Adolphe ADAM (1803-1856)
Le Corsaire, ballet (1868)
Libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Joseph Mazilier, based on The Corsair by Lord Byron.
Choreography by Anna-Marie Holmes, after Petipa & Sergeyev.
Nicoletta Manni: Medora, Martina Arduino: Guinare, Timofej Andrijashenko: Conrad, Marco Agostino: Lankendem, Antonino Sutera: Birbanto, Mattia Semperboni: Ali the slave
Ballet Company and Orchestra of Teatro alla Scala/Patrick Fournillier
rec. Teatro alla Scala, Milan, Italy, 2018
NTSC 16:9, Access code 0 (worldwide)
C MAJOR 756208 DVD [108 mins]
Le Corsaire occupies a special position in ballet repertoire: the popularity of Adam’s work caused it to be revised more than once, and it was added to by other composers. Adam himself added a waltz-divertissement Le Pas de Fleurs, composed by one of his pupils, Léo Delibes. It seems that the early choreographer, Marius Petipa, introduced more of Delibes’s music to the Le jardin animé scene. Elsewhere, he added the Pas d'Esclave by Duke Peter von Oldenburg, taken from his 1857 ballet La Rose, la Violette et le Papillon.
An effective prologue would show Conrad’s pirate ship sailing to the Turkish coast under the cover of darkness; of this effective setting we are given but a mere glimpse. It would have been acceptable to repeat a section of music to let the scene play longer.
The first act opens on a vivacious and bustling slave market that nicely fits the stirring music. Conrad is entranced by one of the slave girls, but she dismisses his advances because he has no money to buy her. The Pasha then arrives to select a slave. That brings about a display of the slave girls in a series of solo dances. Conrad attaches himself to Medora and finds a way of deceiving the bazaar owner, Lankendem, into taking her. This is a ballet that should be enjoyed for its dancing, and its slight plot is of little concern. Anna-Marie Holmes’s choreography, based on the traditional plan, blends well with the action.
In the second act, Conrad and the pirates have captured Lankendem and rescued the slave girls, Medora among them. They are brought to a grotto where the pirates have stashed their treasure. The setting, though simply expressed, bathes the principals in iridescent blue light, and subtle touches of rose flood in from the wings to nicely highlight the flesh tones.
Medora asks for the slave girls to be freed, and Conrad agrees. Conrad’s friend, Birbanto, disagrees and encourages the pirates to riot against Conrad to stop the procedure. Conrad is tricked into smelling a flower sprayed with a poisonous scent. This puts him into a deep sleep, so the admiring Birbanto has time to carry off Medora. In defense, she wounds him, but is snatched away by the escaping bazaar owner. This scene is well-played and the actions are clear.
A series of tableaux are devised for the third act. Continuity is provided by the Pasha’s Palace where the Pasha dreams of his beautiful women. He is awakened by pilgrims (the pirates in disguise) who have come to steal back the slaves. Birbanto’s plan is discovered, and Conrad with Medora expose him as a traitor. Conrad shoots him, and they flee to the ship to evade capture. A storm at sea sinks the ship. In a brief epilogue, Conrad and Medora rise from the sea to cling to rocks and to each other.
The television production is excellent in every respect. I like the cutaways, particularly effective in the market scene, since they take away viewer monotony associated with fixed camera positions. The orchestra is well balanced and there is no stage noise.
Holmes’s choreography of the solo numbers is elegant, yet understandably the dances tend to stand apart from the ballet’s slender plot. The dancing is first-class, especially the contributions of Nicoletta Manni as Medora and Timofej Andrijashenko as Conrad. Mattia Semperboni as Ali the slave dances particularly energetically in the second act. This is a strong corps de ballet, and the production certainly lives up to La Scala’s reputation. Luisa Spinatelli’s costumes are traditionally appropriate with their soft and muted hues. Disappointingly, perhaps, the scenic designs for acts I and III are not of an expected ‘Eastern promise’. Elements of scenes are well conceived but their combination does not gel as a complete picture. More fitting are the charming act drops, as are the ship and the atmospheric storm sequence.
Excellent notes in English, French and German contain an essay that covers the development of the work, a synopsis, and a full listing of the choreographic movements (which cannot be separately accessed on the DVD). The sound is in PCM Stereo and DTS 5.1.
Raymond J Walker
