Teatro Dell'Opera Di Roma 22 October 2022 - Giselle | GoComGo.com

Giselle

Teatro Dell'Opera Di Roma, Teatro Costanzi, Rome, Italy
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6 PM

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Important Info
Type: Ballet
City: Rome, Italy
Starts at: 18:00
Acts: 2

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Overview

A Teatro dell’Opera di Roma production

History
Premiere of this production: 28 June 1841, Salle Le Peletier, Paris, France

Giselle is a romantic ballet in two acts. It was first performed by the Ballet du Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique at the Salle Le Peletier in Paris, France on 28 June 1841, with Italian ballerina Carlotta Grisi as Giselle. The ballet was an unqualified triumph. Giselle became hugely popular and was staged at once across Europe, Russia, and the United States. The traditional choreography that has been passed down to the present day derives primarily from the revivals staged by Marius Petipa during the late 19th and early 20th centuries for the Imperial Ballet in St. Petersburg.

 

Synopsis

Act I

The ballet opens on a sunny autumnal morning in the Rhineland during the Middle Ages. The grape harvest is in progress. Duke Albrecht of Silesia, a young nobleman, has fallen in love with a shy, beautiful peasant girl, Giselle, despite being betrothed to Bathilde, the daughter of the Duke of Courland. Albrecht disguises himself as a humble villager called "Loys" in order to court the enchanting and innocent Giselle, who knows nothing of his true identity. With the help of his squire, Albrecht hides his fine attire, hunting horn, and sword before coaxing Giselle out of her house to romance her as the harvest festivities begin.

Hilarion, a local gamekeeper, is also in love with Giselle and is highly suspicious of the newcomer who has won Giselle's affections. He tries to convince the naive Giselle that her beau cannot be trusted, but she ignores his warnings. Giselle's mother, Berthe, is very protective of her daughter, as Giselle has a weak heart that leaves her in delicate health. She discourages a relationship between Giselle and Loys, thinking Hilarion would be a better match, and disapproves of Giselle's fondness for dancing, due to the strain on her heart.

A party of noblemen seeking refreshment following the rigors of the hunt arrive in the village, Albrecht's betrothed, Bathilde, among them. Albrecht hurries away, knowing he would be recognized and greeted by Bathilde, exposing him as a nobleman. The villagers welcome the party, offer them drinks, and perform several dances. Bathilde is charmed with Giselle's sweet and demure nature, not knowing of her relationship with Albrecht. Giselle is honored when the beautiful and regal stranger offers her a necklace as a gift before the group of nobles depart.

The villagers continue the harvest festivities, and Albrecht emerges again to dance with Giselle, who is named the Harvest Queen. Hilarion interrupts the festivities. He has discovered Albrecht's finely made sword and presents it as proof that the lovesick peasant boy is really a nobleman who is promised to another woman. Using Albrecht's hunting horn, Hilarion calls back the party of noblemen. Albrecht has no time to hide and has no choice but to greet Bathilde as his betrothed. All are shocked by the revelation, but none more than Giselle, who becomes inconsolable when faced with her lover's deception. Knowing that they can never be together, Giselle flies into a mad fit of grief in which all the tender moments she shared with "Loys" flash before her eyes. She begins to dance wildly and erratically, ultimately causing her weak heart to give out. She collapses before dying in Albrecht's arms. Hilarion and Albrecht turn on each other in rage before Albrecht flees the scene in misery. The curtain closes as Berthe weeps over her daughter's body.

In the original version, taken up again recently by a production of the ROB, Giselle stabs herself with Albrecht's sword, which explains why her body is laid to rest in the forest, in unhallowed ground, where the Wilis have the power to summon her. Most modern versions are sanitized and have edited out the suicide.

Act II

Late at night, Hilarion mourns at Giselle's forest grave, but is frightened away by the arrival of the Wilis, the ghostly spirits of maidens betrayed by their lovers. Many Wili were abandoned on their wedding days, and all died of broken hearts. The Wilis, led by their merciless queen Myrtha, dance and haunt the forest at night to exact their revenge on any man they encounter, regardless of who he may be, forcing their victims to dance until they die of exhaustion.

Myrtha and the Wilis rouse Giselle's spirit from her grave and induct her into their clan before disappearing into the forest. Albrecht arrives to lay flowers on Giselle's grave and he weeps with guilt over her death. Giselle's spirit appears and Albrecht begs her forgiveness. Giselle, her love undiminished unlike her vengeful sisters, gently forgives him. She disappears to join the rest of the Wilis and Albrecht desperately follows her.

Meanwhile, the Wilis have cornered a terrified Hilarion. They use their magic to force him to dance until he is nearly dead, and then drown him in a nearby lake. Then they spy Albrecht, and turn on him, sentencing him to death as well. He pleads to Myrtha for his life, but she coldly refuses. Giselle's pleas are also dismissed and Albrecht is forced to dance until sunrise. However, the power of Giselle's love counters the Wilis' magic and spares his life. The other spirits return to their graves at daybreak, but Giselle has broken through the chains of hatred and vengeance that control the Wilis, and is thus released from their powers and will haunt the forest no longer. After bidding a tender farewell to Albrecht, Giselle returns to her grave to rest in peace.

Venue Info

Teatro Dell'Opera Di Roma - Rome
Location   Piazza Beniamino Gigli

The Teatro dell'Opera di Roma is a major opera house in Rome. Originally opened in November 1880 as the 2,212-seat Costanzi Theatre, it has undergone several changes of name as well modifications and improvements. The present house seats 1,600.  Over one hundred years of success have brought the most acclaimed voices, the most prestigious sticks, and the notes of musicians who have marked its destiny to the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma: Pietro Mascagni, Giacomo Puccini, Ottorino Respighi, have delivered it to the honors of history of Italian melodrama as the cradle of 20th-century opera and musical theater.

