Adolphe Adam (1803 - 1856)
Giselle ou Les Wilis
Ballet-pantomime en deux actes
Ballet-pantomime in two acts
Ballett-Pantomime in zwei Akten
(Complete Ballet)
The son of a distinguished piano-teacher at the Paris Conservatoire, Adolphe
Adam was born in Paris in 1803. His contemporary popular success depended on a
series of compositions for the stage, with much of his later work rendered
necessary by the failure of a theatre venture in the revolution of 1848 and the
consequent need to pay off heavy debts. These were cleared by the time of his
death in 1858. The best known of Adam's eighty works for the stage remains his
ballet Giselle or Les Wilis, an archetypal romantic ballet, with
ingredients that had already appeared in La Sylphide and were to
re-appear in various forms as the century went on.
Giselle is based on a legend according to which the ghosts of unmarried girls
return to seek revenge on the living. The Wilis had already been described in a
story in Heinrich Heine's De l'Allemagne, although Heine received no
credit for Giselle. The immediate inspiration for the ballet came from
Théophile Gautier, spurred by his infatuation with the dancer Carlotta Grisi.
Elements from Victor Hugo were to be incorporated in a libretto that was
realised by the writer Jules Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges in three days, while
Adam took a week to sketch the music and three to complete it, making some use
of earlier material. The choreography was devised by the Paris Opera
ballet-master Jean Coralli, with Giselle's dances choreographed by Carlotta
Grisi's teacher and lover Jules Perrot. Designs were by Pierre Ciceri, who had
also designed the sets for La Sylphide. The ballet was first produced on
18th June 1841 at the Opèra, the Théâtre de l’Académie royale de musique,
when Grisi danced Giselle, Lucien Petipa Albrecht and Adèle Dumilâtre the
Queen of the Wilis, Myrthe. Various changes have been made in the ballet since
1841, nof least in a number of versions given in Russia, with an early
re-staging there by Perrot with Fanny Elssler, a rival Giselle, and
Marius Petipa. The latter later made his own choreographic contribution to the
ballet in later productions. The score includes interpolated, scenes by
Friedrich Burgmüller, who is best known for the peasant pas de deux in Act I of
Giselle.
Synopsis
CD 1 Act I
The story of the ballet is relatively straightforward. After the
Introduction, the curtain opens to reveal the square of a Rhineland village. To
the left of the stage is the house where Giselle and her mother live and to the
right the house of the huntsman Hilarion, who is in love with Giselle. It is the
time of the grape-harvest, and grape-pickers enter. Hilarion goes to knock on
Giselle's door, but is interrupted by the approach of Duke Albrecht and his
attendant Wilfried. Albrecht removes his cloak and sword, resolved to woo
Giselle, in the guise of a simple peasant, a course from which Wilfried tries to
dissuade him. He knocks on the door, but hides, so that Giselle, when she comes
out, sees no-one. She dances, but turning to go indoors again is waylaid by
Albrecht. They dance together and love is inevitable, when a daisy, the petals
of which she is plucking, assures her that Albrecht loves her. Hilarion emerges,
and tries to disillusion Giselle, who will not hear him.
The grape-pickers return and there is a waltz in which Giselle joins, with
Albrecht. Nevertheless Berthe, Giselle's mother, warns her daughter to take
care, since she has a weak heart. Giselle and her mother go into their house,
while the sound of an approaching hunt is heard. The hunting-party enters, with
Bathilde, betrothed to Albrecht, and her father, the Prince of Kurland. Giselle
and Berthe otter the nobles refreshment and Bathilde and her father retire into
the house to rest. There is dancing to entertain the party. Hilarion, who has
found Albrecht's sword and cloak, now tries to convince Giselle that her new
lover is a nobleman and not to be trusted. There is a quarrel between the two
men and this ends when Hilarion sounds his hunting-horn. Bathilde and her father
come out and recognise Albrecht, who greets them, kissing Bathilde's hand.
Giselle's dreams are shattered and, out of her mind, she dances madly, finally
dying of a broken heart.
CD 2 Act II
The second act is set in a clearing in the woods, where Giselle has been
buried. Hilarion comes in, but is terrified away by the distant sight of the
will-o'-the-wisps. The ghostly Queen Myrthe uses her magic and the Wilis appear,
the ghosts of girls who had died unwed and now seek their revenge on all men.
Each is summoned from her grave', ending with the ghost of Giselle, who dances.
As they disappear, Albrecht comes in, seeking the grave of his Giselle, whose
spirit now returns to dance with him. The Wilis, however, have met with Hilarion,
whom they now dance to death. Albrecht would meet the same fate, but Giselle
saves him by dancing with him until break of day, when the power of the Wilis
must be broken.
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava)
The Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava), the oldest symphonic
ensemble in Slovakia, was founded in 1929 at the instance of Milos Ruppeldt and
Oskar Nedbal, prominent personalities in the sphere of music. Ondrej Lenard was
appointed its conductor in 1970 and in 1977 its conductor-in- chief, succeeded
recently by Robert Stankovsky. The orchestra has given successful concerts both
at home and abroad, in Germany, Russia, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Spain, Italy,
Great Britain, Hong Kong and Japan. For Marco Polo the orchestra has recorded
works by Glazunov, Gliere, Miaskovsky and other late romantic composers and film
music of Honegger, Bliss, Ibert and Khachaturian as well as several volumes of
the label's Johann Strauss Edition. Naxos recordings include symphonies and
ballets by Tchaikovsky, and symphonies by Berlioz and Saint-Saëns.
Andrew Mogrelia
Andrew Mogrelia is Conductor-in-Residence at the Birmingham Conservatoire and
from 1992 to 1994 was Co-Music Director of the Dutch National Ballet in
Amsterdam. He has worked extensively in the United Kingdom and the rest of
Europe, in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands in particular. His
recordings include a number of releases for Naxos, Donau, Lydian and Marco Polo
and he has conducted recent concerts with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and with
the Residentie Orchestra in The Hague, as well as with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
