The history of the creation of the ballet Adana "Giselle". interesting facts, scenes from

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. The well-known librettist Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and choreographer Jean Coralli, who directed the play, 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, which was then replaced by the great one. In this performance, not only choreographic skills are important for the ballerina , but also a dramatic talent, the ability to reincarnate, since the main character in the first act appears as a naive girl, then turns into a suffering one, 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 the vilis - girls who died from and rise from their graves at night to kill young men wandering in the night, thus they avenge their ruined 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 - the main developer of the libretto, he reworked the Slavic legend for the play "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.

Production characters

The main character is a peasant girl Giselle, Albert is her lover. Forester Illarion (in Russian productions of Hans). Bertha is Giselle's mother. Albert's fiancee is Bathilda. Wilfried is a squire, the mistress of the vilis is Mirta. Among the characters are peasants, courtiers, servants, hunters, vilis.

T. Gauthier decided to give the ancient myth a cosmopolitan character, and with his light hand of the country, customs and titles that are not 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 dangerous for her life.

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 gives out and she dies. Albert, mad with grief, tries to kill himself, but is not allowed to do so.

2 action

Ballet "Giselle", a summary of scenes 1 to 6 from 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 vilis notice him, circle in their round dance, and he falls dead.

Ballet "Giselle", summary of scenes 7 to 13 from 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.

Act I
Sun-drenched small, quiet village. Simple, unsophisticated people live here. The young peasant girl Giselle rejoices at the sun, the blue sky, the singing of birds, and most of all, the happiness of love, trusting and pure, which illuminated her life.
She loves and believes that she is loved. In vain, the forester, who is in love with her, tries to convince Giselle that Albert, whom she has chosen, is not a simple peasant, but a nobleman in disguise, and that he is deceiving her.
The forester sneaks into Albert's house, which he rents in the village, and finds a silver sword with a coat of arms. Now he is finally convinced that Albert hides his noble origin.

In the village, after a hunt, noble gentlemen with a magnificent retinue stop to rest. Peasants warmly and affably meet guests.
Albert is embarrassed by an unexpected meeting with visitors. He tries to hide his acquaintance with them: after all, among them is his fiancee Bathilda. However, the forester shows everyone Albert's sword and talks about his deceit.
Giselle is shocked by the deceit of her lover. The pure and clear world of her faith, hopes and dreams has been destroyed. She goes crazy and dies.

Action II
At night, ghostly jeeps appear in the moonlight among the graves of the village cemetery - brides who died before the wedding. for the dance, the hour is running out, and they must again descend into their ice-cold graves ... ”(G. Heine).
The Wilis notice the forester. Exhausted by remorse, he came to the grave of Giselle. By order of their inexorable mistress Mirta, the jeeps circle him in a ghostly round dance until he falls, lifeless, to the ground.

But Albert cannot forget the deceased Giselle. Late at night, he also comes to her grave. Willis immediately surround the young man. The terrible fate of the forester also threatens Albert. But the shadow of Giselle, who has retained selfless love, appears and protects and saves Albert from the wrath of the villis.
With the first rays of the rising sun, white jeep ghosts disappear. The light shadow of Giselle also disappears, but she herself will always live in Albert's memory as an eternal regret for lost love - a love that is stronger than death.

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The production of Giselle appeared on the stage of the ballet theater during the heyday of romanticism. Her role in the formation of this trend in art is very significant. T. Gauthier, J. Coralli and J. Saint-Georges are the creators of the libretto of the ballet "Giselle", a summary of which we will consider in this article. The production demonstrates the authors' appeal to their favorite romantic theme - mysticism. Adolphe-Charles Adam is a French composer. He is also one of the creators of the romantic ballet.

Exposition of images

The article will present a summary of the ballet "Giselle". The plot is based on the events taking place in the village. It is located among the mountains, surrounded by forest and vineyards. The peasants are going to the grape harvest. They pass by the house where the peasant woman Bertha lives, and her friends greet her daughter Giselle. Prince Albert and his squire Wilfried appear. They head to the hunting lodge and hide there for a while. From there, the prince comes out already in peasant clothes. This scene is witnessed by the unnoticed forester Hans.

Love affair

Albert goes to Bertha's house. The squire tries in vain to dissuade his master from any intentions. The prince pushes the servant away and knocks on the door, then hides. Giselle, coming out to knock and not finding anyone, dances, then is about to leave. Albert appears, but the girl, as if not noticing him, goes to the house. The prince touches her hand and hugs her tenderly. Their subsequent dance turns into a love scene. Albert confesses his love, but Giselle, jokingly, expresses her doubts about this. She reads on the petals of a flower. As a result, having received the answer "does not like", she is very upset. Then Albert guesses on another flower. Fortune telling ends with the answer "loves." The girl is calm and happy. They are dancing again.

Further, retelling briefly the content of the ballet "Giselle", we will mention the forester Hans. He appears unexpectedly, asks the girl not to trust the words of Albert and assures her of his devotion. Hans has no doubt that Albert will only bring her grief and disappointment.

