Giselle : The Bolshoi Ballet (Bel Air Classiques)

The Bolshoi Ballet troupe, in Yuri Grigorovich's version of the romantic masterpiece Giselle, at last available in High-Definition.

First performed in 1841, Giselle was an immediate hit. With music by Adolphe Adam and a libretto by Theophile Gautier and Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges, the ballet touches on the great romantic themes: local colour, a pastoral love affair doomed to end in tragedy, a plunge into fantasy and redemption through the power of love. Composer Adolphe Adam owes his reputation to this archetypal, richly melodic romantic ballet.

As Giselle, Svetlana Lunkina is simply sensational. Her Albrecht is the iconically noble dancer Dmitry Gudanov. And the cast is perfectly rounded off by Maria Allash as the Queen of the Wilis.

The Bolshoi Ballet perform Yuri Grigorovich's version of the ballet by Adolphe Adam. Svetlana Lunkina plays the title role with Dmitry Gudanov as Count Albrecht and Maria Allash as the Queen of the Wilis.

When young peasant girl Giselle discovers that her lover, Albrecht, is actually a nobleman in disguise who is due to be married, she dies from despair. But when Albrecht's life is threatened by the evil Wilis clan, Giselle's spirit returns to save him. Pavel Klinichev conducts the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra.