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A Scottish Sylph gracefully flies over Madrid’s sky Madrid
Teatro de la Zarzuela
12/07/2023 - & December 8, 9, 10*, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 2023
La Sylphide
Herman Severin Løvenskiold (music), August Bournonville (choreography)
Cristina Casa*/Elisabetta Formento/Hamin Park/YaeGee Park/Yaman Kelemet/Giada Rossi (The Sylph), Mario Galindo*/Eunsoo Lee/Thomas Giugovaz/Yanier Gómez Noda (James), Daniella Oropesa*/Shani Peretz/Ana Calderón/Martina Giuffrida (Effie), Tomás Sanza*/Juan José Carazo/Jorge Palacios/Felipe Domingos (Gurn), Elisabet Biosca*/Irene Urena (Madge), Eva Pérez*/Tamara Juárez (Anna), Companía Nacional de Danza, Joaquín De Luz (artistic director)
Orquesta y Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid, ORCAM, Daniel Capps*/Tara Simoncic (conductor)
Petrusjka Broholm (staging), Elisa Sanz (sets), Tania Bakunova (costumes), Nicolás Fischtel (lighting)
(© Alba Muriel)
La Sylphide (1836) is one of the oldest “classical” ballets in the repertoire. It was originally choreographed in 1832 by Filippo Taglioni (1777‑1871) for his daughter, star ballerina Marie Taglioni, with music by Jean Madeleine Marie Schneitzhöeffer (1785‑1852). August Bournonville (1805‑1879), dancer, maître de danse and choreographer at the Royal Danish Ballet, wanted the ballet performed in Copenhagen, but the prohibitive fees requested prompted the commission of new music set to the plot by Baron Herman Severin Løvenskiold (1815‑1870). For a while, both versions were performed worldwide, but Taglioni’s version got lost and the Danish version is now the surviving one.
La Sylphide is pivotal in ballet as it is the progenitor of Adam’s Giselle, the most quintessential of ballets. Both are a product of the “fantastic” side of Romanticism: the supernatural and the magical, which itself was in part a reaction to the realism of the Enlightenment and the materialism of the Industrial Revolution.
On the day of his wedding to his sweetheart Effie, Scotsman James is observed admiringly by a creature from the nearby woods, a Sylph (a fairy; derived from sylvestris, Latin for wood). While he’s napping, she kisses his handsome face and vanishes as he awakens. The old witch Madge, determined to settle an old score with James, arrives at the farmhouse to read the young people’s fortunes. She informs Effie that James loves another, and that she’ll marry Gurn, James’s friend, rather than James. After feasting, James is on the verge of putting the wedding ring on Effie’s finger when the Sylph appears and snatches it. James follows her into the woods and Effie is heartbroken.
In Act II, James is enchanted by the Sylph and her magical companions. With other witches, Madge prepares a magic scarf. She encounters Gurn during a search party for the absconded James and tells him to propose to the distraught Effie. She finds James and instructs him to hold the nymph with the magic scarf so she won’t fly away. The Sylph allows herself to be caught in the scarf, her wings fall off and she dies. Madge is jubilant as James watches Effie and Gurn’s wedding procession and falls dead.
The story of La Sylphide was written by the famous bel canto tenor, Adolphe Nourrit (1802‑1839), the creator of several Rossini opere serie including William Tell (1829), Auber’s La Muette de Portici (1828), Halévy’s La Juive (1835) and Meyerbeer’s Les Huguenots (1836). The frailty of the ethereal Sylph is reminiscent of Amina’s in Bellini’s La sonnambula (1831); a romantic reduction of women to vulnerable creatures. Indeed, just as bel canto operas were centered around a vulnerable heroine, so too did romantic ballet. In pre‑romantic ballet, male dancers were at least as prominent as female ones.
The main protagonists of this work are the two leading dancers, and they were certainly up to the task. Both soloists, Cristina Casa as the Sylph and Mario Galindo as James, impressed with their technical prowess and expressiveness. Casa ably conveyed the Sylph’s mischievousness through her wicked smiles, all the while conveying the childish innocence required for the role. Technically accomplished, she appeared to fly in her jump, as one would expect of a fairy. Her Act I variation was gracefully executed. It is probably the inspiration behind Giselle’s variation.
Galindo conveyed James’s character through the abruptness of his moves. He had excellent chemistry with Casa as if they had performed this work for some time, which is not the case. His virile high jumps in the Act I variation were technically flawless, and his moves appropriately evoked Scottish dances. Galindo and Casa’s Act II pas de deux was a memorable moment of grace, beauty and elegance.
The supporting characters are Gurn and Effie. Daniella Oropesa’s Effie contrasted well with the ethereal Sylph. The role is meant to be eclipsed by the Sylph. As such, Oropesa did a great job of underplaying herself. Whatever technical bravura is lacking in the role, she compensated with her facial expressions.
Tomás Sanza portrayed Gurn elegantly. He conveyed a more mundane character than the dreamy and more emotional James. He impressed with his jumps at various moments, especially in the first act where several dances are stylized versions of folkloric dances from the British Isles. Tania Bakunova’s costumes were pretty and sober, reminiscent of authentic Scottish garments.
The role of Madge is similar to character roles in opera, pivotal in the plot but technically undemanding. Again, facial expressions were essential in portraying her nastiness while reading fortunes and her jubilation at the demise of the Sylph and James. The second act scene, with Madge and her confederates preparing the magic scarf, was well-choreographed, showing Madge’s supremacy over the other chaotic witches. The disappearance of the cauldron at the end of the scene was imaginatively handled. One critique is Madge’s makeup. She didn’t look old and she certainly wasn’t ugly. Only a walking cane alluded to her seniority.
La Sylphide is set to be performed ten times, with six alternating casts. Unsurprisingly, all performances are sold out. Teatro de la Zarzuela has the great advantage of reasonable prices, hence attracting a different crowd from the more posh Teatro Real. As for the performances of zarzuelas (Spanish operettas) at this venue, the public is multigenerational, often with three generations enjoying performances together. The positive energy of this theatre renders the work more enjoyable. At this festive period, the holiday spirit is infectious at the charming Teatro de la Zarzuela.
Ossama el Naggar
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