the now standard Bolshoi lift looked as if it belonged to a much earlier version of the choreographic text probably the 1960 production since it was the last Royal Ballet production that was not influenced by Soviet performance practice.

 

Friday saw Takada's debut as Giselle. It was a beautifully danced account of the role.She gave an effective account of the mad scene in a performance which projected into the auditorium. All in all she gave a well judged and effective account of both acts. Kish was an elegant and sympathetic Albrecht, perhaps too considerate in act one for his actions to be wholly credible.

 

On Saturday evening Cuthbertson showed us a Giselle very different from Osipova's yet equally valid. A gentler more "aristocratic" Giselle who gave an exceptionally clear account of Giselle's breakdown after her betrayal. Bonelli and Cuthbertson are well matched in this ballet and their account of the second act is particularly effective.

 

I intend to say nothing about Muntagirov and Nunez simply because others have already given a pretty full account of their performances. I just hope that the entire cast including the "A" team pas de six makes it onto the stage on Wednesday. Those who see the streamed performance in the cinema are in for a treat.

 

It seems that the staging is rethought with each revival as the details of the groupings of the peasants after Giselle's death and Albrecht's actions during the death scene seem to change with each revival. Most of the current Albrecht seem so desperate to appear sympathetic that they are in danger of undermining the entire narrative. They seem to undergo a character transplant switching from duplicitous seducer to caring sympathy almost as soon as Giselle begins to go mad. I wonder what the original libretto says about this aspect of the plot? It seems to me that in the current revival there is a great deal of undignified squabbling over the body so that Albrecht can show how much he truly cares for Giselle leaving Berthe sidelined until the very end of the scene. I think that the way this scene used to end with the villagers grouped around Berthe holding Giselle's body is probably much closer to the original ending than the current ending which sees Berthe left alone on the bare stage with her daughter's body.

Edited April 3, 2016 by FLOSS

[aileen]

An interesting post, Floss. It sounds as if most of the current Albrechts have gone for the 'genuinely in love with Giselle but stuck in a strategic and unwanted engagement' approach rather than the cad carelessly toying with the affections of a naive village girl. Someone said somewhere that in the past Bathilde was a more sympathetic character than the cold and haughty fiancée which she is portrayed as now.

[alison]

On Saturday Zucchetti performed his variation well but his partnering was not of the same quality.

 

Indeed.  I think I've seen him with 3 different partners over the run, and I've noticed this each time.

 

Friday saw Takada's debut as Giselle. It was a beautifully danced account of the role.She gave an effective account of the mad scene in a performance which projected into the auditorium.

 

Takada actually made her debut (barring any "invisible" performances) on Bank Holiday Monday, with Soares, I believe, so even more credit to her for coping so well with two different partners in a matter of days.  She projected well to the back of the stalls circle, certainly, but I found myself using the opera glasses on her a lot more than I did with Cuthbertson/Bonelli the next night, when I was in the amphitheatre.

 

It seems that the staging is rethought with each revival as the details of the groupings of the peasants after Giselle's death and Albrecht's actions during the death scene seem to change with each revival. Most of the current Albrecht seem so desperate to appear sympathetic that they are in danger of undermining the entire narrative. They seem to undergo a character transplant switching from duplicitous seducer to caring sympathy almost as soon as Giselle begins to go mad. I wonder what the original libretto says about this aspect of the plot? It seems to me that in the current revival there is a great deal of undignified squabbling over the body so that Albrecht can show how much he truly cares for Giselle leaving Berthe sidelined until the very end of the scene. I think that the way this scene used to end with the villagers grouped around Berthe holding Giselle's body is probably much closer to the original ending than the current ending which sees Berthe left alone on the bare stage with her daughter's body.

 

I know what you mean, although I think the staging has stayed more or less the same in recent revivals (maybe the last 2 or 3?), but I've certainly noticed the stage becoming less and less populated before that: I think a few years ago there were a few of Giselle's friends left (perhaps they were jettisoned at the same time as the Ashton girl's variation?), and then before that maybe the whole company.  I do find the current situation a bit awkward, as much as anything because it forces the dancer portraying Hilarion to find a convincing reason to leave the stage, with varying degrees of success.

 

I've also noticed that the Giselles in this run have tended to have been more the bucolic, healthy-looking sort than the fragile, suffering-from-a-weak-heart sort.  As for the Albrechts, it's seemed that most have actually been genuinely in love with Giselle in some way or another, which I find rather less effective - give me a cad any day.  I don't mind whether he's only a cad up until the point where he swears his love for her, as if the scales have suddenly dropped from his eyes, whether he suddenly realises his feelings for her when he's betrayed her, or whether it takes him into the second act to realise the full import of his actions, and her sacrifice, but I prefer some sort of implication that he didn't initially have Giselle's best interests at heart, rather than the "I was riding through the forest one day and I saw this beautiful peasant girl and I immediately fell madly in love with her" type.

[alison]

And while I think of it, am I the only one who desperately wants to know what it is Albrecht whispers to Wilfried at each performance?!  If we can work that out, it says so much about the interpretation.

[MAB]

Couldn't agree more Alison, Nunez in particular seemed to be dancing Lise rather than Giselle in the first act and I don't buy the loves young dream interpretation so common now as Albrecht's motivation either.

 

Although I like the RB's Giselle production very much I have a strong dislike of the pas de six preferring the traditional peasant pas de deux.  Two dancers stepping forward to entertain their pals makes more sense than introducing a set piece that in it's current form breaks up the action far more than the pas de deux ever did. 

