La Source ballet. Performed 2011 by the Paris Opéra Ballet at the Palais Garnier. Choreographed by Jean-Guillaume Bart. Libretto after Charles Nutter and Arthur Saint-Léon. Music by Léo Delibes and Ludwig Minkus as arranged by Marc-Olivier Dupin. Stars Ludmila Pagliero (Naïla), Karl Paquette (Djémil), Isabelle Ciaravola (Nouredda), Mathais Haymann (Zaël), Christophe Duquenne (Mazdock), Nolwenn Daniel (Dadjé), Alexis Renaud (Le Khan), and dancers of the Corps de Ballet of the Paris Opéra. Koen Kessels conducts the Orchestra of the Paris Opéra. Set design by Éric Ruf; costume design by Christian Lacroix; lighting design by Dominique Bruguière; dramaturgy by Clément Hervier-Léger and Jean-Guillaume Bart. Directed for TV by Francois Roussillon. Released 2022, disc has 5.1 dts-HD Master Audio sound. Grade: D
The “source” here is a natural water spring inhabited by a water sprite who falls in love with a mortal man. This leads to all kinds of drama. The original La Source ballet harks back to the Paris Opera Ballet in 1866. The plot and the music survived from that production, but nothing else. Choreographer Bart in 2011-2012 mounted his full-blown original show with 2 acts and 3 tableaux replete with exotic kingdoms, harem girls, and huge white corps scenes. This was an attempt to add something new to the Ballet company’s stable of Petipa warhorses. Bart’s show was shot in HD for TV audiences. Then it sank to the bottom of the spring.
Critics praised the music, the costumes, and the effort. But they found the story silly. And worst, they reported that the dancing was dull. Roslyn Sulcas (www.nytimes.com) wrote in 2014 that the dancing “resembles classroom variations, with an on-the-note musicality that often makes the performers look as if they are waiting to strike a pose.”
True, we are not ballet experts or critics. We like silly stories about ancient forgotten states full of hunters, nymphs, magic flowers, harem girls, and the ghosts of betrayed virgins. And this was shot by Francois Roussillon. So will La Source will finally find success in the home theaters of the world? I doubt it. So I’m grading this a D. Maybe it’s not that bad. But for now I think this will be of interest only to ballet experts. The D grade means: don’t buy this unless you have a special reason.
But the main reason I’m giving this this the D is the trailer below from Naxos. If this is the “best of show”, then La Source is a dud for sure:
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