A text by Heinrich Heine about the legendary figures of the Wilis gave Théophile Gautier the idea in 1841 to turn the story into a ballet. Wilis are young brides who died before their wedding and cannot find peace: in the forest at night, they dance every man they encounter to death. Not least, the ballet’s mythically charged character accounts for the enduring fascination that ‘Giselle’ continues to exert to this day. The libretto interweaves three archaic motifs, through which the actual tension arises in which the plot unfolds: wine, the hunt and the forest. Karl Alfred Schreiner departs in part from the surface of the plot structure, yet emphasises all the more the deeper dimension of the material, whose timelessness is nourished by the power of myth. He is supported in this by the gripping music of Adolphe Adam, presented by Michael Nündel, the musical director, in an extraordinary interpretation, partly newly arranged.