Sylvia was Delibes’
third ballet (Naïla and
Coppélia came earlier)
and marked a distinct advance in the
quality of the ballet music of the time.
The French nation’s love for the ballet
was enhanced by their native composer
and specifically by this work. It would
also influence Tchaikovsky’s style as
was evident a year later when Swan
Lake was completed.
Leo Delibes studied
under Adam in Paris and although now
principally remembered for his ballets
and his opera, Lakmé,
it should be remembered that he spent
time writing a number of operettas that
have been unfairly neglected and forgotten.
The full score of Sylvia
is extended at the end of Act III
with a Pas de Deux taken from La
Source that in turn may have originated
in the ballet, Naïla (1867).
Sylvia
is a mythological story involving the
interaction of a huntsman, Sylvia, with
the hero of the ballet, a shepherd,
Aminta. The goddess, Diana, and Eros
lend their aid to free Sylvia from the
attentions of Orion. The second act
of the plot is a difficult one to mime
out in ballet: Eros has to correct Diana’s
scorn at the love between a mortal and
a spirit (Sylvia) by reminding Diana
of her earlier seduction of Endymion.
I got completely lost in following the
stage action for this part of the plot.
The choreography, here by John Neumeier,
nevertheless tells the story fairly
well with much athleticism and fresh
interpretation. The group work is at
times inspired and there is good variation
in the material. Sometimes solo character
mimes are reminiscent of those robotic
street entertainers we come across whilst
visiting tourist spots. The dancing
throughout is first class with the men
and women’s chorus often adding an extra
dimension. The male spirits, bare-chested
with white jogging pants, looking familiarly
like a Bourne production, and female
spirits in flowing long dresses wash
in imaginary water.
Diana’s reputation
as an expert archer is indicated by
an ingenious device in the Prologue.
Four hunter-archers fire their arrows
at a target board with fairly good aim
- on cue of certain orchestral chords.
When Diana fires her arrow it squarely
hits the bull’s eye: the message is
clear. There are times when I find that
the energy of visual presentation does
not always complement the energy and
emotions expressed by the score. This
is most evident when Sylvia’s company
of hunters dance to the rousing and
powerful music of the Chasseresses (No.
3). Opportunities are lost within this
scene where frozen positions are sometimes
held while the cheery music continues
to bounce along. Again, the Cortège
de Bacchus of Act III has its fanfares
matching a non-synchronized waiters’
dance - with no Bacchus in sight. One
wonders what Freddy Ashton might have
made of these interpretations. The extended
parting of Sylvia and Aminta, provided
by additional Source music works
as it gives a slower and more focused
finale on which to finish.
The production at the
Paris Opéra is not traditionally
staged. The modern approach used has
both positive and negative sides. I
can only rarely accept that romantic
classical music is ideally complemented
by the modern minimalist staging favoured
by contemporary western designers. Four
stylized trees, bright blue, standing
on an eau-de-nil floor are set against
a neutral cyclorama. Although stretching
the imagination this is probably acceptable
until a previously invisible door -
brightly lit from within - opens within
the horizon backcloth. This does not
make sense even to someone to with a
generous amount of imagination.
The televised production
looks well and it seems that editing
was done ‘on-line’. Few close-ups were
shown and these were always of the same
characters. Often long shots were chosen
when there was little in formation dancing
to notice and perhaps a higher camera
angle could have revealed more pattern
in the movement.
The notes might have
been more helpful. The different scenes
are rightly given titles relating to
the on-stage action, but they do not
relate to the titles in the score. Anyone
trying to follow from the score will
face a real challenge. To provide future
reference I have had to pencil in the
score title movements against the particular
DVD tracks. The brief notes are written
in English and French while the interview
of the Director is in English and that
of the Dance Director is in French.
Raymond J Walker
Opéra National de Paris, 
TDK DVWW-BLSVA [136:00] 
