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The Royal Ballet: Giselle, Feb-April 2016

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Bleaden94

Bleaden94

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Only just been able to post my response to Giselle on Wednesday 23rd March with Cuthbertson/Bonelli/Calvert/Gartside - sadly working in Tesco means that it has been a very busy few days!

 

I was astounded by Cuthbertson and Bonelli - I have seen them in different productions, but they seemed to be on a new level of acting and technique! 

Maybe because the only Albrecht I have seen was Carlos Acosta with Osipova, Bonelli's technique seemed infinitely better. But I actually found myself more moved by Cuthbertson/Bonelli then Acosta/Osipova. 

Calvert was also amazing, a fabulous Myrtha, you could almost fully believe she was in control of the Willi (the corp being amazing as always).

Cuthbertson was lovely, lyrical arms, moving acting, superb technique. 

All in all the performance was fabulous!

 

The only bit that bugged me was the Pas de Six - Harrod/Ball, Hinkis/Donnelly, Zucchetti/Crawford. They were all fantastic, except Crawford, extremely wobbly and shaky, I guess it stood out more because everyone else was confident and perfect! 

 

Also a little shout out to Olivia Crowley as Bathilde and Gartside as Hilarion - great acting, with some little nuances that could only been seen by those lucky ones in the orchestra stalls. 

Gartside, as seen on his Twitter and Instagram has been "getting back into shape" with the help of Brian Maloney - and bravo, he was fantastic! 

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Indigo

Indigo

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Gartside, as seen on his Twitter and Instagram has been "getting back into shape" with the help of Brian Maloney - and bravo, he was fantastic! 

 

Bennet has been very impressive as Hilarion in the performances I've seen.

 

I saw the picture he posted on Twitter too & did wonder whether Bennet's Hilarion had missed a trick by not unbuttoning his shirt - perhaps Giselle might have started to take more notice of poor Hilarion then!  ;)   Though I suspect that gruff Hilarion would never have stood a chance against Albrecht as portrayed by Federico or Vadim.

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alison

alison

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The only bit that bugged me was the Pas de Six - Harrod/Ball, Hinkis/Donnelly, Zucchetti/Crawford. They were all fantastic, except Crawford, extremely wobbly and shaky, I guess it stood out more because everyone else was confident and perfect! 

 

From the ... rather unusual, shall we say ... viewing point I had, I'm not sure I'd agree with you on apportioning blame.

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thewinelake

thewinelake

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That was very good. Not the greatest seats, but I can't say I found the Osipova-Golding chemistry that strong, although her end of act I was most moving. Nunez majestically graceful. Would love to hear an opinion from someone who's seen other performances.

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Coated

Coated

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I thought Ryo did just fine - a manly prince (he had to be to outshine a very hunky Hilarion) who came to regret his selfishness and possibly even deserved saving. There might have been a few skew-wiff moments, but nothing to distract the flow. He and Lamb looked quite good together - and Lamb has really tapped into something of late, making her character come across on an emotional level.

 

Wish I could say something like that about Golding's Albrecht tonight. I don't know who he was, a lad, a cad, did he feel any shame? He seemed to have focussed on the technical aspects of the role, working so hard to jump enormeously high to do his beats, you could see every ounce of concentration and effort going into it. It's probably hard on the nerves to share a stage with two spellbinding leads, but I feel quite strongly that it would be better to try and match their stage craft instead of trying to outdance them.

 

But oh, the Osipova and Nunez show - effortless artistry and beauty.

Edited by Coated
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Simon

Simon

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I saw the first act of Soares and Takada. I enjoyed her dancing but overall it left me cold. This may have has something to do with the awful view I had - cheap seat balcony row C.

 

Saw Osipova and Golding tonight. I could admire the dancing but I wasn't moved. Personally I didn't think they had any connection. However this maybe due to seeing two very emotional Giselles with Nunez and Muntagirov. The highlight for me was seeing Nunez as Myrtha. A tremendous queen of the wilis.

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alison

alison

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I thought Ryo did just fine - a manly prince (he had to be to outshine a very hunky Hilarion)

 

Okay, who did I miss?  (It's annoying that while they announce the Myrthas we're still left to guess at the Hilarions)

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Lenore

Lenore

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Just got back from this evening... I was actually very moved & enjoyed it tremendously. I'm still on a little bit of a high if I'm honest.

