"...the title role is the most emotionally exhausting of all parts in
the repertory of classical ballet, for that character is to the
danseuse what Hamlet is to the actor. It is imperative that the
interpreter of Giselle shall be not only a dancer equipped with a first rate
technique, but one able to mime moments of comedy and tragedy; moreover, she
must be able to act
while dancing." (Cyril W. Beaumont,
Complete book of ballets [London, 1937], p. 165.)
"The ballet is incredible and Giselle is my favourite role. For me
it's constantly changing and developing ... This is the most
important role in any ballerina's career." (Natalia Osipova,
interviewed on this DVD.)
Giselle has proved almost as popular on DVD and Blu-ray as it has
in the theatre. Virtually every ballet company worth its salt seems to have
felt the need to immortalise its own interpretation. That includes the Royal
Ballet, for this new disc now complements a much praised 2006 performance of
its familiar, long-standing Peter Wright production. That earlier version
features the company's stars at that time Alina Cojocaru and Johan
Kobborg and is still on sale (DVD OA0993D and Blu-ray OABD7030D,
reviewed here).
Taking a selection of other desirable recorded performances from my
shelves, I would not want to be without the Alessandra Ferri/Massimo
Murru/Teatro alla Scala version from 1996 (Arthaus Musik 100 061,
see here). The Milan company’s 2005 production that
starred Svetlana Zakharova and Roberto Bolle (Arthaus Musik 107 289, see
link to the Paris Opera Ballet review below) is also a highly desirable one.
Right up there too is the 2006 Laëtitia Pujol/Nicholas Le Riche/ParisOpera
Ballet performance that I reviewed on its Blu-ray release (Arthaus Musik 108
049,
see here where it's considered in tandem with the
2005 La Scala performance). I am also very impressed with an outstanding
account from Svetlana Lunkina/Dmitri Gudanov/Bolshoi Ballet, recorded in
2011, that is not only very well danced but looks absolutely stunning on
Blu-ray (BelAir Classiques BAC474). Finally, the 1968 Carla Fracci/Erik
Bruhn/American Ballet Theatre production (Deutsche Grammophon 00440 073
4069) is also well worth considering, even though it polarises opinion: shot
and edited as a feature film, it scores hugely by virtue of its sheer pace
and dramatic verve - which I love - but also alienates many balletomanes by
its deliberate decision not to film dance in the conventional way.
So, in a very competitive field, how does this new DVD fare?
One very obvious point in its favour is the presence in the title role -
often regarded as the supreme test for a classical ballerina - of former
Bolshoi Ballet superstar Natalia Osipova. In the eyes of her many admirers,
she is quite possibly the world's leading female dancer right now,
and there is certainly no doubt that her arrival as a Principal in autumn
2013 was a major coup for the Royal Ballet.
No longer almost invariably partnered by fellow Russian superstar Ivan
Vasiliev, whose engaging but stage-stealing flashiness sometimes
disproportionately hogged the audience's attention, Ms Osipova
appears to have thrived on the new challenges offered by moving out of the
Bolshoi's comfort zone. As Cyril Beaumont's observation at the
head of this review suggested,
Giselle ultimately stands or falls
on the ballerina dancing the title role. This production thereby
triumphantly stands - and the new DVD will act as an effective calling-card
for anyone who hasn't yet become aware of Ms Osipova's
outstanding talents.
Giselle requires the ballerina taking the title role to meet the
challenge of inhabiting three separate
personae. Firstly, there’s
the naive peasant girl who's in love for the first time. Then we
encounter the betrayed fiancée driven by betrayal and grief to a heart
attack/fatal insanity/suicide – different producers offer their own choice,
but Peter Wright goes for the suicide option. Finally, the dancer taking the
title role must become an ethereal and ghostly - but ultimately reluctant -
wili. Dancers sometimes do well at one or two of those personifications but
are unable to carry off the third one convincingly. I've certainly,
for instance, watched more than a few less-than-convincing interpretations
of the comparatively brief, though dramatically vital, grief/madness episode
that brings the first Act to its tragic close.
Natalia Osipova's acting successfully encompasses a wide emotional
range, so that she is equally assured and convincing in every facet of the
role. She possesses one priceless natural asset: her naturally pale skin
helps make convincing characters of both the sickly girl with a weak heart
in the first Act and a bloodless shade in the second. She can also act, as
is clear from the range of feelings that she communicates as the emotionally
confused girl of Act 1 - a portrayal that's triumphantly climaxed in
its last few minutes as both her face and body convey her utter distress and
misery as her world collapses around her.
Ms Osipova's technique is also, as one might expect, of the highest
quality: from her very first entrance, lightly skipping across the stage
(5:31-6:14), she holds the audience's attention in the palm of her
hand. Her skilled virtuosity is apparent as she races manically around the
set at the end of Act 1 and she certainly knows how to pull off more than a
few crowd-pleasing effects where her dazzling footwork simply electrifies
the audience (39:57-40:09 in Act 1 and 75:52-76:25 in Act 2). She is not,
though, a selfish performer and she appears to enjoy a genuine rapport with
her partner Carlos Acosta.
