(5/7) Hilarion's death and "fugue of the Wilis" (deleted scene restored) | Ratmansky's GISELLE
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- Опубликовано: 24 авг 2024
- The Wilis kill Hilarion, but are forced to recoil before the cross in Giselle's tomb just as they are about to attack Albrecht in a fugue I, for one, had never seen before. With Denis Savin as Hilario (or "Hans", as the character is known in Russia.)
A strange scene, but there's a reason for it. According to the original scenario, after realizing she can't kill Albrecht so long as he is protected by the cross, Myrtha makes Giselle dance instead. Librettists Gautier/Saint-Georges wrote: _"Now Myrtha commands Giselle to dance the most seductive pas. Albrecht, more and more enchanted, leaves the protecting cross and goes to his beloved."_ So that's the whole point of the adagio! I've always thought it looked strange when Albrecht suddenly left the tomb to support Giselle in her dances, making himself vulnerable for no apparent reason. And why is Giselle the one being forced to dance if she can't feel pain or exhaustion? So this is the reason why: she becomes an unwilling siren and Albrecht, no longer under the protection of the cross, is forced to dance to death. I didn't much like this fugue the first time I watched it, but after reading that it's started to grow on me.
...Now I realize I probably should've edited the video to include both the fugue AND the pas de deux, then it wouldn't seem so random. Oh well.
No, I get it. It all makes so much more sense. There is now a believable story thread to the mise en scène. I just adore it. I thought Vlashinets started off rather stiffly at the start of Act 2 but as the action advances I see what she was trying to portray and I think her Myrtha is excellent. I like the extra dancing for Mona and Zulma and the Corps de Ballet (where they do their Pas with a grand jeté facing downstage 2:19 - much better!). Thank you so much for posting.
I've recently seen the related video from Nikolay Tsiskaridze from the #ProBallet series, when explaining Giselle, he mentioned these little things as well (the importance of standing at the cross, the broken fugue, why the Willies hold their hands like that, etc). It's so good to see that Ratmansky brought back these little but indeed important things :)
Thank you for the video and your explanations! Indeed, now it makes perfect sense why Giselle is forced to dance. Personally, I also like versions (or ballerinas' interpretations), where they show that Giselle keeps on dancing at some points on her own (without any force) momentarily forgetting about Albrecht. And that is because she just died so young and wanted to live and dance so much more. I think it becomes more clear before the final collapse of Albrecht.
Thanks for this comment! It's always the best policy to go back to the absolute original sources for these ballets and operas.
Modern producers think they know better, but the original creators invariably knew what they were doing.
Many details of the 1841 Giselle are still to be widely reinstated.
Can you please upload the videos that you had of The House of Bernarda Alba????
I like this. Hilarion is sort of a semi-major character; and I like seeing his death dramatized and extended, rather than just a quick throw in the lake.
Thank you SO much, Lindo, for this . Makes wonderful sense.
For me, the interpolation of the fugue does not work dramatically. It has nothing to do with commanding Giselle to dance in order to lure Albrecht from the protection of the cross. And the musical style is so completely different from the rest of the ballet.
The fugue shows albrecht is protected by the cross. Wich explains why, then, giselle is commanded to seduce him.
Personally , I thought Hilarion got a raw deal .
Если вилисы креста боятся, почему сами крестом становятся вокруг Жизели, когда она из могилы появляется?
I just realized---'Giselle', which is directly inspired by the 'Ballet of the Nuns' in the 1831 opera 'Robert le diable' (a mega-hit of the 19th century), shares an important image or theme w/ that opera. One of the iconic scenes of 'Robert', endlessly reproduced at the time, is when the virtuous heroine Alice take refuge at a large cross in Act 3, just before the ghostly ballet, to escape the demonic influence of Bertram! But it's amazing how unimaginative some ballet fans can be, given some of the comments here. Love the fugue. What a gorgeous scene! I've always liked Hilarion as a character, and think he has an important role to play in the story as the good man Giselle 'should' marry.
Lindo!!! Thanks for sharing this beautiful vídeo.
The fugue sound too baroque for a romantic ballet, for me.
AMaziN
Мне жалко Ганса. Он на самом деле любил Жизель
Наконец-то хоть кто-то об этом написал ! Мне тоже жалко Ганса.
На мой взгляд наказания стоил Альберт : у него была невеста, а он решил погулять, поиграть с сердцем невинной девушки.
И Альберт все равно потом бы женился и вовсе забыл бы о Жизель. Ганс может и был по мнению девушки грубоват, но зато он честен и он никогда не врал. Он хотел спасти её
Can you please upload the videos that you had of The House of Bernarda Alba????