French Ballet Favourites / Various French Ballet Favourites / Various CD

Giselle is based on a legend according to which the ghosts of unmarried girls return to seek revenge on the living. The Wilis had already been described in a story in Heinrich Heine's de l'Allemagne, although Heine received no credit for Giselle. The immediate inspiration for the ballet came from Th?ophile Gautier, spurred by his infatuation with the dancer Carlotta Grisi. Elements from Victor Hugo were to be incorporated in a libretto that was realized by the writer Jules Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges in three days, while Adam took a week to sketch the music and three to complete it, making some use of earlier material. The choreography was devised by the Paris Op?ra ballet-master Jean Coralli, with Giselle's dances choreographed by Carlotta Grisi's teacher and lover Jules Perrot. Designs were by Pierre Ciceri, who had also designed the sets for La Sylphide. The ballet was first produced on 18th June 1841 at the Op?ra, the Th??tre de l'Acad?mie royale de musique, when Grisi danced Giselle, Lucien Petipa Albrecht and Ad?le Dumil?tre the Queen of the Wilis, Myrthe. Various changes have been made in the ballet since 1841, not least in a number of versions given in Russia, with an early re-staging there by Perrot with Fanny Elssler, a rival Giselle, and Marius Petipa. The latter later made his own choreographic contribution to the ballet in later productions. The score includes interpolated scenes by Friedrich Burgm?ller, who is best known for the peasant pas de deux in Act I of Giselle.

1. Coppelia, Act I: Prelude 2. Coppelia, Act I: Valse 3. Coppelia, Act I: Mazurka 4. Coppelia, Act I: Ballade 5. Coppelia, Act I: Theme Slave Varie 6. Coppelia, Act I: Czardas - Danse Hongroise 7. Coppelia, Act II: Valse de la Poupee 8. Coppelia, Act III: Marche de la Cloche 9. Giselle, Act I: Scene D'hilarian 10. Giselle, Act I: Andante 11. Giselle, Act I: Valse 12. Giselle, Act I: Allegro Moderato 13. Giselle, Act I: Allegro Un Peu Loure 14. Giselle, Act I: Galop General 15. Giselle, Act II: Ensemble de Willis 16. Giselle, Act II: Lever Du Soleil Et Arrivee de la Cour 17. Faust: Waltz 18. Sylvia, Act I: Prelude 19. Sylviam Act I: Les Chasseresses (Fanfare) 20. Sylvia, Act I: Intermezzo 21. Sylvia, Act I: Valse Lente 22. Sylvia, Act II: Danse Des Ethiopiens 23. Sylvia, Act III: Pizzicati 24. Sylvia, Act III: Marche 25. Sylvia, Act III: Cortege Dr Bacchus