Search - Herbert von Karajan, Weiner Philharmoniker :: Adam: Giselle

The Karajan Giselle

06/22/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I would have never guessed that the great Herbert Von Karajan, who was the most brilliant conductor of symphonic works would conduct Adolphe Adam's ballet Giselle. But then again he did conduct Tchaikovsky ballet suites so its not that much of a surprise. Giselle is more dramatic here, with less emphasis on the gentility and sickeningly sweet mood it can acquire. Somehow Karajan blends femininity and melody with intensity and Gothic melodrama. Giselle is the first Romantic ballet, and the first to introduce the white tutu. It tells the story of a peasant girl fond of dancing and naive. She falls for Albrecht, a prince diguised as a hunter. Albrecht is engaged to be married. He has his fling with Giselle who takes it more seriously and is heart broken when she discovers the truth and dies. In Act 2, she reappears as a ghost or Willi and Albrecht is in danger of being lured to his death by the other Willi girls but Giselle intervenes and saves him. Karajan is a fine conductor and everything he works with is a glorious and beautiful endeavor. He is a young conductor here and the music has never sounded better. Fans of Karajan and the ballet Giselle will want to own this performance."

Excellent performances

G.D. | Norway | 05/27/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Adolphe Adam's Giselle has been a favorite of ballet houses for quite some time now, and in one sense it is not hard to see what ballet enthusiasts find attractive about this succession of tuneful, delightfully scored numbers. On the other hand, the work is obviously and almost painfully inferior to the later works by Delibes or Tchaikovsky. The music is atmospheric, tender and includes some rather magical touches, true, but so do a huge number of ballet scores from around the same time and later. In sum, I have to admit that I find the continued popularity of this work somewhat puzzling and suspect it is more due to the inertia of tradition rather than any profound assessment of the intrinsic qualities of the music.



That said, this somewhat shortened version under Karajan provides a more than worthwhile musical experience, not the least because of Karajan's approach to the score - here, the music emerges as darker and more profound than in many alternative recordings; Karajan seems not to give any thought to the fact that this is music composed for dancing, and prefers rather to view it as something close to a symphonic poem - dramatic and bold and lush. By the same token, I guess this is a version that won't appeal to all people, and least of all to the regular balletomane. Still, Karajan makes something out of Adam's music that few others have come even close to doing, and as such I am willing to give it a firm recommendation. Sound quality is excellent; warm and lush and spacious."