 

I found Natalia's interpretation very childlike & fragile which made the ending of act 1 make sense to me. I also didn't think she stabbed herself? I didn't see it anyway. I felt she was totally besotted with Albrecht, but in return he was quite indifferent (almost like he was using her & not really in love?), so I agree with the comments about chemistry. Her mad scene has shot up to be one of my complete favourites. I've never been so involved! I was watching with my mouth wide open I'm sure! Completely heart breaking.

 

Act 2 was pretty much perfect. I have to say I prefer Marianela as Myrthe. There was so much she brought to the role. I saw an almost human side to the character; she seemed genuinely betrayed & upset with Giselle saving Albrecht. I think this was the first time I've actually felt anything towards Myrthe. As a thought, is it usual for the same dancer to be cast as Giselle & Myrthe in the same run?

 

Some quick thoughts anyway. I had an amazing evening despite the rain destroying my shoes just before the performance... :)

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thewinelake

thewinelake

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I saw where she kind of poked herself with the sword, but I think it was the classic "cry for help" rather than a successfully mortal wound. Totally agree on the mad scene. She reminded me of Kate Bush with the hair out, and that was really rather powerful. Myrthe was wonderful - and the contrast between Nunez and Osipova was indeed spellbinding - Osipova does that childlike thing so well (we saw her in La Fille Mal Gardée) but I hope that she can do more serious roles and that she's not the ballet equivalent of Hugh Grant! Fantastic developées, too. Nunes more mature grace and elegance. I would have loved to see her Giselle. I should have kept one of those tickets for 17th... Also, it made me think that I should consider splashing out on seats where you can see the facial expressions better. Myrthe's acting was very subtle and I felt we were missing out from the balcony. Hard when there's usually 4 of us, though. 

 

Of course the corps de ballet was fabulous and the Wiles dances evoked Swan Lake for me. Loved the bit where they were in a kind of star formation and bowing down, and great precision in the running around bits.

 

Is Golding being groomed as a long term partner for Osipova? I hate to say it, but a shame if that is so, as he is a bit one-dimensional (the Roger Moore of ballet?! ;-))

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Mousem40

Mousem40

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I attended both the lecture at the Clore Studio 'Insights: Giselle Pre-performance talk' and the performance.

 

I found the lecture to be very interesting and a lot of fun. For £5 these are a must see.

A few tidbits for you (some of which have already been mentioned I'm sure)

 

Giselle wasn't strongly promoted by the French theatre that premiered it, they doubted its success and weren't impressed by the choice of Giselle (Carlotta Grisi). It was 3.5 hours long and included a lot of miming which has now mostly been cut. It had a very successful opening night, with only one notable critic, the composer Wagner.

 

The Wilis (pronounced Vilis) were based on Heinrich Heine's vampire girls and his original plot describes how they cursed the dance floor of a ball which made those that touched it dance until they died!

 

The ballet was the first to have a score composed for it (as opposed to other existing and popular pieces stitched together, as was the norm up until then). The music, written by Adolphe Adam was of a 'Musique Parlant' style - which provided explanations of the actions on set (e.g pulling of the Daisy petals by Giselle, and Albrecht knocking on the door)

 

The Arabesque features heavily in the dancing of the Wilis. The rear horizontal leg raise is supposed to symbolise how the Wilis are on one hand 'of the earth' (the area below the leg) and also 'of the heavens' (the area above the leg). 

 

The ending in the first production was very different to the ending we have now. Giselle watches Bathilde return to Albrecht and can be seen to approve before she disappears. This ending was more in keeping with the morals of the times.

 

In the PDD in Act II, as Albrecht is seen kneeling at Giselle's grave, her instructions are to bend over and lower her hand to the same level as his heart (even though she is not beside him) , whereupon he senses her touch and finally notices her presence.

 

There was plenty more, but nothing on whether Giselle commits suicide, has a heart attack or is heart broken. Unfortunately there was no Q&A session afterwards.

 

The performance itself was wonderful. Osipova was sublime (perhaps marginally less so than her performance last year), and 'nella as Queen of the Wilis was astounding (I heard several gasps as she entered one scene with huge grand jetes). I really enjoyed her playful Myrtha. Two true heavyweights performing at their best tonight.

