2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25
The two-act ballet "Giselle" is a fantastic story created by three librettists - Henri de Saint-Georges, Theophile Gauthier, Jean Coralli and composer Adolphe Adam, based on the legend retold by Heinrich Heine.
How was the immortal masterpiece created?
The Parisian public saw the ballet Giselle in 1841. This was the era of romanticism, when it was customary to include elements of folklore and myths in dance performances. The music for the ballet was written by the composer Adolphe Adam. One of the authors of the libretto for the ballet "Giselle" was Theophile Gautier. Together with him, the well-known librettist Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and choreographer Jean Coralli, who directed the performance, also worked on the libretto of the ballet Giselle. The ballet "Giselle" does not lose its popularity to this day. The Russian public first saw this story of tragic love in 1884 at the Mariinsky Theatre, but with some adjustments made to the production by Marius Petipa for the ballerina M. Gorshenkova, who performed the part of Giselle, who was then replaced by the great Anna Pavlova. In this performance, not only choreographic skills are important for a ballerina, but alsodramatic talent, the ability to reincarnate, since the main character in the first act appears as a naive girl, then turns into a suffering girl, and in the second act she becomes a ghost.
Libretto of the ballet "Giselle"
In his book "On Germany" Heinrich Heine wrote an old Slavic legend about Wilis - girls who died from unhappy love and rise from their graves at night to kill young men wandering in the night, so they avenge their lost lives. It was this legend that became the basis for the libretto of the ballet Giselle. Summary of the production: Count Albert and the peasant woman Giselle love each other, but Albert has a bride; the girl finds out about this and dies of grief, after which she becomes a vilisa; Albert comes at night to the grave of his beloved and he is surrounded by Wilis, he is threatened with death, but Giselle protects him from the wrath of her friends and he manages to escape.
T. Gauthier is the main developer of the libretto, he reworked the Slavic legend for the performance of Giselle (ballet). The content of the production takes the viewer away from the place where this myth originated. The librettist moved all the events to Thuringia.
Characters of the play
The main character is a peasant girl Giselle, Albert is her lover. Forester Illarion (in Russian productions of Hans). Berta is Giselle's mother. Albert's fiancee is Bathilde. Wilfried is a squire, the Queen of Wilis is Mirta. Among the characters are peasants, courtiers, servants, hunters, Wilis.
T. Gauthier decided to give the ancient myth a cosmopolitan character, and with his lightthe arms of the country, customs and titles not found in the original story were included in Giselle (ballet). The content has been adjusted, as a result of which the characters have been slightly changed. The author of the libretto made the main character Albert the Duke of Silesia, and the father of his bride became the Duke of Courland.
1 action
Ballet Giselle, summary of scenes 1 to 6
Events take place in a mountain village. Berta lives with her daughter Giselle in a small house. Lois, Giselle's lover, lives nearby in another hut. Dawn came and the peasants went to work. Meanwhile, the forester Hans, who is in love with the main character, is watching her meeting with Lois from a secluded place, he is tormented by jealousy. Seeing the passionate hugs and kisses of lovers, he runs up to them and condemns the girl for such behavior. Lois chases him away. Hans vows revenge. Giselle's girlfriends soon appear, and she starts dancing with them. Berta tries to stop these dances, noticing that her daughter has a weak heart, fatigue and excitement are life-threatening.
Ballet Giselle, summary of scenes 7 to 13
Hans manages to reveal the secret of Lois, who, it turns out, is not a peasant at all, but Duke Albert. The forester sneaks into the duke's house and takes his sword to use as proof of his rival's noble birth. Hans shows Giselle Albert's sword. The truth is revealed that Albert is a duke and he has a fiancee. The girl is deceived, she does not believe in Albert's love. Her heart can't take it and shedies. Albert, mad with grief, tries to kill himself, but is not allowed to do so.
2 action
Ballet Giselle, summary of scenes 1 to 6 of Act 2
After her death, Giselle turned into a vilisa. Hans, tormented by remorse and feeling guilty for the death of Giselle, comes to her grave, the Wilis notice him, circle in their round dance and he falls dead.
Ballet Giselle, summary of scenes 7 to 13 of Act 2
Albert is unable to forget his beloved. At night he comes to her grave. He is surrounded by Wilis, among whom is Giselle. He tries to hug her, but she is just an elusive shadow. He falls to his knees near her grave, Giselle flies up and allows him to touch her. The Wilis begin to circle Albert in a round dance, Giselle tries to save him, and he survives. At dawn, the Wilis disappear, and Giselle also disappears, saying goodbye to her lover forever, but she will forever live in his heart.
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