National
Ballet of Canada
1976 Director: Norman Campbell Choreography:
Peter Wright after Jean Coralli, Jules Perrot, and Marius Petipa |  |
The
DancersThe BalletThis Giselle is unusual because
it has the the complete variaton of Myrtha at the start of the second act as well
as an almost complete peasant pas de deux. There are minor cuts, a couple of the
variations are edited out. Review A nice performance, though I
admit I tend to vastly prefer live performances than those undertaken in the studio,
which tend to be a bit "studio bound" as it were, and this is. The
production is very attractive, and reads well on camera. There are a few cuts,
the peasant PDD is not in fact complete, a couple of the variations are edited
out, and there are minor cuts here and there in many of the numbers. Recorded
sound is acceptable, not terribly vivid. The principles all do well, perhaps a
mild want of bravura here and there, and the lifts in act Two are not ideally
fluid. Giselle's expiration by weakness of constitution dates to the ballet's
creation, and while one will occasionally see a performance in which she stabs
herself with Albrecht's sword, or some such reference in a synopsis, that is a
latter-day invention, and is rarely utilized. The original choreographer's work
has been filtered through Pepita and others, and it is quite possible the change
came about as a more warts-and-all Russian response to French Romanticism. Giselle's
mother continually expresses concern that her daughter not overdo, for fear of
falling dead and becoming a Wili. Giselle is often seen to tire during the first
peasant ensemble. Her death by betrayal imposed upon a fragile soul is much more
in keeping with the ethos of the ballet's place in composition than the more veristic
act of suicide. Edited version of a review by Warmgoy The
ProductionThe camera work is excellent, and the direction for the screen
is generally well done. The sound is mono only. |
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