[aileen]

I feel that there is far more dramatic tension if it's not a story of thwarted love, which it veers towards if Albrecht loves Giselle from the start but is prevented from marrying her because of nasty Bathilde and social convention. Much as I am looking forward to seeing Marianela and Vadim, I'm a bit worried about this approach and about Giselle being a carefree, jolly girl. Perhaps their performance will overcome my reservations but Albrecht as a careless cad and Giselle as a naive and emotionally fragile girl who summons up huge reserves of character and courage to save the man she loves, despite his betrayal which leads to her public humiliation and untimely death, has a lot more grit and substance as a story (IMO).

[Balletfanp]

I didn't actually feel that Vadim played Albrecht as loving Giselle from the start. He was certainly playing the ardent lover but the impression I got was of a fun-loving, but rather entitled and selfish young man who is used to doing what he wants without having to bother thinking about the consequences of his actions. A pleasant young man, certainly, and with no ill intent, but living for the moment, and refusing to think about the fact that his deception can surely not be maintained. He wants Giselle, and so does what it takes, but it is only when he is about to be "outed" and things suddenly start to become rather uncomfortable, that he comes to some realisation that things have got out of control. And probably also realises that he was more in love with Giselle than he thought, when he realises what his actions have brought on.

 

That was my interpretation, for what it's worth, anyway - everyone sees things differently so no doubt there will be those who disagree.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Balletfanp

[FLOSS]

Call me old fashioned but I prefer an Albrecht who because of his social position has never had to worry about anything or accept responsibility for his actions. An Albrecht who toys with Giselle's affections and probably would seduce her, if he got the chance, who only has a limited understanding of what he has done when he sees Giselle die. An Albrecht for whom up until the point of Giselle's death it was all just a pretty meaningless intrigue with a credulous peasant girl. That way the transition occurs off stage between the acts. It gives the second act more impact. I suppose Albrecht could be played so that you aren't sure just how contrite and worthy of being saved he actually is. I can't see any male dancer wanting to portray such an unsympathetic character and I am pretty sure that it goes against the spirit of the original libretto as Bathilde rescues him at the end and takes him back. But it might make a few of those tempted to play an overly sympathetic Albrecht at least question their characterisation.

 

It would be fascinating to see a staged reconstruction using the Stepanov notation, the Titus violin reduction of the original score with production notes from the first Russian staging and the Justament staging record of the last nineteenth century Paris revival. This material was used by the Seattle based PNB but the staging was something of a compromise as although the mime sequences were restored not all the choreographic text was.The dancers, for example, retained the Bolshoi lifts although Giselle should simply skim the ground. If we were to see Giselle danced at the correct tempo with the characters allowed to reveal themselves as originally intended through mime as well as dance many characters who now seem mere ciphers or plot devices would be far more rounded characters. If they mimed and danced to the sections of music specifically composed for each element of stage action,mime and dance we would almost certainly have to revise our views of the characters and the ballet.

Edited April 4, 2016 by FLOSS

[Jacqueline]

I have read the above comments and I think I get now, why the performance I saw didn't come across to me. I just don't think it works if Giselle and Albrecht are in love almost from the off, or if he is portrayed as being in any way serious about her. She is a naive, gullible young girl, unused to flirtatious male attention. She is instantly flattered and drawn in. Albrecht is a privileged young man, used to getting his own way although fully aware of the conventions of his position. Although he is attracted to her, he is or should be, if the mime is to make any sense, clearly toying with her as he runs through his repertoire of practiced charm. 

It is all a game to him and a diversion from the tedium of a restricted court life. When his party returns and we see their double take at his peasant 'get up', followed by laughter, we know he is going to drop Giselle like a stone, and he does so in a callous manner, which again to my eyes, makes a nonsense of the mime if up to then his behaviour has suggested that he truly loves her.This would be his chance to declare his love and renounce court life, but of course he is not going to do that.

The second act should be a battle between Giselle and Myrtha over Albrecht's fate. Giselle truly loves him and has forgiven him. Although she realises that his ardour was not quite what it seemed, she is not vengeful and doesn't want him to die for his deception. I like the idea of an almost wistful Myrtha, as she watches Giselle trying to protect the 'prey', perhaps recalling her own love and what it was like to feel something other than bitterness.

There is some scope for the way Myrtha is played, but as I said, I do think Giselle needs to be a naive and gullible young girl and Albrecht needs to be a careless, although not heartless cad for the story to work and make sense, as much as any ballet makes sense. 

Act ll surely contains some of, if not the most exquisite and moving choreography and music in existence. If you can believe that it is about love, forgiveness, redemption etc, it should tug at your heartstrings. She does all she can to save his life and he finally begins to understand what he has done and as he walks away from her grave, clutching the flower she has left him, you should feel that he is really thinking about what has happened, not just about himself. I didn't get any of that last Thursday. I have since watched - if I may mention them again - my Kobborg/Cojocaru dvd and I get those feelings in waves as I did when I saw them at the theatre. 

It's all in the way of the telling I suppose. I understand each dancer brings their own interpretation to any role,but there are elements of what is quite a straightforward story, that just don't work as they should if that interpretation is given too much room. In my very humble opinion, I would like the RB to perhaps decide on a way of presenting this ballet when it returns, so that while it is still allowed to breathe, the different approaches do not interrupt the narrative, to the extent that it just doesn't make sense.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Jacqueline