"Giselle" revisited: Vienna State Ballet, February 18th, 2022

Feb 21

Feb 21 "Giselle" revisited: Vienna State Ballet, February 18th, 2022

To watch „Giselle" is (mostly) a pleasure. My connection with this ballet has not started „just yesterday" but many decades ago, when I first saw it as a child and fell in love with its plot and atmosphere; „hook, line and sinker".

Of course, some principals fit more the main characters than others, some nights are better than others and so are some Companies. Many versions are better than Tschernischova’s and this also applies to the costumes in the second act.

Here, some thoughts about last Friday's performance. A very good one in spite of some flaws.

We'll go shortly into that.

I have deliberately asked for my press ticket for the second performance this season as the cast, especially both Giselle and Albrecht seemed to make more sense as performers for the roles and with each other. The interaction that they have displayed on stage proved that. Also, Myrtha's casting was definitely another reason for visiting this performance on February 18th.

It is obvious, even to the ones not in fully command of the Ballet language, that the Corps would have needed more rehearsal time and more polishment in what precision is concerned. Some members of the ensemble stood but really apart. Those who master not only the mood but also the style, the precise necklines, the exact inclination of the head while „just" standing there during the second act, the style, which is so essential to this ballet, the very subtle épaulement and the very strict port de bras (and here I was even more concerned with the sloppiness displayed on the first act): compliments to Marie Breuilles, Sveva Gargiulo, Gala Jovanovic, Laura Nistor, Alaia Rogers-Maman to mention the few ones who are faithful to the original.

The other problem, apart from rehearsal time, is the number of coaches involved in this production. At least four if I am correctly informed. Much too many. It is quite clear that one „Head artistic supervisor" is missing, one who would homogenize, equalize and, most important of all, harmonize the production. There is lots of truth in the old saying „Too many cooks spoil the broth", especially when all of them cook with very different „spices".

Copyright: Vienna State Ballet / Ashley Taylor

The „peasant couple" played by Anita Manolova and Lourenço Ferreira did not start quite well. Together on stage but with a very uneven display of tempo perceptions as Miss Manolova tended continuously to be ahead of the music and Mr Ferreira, who has been given a very good and ceaseless display of progress since months, one-thousandth of a second „late" (which is a quality I most admire). But they recovered from that.

Claudine Schock gave quite an “unusual” Bathilde. One that I had never seen before, devoid of any kind of Nobility, Aristocracy, Grace and Finesse, attributes that are so obvious to her. Bathilde is not a villain (and not at all a temperamental spoiled girl – as her last exit made us think) but a highly educated, outstanding, fine, gentlewoman and, unfortunately, another victim of characterless Albrecht. This stereotyped „acting" happens to some dancers when they do not have proper knowledge of the roles they are playing (Even though Bathilde should be such a „known" character to classical Dancers). But if one doesn't have the necessary comprehension of a role, it would be a coach's job (or a Head Artistic Supervisor's) to make sure that the dancer is aware of it and can understand it to portray it properly.

Sonia Dvořák and Eszter Ledán excelled as Moyna and Zulma. Delicate, well-centered, in character all the time. Substantial performances. The diagonal positions, while kneeling on formation, could be improved. Slightly more „open", more „effacé", more parallel to the formation lines of the Corps behind them – another “Coach's job”. Both Miss Dvořák and Miss Ledán also charmed the audience with their very harmonic features: mignon, fragile-looking but very strong dancers. Depht.

In the past Andrey Teterin was cast in roles that were far more appropriate to his „pouvoir". Hilarion, “a notch above”, is a role one can make so much of when well played. Instead, he gave us a reading as if the character was anesthetized or recovering from a hangover. Emotionless. When it came to his final part on stage, we knew that this dancer was in trouble. His tours en l'air completely off-axis brought him always further to his left causing Myrtha to step back twice and quite quickly as he was intruding her „space" with uncontrolled, violent quickness. Ketevan Papava intelligently saved the situation but, to the ones not really connected to this ballet or to ballet technique, the general impression was that Myrtha was afraid of Hilarion and stepped back. But we know that Myrtha would never have been afraid of Hilarion. Uncontrolled strength can be quite a problem. When he entered the stage to bow, it “felt” like he would land in the Orchestra pit, so uncontrolled was his energy. Technique is not only pirouettes, quick batteries and exciting jumps.

