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This production of "Giselle" is by the former Bolshoi star and director Vladimir Vasiliev which I last saw in the London Coliseum during the company's 1999 tour, with pleasing designs by Hubert de Givenchy. I have fond memories of Svetlana Lunkina and Nikolai Tsiskaridze in the leading roles that year. However I am less impressed seeing it again this time.

The choreographic text is mostly traditional. And as expected from Russian versions, the mime scene for Giselle's mother Berthe has been omitted. Unfortunately the Act 1 peasant pas de deux has been replaced by a clumsy pas de huit with four mixed couples. The male solo has been turned into a none-too-brilliant male pas de quatre, and similarly the female solo has been replaced by a tedious female quartet with a lot of 'echappees'. Hilarion has a more prominent presence and beefy role in this Vasiliev version, for instance leading a harvest dance in Act 1 with tambourines for the men. In Act 2 Hilarion has more 'dancing' before his death in the hands of the wilis, with a solo of multiple pirouettes, which I suppose enhances the drama. Ruslan Pronin was excellent as Hilarion in the performance that I saw.

Nina Kaptsova's Giselle took time to warm up in Act 1. Her solo with those 'battements frappes' was adequate and not particularly impressive. However her mad scene was convincing, well paced, and gradually built up in intensity. She was more in her element in Act 2. In her solo, her 'echappes' were sharp and precise.

Ekaterina Shipulina's Myrtha hardly made much impression at all. In April during the Mariinsky Festival, I had seen an impeccable performance of Myrtha from the Kirov ballerina Viktoria Tereshkina. The Bolshoi's corps de ballet of wilis (cut down to 18 from 24 to accomodate the smaller stage) was nowhere near the level of the Kirov's. They were not as uniform in their upper bodies, and they didn't have the same collective force as the Kirov's incomparable corps. The wilis' arabesques voyagees across the stage hardly made any impact at all, unlike the Kirov's corps who often won applause at that moment.

The finest performance that evening was Andrei Merkuriev's Albrecht. This former Kirov soloist has been thriving since he joined the Bolshoi last summer, having already danced a number of new roles, though I still think that his departure is a big loss for the Kirov. Merkuriev, who wasn't cast in the princely roles with the Kirov all that often, had already danced "Giselle" in the Mariinsky Theatre several times, most recently with Maya Dumchenko in December 2005. This Ingolstadt performance however was only my first time seeing his Albrecht.
 

Merkuriev is not a pure danseur noble like for instance the Kirov star Andrian Fadeyev, or the Paris Opera Ballet etoile Mathieu Ganio who had danced a magnificent Albrecht in the Mariinsky Festival in April. But he is an excellent dramatic dancer, and there is always a truthfulness in his performances. Merkuriev was an ardent and poetic Albrecht. His grief at the end of Act 1 when he embraced Giselle after her death was most moving. His entrance in Act 2 was poignant. Throughout the second act his acting was intense and impassioned.

Merkuriev's classical dancing was pretty impressive too. In this Vasiliev version Albrecht has an additional 'jumping' solo in the beginning of Act 1, which was superbly danced by Merkuriev. In his Act 2 variation he finished all his double tours en l'air in a fifth position. After each cabriole he impressively arched his body backwards on his landings. In this version's ending, Albrecht does a series of 'grands jetes en manege', which Merkuriev danced powerfully.

Merkuriev is actually a better classical dancer than he seems to take himself for (and was considered by the Kirov management in the past). I look forward to seeing him dance more classical roles with the Bolshoi, such as Basilio and Solor.