Thursday July 19, 2012 -This long-awaited evening - the Paris Opera Ballet's production of GISELLE at Lincoln Center - did not really crystallize into a memorable performance of the old masterpiece. The dancing was fine, of course, but the dramatic strokes that can make the ballet meaningful in our day and age were missing, and there was an odd lack of chemistry between the principal dancers. Everyone seemed to be dutifully going thru the motions, and the hoped-for emotional crescendos seemed elusive. Perhaps two many chefs had had a hand in the kitchen: Coralli, Perrot, Petipa, Bart and Polyakov were all named in the staging credits, an effort stretching across decades...centuries, even.
In this ultra-traditional production, the set designs of Alexandre Benois dating from 1924 were used; Act I was decorative, Act II lacked the mystery and terror that should resonate thru the domain of the Wili-Queen. The inclusion of the dice-players at the start of the cemetery scene is a pointless gesture, their mugging and gesticulating distracting from the atmosphere. Oddly, the Wilis have wings in this production; this fussy addition to the costumes was distracting and I kept expecting some Chopin as these Sylphide-like creatures glided about the stage. In the great ensemble moment where the two regiments of Wilis cross the stage, hopping in arabesque in opposing directions, their timing was slightly off and the effect was dampened. The Wili Queen wears a tall diadem; but who crowned her?
Clairemarie Osta (photo at the top) was apparently making her farewell performance with the Company tonight though there was no indication of this in the playbill. She danced very well and was affectionately hailed by both the audience her colleagues at the curtain calls. Nicholas Le Riche as Albrecht likewise danced flawlessly but there seemed to be a lack of intense emotion between him and Mlle. Osta. Rather they seemed like long-time colleagues having a final go at a ballet they've danced often. The great pairings I've seen in this ballet - Fracci & Nureyev, Kirkland & Charles Ward, Tcherkassky & Bujones, and more recently Reyes & Cornejo - kept springing up in my mind as Osta and Le Riche moved thru the drama without really moving me.
Nolwenn Daniel was an authoritative Myrthe, and Yann Saiz a lanky Hilarion. There were many attractive dancers onstage all evening in various capacities and I wish I could feel more enthusiastic about their efforts but in the end the GISELLE was not one that will linger in the imagination.
The house seemed packed and POB made good on their posted warning: No Late Seating. Everyone seemed attentive, too, except of course the two old women sitting behind us who kept whispering. Why is it that people can't shut up for an hour?
July 19th, 2012 at 8:00 PM/Lincoln Center Festival
Clairemarie Osta (Giselle), Nicolas Le Riche (Albrecht), Nolwenn Daniel (Myrtha), Yann Saïz (Hilarion), Charline Giezendanner, Fabien Revillon (Pas de deux des paysans)