Paris Opera Ballet has triumphantly revived Kenneth MacMillan’s Mayerling two years after its company premiere in 2022. It was a breathtaking performance led by Hugo Marchand as the ill-fated Crown Prince Rudolf of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and Dorothée Gilbert as his 17-year-old mistress, Mary Vetsera.
Set in the crumbling Habsburg Empire, Crown Prince Rudolf marries Princess Stephanie whom he does not love, and is desperately seeking love from his mother Empress Elizabeth, who is devoid of parental affection. Amid revolutionary political conspiracies and pressure, Rudolf is tormented as he suffers pain caused from syphilis. He is addicted to drugs and seeks sexual relationships outside his marriage to comfort himself. The moment his ex-lover Countess Marie Larisch brings the young Mary Vetsera, his destiny is set; they are on the path to death by double suicide.
The role of Rudolf is demanding, but also rewarding, and one that every male dancer dreams of. He has to dance several pas de deux with different partners – Princess Louise (Stephanie’s sister), his mother Elizabeth, Stephanie, Marie Larisch and Mary Vetsera. The duets with Stephanie and Mary in particular, involve complicated and strenuous partnering. He is a lost soul, in spite of his violent nature towards women, he is vulnerable and lonely. Marchand’s portrayal of his breakdown is nuanced and detailed, making the audience feel deeply sorry for him.
Marchand’s Prince Rudolf is tall, handsome and physically strong. He showed the pain and helplessness as he crawled across the stage like an infant, clearly showing the troublesome path that led to his self-destruction. But the best part was his powerful partnering skills. The difficult, gravity defying lifts looked effortless, moving with thrilling speed, clear, spontaneous and showing his dark, violent desire. Silvia Saint-Martin was excellent as the terrified Princess Stephanie, threatened and abused on her wedding night, which turns into a nightmare, being violently thrown around.
Marchand’s partnership with Gilbert as Mary Vetsera has a chemistry which they have developed over the years. They seemed to have found the other half of themselves. Mary’s crush on Rudolf has led her into her romantic fantasy of death as the ultimate climax of her love and desire. When she enters Rudolf’s bedroom, she finds a skull and gun on his desk and her world changes: there is fire in her eyes. When Rudolf is threatened by Mary’s gun, he instinctively knows that this woman is the one. It is their destiny to make love until the end of their lives.
Gilbert, who is scheduled to retire from the Paris Opera Ballet next season, made the audience believe that she is a teenager, first as an innocent girl and then a reckless young woman, madly in love and charmed by death, boldly throwing herself into the arms and deep into the soul of the troubled Prince. Gilbert and Marchand in the pas de deux, with their almost magical chemistry, were thrilling, making complicated shapes together at great speed. The two poured everything they had into the final pas de deux and left the audience totally breathless and emotionally drained.
This performance was packed with other skilled performers who turned the Garnier stage into the decadent 19th century Austrian court. Hannah O’Neill was elegant as Rudolf’s former mistress Marie Larisch, seeming to be the only woman who truly cared about him, but with mixed emotions. Héloïse Bourdon was regal and rigid as Empress Elizabeth, strongly suggesting a sense of guilt. The sassy prostitute, Mitzi Caspar, was enchantingly and fluently danced by the star-to-be Roxane Stojanov. Pablo Legasa was superb as the compassionate coach-driver and entertainer Bratfisch, giving a sense of relief in the last hours of Rudolf’s life with his light and warm dancing.
Mayerling is a dark, complicated ballet with many characters, certainly not one that makes the audience cheerful. But it does dig deep into their souls with the glorious and passionate performances by the Paris Opera Ballet artists. Along with the splendour of the opulent Habsburg court designed by Nicholas Georgiadis, Franz Liszt’s music arranged by John Lanchbery and conducted by Martin Yates, this was a night to remember.
