Performers:
Mykola Lysenko Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet TheaterBallet by Adolphe Adam 2 acts
Learning that Albrecht, her beloved, is in fact a nobleman engaged to be married to a princess, the naive peasant girl Giselle dies. The Queen of the Wilis—the spirits of deceased young virgins—decides that Albrecht should follow Giselle to the grave …
First performed in 1841, “Giselle” was an immediate hit. With music by Adolphe Adam and a libretto by Théophile GautierandJules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, the ballet touches on the great romantic themes: pastoral scenery and doomed love affair, a plunge into fantasy and redemption through the power of love.