GISELLE

Act I
Count Albrecht is in love with Giselle, a peasant girl. When he comes from his castle to court her, he leaves the cloak and sword that might reveal his true identity, in a cottage. Giselle believes him to be only a villager with the name of Loys.

Berthe, Giselle's mother, hopes that her daughter will marry a local forester, Hilarion, who is deeply in love with Giselle. Hilarion and Berthe warn Giselle not to trust Loys, but she is sure of his devotion and joins happily in the celebrations that mark the end of the grape harvest.

The Duke of Courland and his daughter Bathilde, Albrecht's future bride, arrive in the village with a hunting party. Bathilde is charmed by Giselle's dancing and gives her a necklace. Hilarion discovers the hidden cloak and sword and just after Giselle is crowned as Queen of the Vintage, he unmasks Loys. Giselle cannot believe that Loys is actually Count Albrecht and that he is engaged to Bathilde. The shock is too much for her and after a wild dance, she dies of a broken heart.

Act II
It is midnight and Hillarion is keeping vigil at Giselle's grave beside a forest lake. The Wilis are ghosts of young girls who died before their wedding day. They come out to dance in the moonlight. They exhaust Hillarion with dancing and then drive him to death in the lake. They try to do the same with Albrecht. Fortunately dawn breaks, and Giselle and the other Wilis return to their graves, leaving Albrecht sorrowing, but relieved that he is still alive.

Choreography: Jean Coralli en Jules Perrot
Music: Adolphe Adam
First performed: Paris Opéra, France, 28 June 1841