''The Lady and the Fool'' is a

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

, created by

choreographer Choreography is the art or practice of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer is one who cr ...

John Cranko John Cyril Cranko (15 August 1927 – 26 June 1973) was a South African ballet dancer and choreographer with the Royal Ballet and the Stuttgart Ballet. Life and career Early life Cranko was born in Rustenburg in the former province of Tran ...

with lesser-known operatic music by

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi (; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for his operas. He was born near Busseto to a provincial family of moderate means, receiving a musical education with the h ...

arranged by

Sir Charles Mackerras Mackerras in 2005 Sir Alan Charles MacLaurin Mackerras (; 1925 2010) was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan. He was long associated with the Engli ...

. 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.

Background and productions

After the success of ''

Pineapple Poll ''Pineapple Poll'' is a Gilbert and Sullivan-inspired comic ballet, created by choreographer John Cranko with arranger Sir Charles Mackerras. ''Pineapple Poll'' is based on "The Bumboat Woman's Story", one of W. S. Gilbert's Bab Ballads, writt ...

'', 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 Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 192929 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer who was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977, and its principal choreographer from 1977 until his death. Ea ...

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.Percival J. ''Theatre in my blood - a biography of John Cranko.'' The Herbert Press Ltd, London, 1983. The ballet was later produced by the Stuttgart Ballet in 1955,

Australian Ballet The Australian Ballet is the largest classical ballet company in Australia. It was founded by J. C. Williamson Theatres Ltd and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust in 1962, with the English-born dancer, teacher, repetiteur and direc ...

in 1961, Deutsche Oper, Berlin in 1962, CAPAB Ballet Cape Town and

Royal Danish Ballet The Royal Danish Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Danish Theatre in Kongens Nytorv, Copenhagen, Denmark. It is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world and originates from 1748, when the Ro ...

in 1965 and

Houston Ballet Houston Ballet, operated by Houston Ballet Foundation, is a professional ballet company based in Houston, Texas. The company, consisting of 59 dancers, produces over 85 performances per year. History Tatiana Semenova (1955–1967) Houston dev ...

in 1971. Performed on tour in Russia by the Royal Ballet, it was well received. The ballet was performed at Covent Garden from 1955-1964, with dancers such as

Beryl Grey Dame Beryl Elizabeth Grey (née Groom; 11 June 1927 – 10 December 2022) was a British ballet dancer. Early life Born in Highgate, London, she began dance classes at the age of four while attending Sherbourne Preparatory School, and by age eig ...

Svetlana Beriosova Svetlana Nikolayevna Beriosova (russian: Светла́на Никола́евна Берёзова; 24 September 1932 – 10 November 1998), also spelled Beriozova or Beryozova, was a Lithuanian-British prima ballerina who danced with The Royal B ...

, Philip Chatfield, and

Ronald Hynd Ronald Hynd (born 22 April 1931) is an English choreographer, and in his youth was a ballet dancer. In the Royal Ballet in the late 1940s he began to dance with Annette Page, whom he later married. Page died on 4 December 2017. They have a daughte ...

. It was revived by Sadler’s Wells Ballet from 1965–67, 1972–77 and in the 1980s. The score was recorded in June 1955 at Studio 1 Abbey Road by the

Philharmonia Orchestra The Philharmonia Orchestra is a British orchestra based in London. It was founded in 1945 by Walter Legge, a classical music record producer for EMI. Among the conductors who worked with the orchestra in its early years were Richard Strauss, W ...

conducted by Mackerras. A DVD of this was released in 2011 (also including ''Pineapple Poll'').

Original cast

*Moondog, a clown -

*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

Synopsis

Prologue

During a prelude the curtain rises on a dark street with couples on their way to a ball (music from ''

Alzira Alzira may refer to: * ''Alzira'' (opera), an opera by Giuseppe Verdi *Alzira, Valencia Alzira ( es, Alcira) is a city and municipality of 45.088 inhabitants (62,094 floating population) in Valencia, eastern Spain. It is the capital of the ''coma ...

'').
A sad theme (''

Jérusalem ''Jérusalem'' is a grand opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The libretto was to be an adaptation and partial translation of the composer's original 1843 Italian opera, ''I Lombardi alla prima crociata''. It was the one opera which he regarded ...

'') marks the entrance of two poor clowns, Moondog and Bootface who head for an empty bench in the street, where they fall asleep. On her way to the ball and beautifully dressed, La Capricciosa notices the two ragged clowns, wakes them up and asks them to dance for her (''Alzira'').
The clowns dance a grotesque divertissement; La Capricciosa is delighted by their dance and sweeps them both along with her to the ball.

