The Lady and the Fool
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New Theatre, Oxford
| The Lady and the Fool | |
|---|---|
| Choreographer | John Cranko |
| Music | Giuseppe Verdi arranged by |
| Based on | a scenario by John Cranko |
| Premiere | 25 February 1954 New Theatre, Oxford |
| Original ballet company | Sadler's Wells Ballet |
| Setting | Italy |
| Genre | Neoclassical ballet |
The Lady and the Fool is a ballet, created by choreographer John Cranko with lesser-known operatic music by Giuseppe Verdi arranged by Sir Charles Mackerras. The story concerns the love of a poor clown for a society beauty, who finally rejects her wealthy suitors and chooses a life with the clown.
After the success of Pineapple Poll, Mackerras and Cranko sought a new collaboration, eventually deciding on adapting music by Verdi to a story by Cranko.
The piece was premiered in 1954 at the New Theatre, Oxford, with its London premiere at Sadler’s Wells Theatre on 31 March 1954. The two clowns were played by Kenneth MacMillan and Johaar Mosaval, with Patricia Miller as La capricciosa. The following year the ballet was re-worked by Cranko for Covent Garden, opening on 9 June 1955, dropping one character and reassigning some dances to other characters, allowing the action to be more clearly focussed and the characters more interesting.[1]
The ballet was later produced by the Stuttgart Ballet in 1955, Australian Ballet in 1961, Deutsche Oper, Berlin in 1962, CAPAB Ballet Cape Town and Royal Danish Ballet in 1965 and Houston Ballet in 1971. Performed on tour in Russia by the Royal Ballet, it was well received.[1] The ballet was performed at Covent Garden from 1955-1964, with dancers such as Beryl Grey, Svetlana Beriosova, Philip Chatfield, and Ronald Hynd. It was revived by Sadler’s Wells Ballet from 1965–67, 1972–77, as well as in the 1980s.[2] It was mounted by Ben Stevenson of Houston Ballet in 1978.[3]
The score was recorded in June 1955 at Studio 1 Abbey Road by the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Mackerras. A DVD of the ballet broadcast in 1959 with Beriosova, Hynd and Powell as the clowns, and Peter Wright as the Prince, with Mackerras conducting the Royal Opera House Orchestra, was released in 2011 (coupled with Pineapple Poll).[4]
Original cast
- Moondog, a clown - Kenneth MacMillan
- Bootface, a clown - Peter Wright
- La Capricciosa, a beauty
- Signor Midas, a society host
- Capitano Adoncino
- The Prince of Arroganza - David Poole
- An Ambassador of Arroganza
- Two husband hunters
