"Giselle" 1884 Petipa/Minkus Act I PDD

[rg]

if mem. serves the GISELLE video w/ Nureyev and Seymour, w/ the following credits, includes some of this Minkus pas de deux music, w/choreography by Mary Skeaping, if i read the credits correctly:

• Giselle / produced by Magnetic Video Corporation/Twentieth Century Fox ; directed by Stanley Dorfman and Rudolf Nureyev ; produced by Stanley Dorfman ; choreography by Peter Wright after Coralli and Perrot ; music by Adolphe Adam. 1979. (76 min.)
• Notes : Choreography for Pas des vendanges, Mary Skeaping ; costumes, Peter Farmer.
• Performed by the Bavarian State Opera Ballet
• Rudolf Nureyev (Albrecht), Lynn Seymour (Giselle), Monica Mason (Queen of the Wilis), Youri Vamos (Hilarion), and Gerd Larsen (Berthe).
• Music performed by the New World Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by David Coleman.

[leonid17]

Petipa's definitive revival of Giselle of 1884 followed versions by Coralli and Perrot and was established by Maria Gorzhenkova in the title role.

Petipa having seemingly arranged his definitive revival of Giselle in 1884 for the Ballerina Maria Gorzhenkova, however, he made ​​his final touches to the work, to debut Anna Pavlova in 1903 having the confidence in her following her triumphant performance as Nikiya in 1902.

It is clear that Petipa amended in parts the choreography for Pavlova's Giselle which is confirmed in the Stepanov notation held in the Sergeyev collection.

The notation can be dated to1903, based on Anna Pavlova’s performance history in Giselle because her name is included in the notations of both acts.

See also:

http://www.pnb.org/AboutPNB/Repertory/Giselle.aspx

[doug]

To further clarify: I date the Stepanov notation of Act I of Giselle circa 1903, because Pavlova is named as Giselle in the notation of that act. The notation of Act II, however, uses the name "Giselle" for the title role, rather than Pavlova, who is listed in the notation dancing the role of Zulme, which she first danced in 1899. So it is possible that (at least parts of) Act II was notated as early as 1899.

[leonid17]

To further clarify: I date the Stepanov notation of Act I of Giselle circa 1903, because Pavlova is named as Giselle in the notation of that act. The notation of Act II, however, uses the name "Giselle" for the title role, rather than Pavlova, who is listed in the notation dancing the role of Zulme, which she first danced in 1899. So it is possible that (at least parts of) Act II was notated as early as 1899.

During her final year at the Imperial Ballet School, Pavlova performed many small roles with the Mariinsky Ballet.

The mention of 1899, is I suggest merely a notated reference to Pavlova's official graduation debut in “The Imaginary Dryad's” as one would find in an official record.

Whilst Alexander Gorsky had perfected the Stepanov notation and moved to Moscow, Nicholas Grigorovich Sergeyev was appointed regisseur of the Imperial Ballet in 1903 he assigned Alexander Chekrygin and the following year Victor Rakhmanov and later Nikolai Kremnev and S.Ponomaryev who undertook the majority of the notation of the repertoire.

[FauxPas]

The video clips used in this discussion have been removed from Youtube.

Here is a performance of a "Minkus Pas de Deux" to the "Giselle Pas de Deux" music as choreographed by Leonid Lavrovsky and Sofia Golovkina.  It was a Bolshoi Tokyo tour in 1985 with students or graduates from the Bolshoi School.  The dancers include Vladimir Malakhov who was a 17 year-old student at the time partnering Viktoria Melnik during the 1985 Bolshoi Ballet Academy gala in Japan.  She is less impressive (though she definitely has her moments in the coda).

Here is the Zhuraitis recording of the adagio section of the pas de deux only, the solos sound a bit circusy/Don Qish to me.  Not Romantic at all.

Here is another Bolshoi young student, Ksenia Andreenko performing the solo on a too small stage:

 

Edited November 24, 2020 by FauxPas
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