His physique and demeanour ensures that Mr Acosta offers a more masculine
interpretation of Albrecht than we sometimes encounter. He certainly has
strength and power to spare when he dances this particular role and I was
more consistently impressed by his technique on this occasion (see
97:45-98:42, for example) than I was by his rather patchy Basilio in
Don
Quixote (
see here). As a long-time Royal Ballet star, Acosta
possesses an aura of authority on the Covent Garden stage that is
particularly well suited to this role. Thus, even though the villagers, with
the exception of the perspicacious Hilarion, may be fooled for almost all
the first Act, we can see at a glance that the way that "Loys"
carries himself indicates that he is, in reality, a cut or five above the
rest of them. Interpreting Albrecht, he eschews the caddish in favour of a
slowly but genuinely developing affection for the girl - admittedly
light-hearted, though well-meaning, to begin with but deepening as the Act
goes on. In much of the first Act wooing, he is aided immeasurably by his
familiar infectious grin and a cheeky chappie charm that wins both Giselle
and the audience over to his side.
Dancing the role that makes up the third side of the love triangle is
Thomas Whitehead as the jealous gamekeeper Hilarion. He, too, makes a very
positive impression, though I missed the momentary shock found in most other
productions where he appears in mid-stage seemingly from nowhere to break
apart the lovers' embrace at the climax of the Act 1 peasants'
galop. On this occasion, the dancers are grouped – and the camera
placed - in such a way that we can see Hilarion coming up from the rear of
the stage well in advance. Any children watching this DVD will, I'm
sure, be yelling out at that point "He's behind you!"
Of the other main roles, I enjoyed Deirdre Chapman's take on
Giselle's mother Berthe, who is on this occasion accorded the Act 1
"there's something nasty in the forest" mime episode
(18:27-20:02). It's sometimes omitted by other companies. Initially I
was somewhat disconcerted by the fact that Ms Chapman looks rather too young
to be the heroine's parent, but, as the booklet notes explain,
producer Peter Wright chooses to imagine that she might have suffered the
droit de seigneur at a young age - and that aristocratic parentage
might thereby also "explain", he suggests, why Giselle's
dancing skills are distinctly more up-market than those of her fellow
villagers.
I also admired the accomplished dancing of Hikaru Kobayashi as the
vengeful Myrthe, the queen of the wilis. Unfortunately, she has a hard act
to follow after Marianela Núñez's superb performance on the DVD of
the Royal Ballet's 2006 performance, for that was not only
beautifully danced but communicated Myrthe's purposeful and menacing
implacability more effectively. Myrthe may well be dead, but - like the
equally deceased Giselle - she still has a personality. While Ms Kobayashi
exhibits the appropriate glacial demeanour, it's not just enough to
avoid smiling: as Ms Núñez showed, when a dancer willingly seizes the
opportunity, there's rather more to Myrthe than that.
The usual
peasant pas de deux - a frequent showcase for
up-and-coming young stars of the future - is replaced here by a
pas de
six that is very well executed. As usual, radiant Royal Ballet stalwart
Yuhui Choe is particularly delightful, and she is well partnered on this
occasion by Valentino Zucchetti whose solo opportunities are also
attractively executed. Variously portraying horny-handed - if rather nattily
clothed and light on their feet - sons of the soil or supernatural
girls-gone-bad, the
corps de ballet offers first-class support,
whether in their vigorous peasant cavortings or in the elegant and precisely
coordinated footwork of the wilis. So does the Orchestra of the Royal Opera
House, recorded in fine detail by Opus Arte's accomplished engineers.
At times, conductor Boris Gruzin adopts a marginally more relaxed approach
than he did when he conducted the Royal Ballet's 2006 performance.
Both approaches successfully fulfil the objective of supporting the on-stage
action and are expertly achieved.
Peter Wright's production - with its stage designs recently
modified by a bit of judicious tree surgery so as to create more space on
stage - has long been justifiably lauded and has been expertly captured on
this recording by video director Ross MacGibbon. I did think that the stage
was rather brightly lit for Act 2 and, as a result, that it was not as
atmospheric as it might have been. I certainly prefer an over-bright stage,
though, to one where dim illumination and over-generously applied swirls of
dry ice mean that we can't see the all-important footwork at all. In
all this, my DVD offered a very fine picture, so I can only imagine that a
Blu-ray version of this performance would offer a very real treat indeed.
The disc comes, incidentally, with a couple of useful extra features that
together add an extra 10 minutes or so of background material, with
contributions from stars Osipova and Acosta, producer Peter Wright and
members of the
corps de ballet.
Until now, if pressed for a single version of
Giselle, I'd
probably have gone for the 2011 Bolshoi performance. It's simply
stunning to look at in its Blu-ray presentation and it has, in Svetlana
Lunkina, another superbly accomplished interpreter of the title role. While
Dmitri Gudanov may lack Carlos Acosta's innate charisma and sheer
virility, he is certainly a fine dancer, while Vitaly Biktimirov gives the
most compelling performance of Hilarion that I've seen. As is usually
the case at the Bolshoi these days, production values are very high.
This new Opus Arte disc now joins that Bolshoi version at the very top of
the list. Indeed, if its Blu-ray incarnation - which I haven't had
the pleasure of seeing - is of the same quality that BelAir Classiques
accorded to the Bolshoi recording, this Royal Ballet performance may well
sweep the board as the new
Giselle of choice.
Rob Maynard
