Lyric Theatre, QPAC
Reviewed December 5
The story of The Lady of the Camellias is familiar, undoubtedly because of its many iterations. Originally an 1846 semi-autobiographical novel by Alexander Dumas the younger, it was subsequently successfully adapted by Dumas for the stage, premiering in Paris, on February 2, 1852. Giuseppe Verdi then put the story to music in his 1853 opera La Traviata, with the female protagonist Marguerite Gautier renamed Violetta Valéry. Many dozens of stage productions, and later, films, including Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge, subsequently followed.
Choreographers also had a go, two of the more well-known ballet creations being John Neumeier’s 1978 production, and of course Sir Frederick Ashton’s vehicle for Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev, Marguerite and Armand. This ballet is currently in the Australian Ballet repertoire.
Derek Deane OBE’s 2019 production for the Shanghai Ballet follows the original storyline. Set in mid-19th-century France, it tells the tragic love story of fictional characters Marguerite Gautier, a courtesan suffering from consumption, and Armand Duval, a young bourgeois.
Deane’s telling misses little of the story’s detail, necessitating multiple scene changes. In a set design by Adam Nee, also responsible for the luscious costume designs, the use of projection, lighting and minimal set pieces for each scene facilitates a generally smooth segue from location to location. A reliance on overhead and follow spots for solo dancers (to create a sense of intimacy perhaps), on an otherwise empty blackened stage seemed, however, a rather parsimonious addition to an otherwise effective design.
The original score by 20th century composer, Carl Davis, commissioned for the ballet, is rich in its variety, including multiple waltzes, a galop, tarantella and even a czardas all supporting the dramatic development. Nevertheless, it somehow lacked the romantic nuance of music like that of Dumas’ contemporaries, Chopin and Liszt, used so effectively by Neumeier and Ashton respectively. Sadly, performances were to recorded music, undoubtedly also making a difference.
Known to Brisbane audiences mainly for his sumptuous ballet, Strictly Gershwin, Deane again showed in this work his wonderful command of space, especially with the group numbers – all rich with broad sweeping and elegant movement, especially exploring the back and arms.
Dramatically however, the ballet was initially unconvincing, until a short scene describing the first meeting of Marguerite and Armand at a performance of Giselle, which was framed on stage by rich red and gold drapery. It provided the first “aah!” moment. The ballet really took off, however, in the second act which opens with a splendid ball scene, an almost decadent opulence created with a huge gilt "mirror" upstage, angled above and over the action, reflecting the swirling dancers below. It was here that the elements of movement, music, drama and design finally fused well.
As Marguerite, Qi Bingxue was exquisite, capturing the gamut of emotions from ecstasy to heart-broken despair. Finely boned, with gently hyper-extended limbs, her penché arabesques, back arched, exuded anguish.
Wu Husheng’s Armand, while technically accomplished, was less convincing, the trajectory of his story from ardent young lover to indifferent cad, a little unclear.
Zhao Meici was commanding as Olympe, the courtesan rival of Marguerite – her lively solo with the entire male corps de ballet in the Act 2 ball scene a highlight. Ivan Gil-Ortega also added a degree of gravitas to his role as Armand’s manipulative father.
The 40-year-old Shanghai Ballet is a sister company to Queensland Ballet and is also of a similar size. It previously toured Australia with Swan Lake in 2017, and was scheduled to return with Lady of the Camellias when Covid struck. It is an elegant looking company, the dancers uniformly very accomplished. It would be terrific to see them in another work, so I hope it is not another seven years before they return.
– DENISE RICHARDSON