 

I agree with Sylph and Coated's sentiments on Matthew Golding. He seemed to be working up a real sweat to get the technical aspects right at the cost of much emotional contribution. 

Edited by Mousem40
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alison

alison

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It was Stepanek,

 

Grrr :(  I meant to ask people tonight whether he was still performing Hilarion as well as Wilfried.

 

I have to say I prefer Marianela as Myrthe. There was so much she brought to the role. I saw an almost human side to the character; she seemed genuinely betrayed & upset with Giselle saving Albrecht. I think this was the first time I've actually felt anything towards Myrthe. As a thought, is it usual for the same dancer to be cast as Giselle & Myrthe in the same run?

 

Answering your question first: I think both Morera and Nunez have done both in the past.  And yes, I agree with you - it was so good to see her doing Myrthe again.  I was sorry I wasn't closer so that I could get more detail from her interpretation.

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penelopesimpson

penelopesimpson

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Grrr :(  I meant to ask people tonight whether he was still performing Hilarion as well as Wilfried.

 

 

Answering your question first: I think both Morera and Nunez have done both in the past.  And yes, I agree with you - it was so good to see her doing Myrthe again.  I was sorry I wasn't closer so that I could get more detail from her interpretation.

Just got back and still on a high from tonight.  I LOVED it.  Osipova was absolutely terrific and worth the wait (and boy have I waited...!) And the bonus of having Marianela as well.  That first moment when they're both on stage together was spellbinding.  Corps on top form.

 

Yes, Golding isn't the most dramatic of performers but I thought he acquitted himself better than I'd hoped and made a competent partner for Osipova.  No, there wasn't a lot of chemistry but I don't really expect this from Matthew and he gave his partner a secure base from which she could shine.  I preferred him to Bonelli whom I saw with Cuthbertson a couple of weeks ago and thought he was weak.  I feel for Golding who, for better or worse, has landed in a company where perhaps he is not an obvious fit.  However, he is better with Osipova than when I saw him with Hayward which I thought was a mismatch.

 

For me a fabulous evening with a generous audience.

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kameliendame

kameliendame

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A few comments on the suicide/death of Giselle:

 

Giselle commits suicide in the original Gautier/Saint-George libretto, but it was Petipa himself who changed it first, since showing a suicide on stage during that time was out of the question. However Petipa still left a little trace of the original libretto by making Giselle grab the sword and try to stab herself - but he also made someone step in and take the sword away from her, so it would remain a mystery whether or not she died from her wounds or from something else. I have absolutely no idea where the dying of a broken heart/weak heart came from, but like Floss said, it was perpetuated most by the Soviet productions and a lot of other productions just took over that narrative. Knowing this it makes sense that Giselle was buried in the woods and not on church ground. Although I do wonder where the other Willis were buried - also in the woods? Or were they buried in a graveyard and then go to the woods when its nighttime??? To me it always looked like the Wilis emerged right out of the ground which means they must have done something sinful before they died to be buried there... According to wikipedia willis are ''the spirits of women who had been frivolous in their lifetimes and now floated between here and the afterlife"... make of that what you will! 

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Fonty

Fonty

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Regarding the live cinema broadcast on the 6th April, could someone tell me what time it is likely to start?  I know the performance is at 7.30pm, but I assume there will be some sort of pre performance chat?

 

I will be watching in Portugal, and they have very limited information.  It was actually shown in the listings as "a performance by the Bolshoi".   I thought it was odd they would be showing that on the same day as one from Covent Garden, so I insisted that they check.  It is the Royal Ballet, of course!  But apart from that, the staff don't know anything. 

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Fonty

Fonty

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No, Portugal has the same time as the UK. 

 

Thanks everyone.  I must say I am slightly shocked at the lack of accurate information being given to the local cinema.  Not to mention the complete absence of any publicity whatsoever.  I think there could be quite an appetite for ballet in Faro. They have a competition at the local theatre each year, and the place is packed with little girls in leotards with their hair up in buns.  And someone told me that when one of the ballet companies visited a couple of years ago, (not sure which one), it was sold out weeks in advance.  

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