Albert is furious. He chases the forester. The girl justifies Hans' act with jealousy. Then, even more tenderly and passionately, she continues her dance with Albert.

The next scene begins with the return of Giselle's friends from the vineyards. There is general fun and dancing. Albert watches the girl admiringly. Flattered by his attention, she invites him to take part in this fun, which he does with pleasure.

Berta comes out of the house and reminds her daughter that she has a heart condition. Therefore, it is unhealthy for her to dance so much. The fun ends.

Notable guests

The sounds of hunting can be heard in the distance. The appearance of new characters makes the action more intense. Elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen appear. Among them, the Duke of Courland with his daughter Bathilda, Albert's fiancee. The hunt has made everyone excited and tired, and they dream of rest and food. For rest, the duke chooses Giselle's house. Berta and her daughter went out to meet the guests. Bathilde is fascinated by the beauty and spontaneity of the main character. The same, in turn, admires the guest's elegant toilets. A dialogue takes place between them, in which Bathilde asks the girl about her favorite pastime. She replies that she loves to dance. As a token of her sympathy, Bathilde gives the simpleton a gift. This is a luxury gold chain. Giselle is very happy, but this causes her confusion. Distinguished guests disperse to rest. Bathilda's father went to Bertha's house.

exposure

Giselle and her friends persuade Bertha to let them dance. Berta reluctantly agrees. Giselle is happy. She performs her best dance. Albert joins her. Suddenly, the forester Hans appears. Roughly pushing them aside, he accuses Albert of dishonesty and deceit. Everyone around is perplexed, they are outraged by the act of the forester. Then, as proof of his accusations, Hans shows everyone Albert's weapon, which he found in the hunting lodge. It is decorated with jewels, which testifies to its noble origin. This shocked Giselle. She demands an explanation from a new acquaintance. The prince tries to calm the girl, and then snatches the sword from Hans's hands and rushes at him. Wilfried arrived in time and did not allow his master to commit the murder. Hans the forester starts blowing his hunting horn. Alarmed by the signal, distinguished guests emerge from Bertha's house. Among them is the duke with his daughter Bathilda. Dressed in peasant clothes, Albert causes them bewilderment. He, in turn, tries to justify his act.

tragic denouement

Giselle sees how noble guests respectfully greet Albert, how respectfully the duke's servants are with him. She has no doubt that she was deceived. The prince then turns to Bathilde, kissing her hand. Giselle runs up to her rival with the words that Albert swore to her his love of fidelity. Bathilde is outraged. She shows Giselle her wedding ring, indicating that she is the real bride of the prince. Giselle is desperate. She rips off and throws the golden chain given by Bathilda. Sobbing, she falls into her mother's arms. Not only her friends, but also noble guests sympathize with her.

Albert tries to calm Giselle. He says something to her. However, the girl does not listen to him, her mind is clouded with grief. She remembers his oaths, promises, divination, dances. Seeing Albert's sword, she tries to kill herself. But Hans takes the weapon from her hands.

Her last memory is fortune telling on daisies. Giselle is dying.

Instead of an epilogue

We continue our acquaintance with the content of the ballet "Giselle". Further, the action takes place in the village cemetery. Hans came here, but, frightened by the mysterious sounds, he ran away.

Willis - brides who died before the wedding, lead their round dance. At a sign from their mistress Mirta, they surround Giselle's grave, from which her ghostly figure emerges. With a wave of Mirta's hand, she gained strength.

Albert appears at the cemetery, accompanied by his squire. He is looking for where the girl is buried. Suddenly he saw her figure and rushed after her. Several times this vision appeared and disappeared, as if melting in the air.

Meanwhile, the jeeps are chasing Hans and, having overtaken him, vengefully push him into the lake.

Albert should be their next victim. He unsuccessfully begs the ruthless Mirtha for mercy. Giselle appears. She intends to protect her lover and save him from certain death. Together they dance their last dance. Then the ghost of the girl disappears into her grave, and the round dance of the jeep surrounds Albert. The ringing of the clock announces the end of the night. With the dawn, the jeeps disappeared. The retinue of the prince appears, sent in search of his master. Giselle's ghost appears for the last time. Albert's return to the real world completes the ballet Giselle.

Giselle in Russia

The premiere of this ballet in Russia took place in 1842. It was staged at the Mariinsky Theater in 1884. The production of the ballet Giselle at the Mariinsky Theatre, the content of which makes everyone empathize, was a huge success.

The main meaning of the plot is the idea of ​​eternal love, which is stronger than death.

Nowadays, a huge number of spectators visit the theaters of Russia, including the Mariinsky, and the content of the ballet "Giselle" is of interest to people of different generations.

