63 replies to this topic

[Helene]

David Vaughn's piece on "Giselle Revisited" () was published today in danceviewtimes, and he writes about scene order and music in the ballet:

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Of course, many changes have been made to the traditional choreography by subsequent stagers. Peter Wright, in his production for the Royal Ballet, and Kevin McKenzie, for American Ballet Theatre, are among those who have, so to speak, shuffled the various incidents in the first act and dealt them out in an order different from that in the original scenario. Thus, the “peasant” pas de deux, an interpolation in the original 1841 production (it always used to be called the “inset” pas de deux), is sometimes performed as an entertainment for the ducal hunting party, sometimes after they have left, and sometimes multiplied into a pas de quatre or pas de six. The hunting party, which always used to retire into Giselle’s cottage to rest and freshen up, sometimes now goes back into the woods. Hilarion’s first entrance, and his leaving gifts (a pair of pheasants, a rabbit, a bunch of flowers?) at Giselle’s cottage, is often done to the wrong music. And the order and content of his investigations into Albrecht’s true identity undergo various changes. And so on.

The PNB approach wasn't addressed specifically in the presentation; I hope it will be as the production nears.  A restoration of the dramatic order and music would make this production significant in itself.

[sandik]

Smith didn't discuss the suicide question at the Seattle presentation either.  I was going to ask the question, but since they didn't show any of the mad scene I decided not to, but I'm wishing that I had!

[Amy Reusch]

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Does anyone know if there are plans to produce a dvd of Peter Boal’s new staging of Giselle?

- innopac

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Unless a very big donor comes along with a very big check for that specific use, the odds are heavily stacked to "no"

.  - Helene

However, there are often archival videos filed in various libraries that can be viewed on the premises.  I think there are good odds that an archival shot of this might end up at the NYPL  or Library of Congress.  I wonder what PNB's usual habit is this way.  If they are planning to copyright this staging, then a copy must be filed with the Library of Congress.

[Helene]

I'm not sure where they'll file it outside PNB, but all performances are taped and are available for viewing at the PNB library.

[cubanmiamiboy]

Helene, on 15 January 2011 - 12:07 PM, said:

David Vaughn's piece on "Giselle Revisited" () was published today in danceviewtimes, and he writes about scene order and music in the ballet:

Quote

Of course, many changes have been made to the traditional choreography by subsequent stagers. Peter Wright, in his production for the Royal Ballet, and Kevin McKenzie, for American Ballet Theatre, are among those who have, so to speak, shuffled the various incidents in the first act and dealt them out in an order different from that in the original scenario. Thus, the “peasant” pas de deux, an interpolation in the original 1841 production (it always used to be called the “inset” pas de deux), is sometimes performed as an entertainment for the ducal hunting party, sometimes after they have left, and sometimes multiplied into a pas de quatre or pas de six. The hunting party, which always used to retire into Giselle’s cottage to rest and freshen up, sometimes now goes back into the woods. Hilarion’s first entrance, and his leaving gifts (a pair of pheasants, a rabbit, a bunch of flowers?) at Giselle’s cottage, is often done to the wrong music. And the order and content of his investigations into Albrecht’s true identity undergo various changes. And so on.

The PNB approach wasn't addressed specifically in the presentation; I hope it will be as the production nears.  A restoration of the dramatic order and music would make this production significant in itself.

The big question here-(still on the air)-being what's to be restored.  Are they trying to follow the very final Petipa staging ?-(which I believe was the one to be notated, but correct me if I'm wrong). In this case, maybe the 1884 Petipa/Minkus/Gorshenkova Act I PDD could be a potential applicant...? That would be wonderful, as it seems that this was the only piece among the added Petipa/Minkus segments that got lost at some point-(unlike the Act I Pas Seul or Act II Giselle's variation/waltz).  I hope doug is reading this so he can clarify my doubt.  Is this PDD notated...? Is there a possibility for it to be revived...?

[doug]

In brief, we are amalgamating three sources as we put the ballet together: the 1842 repetiteur (action described in prose and linked to corresponding music), the 1860s Justamant notation (very detailed blocking and action), and the Stepanov notation circa 1899-1903 (choreography). The 1884 pas de deux does not appear to be notated. The score we are using is a recent edition of the autograph score by Adam, supplemented by additional French sources produced in close proximity to the premiere. The traditional interpolations will be included (Giselle's Act I variation and Giselle's Act II waltz variation). The Burgmuller "Peasant" pas de deux will also be included.

