What a wonderful choice to end the year by attending the last of the six performances of the ballet that the Nice Opera and its Ballet, directed by Eric Vu-An, have scheduled for this Christmas season.
Indeed, Coppélia is a refreshing piece that offers a wholesome entertainment that we all feel the need for as the new year, which appears bleak, approaches.
Having had the pleasure of seeing the version with the choreography by Roland Petit several years ago (considered the pinnacle of the 21st century), we can attest to the quality of the artistic project carried out by the Ballet Nice Méditerranée and its director Eric Vu-An, who is preparing to win over the demanding audience of the Rome Opera in February.
Coppélia, or The Girl with the Enamel Eyes, is a ballet in two acts and three scenes by Arthur Saint-Léon, with a libretto by Charles Nuitter, music by Léo Delibes, based on Hoffmann’s tale “The Sandman” (Der Sandmann), first performed at the Paris Opera on May 25, 1870.
The role of Swanilda, played by Giuseppina Bozzacchi, has become a mythical role in the classical repertoire.
Much like Giselle, Coppélia is composed on the structure of the leitmotif, borrowing many passages from Central European folklore: Slavic themes and the mazurka occupy a prominent place, while the csárdás appears on stage for the first time.
The plot follows Hoffmann’s tale The Sandman, in which Frantz is fascinated by the silhouette of Coppélia, seen behind the window of the scientist Coppélius’s workshop. But she turns out to be just an automaton…
The libretto features Swanilda, her fiancé Frantz, and the old Coppélius, a maker of mechanical dolls whose ambition is to create one endowed with a soul. Frantz falls for the old man’s latest creation, glimpsed through the window: Coppélia, whom he believes is alive. Swanilda, jealous, sneaks into his workshop. Frantz enters as well, surprised by Coppélius, who tries to put him to sleep with a potion of his own making to steal his soul. That’s when Coppélia comes to life, and for a reason: Swanilda has taken the doll’s place. She breaks the automatons and escapes with her fiancé, whom she will marry at the village festival…
