Ballet "Giselle" - a summary. Libretto

The two-act ballet Giselle is fantastic.a story created by three librettists - Henri de Saint-Georges, Teofil Gautier, Jean Coralli and the composer Adolf Adan according to a legend that Heinrich Heine retold.

How was the immortal masterpiece created?

The Parisian public saw the ballet Giselle in 1841year It was the era of romanticism, the code in dance performances was made to include elements of folklore and myths. Music for the ballet was written by composer Adolf Adan. One of the authors of the libretto of the ballet "Giselle" was Theophile Gautier. Together with him, the libretto of the ballet “Giselle” was also worked out by the well-known librettist Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and choreographer Jean Coralli, who was involved in the production of the play. The ballet "Giselle" does not lose its popularity to this day. The Russian public first saw this story of tragic love in 1884 at the Mariinsky Theater, but with some adjustments made to the production by Marius Petipa for ballet dancer M. Gorshenkova, who played the part of Giselle, which was later replaced by great Anna Pavlova. In this performance, for a ballerina, not only choreographic mastery is important, but also dramatic talent, the ability to reincarnate, since the main character appears as a naive girl in the first act, then turns into a suffering one, and becomes a ghost in the second act.

Libretto of the ballet "Giselle"

Heinrich Heine wrote in his book “About Germany”the ancient Slavic legend of the wilis - girls who died from unhappy love and rise from their graves at night to destroy young men wandering in the night, so they avenge their ruined lives. It is this legend that became the basis for the libretto of the ballet Giselle. Summary of the production: Earl Albert and peasant Giselle love each other, but Albert has a bride; the girl finds out about it and dies of grief, after which she becomes Vilisa; Albert comes at night to his beloved's grave and is surrounded by Vilis, he is threatened with death, but Giselle protects him from the wrath of her friends and he manages to escape.

T.Gauthier - the main developer of the libretto, he reworked the Slavic legend for the play "Giselle" (ballet). The content of the play takes the viewer away from the place where this myth originated. The librettist transferred all events to Thuringia.

Characters staging

The main character is a peasant girl Giselle,Albert is her lover. Forester Hilarion (in Russian productions Hans). Berta is the mother of Giselle. Albert's Bride — Batilda. Wilfried - squire, Mistress of Vilis - Mirtha. Among the characters are peasants, courtiers, servants, hunters, Vilis.

T.Gauthier decided to give the ancient myth a cosmopolitan character, and with his light hand, countries, customs and titles that are not in the original story were included in Giselle (ballet). The content was adjusted, as a result of which the characters were slightly changed. The main hero of Albert, the author of the libretto, made the duke of Silesia, and his bride's father became the duke of Courland.

1 action

Ballet "Giselle", a summary of scenes from 1 to 6

Events take place in a mountain village.Berta lives with her daughter Giselle in a small house. Nearby in another hut lives Lois - the beloved Giselle. Dawn came and the peasants went to work. Meanwhile, forester Hans, who is in love with the main character, watches her meeting with Lois from a secluded place, jealousy torments him. Seeing the passionate hugs and kisses of lovers, he runs up to them and condemns the girl for such behavior. Lois chases him away. Hans vows revenge. Soon there are girlfriends Giselle, she starts dancing with them. Berta is trying to stop these dances, noting that her daughter has a weak heart, fatigue and excitement are dangerous for her life.

Ballet "Giselle", a summary of scenes from 7 to 13

Hans manages to unlock the secret of Lois, who,it turns out, is not a peasant at all, but the Duke of Albert. Forester sneaks into the house of the duke and takes his sword to use it as proof of the noble origin of the opponent. Hans demonstrates Giselle Albert Sword. The truth is revealed that Albert is a duke and he has a bride. The girl is deceived, she does not believe in the love of Albert. Her heart does not stand up and she dies. Albert, frantic with grief, tries to kill himself, but he is not allowed to do this.

2 action

Ballet "Giselle", a summary of scenes from 1 to 6 of 2 act

После смерти Жизель превратилась в вилису.Hans, tormented by remorse and feeling guilty for the death of Giselle, comes to her grave, the Vilis notice him, circle in his dance and he falls dead.

Ballet "Giselle", a summary of scenes from 7 to 13 of 2 act

Albert can not forget his beloved.At night, he comes to her grave. It is surrounded by Vilis, among whom is Giselle. He is trying to hug her, but she is just an elusive shadow. He falls to his knees near her grave, Giselle flies up and allows him to touch her. The Vilis begin to circle Albert in a round dance, Giselle tries to save him, and he remains alive. At dawn, the vilis disappear, and Giselle disappears, forever saying goodbye to her lover, but she will always live in his heart.