Original Teatro Costanzi: 1880 to 1926
The Teatro dell'Opera was originally known as the Teatro Costanzi after the contractor who built it, Domenico Costanzi (1819–1898). It was financed by Costanzi, who commissioned the Milanese architect Achille Sfondrini (1836–1900), a specialist in the building and renovation of theatres. The opera house was built in eighteen months, on the site where the house of Heliogabalus stood in ancient times, and was inaugurated on 27 November 1880 with a performance of Semiramide by Gioachino Rossini.

Designing the theatre, Sfondrini paid particular attention to the acoustics, conceiving the interior structure as a "resonance chamber", as is evident from the horseshoe shape in particular. With a seating capacity of 2,212, the house had three tiers of boxes, an amphitheater, and two separate galleries, surmounted by a dome adorned with splendid frescoes by Annibale Brugnoli.

Costanzi was obliged to manage the theater himself. Under his direction, and despite financial problems, the opera house held many world premieres of operas, including Cavalleria Rusticana by Pietro Mascagni on 17 May 1890. For a brief period, the theatre was managed by Costanzi's son, Enrico, who gained renown by organizing another great premiere, that of Tosca by Giacomo Puccini on 14 January 1900.

In 1907, the Teatro Costanzi was purchased by the impresario Walter Mocchi (1871–1955) on behalf of the Società Teatrale Internazionale e Nazionale (STIN). In 1912 Mocchi's wife, Emma Carelli, became the managing director of the new Impresa Costanzi, as the theatre was later known, following various changes in the company structure. During the fourteen years of her tenure, major works which had not been performed before in Rome (or even in Italy) were staged. These included La fanciulla del West, Turandot and Il trittico by Giacomo Puccini; Parsifal by Richard Wagner; Francesca da Rimini (Zandonai) by Riccardo Zandonai; Boris Godunov by Modest Mussorgsky; Samson et Dalila by Camille Saint-Saëns and many others. Diaghilev's Ballets Russes also performed.

Restructured Teatro Reale dell'Opera: 1926 to 1946
In November 1926 the Costanzi was bought by the Rome City Council and its name changed to Teatro Reale dell'Opera. A partial rebuilding ensued, led by architect Marcello Piacentini and lasting fifteen months. The house re-opened on 27 February 1928 with the opera Nerone by Arrigo Boito.

Chief among several major changes was the relocated entrance, from the street formerly known as Via del Teatro (where the garden of the Hotel Quirinale is now) to the opposite side, where Piazza Beniamino Gigli exists today. In addition, the amphitheater inside the theatre was replaced by the fourth tier of boxes (now the third tier) and a balcony. The interior was embellished by new stuccowork, decorations, and furnishings, including a magnificent chandelier measuring six meters in diameter and composed of 27,000 crystal drops.

Above the proscenium arch is a plaque commemorating the rebuilding: "Vittorio Emanuele III Rege, Benito Mussolini Duce, Lodovicus Spada Potenziani, Romae Gubernator Restituit MCMXXVIII—VI”". Confusingly the dates appear to be back to front. (The VI refers to the sixth year after the Fascist's March on Rome of 1922.)

Present Teatro dell'Opera di Roma: from 1946
Following the end of the monarchy, the name was simplified to Teatro dell'Opera and, in 1958, the building was again remodeled and modernized. Rome City Council again commissioned architect Marcello Piacentini, who radically altered the building's style, notably with regard to the facade, entrance, and foyer, each of these taking the form we know today.

The theater's legendary acoustics still bear comparison with any other auditorium in the world. The seating capacity is about 1,600. The house was retrofitted with air-conditioning subsequent to a restoration, which provided improvements to the interior. The stucco work was completely restored, the great proscenium arch strengthened, and a parquet floor of solid oak blocks laid to replace the previous one.

On 2 January 1958, the theater was the venue for a controversial performance of Norma starring Maria Callas in the presence of the President of Italy: for health reasons, Callas abandoned the performance after the first act (the opera company had not engaged an understudy).

The post-war period saw celebrated productions, including Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro in 1964 and Verdi's Don Carlo in 1965, both conducted by Carlo Maria Giulini and directed by Luchino Visconti.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the Director was Riccardo Vitale (father of actress Milly Vitale).

In 1992, Gian Carlo Menotti was appointed Artistic Director of the Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, a post he maintained for two years before being asked to resign over conflicts with the theatre's managers involving Menotti's insistence on staging Wagner's Lohengrin.

From 2001 to 2010, the music director and chief conductor of the company were Gianluigi Gelmetti. He was due to be succeeded in these posts by Riccardo Muti, as announced in August 2009, but Muti demurred, citing in La Repubblica in October 2010 "general difficulties that are plaguing the Italian opera houses". Later, Muti assumed a role similar to that of a music director but without a title. Notable productions under Muti have included Gluck's Iphigénie en Aulide (2009), Verdi's Nabucco (2011), Simon Boccanegra (2012), and Ernani (2013).

Daniele Gatti was first guest-conducted with the company during the 2016–2017 season. He returned for subsequent guest engagements in each of the following two seasons. In December 2018, the company announced the appointment of Gatti as its new music director, with immediate effect. Gatti is scheduled to stand down as the company's music director on 31 December 2021. In June 2021, the company announced the appointment of Michele Mariotti as its next music director, effective 1 November 2022, with an initial contract of 4 years.

Important Info
Type: Ballet
City: Rome, Italy
Starts at: 18:00
Acts: 2
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