Act 1

In a splendid reception room at the palace of Signor Midas guests arrive (music from '' Il finto Stanislao'' and ''

Giovanna d'Arco ''Giovanna d'Arco'' (''Joan of Arc'') is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' with a prologue and three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, who had prepared the libretti for ''Nabucco'' and ''I Lombardi''. It is Verdi ...

''). Signor Midas greets everyone, welcomes the entrance of the dashing Capitano Adoncino (''Il finto Stanislao'', ''

Aroldo ''Aroldo'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on and adapted from their earlier 1850 collaboration, ''Stiffelio''. The first performance was given in the Teatro Nuovo Comunale in Rim ...

'', ''

Les vêpres siciliennes ''Les vêpres siciliennes'' (''The Sicilian Vespers'') is a grand opera in five acts by the Italian romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi set to a French libretto by Eugène Scribe and Charles Duveyrier from their work ''Le duc d'Albe'' of 1838. ' ...

'') and the romantic Prince of Arroganza. The host and his guests are pursued by two debutantes looking for a rich husband, but the men eagerly await the arrival of La Capricciosa. At the height of a tarantella, a fanfare announces her arrival, and she dances a brilliant solo ('' I due Foscari'') and introduces the two clowns, who then perform for the guests, with a scene based on a quarrel over a rose (''Il finto Stanislao'', ''Aroldo''). An off-stage band summons the guests to dance, leaving the masked La Capricciosa with her three suitors (''

Ernani ''Ernani'' is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, based on the 1830 play ''Hernani (drama), Hernani'' by Victor Hugo. Verdi was commissioned by the Teatro La Fenice in V ...

'').They at first dance together (''I due Foscari'') then one by one the men tears a mask from her face – only to reveal another mask underneath; first Midas (''Ernani'', ''

I masnadieri ''I masnadieri'' (''The Bandits'' or ''The Robbers'') is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Andrea Maffei, based on the play ''Die Räuber'' by Friedrich von Schiller. As Verdi became more successful in Italy, he beg ...

''), then the Prince (''I masnadieri'', ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'', ''I due Foscari'') and finally Adoncino (''Macbeth'', ''

Attila Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns The Huns were a nomadic people who lived in Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Eastern Europe between the 4th and 6th century AD. According to European traditio ...

''), but they are rejected, and retire.
Alone, La Capricciosa removes her final mask, and at that moment Moondog enters and falls instantly in love with her (''Attila''). The off-stage band strikes up again and all re-enter, leading to several dances for Midas (''Jérusalem''), the Prince (''Ernani'', ''

I Lombardi alla prima crociata ''I Lombardi alla Prima Crociata'' (''The Lombards on the First Crusade'') is an operatic ''dramma lirico'' in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on an epic poem by Tommaso Grossi, which was "very much a ...

'') the husband-hunting debutantes (''Il finto Stanislao'', '' Oberto''), Adoncino, with a pas de cinq to finish (''Jérusalem'', ''Attila''). La Capricciosa enters, soon followed by Moondog (''Les vêpres siciliennes'') who makes passionate advances to her. She eventually allows her love to overwhelm her and they dance a

pas de deux In ballet, a pas de deux (French language, French, literally "step of two") is a dance duet in which two dancers, typically a male and a female, perform ballet steps together. The pas de deux is characteristic of classical ballet and can be fo ...

(''Aroldo'', ''I masnadieri'').
After an ensemble in which Bootface tries to attracts the debutantes (''Ernani'', ''I Lombardi alla prima crociata'', ''Les vêpres siciliennes''), La Capricciosa enters. Despite the pleas of her three suitors, she points out Moondog, and they embrace to the horror of the guests who leave the room (''Aroldo'', ''

Luisa Miller ''Luisa Miller'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Salvadore Cammarano, based on the play ''Kabale und Liebe'' (''Intrigue and Love'') by the German dramatist Friedrich von Schiller. Verdi's initial idea for ...

''). La Capricciosa helps Moondog to his feet and they slowly go off, leaving a disconsolate Bootface; but they return and take him with them (''Ernani'', ''Aroldo'').

Epilogue

In the final scene, back in the street, all three curl up to sleep on the bench (''Jérusalem'', ''Aroldo'').Synopsis adapted from note by Mackerras to XLP 30006.

Notes

References

*Percival J. ''Theatre in my blood - a biography of John Cranko.'' The Herbert Press Ltd, London, 1983. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lady and the Fool, The Ballets by John Cranko 1954 ballet premieres Arrangements of classical compositions Works about clowns Ballets to the music of Giuseppe Verdi