Ketevan Papava gave us a very good reading of a character that is everything else than sympathetic. The restrained bitterness of the „elderly" virgin. It was all there – wrapped in the cellophane of elegance, control, stage presence, school. Yes, you read it right: school. I have seen many a Myrtha throughout the years. Some of them here in Vienna were cast just because they are tall girls but the subtleness of this sometimes very ungrateful character, is hard to achieve. It requires an extremely strict way of using and projecting your strength. Something just achievable by the ones that have, yes, a „School". I remember Leslie Browne (ABT) back in the early 1990s giving us a very similar reading as the one we saw yesterday by Ketevan Papava: very well studied, rehearsed, coached, and nearly majestic and frightening in her acidity that reveals certain envy of the fact that Albrecht is following Giselle – nearly to her grave – all this combined with enormous precision, arms (has anyone ever noticed how long Myrtha's arms seem to be?), piercing eyes and endless changes between effacé, croisé and écartée. Myrtha is everything but direct in her storytelling. Just on her entrance (unfortunately so much shortened in this Tschernischova version – which leaves so much to be desired). Miss Papava’s interpretation could be described in one single word: Sovereignty.

Albrecht and Davide Dato were the real reason why I wanted to watch this show. I have already mentioned in some reviews (most notably in Robbins' „A Suite of Dances") the quality of this moment in which Mr Dato finds himself. This newly acquired maturity that shows on stage combined with the total strength and power of youth. A very special moment in a dancer’s life. I wondered how it'd affect his Albrecht. Now. And it did. It is still a long way to the cynical playboy Baryshnikov played him like in his last years at the ABT but Mr Dato’s Albrecht is “light-years” away from a „starry-eyed" young lad – a portrayal I cannot normally accept as Albrecht is not really a good character. He repents in the second act but that is something else. An emotion mixed up very tightly with remorse. An emotion that hurts and tears his inside. It is most interesting and a sign of intelligence and sensibility, to see characters in a constantly changing process, maturing. Only the really good dancers like Mr Dato achieve that.

His performance was exactly what one expects: emotional, technically perfect, and filled with extreme stage presence (It had been quite a long time since I had seen – many – pirouettes finished in a meticulous 5th position, something I don’t normally care for but on Mr Dato this all seems to come so naturally), confident, gentle and strong partnering. A performance blessed with precision (not only in the technique department), and packed in charm and (sometimes in the first act) wit! One starts to believe again at the „Magic" of Dance on stage, with such a performance.

This applies to Maria Yakovleva as well, who has two things much in common with Marcia Haydée. First the gift of concealing intelligently certain flaws and technical restrictions from the audience. Second is this marvelous gift of „Story-telling". Miss Yakovleva, a charming „apparition" on stage, suits perfectly this role (even, with her lovely figure, the very questionable 2nd act costumes by Clarisse Praun-Maylunas). It is, in every sense, perfect for her: from the long romantic tutús and from Giselle’s peasant beauty to the heartbreaking drama of the „Madness scene". Coincidentally I have been spending some time in a strong study of this scene, which resembles itself an architectural work of Art. It has just a few poles, insinuated and defined by the music on which the very strict choreography is built upon but the bridges between these „set" poles are what gives the Artist the opportunity to show her Artistry; add something personal, unique, nearly as an improvisation – which I hardly believe that anyone would do. To cut a long Story short: also like Davide Dato, Miss Yakovleva gave us a beautiful reading of this role that, in my opinion, is one of the most challenging to a Ballerina and takes years of intensive Study to master.

Some little flaws, like the last diagonal of Giselle's Variation on Act I that made it seem as if she could not move from the spot she was standing at and the uncoordinated arm lift and developé a la seconde (which should happen parallelly giving the effect of complete magic so asked for) can be overseen. In view of such a beautiful, magic Performance, they don't matter much and even though I normally „demand" them from every performer, I am breaking my own rule today. Miss Yakovleva was yesterday a beautiful apparition on stage of The Vienna State Opera.

The audience realized the quality of what they had just witnessed and the applause was grand. Well-deserved shouts of “Bravo”. On the contrary of the contemporary ballet-goers that shout “Bravo” for anything, yesterday’s audience cherished what they had seen and reacted accordingly and deservedly.

A highly enjoyable and recommendable Evening with this precise cast.

Ricardo Leitner

February 19th, 2022