Giselle at La Scala: Zakharova's Spectral Melancholy

A revival of Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot's 1841 ballet Giselle at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, with choreographic staging by Yvette Chauviré, features Svetlana Zakharova as Giselle and David Hallberg as Albrecht. The production, performed by the Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company and Orchestra dell'Accademia della Scala conducted by David Coleman, opened in 2019. Zakharova's interpretation of Giselle's madness is marked by immediate, spectral melancholy rather than dramatic resistance, suggesting submission to class-based control. Hallberg portrays Albrecht as a vulnerable, angel-faced perpetrator of patriarchal deceit. The corps de ballet excels in geometric precision, while soloists Nicola Del Freo and Martina Arduino shine in the peasant pas de deux. Critic Stefano Tomassini notes that the ballet's decorative complexity and musical transparency by Adolphe Adam reveal deeper relational logics. The production underscores the company's renewed solidity.