show category: ballet

Recommended Age: 5+

Giselle is not just the best-known title within the French composer Adolphe Adam’s oeuvre, but also a significant work of the Romantic period. The theme of impossible love between mortals and supernatural creatures lies at the basis of the Slavic legend of the Wilis (young brides-to-be who have died before the wedding), adapted by Heinrich Heine. The idea was subsequently taken over by the novelist, poet, and critic Théophile Gautier; he created the story of a girl who, after the betrayal of her lover, dyes from a heart attack and then returns as a spirit to save him from the Wilis’ revenge; this is the fact that will prevent her transformation.

The proposition of such a scenery by Gautier came in tune with the desire of the Paris Opera’s managing board to give the famous Italian ballerina Carlotta Grisi the main role in a new choreographic production. Just a few months later, the librettists Saint-Georges and Adolphe Adam created one of the most fascinating ballets in the history of the genre.

After the premiere of the ballet (June 2,8 1841) at Paris Opera, having Carlotta Grisi and Lucien Petipa (Marius Petipa’s brother) as main characters, Giselle met, through the years, significant stagings everywhere in Europe. This time, we are waiting for you to discover it in a performance featuring the soloists, the orchestra, and the ballet ensemble of the Romanian National Opera in Cluj-Napoca!

The performance has one break and ends around 8.30 p.m.