fandango

Sunday matinee: Maria Mosina and Igor Vassine were Giselle and Albrecht. They dance beautifully together and Maria totally "gets" Giselle in both acts. Technical perfection to me is not as important as soul--they might not have been perfect (if they weren't, I am not skilled enough to know) but they got the emotional part nailed. Janelle Cooke was Myrthe--I have never seen a Myrthe before that I didn't think, "No wonder she died before her wedding, she is so unpleasant". I think some Myrthes may use the role to vent their rage at whatever has been eating them alive for years. Not Janelle. She actually projected a lovely bit (not too much, just right) of softness at just the right places. John Henry Reid as Hilarion and Nathan Vander Stoep as Wilfred were splendid. Wow!! :blush:

Congratulations to Colorado Ballet! Great job with Giselle--down to small details. Costumes and scenery are from ABT--I happen to love the tiny wings and the veils on the Wilis. The corps is just beautiful--nicely rehearsed. And the principals are magnificent. I can always forgive technical imperfections if there is soul in the dancing, and there is here. Nice job, Gil, Sandy, and Company.

Ronald Petit's L'Arlesienne, if it qualifies as a ballet rather than a modern dance, was pretty creepy.

Got the DVD--Zakharova is lovely as Giselle. And Bolle is easy on the eyes!! This is one of my favorite Giselles (after Alessandrea Ferri). The mad scene was not my favorite, but she is just lovely in both acts. The extensions took my breath away and she and Bolle interact emotionally just beautifully.

I have located an "original" Busser piano score. Maybe it would be cheaper to get that one than to try and go to Paris...

vrsfanatic, thank you for your comments, which I found balanced and fair. As a relative outsider to the issue, and a ballet lover, I will continue to support Colorado Ballet. All organizations that survive undergo changes, and many are political and controversial. This is certainly proving to be the case here. I very much want Colorado Ballet to grow to be very successful. I have chosen to trust that Mr. Boggs is doing the best he can and wish him and the Company a positive outcome for all their struggles.

How does one gain access to Paris Opera Library?

Thanks, sz. Having seen Monday Ferri and Bocca Monday night, I thought about them all night tonight and wished I could have been there. I was in tears too, and found myself (quite out of character) wandering to the stage door because I had to see them one last time. I looked forward to hearing about the performance and everyone's reactions--it makes me feel more as though I was really there. What a gift they give to us, Ferri and Bocca. I am so grateful I was able to see them dance together.

Okay, I saw Giselle at the Met with ABT. The Albrecht entrance was the cello melody. I asked one of the orchestra members about the different melodies. She checked with the conductor, and told me Monday night that...are we ready for this...the conductor said that BOTH melodies are in the original piano score. I think I need to see this one for myself. My source also said that Boyal Ballet used the cello melody until about 10 years ago. So, my next question is, how does one get to see the original piano score? Is it in Paris? Where?

Whew, what an experience! Alessandra is so beautiful dancing with her gorgeous feet and her flexibility and musicality. From the first time I saw her, I felt "dance" had taken her over and used her body to express itself. And then when I saw them together--the trust it must take for her to give in and relax when Julio tosses her over and up and around; and oh yes the chemistry (such a technical name for what is so compelling). The extra lingering look or touch is always there. I worried when I saw Julio's right knee bandaged but he was splendid. Herman Cornejo's drunken pdd with Gillian Murphy was very amusing and looked technically challenging (wonder what it was like for her?) I overheard someone complain that the story was so "unlikely"--but I disagree. Marriage for money instead of love might even be happening today... They are a beautiful couple together.

While we are praising Vishneva, I will say I agree with everything that has been said about her. I did not get to see her with Malakhov, sorry to say, but oh my, she was lovely on Saturday evening. She seemed to melt during the angel lifts in the second act--it was breathtaking. And was that a double turn she did on the pickup pdb in her toe-hop solo in Act 1?

Hey Solor and Phenby, I think you nailed it. Here is my guess: the Lanchbery edition is a variation that is, yes, still (as of tonight) used by ABT. I also heard the same melody in the St. Martin of the Fields audio recording, which was NOT attributed to Lanchbery but oh well. I have not experienced it live at the ABT productions as well as on their DVDs. I prefer the other one--is it really clarinet and not oboe?

Friday June 16. Julio Bocca was Albrecht and Xiomara Reyes was Giselle. Julio was captivating from the moment he came on stage. I wish he had given his sword to Wilfred--it was sort of glossed over. It was not on Albrecht at all early. So when Wilfred discovers it later there is no reference point. Oh, Julio danced beautifully--his leaps and turns and his acting were just superb. Xiomara was good as Giselle--I last saw her in Chicago in Rodeo--she is so tiny! She was very endearing as the girlish Giselle. The toe hops and attitude turns were beautiful in Act 1. The mad scene was not my favorite--her face was a little harsh and I sure wish Berthe didn't have to take down her hair so obviously. But we have been through that before. Why can't the hairpiece be fastened to the necklace so that when Giselle rips it off her hair comes down? I also preferred the Royal Ballet's version of miming for Berthe, and loved how in the mad scene Giselle kept curtsying whenever she bumped into Bathilde. That was missing in this production. One of Giselle's friends tripped on her skirt but recovered nicely. I loved that they had the Kirov peasant pas variation for the woman (Maria Riccetto)--unusual. Sascha Radetsky was the man and was great but the magic just wasn't there for me. In Act 2, the clock struck 12 before the curtain opened..a little unusual. Gillian was a fabulous Myrthe. Her bourres were silken. The veils on her and the early-appearing Wilis are great--not seen in every variation. And I love that the wings were not hard little knobby things fastened to the waist. I like Gillian best in this role, not as Giselle. I thought Xiomara and Julio did beautifully in the second act. I held my breath a little in the angel lifts, which I never did when Julio was dancing with Alessandra. Don't know what that was about. The music was labeled "orchestrated by John Lanchberry" and I have to say his version is not my favorite, especially the way he changes the melody of Albrecht's entrance in Act 2. Oh, and at the end, Giselle makes the "I give my heart to you forever" mime motion (index and middle finger extended at the end of the straight right arm) to Albrecht and he mimes it back to her. I was in tears. The Act 2 staging was beautiful--it looks as though there is a lake in the background; and as the clock strikes 4 to get the Wilis off stage, the lighting was subtly changed to be very dawn-like. Ahh, what an experience!

Last year I tried to see Alessandra and Julio dance Giselle and Albrecht; it was her 20th anniversary celebration. Well, she didn't dance, but there was a very brief ceremony at the end--Julio came out and kissed her. I have it on my camera, but it didn't zoom very well. It is a treasure to me. Wish I knew how to share it with you...

Hmmm, here is a new twist. In the above-cited CD (Neville Marriner and Academ of St. Martin in the Fields)the instrument playing is a wind instrument--sounds more like flute than oboe to me, but my ear is unable to tell the difference. However, the melody is what I will call the "alternate" melody, played by the cello in the ABT versions. This "alternate" melody is the one that has a half-step interval between the first and second notes, rather than the 6th interval. The CD insert is not helpful in clarifying anything from an orchestral point of view.

ABT, 890 Broadway, New York, New York 10003

A non-ballet-loving friend (is that an oxymoron?) said, "If I could figure out how to handicap ballet, there would be no financial crises." That may be correct...but what I love about ballet is not so much seeing perfect technique, but rather experiencing talented people using technique to help me be part of a world that is not my own.

I have written several times to Alessandra Ferri, c/o ABT (as I was instructed by whoever answered the phone). She didn't answer. Has anyone had a response from her?

As of last year, ABT was using the cello solo. In June I am attending this year's ABT Giselle and will report back. I do know that Richard Bonynge's recording of Giselle, which I thought was supposed to be the most representative of Adam's score, with original repeats, does have the oboe. At least it sounds like an oboe to me. If it is a clarinet it fooled me. Thanks, Solor and Phenby.

It seems to be mostly ABT's productions that do this. The one I can put my hands on immediately is the Fracci Bruhn DVD, with John Lanchbery and the Orchester der Deutchen oper Berlin. There is another ABT DVD with the same cello; and last year's productions were the same. Giselle is on the calendar for next month and I wonder if it will be the same. I cannot address the specifics of your instance but here follows the general situation. During the 18th and 19th centuries ballet scores were typically only published in piano reductions, if at all. Orchestral scores could only be obtained by having a copyist create a duplicate score: time-consuming and expensive. As an alternative it was often cheaper and more expediant to have someone create a new orchestration based on the published piano reduction. I believe Adam's orchestration of Giselle remained unpublished until the 1920's when the composer/conductor, Henri Busser, prepared an edition for publication. Busser's edition contained all manner of 'improvements': the era of musically authentic texts was yet to come. Most of the recordings I have heard seem to use Busser's text. One notable exception was a recording by Bonynge which went back to Adam's original orchestration. Despite the availability of Busser's edition for these many years, a number of productions used commissioned orchestrations. That can avoid royalty fees. Constant Lambert was responsible for one such orchestration. PHENBY

I agree with you. He leaps so incredibly high, turns beautifully and stops on a dime; he can act...maybe they can just find shorter girls?

This is an absolutely great review by Treefrog and I agreed with everything. The Manon WAS steamy--Bocca and Ferri have seemed to create that chemistry several times when I have seen them in the past (Giselle, February 2005, Kennedy Center). I have heard that it happens, rarely, with pas de deux partners that there is something that transcends dance when they are together. Do we think it is that with Bocca and Ferri, or just, uh, hormones?

Thanks, Richard and Leigh. I will try and view the POB DVD--and also to catch the Ashton choreography somewhere. I did love "The Dream" that he did. Royal Ballet seems fond of Ashton; are US companies similarly enchanted? Fandango, There's also the Neumeier version the POB does. I haven't seen this but I'm guessing it is much less traditional than the Ashton one that Leigh mentions(and I saw last Summer). But the POB is available on DVD if you are interested in seeing it. I love the score! Richard

I saw Sylvia last night, for the first time. Being a relative newcomer to ballet, I thought I should begin to expose myself to more than the "beginner" ballets. Sylvia seemed just right. I don't know a lot of Delibes's music, but what I know I liked already. Yuan-Yuan Ten was originally cast as Sylvia and I had loved her in Giselle and as Odette/Odile. But she was replaced by Vanessa Zahorian. No problem, sometimes substitute cast tries harder. I hope she is not hurt. My reaction was disappointment in myself; the story was so complex; even though I have a great background in mythology I could not follow it. The dancing did not captivate me either, though there seemed to be some energy in the third act. The complexity of the story seemed to divert from the human appeal. I could relate most with the third act, where Diana is scolding Sylvia for Sylvia's indiscretions, only to be reminded of her own by Eros (pirate). But exactly what Sylvia's indiscretions WERE was a bit of a mystery--couldn't get it from the program and the was not clever enough to pick it up from the mime. And the choreography--well, I wished I had appreciated it more. So I started wondering what makes a really great ballet? A wonderful composer; a story with lots of human appeal that is clear to the audience; dazzling choreography (whatever that means)--all danced with intensity and caring, full out. I saw Giselle 4 times in 4 days not too long ago. I am unlikely to want to do that with Sylvia.

I recently saw Alina Cojacaru dance at the Royal Ballet and was not distracted at all by her shoes. I was just glad she is still dancing so well.