He wandered around Europe, collecting folk tales, legends, fairy tales that were then in vogue Heinrich Heine. One of the legends recorded by the poet told about the Wilis girls. And it ended with these words: "In their fading hearts, in their dead feet, a love for dance was preserved, which they did not have time to satisfy during their lives, and at midnight they rise, gather in round dances on the high road, and woe to the young man who meets them! He will have to dance with them until he falls dead..." Almost simultaneously with the travel notes, Heine published a cycle of new poems and Victor Hugo, whose main character was a fifteen-year-old Spaniard named Giselle. Most of all, she loved to dance. Death overtook the girl at the door of the ballroom, where she, not knowing fatigue, danced all night. The works of two romantic poets - German and French, full of mysterious beauty, vague visions and spirits, seemed to have been specially created for the ballet. "Life - dance - death" - such a seductive literary material for choreography appears once every hundred years. And Théophile Gautier, the most famous ballet lebrettist of the 19th century, could not resist the temptation. Very soon, the first version of the script for the ballet about Wilis came out of his pen. It seemed to have everything that a theatrical performance of that time required - and the pale light of the moon, and the ballroom with an enchanted floor, and dancing ghosts. But as Gauthier believed, something essential, very important, was missing in the libretto. Deprived of sick pride, Gauthier invited the playwright and screenwriter Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, well-known in the theatrical environment of Paris, as co-authors. This is how the script for one of the saddest and most beautiful ballets, Giselle, was born. Its plot told about the love of a peasant girl for Count Albert. Fascinated by this romantic novella, the composer Adolf Adam wrote the music for the play in ten days.

Soon Jules Perrot began staging Giselle at the Grand Opera. In his fate, human and creative, this ballet played a strange, fatal role. He brought true immortality to Perro the choreographer, but destroyed his life, depriving him of happiness and love. The woman of his life was Carlotta Grisi. Perrault was born in France in the city of Leon, where he received a ballet education.

In 1825 he came to Paris dreaming of dancing on the stage of the Opera. There was no money to live on, and in order to earn it, the young man performed in the evenings at the Port Saint-Martin theater, portraying a monkey. And during the day he attended the improvement class of Auguste Vestris. His performances on the stage of the Grand Opera in tandem with Taglioni were a huge success. Perrault's dance, technically impeccable, courageous and energetic, had nothing in common with the sugary affectation that was then in vogue among the Opera's artists. But the all-powerful Maria Taglioni, who had unlimited power in the theater, did not want to share her glory with anyone. The whim of "a star, or an etiquette" was immediately satisfied by the directorate. And twenty-four-year-old Perrault, without explanation, immediately found himself on the street. He wandered around Europe for a long time until he ended up in Naples, where he met two lovely girls - the Grisi sisters. Perrault fell in love with 14-year-old Carlotta at first sight.

Senorita Grisi was not new to the theatre. From the age of seven she studied dancing in Milan, and at ten she was already a soloist in the children's corps de ballet of the La Scala theater. Carlotta had a wonderful voice. Many predicted her a brilliant career as an opera singer. But she chose ballet. Spending many hours in a rehearsal class, she made great strides in dancing with the clever advice of Perrault, ready to do anything for his Italian Galatea. They got married when the girl came of age. We danced together in Vienna. But the cherished dream of both was the stage of the Grand Opera. Arriving in Paris, they waited a long time for news from the Opera. Finally, an invitation followed, but, alas, only for Grisi. The doors of the theater for Perrault the dancer were closed forever.

Dancer Jules Perrault has died. But he was replaced by another Perrogenic choreographer of genius, the author of Giselle. The appearance of this performance was supposed to open a new star to the spoiled Parisian audience, not inferior to Taglioni - Carlotta Grisi. Perrault worked like a man possessed. Grisi's stormy romance with Theophile Gauthier was no longer a secret to anyone. Perrault was the last to know. Fury and despair seized him, and, leaving the ballet unfinished, he fled from Paris.

A fatal love triangle that linked the lives of J. Perrot, C. Grisi and T. Gauthier until death

On June 28, 1841, the premiere took place at the Opera - "Giselle, or Wilisa" with Carlotta Grisi and Lucien Petipa (brother of Marius Petipa) in the main parts. The choreographer was Georges Coralli, who completed the production. Perrault's name was not even mentioned in the poster....

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 the ballerina, but also dramatic talent, the ability to reincarnate, since the main character in the first act appears as a naive girl, then turns into a suffering one, 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 the vilis - girls who died from unhappy love and rise from their graves at night to kill young men wandering in the night, thus they avenge their ruined 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 - the main developer of the libretto, he reworked the Slavic legend for the play "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.

Production characters

The main character is a peasant girl Giselle, Albert is her lover. Forester Illarion (in Russian productions of Hans). Bertha is Giselle's mother. Albert's fiancee is Bathilda. Wilfried is a squire, the mistress of the vilis is Mirta. Among the characters are peasants, courtiers, servants, hunters, vilis.

T. Gauthier decided to give the ancient myth a cosmopolitan character, and with his light hand of the country, customs and titles that are not 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 dangerous for her life.

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 gives out and she dies. Albert, mad with grief, tries to kill himself, but is not allowed to do so.

2 action

Ballet "Giselle", a summary of scenes 1 to 6 from 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 vilis notice him, circle in their round dance, and he falls dead.

Ballet "Giselle", summary of scenes 7 to 13 from 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.