[cubanmiamiboy]

What a wonderful thing.  I much appreciate your quick answer, Mr. Fullington!! (Aah...but what a pity that this PDD really seems to be completely lost.  Oh well, at least there's still the Zuraitis LP, which I aqquired, to listen to the music....)

[TenduTV]

Works and Process just posted a very nicely edited "featurette" from the PNB/Giselle presentation: Works and Process

[POB_fan]

I hope I can make it to the shows, although it would be quite the trek for me. For those of you who get to see it, and who want some kind of comparison to what they kept and didn't from the original, I would give Cyril Beaumont's book The Ballet Called Giselle a quick read. I understand that they used it in the staging, since it was one of the first studies of the ballet, and it reads very quickly (took me an afternoon). Really worth it! The changes in Gautier's libretto regarding the wilis from exotic lands are pretty interesting and give some good general insight into the romantic ballet in the nineteenth century as opposed to how we see it today. For those of you in Seattle, enjoy the show!

[ViolinConcerto]

I just watched "A Portrait of Giselle" on videotape (got it on Ebay-- passed up the one for $299.00 and got it for about $25.00), and Dolin mentions that Spissetseva, in her early London performances added a solo in Act 1.  He says that it has been used frequently since then.  He also said that no one knew where the music came from.  (That film is from the 1980's I believe, didn't make a note of the date.)  

I would assume that since PNB is going back to the earliest sources that her solo is not being used, but I am curious if anyone knows the origins of her solo, and who the choreographer and composer were.

[cubanmiamiboy]

ViolinConcerto, on 19 February 2011 - 05:18 PM, said:

I would assume that since PNB is going back to the earliest sources that her solo is not being used, but I am curious if anyone knows the origins of her solo, and who the choreographer and composer were.

Ah...there's no Giselle sans Pas Seul...THAT I know...!  

Isn't this music generally attributed to Minkus...?

[Helene]

Doug Fullington wrote an article on the PNB Facebook Page about the progress of the reconstruction of "Giselle":
https://www.facebook...150144896612037

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We made tremendous progress, setting key narrative scenes for Giselle, Albrecht, Albrecht’s squire Wilfrid, and the gamekeeper Hilarion. These included Albrecht’s first entrances in both acts of the ballet; the dramatic highpoint of the first act, when Hilarion reveals Albrecht’s duplicity, triggering Giselle’s descent into madness; Giselle and Albrecht’s first meeting and pas de deux in the second act, after Giselle has been transformed into a ghostly Wili; and the ballet’s final scenes, during which Albrecht bids a final farewell to his beloved and faces the life he must lead without her. We also had the exciting opportunity to revive two scenes from the second act of Giselle that are now rarely performed: Hilarion and his hunters’ fright in the forest at midnight and a group of peasants saved from the Wilis by a wise old man.

I had seen the two scenes mentioned before, but not which ones they were until now.

[cubanmiamiboy]

As I wrote earlier, my case was quite the opposite, for which I had never seen a Giselle before coming to US without the opening second act scene with the hunters playing dice and being scared away by the willis before Myrtha's appearance, so I was surprised to find it erased from all the productions I started to see over here.  On the other side, and getting a little OT, I would like to know if a deep reconstruction/recreation of the original could ever be done, including some real rare sequences, like the very final scene with the returning of Willfrid and Bathilde to the stage and the "passing" of Albretch to his fiancée by Giselle, or a recreation of the Act I Minkus PDD-(now that it seems that no notation of it exists)-or the validation of the real music-(the fast tempo one, still preserved in the Skeaping-for-Alonso Cuban staging)-again on the last scene-(please, correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember from this board that the slow version was done later one for Anna Pavlova) or even the little early change on the choreography-(again in the last scene and narrated by Beaumont in "The Ballet Called Giselle")- which describes that instead of Giselle returning to the graveyard, Albrecht gently carries her away from it and lowers her down on the ground, in the middle of some greenery where she disappears.  Also, I don't know if the PNB's reconstruction will address one detail that I think gets a little confusing, which is that in many productions the impression of the first encounter onstage of Giselle and Loys seems to give the audience the idea that this is their very first ...that they have never interact before.   Then, in that case, the gesture of Hilarion when he first shows up  pointing out to Loys' hut and miming that the guy is his enemy wouldn't make sense, neither the fact that Albrecht/Loys has obviously been in his hut-(almost nearby to Giselle's)-before, and so speaking of a situation that has been going on for a while.

[ViolinConcerto]

Just found a series of photos from the Works and Process performance at this Flickr site:

http://www.flickr.co...in/photostream/

[California]

The Guggenheim Works and Processes site just posted 9-minute excerpts from this program: