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The minute Valery Gergiev took over the platform, though, things got suddenly animated – boy, how he changed the air, just walking into the scene! From the very beginning you could tell the maestro was absolutely into his job. At the heart of his take on Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture, there's this intense feeling of a struggle against destiny, as if a soul's forever longing to be saved from purgatory – curiously it told more on a torment of a soul rather than the doomed lovers. There's nothing but an emotional outburst this conductor tried to bring down from his orchestra, it seemed, and who could counter the proposition, so rational, given the characteristic of the music? At the beginning the orchestra sounded a bit hesitant, not responding spontaneously. There were indeed times this was particularly evident when the music went slow; you could feel they were not dreaming enough, or yearning enough – not to the extent the music demanded. But in the end the conductor's persistent and relentless attempts won them over, and the ensemble caught up with his highly emotional, volatile drama, played it out in a suitably excessive fashion. The thunderous finale was expressed in a manner just as one expected from this score, and this orchestra.

After the intermission, still visibly steaming maestro continued to reign, this time in the orchestra pit, and the curtain went up for “Rubies”. The ballet part of the evening, the extracts from “Jewels”, was originally advertised as being presented by Principals and Corps dancers of the both companies (ie POB and Mariinsky). As it turned out, in the end, we had two guest Principals from Mariinsky, dancing with POB Soloists and Corps. Diana Vishneva's physical strength and elasticity, her hot-blooded temperament, always made her look quite comfortable and confident in Rubies. Even better, from what I saw in this gala performance, it appeared over the years, with maturity, she also gained a playfulness and a generosity towards her partner - that made her look almost invincible to dance this role. Her partner was l'Opera's Premier danseur (roughly equivalent to RB's First Soloist), virtuoso dancer Emmanuel Thibault, and the tall-girl role was danced by etoile Marie-Agnès Gillot. Having the conductor utterly into his music meant dancers had to face a real challenge, in this case particularly so for POB dancers. Gergiev's tempi was decidedly fast, the rhythm volatile, compared to Paul Connelly's they were used to dance to. So at the beginning Thibault, just as other dancers, seemed to fall a victim, struggling to pull his movements together. Perhaps for this reason, unfortunately the partnership didn't go as far as it sparkled. Thank goodness, though, l'Opera's dancers persevered it, and Thibault had moments to shine in his solo variation. Gillot's powerful stage presence and authority once again left a strong impression, and an after-image. A great thing was that hers was unmistakably urban-chic, l'Opera's own, Rubies.

The brightest, and most glorious part of the three, “Diamonds” rarely fails to enthrall the audience when it's properly done by a proper company. Sighs, followed by a wave of applause from the audience opened the performance; we were immediately enchanted at the sight when the curtain went up. A dozen of beautiful Parisian dancers in white/silver tutus lined up, all smiles – what a glamorous sight that was...... (Incidentally the décors and costumes for POB's Joyaux were designed by French haute-couture designer Christian Lacroix. The costumes were unsurprisingly sumptous and quite decorative – ladies' tiaras looked a bit heavy, etc; the décors more modern and simplistic.) Given the very distinctive style of this part (classic Petipa), my personal preference tends to be Kirov's renditions, which is more rigorous to the form. POB dancers do it differently, a difference in schooling was evident. Very interesting to watch, to say the least; Parisian troupe's great advantages, it seemed to me, lay in their personal charms, and indeed in their personalities.

After the light-footed Allegro movement with a touch of sadness (wonderfully played by the orchestra) came a serious moment. This was Lopatkina's first appearance on the POB's stage, no doubt a very important event in her career. I thought it was a good fortune for her to debut in this role, one of her most celebrated ones, in my opinion. (Her colleagues and rivals, Vishneva and Zakharova - the then Kirov Principal - made debuts there earlier, respectively dancing Nureyev's Don Quixote and La Bayadere/Swan Lake.) If anything, this music suits the ballerina like a dream, particularly the adagio part; melancholic, mysterious - a gentle soul lost in reverie. So how did she make of it this time? Well at the risk of falling onto the cliché, yet I have no other words to describe her on this occasion as THE prima.... She reigned on the stage with dignity in a way only a chosen few could command, and showed what classical ballet was all about, what it could do.... (Interesting as back in the summer the same ballerina left me in a very mixed-feeling; in Kirov's Swan Lake she was grand, perhaps too grand, and in her well thought-out - in fact too much so - acting and musical phrasing I sensed a certain mannerism.) All this could happen, without doubt, because she was partnered by the chevalier of a calibre matching to her own. Jean-Guillaume Bart, turned out to be the biggest find of the evening for me, was simply perfect, danced and partnered Lopatkina in a truly princely manner. To me Bart had always been a quiet gentleman of l'Opera among his illustrious colleagues of much characters. Although well aware he was regarded in Paris as a typical danseur noble type, having seen him in a full-length work only once (in Nureyev's Cinderella, which is a neo-classical ballet), I wasn't totally convinced until this performance. Well I was thoroughly converted now.... Lopatkina and Bart showed the world classical ballet could still matter, when it's genuine, and true to its principles.

At the grand finale the polonaise was danced in a precision and with grandeur, it's a sheer joy to behold the rare spectacle such as this. Was Balanchine's hommage to Imperial ballets and Petipa ever expressed with such grace, and beauty, I wondered. Watching the endless curtain calls with all the dancers on the stage, in a good spirit, I couldn't help but ask myself a question – what else can you ask for more from a classical ballet performance? (Nothing – absolutely nothing....)