Staatsballett Berlin: Giselle

Staatsoper Unter den Linden, Berlin
December 4, 2024

In these days of contemporary interpretations of the ballet classics, it’s good to see that the traditional, classical versions still have appeal. And they don’t come much more traditional and classical that Patrice Bart’s Giselle, originally created for the Paris Opera Ballet to celebrate the 150 anniversary of the ballet’s premiere, the present season of which sold out easily.

Bart and his design team take a romantic view of the work. Peter Farmer’s sets are picture book rustic, Giselle and Bertha’s wooden but very solid looking house sitting in a forest clearing in which dappled sunlight (lighting by Franz Peter David) glints down through the tree canopy. The misty graveyard of Act Two is a perfect setting for the ghostly goings-on that follow Giselle’s death.

When the assured Riho Sakamoto first stepped out of her home as Giselle, she didn’t so much skip round the stage as fly. To say she was filled with happiness would be an understatement. More overtly than most but still subtle were her couple of indications that she may have a weak heart, given before her mother gets round to explaining it. She quickly brushes them off, though, as love and her love of dance triumphs. For now.

The elegant Martin ten Kortenaar gave us an Albrecht with real feelings. Having arrived in the village wearing a bright red cloak (not the smartest move for someone who is supposedly hiding his true status), he showed someone really in love with Giselle, rather than someone ‘having a little dalliance on the side.’ There was real chemistry with Sakamoto, perhaps not that surprising since the pair danced the roles together previously at Dutch National Ballet. In Act Two, one sensed he was visiting her grave not out of remorse but because he really did have feelings for her.

Alexei Orlenco gave a stronger than usual portrayal of the jealous gamekeeper Hilarion. He was really fired up as he revealed Albrecht’s deception. Given her strong-willed nature and love of dance, Giselle’s heart would probably have given out sooner rather than later anyway but, after she dies in Albrecht’s arms, one senses that Hilarion knows he was a catalyst for her end coming sooner than it should.

Bathilde is normally something of a small part, but Julia Golitsina’s interpretation was something special. Cool, overbearing and with a lovely way of looking down on almost everyone, her face spoke volumes. To Giselle, “You made your dress yourself. How quaint.” Later, as Giselle attempts to touch Bathilde’s finery, “That’s enough, darling.” And to Albrecht after he appears ‘dressed down,’ “What do you look like?” She looked like she was about to explode when Giselle tries to explain her feelings for her finance.

Usually in Giselle, there’s a distinct sense that Albrecht would have married Bathilde even if Giselle had not died. Here, I’m less sure.

While Act Two opens with the usual misty graveyard, it’s a surprise to find four gamekeepers there playing dice. Quite why anyone would choose to do that there, let alone in the middle of the night, is anyone’s guess. They did look a little suspicious!

The stony-faced and very serious Eloïse Sacilotto gave a powerful portrayal of the Queen of the Wilis. As the now phantom Giselle, Sakamoto was the total opposite of her Act One self, now all airy tenderness. In their pas de deux, ten Kortenaar made her look as featherlight as you might imagine a ghost to really be. I wasn’t entirely convinced he was about to die of exhaustion as the Wilis attempted to end his life too, however.

The excellent Staatskapelle Berlin under the baton of Marius Stravinsky, who played with great vigour when required, but also great feeling in Act Two.