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GISELLE on DVD
Adolphe Adam (1806-1856) was a French composer with several notable works including his ballets Giselle and Le corsaire.
Giselle is a sad, but beautiful story about love beyond ordinary life.
Short synopsis:
Act 1. The story starts in an idyllic village set and Hilarion visits Giselle to bring a bouquet of fresh flowers, as a sign of his love. Next day the Duke of Silesia comes in and he is instantly attracted by Giselle. The handsome duke is in fact due to marry Princess Bathilde…
The Duke disguise himself as a peasant in order to conquer Giselle’s heart and tries to lead a double life as long as possible. The Duke introduces himself as Loys and Giselle immediately falls deeply in love. When Hilarion returns, he warns her not to trust the stranger so willingly, but she doesn't listen.
There is a hunting party and in the meantime Hilarion returns with information about the stranger. When Giselle finds out the real identity of Loys she simply dies in grief.
Acts 2 happens during night. Hilarion visits Giselle's grave and mourns her death. As he weeps, the Wilis (vengeful female spirits who died abandoned on their wedding days) rise from their shallow graves at night to haunt and kill men. Hilarion is frightened and runs away to the village, but the Wilis chase him and he finally drowns in the lake. The Duke also comes to the grave and he finds Giselle spirit “alive”. They happily spend their last moments together until Giselle has to get back. Wilis also try to kill the Duke. Giselle reappears and protects the man she loves. She fends off the Wilis and their attempts to torture him. Finally, the sun rises and the Wilis return to their graves.
Giselle not only saves her lover but also her eternal life. She is able to return to her grave in peace without ever having to rise at night to hunt down the lives of men.
I have this DVD with Alina Cojocaru in the title role.
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I have the production with her and Nureyev at La Scala (not the made for tv one)
Originally Posted by hreichgott
