Mayerling – Opéra Garnier, Paris

My first time at Paris’s sumptuous opera house is to see this work by a very British choreographer, in its first outing by the Corps de ballet de l’Opéra national de Paris.

Mayerling

2022 marks 30 years since choreographer Kenneth Macmillan’s death. Artistic Director of the Royal Ballet from 1970-77, he created ten full-length ballets over his career as well as many shorter works. Some of his works produced while at the Royal Ballet, including Manon and Mayerling, are still in the company’s frequent rotation, despite sometimes dividing opinion at the time. Macmillan’s background was not that of the typical member of the ballet world. He brought to his work a desire to reflect complicated truths and messy realities, contemporary or otherwise.

Mayerling is certainly one such messy, complicated story. And a true one. It is the story of the Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince Rudolph (Rodolphe in the French version) and a series of unfortunate events which culminated in an 1889 suicide pact with his teenage mistress Mary Vetsera, carried out at an imperial hunting lodge at Mayerling. The ballet takes place over three acts. The first sets the scene for how unhappy Rudolph is. He has a wife he doesn’t much care for, a lack of parental affection, and finds courtly life claustrophobic. The second act is about various escapes (taverns, mistresses, drugs) and trying to get someone to agree a suicide pact. In the third, as previously mentioned, he is successful. The ballet ends with Mary’s burial, but in real life there was a whole scandal and cover-up and the whole incident contributed to the descent towards WWI.

Ballet companies around the world, particularly the long-established ones, are known for different dancing styles. Typically the French style (of the Corps de ballet of l’Opéra national de Paris) is known for elegance and fluidity. The English style (the Royal Ballet) is more technical. Mayerling is a demanding ballet, particularly for the dancer playing the tortured and syphilitic main character, so I was interested to see what this first French production would offer.

A Dazzling Setting

My ballet-going friend and I, both semi-regulars at the Royal Opera House, did indeed find the Parisian dancers very natural. I read this far more knowledgeable review which compares the current London and Paris productions, and I think that part of this is down to good luck in the cast that we saw. Between us, Crown Prince Rudolph is a pretty unsympathetic character. He behaves badly, torments his wife and carries on with a teenager. Mathieu Ganio somehow does wring quite a lot of sympathy out of the role, portraying his descent into desperation convincingly and with great passion. Each of the female characters danced differently with Ganio, reflecting all the expectations on the Crown Prince from often self-interested parties. Ludmila Pagliero as Baroness Mary Vetsera was a fine pairing with Ganio.

The other review I mentioned above had various gripes with the costumes and set, but I didn’t. Actually I thought the costumes were wonderful – mostly convincing and opulent period dress. The one scene where it didn’t all come together for me was that set in a tavern where young Rudolph can finally let loose, but I think that’s more about watching ballerinas try to fight years of training to sex up the choreography. Otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed the evening and thought the production was marvellous.

A final note on the Opéra Garnier as it was my first visit here. How absolutely stunning! My friend and I sat in the baignoires (literally ‘bathtub’ – a ground floor box with low partitions) and had a perfect view. Unlike the Royal Opera House with its large amphitheatre section, the Opéra Garnier is much more original. Aside from the stalls, there are little box-like sections all around the upper levels with varying numbers of seats. It takes you straight back to the Belle Epoque. You can almost image Degas sketching the orchestra pit next to you. During the intervals we went off wandering, admiring the heavily decorated interiors. Even if the ballet or opera aren’t your thing, I would recommend a guided tour for those in Paris.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 4/5

Mayerling on until 12 November 2022