If you really wanted to get the measure of the Mikhailovsky Ballet, it was the end of the St Petersburg company’s London debut season that provided the answers. Between a well-drilled Giselle and a glittering mixed bill it was possible to appreciate a company of far greater depth and subtlety than the opening Spartacus would suggest.

Giselle, with its 19th-century feminine virtues, is the antithesis of the testosterone-heavy Spartacus, and the Mikhailovsky’s Giselle (with choreography by Coralli, Perrot and Petipa) strives to reconnect with the ballet’s most delicate – and fantastical – Romantic roots. There are Wilis flying across the cemetery in Act II and an emphasis on graceful decoration in the dancing throughout.

Denis Matvienko and Anastasya Matvienko (the husband-and-wife stars of the company) brought plenty of beautiful dancing to their leading roles, if not quite the soulful dramatic exposition one hoped for. His Count Albrecht was sensitive but not wholly honourable, which is right (his betrayal is what sends Giselle to her death), and his dancing in Act II brought forth an immaculate display of refined and robust classical technique. Anastasya Matvienko’s Giselle was delivered with a lustrous sheen, impressive technical control and a creditable transformation from innocent peasant girl to tragic wraith. Their performances were complemented by a fine corps de ballet of Wilis, well attuned to the dramatic purpose of Adam’s music.

The Russian visitors had a busy day on Sunday. Their mixed bill offered a dazzling showcase of diverse choreography and sheer hard work. The marathon began with Petipa’s Le Halte de Cavalerie, a sunny comic romp involving Austrian peasant girls and randy hussars. It’s a cocky mix of classical ballet, character dancing and pantomime, with the flirtatious and the foppish sitting side by side in the trifling romantic escapades. Anastasya Lomachenkova brought strong ballerina tricks to the role of Maria and Olga Semyonova lots of spirit to Teresa, who ended up being wooed by Andrey Bregvadze’s buffoonish colonel.

Petipa also had pride of place at the end with Paquita, his glorious ballet brimming with ornate classical elegance and Ekaterina Borchenko and Marat Shemiunov providing the requisite grandeur. In between came a flurry of divertissements, including Messerer’s Soviet party piece Spring Waters (performed with huge enthusiasm by Shemiunov and Irina Perren), Borchenko emoting like mad in Esmeralda, the Matvienkos tearing up the stage in Le Corsaire, and Gorsky’s incredibly fruity Ocean and Pearls, which we could probably have done without.

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