Libretto by Theophile Gautier and Jean-Henry Saint-Georges
Presented with one interval.
A year after its Paris premiere, in 1842, Giselle was performed in St. Petersburg and shortly thereafter in Moscow. Since then, this ballet has never left the Russian stage for long and has gained outstanding interpreters of the title role, whose fame eclipsed that of the first Giselle—the celebrated Carlotta Grisi. At the Bolshoi Theatre, this role adorned the repertoire of virtually all leading ballerinas. In the last century it was danced by Marina Semyonova, Galina Ulanova, Marina Kondratyeva, Yekaterina Maksimova, Natalia Bessmertnova, and Lyudmila Semenyaka. From a sentimentally beautiful story of deceived love, Giselle gradually evolved into a poem about betrayed trust and a love that proved stronger than death.
On the St. Petersburg and Moscow stages, Giselle was repeatedly refined. First this was done by one of the ballet’s creators, Jules Perrot, and later by Marius Petipa. They removed everything inessential and secondary from the production in order to focus attention on the essence of the drama. The greatness of a love that cannot be killed, and the purification of the human soul, elevated and enlightened by this feeling, became the central theme of Giselle. From that time on, the ballet remained almost untouched, so flawless did its dramaturgy and choreography appear.
However, even the most perfect productions change in accordance with the tastes and moods of their time. Contemporary choreographers inevitably strive to highlight ever new nuances in Giselle, while at the same time trying not to damage the choreographic fabric of the ballet, tested by centuries.
At the Bolshoi Theatre, Giselle was performed almost without interruption from 1944 onward. The author of the classical choreography’s revision was Leonid Lavrovsky. It is hard to recall a country where this production has not been seen and loved. Only several decades later did Yuri Grigorovich dare to create a new version of Giselle.
Anna Galaida(text from the performance booklet, abridged)