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For ICA Classics Executive Producer: Stephen Wright Head of DVD: Louise Waller-Smith Executive Consultant: John Pattrick Music Rights Executive: Aurélie Baujean ICA Classics gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Bob Lockyer, Ernie Gilbert and Dieter Graefe DVD Studio Production DVD Design & Development: msm-studios GmbH Producer: Johannes Müller Project Management: Jakobus Ciolek Screen Design: Hermann Enkemeier DVD Authoring: Benjamin Fritz Audio Restoration & Re-Mastering: Christoph Stickel Video Restoration: Michael Hartl Subtitles prepared by DVD Packaging Product Management: Helen Forey & Harry Robson for WLP Ltd Booklet Editing: WLP Ltd Introductory Note & Translations © 2011 International Classical Artists Ltd Cover Photo: BBC Art Direction: Georgina Curtis for WLP Ltd π 2011 BBC, under licence to International Classical Artists Ltd PINEAPPLE POLL AND THE LADY AND THE FOOL John Cranko (1927–1973) was a master of the story ballet. Though his work might have been considered anachronistic at a time when Neo-classicism had taken choreographic hold with the dominance of George Balanchine, Cranko’s dance dramas have enjoyed enduring success. It isn’t simply that his best ballets were based on some of the greatest works of Shakespeare and Pushkin; Cranko’s fertile imagination created choreographic episodes of startling effect, shedding new light on familiar narratives. How fitting that John Percival’s excellent Cranko biography is titled, Theatre in My Blood! Theatricality is the essence of Cranko’s genius. Cranko’s evening-long masterpieces, Romeo and Juliet (1962), Onegin (1965) and The Taming of the Shrew (1969), confirmed his company, the Stuttgart Ballet, as a major player on the world ballet stage. That these works have subsequently entered the repertoire of many of the world’s leading ballet companies gives further evidence of the universality of their value. And even though they were originally tailored to the specific talents of Cranko’s great Stuttgart dancers, they have found effective interpreters elsewhere. It is the dance, not just the dancer. Prior to Cranko’s stewardship of his Stuttgart troupe, his activities were confined to London. Born in South Africa, he moved to the UK capital when he was eighteen and soon thereafter joined the Sadler’s Wells Ballet. However, it soon became clear to him and to the company’s directors that his value to the company was not as a dancer, but as a choreographer. His first great success was the rollicking comedy Pineapple Poll, which had its premiere on 13 March 1951 as part of an all-Cranko evening – quite an event for the budding choreographer! Pineapple Poll was the first collaboration between Cranko and Charles Mackerras, then the assistant conductor of the Sadler’s Wells Opera. Mackerras felt that the music of Sir Arthur Sullivan, which had just fallen out of copyright, would serve admirably as a ballet score. He had conducted countless performances of Gilbert and Sullivan operettas and from close to a dozen of them neatly stitched together a delightful musical setting for Cranko’s rambunctious ballet. ICA CLASSICS is a division of the management agency International Classical Artists Ltd (ICA). The label features archive material from sources such as the BBC, WDR in Cologne and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as well as performances from the agency’s own artists recorded in prestigious venues around the world. The majority of the recordings are enjoying their first commercial release. The ICA Classics team has been instrumental in the success of many audio and audiovisual productions over the years, including the origination of the DVD series The Art of Conducting, The Art of Piano and The Art of Violin; the archive-based DVD series Classic Archive; co-production documentaries featuring artists such as Richter, Fricsay, Mravinsky and Toscanini; the creation of the BBC Legends archive label, launched in 1998 (now comprising more than 250 CDs); and the audio series Great Conductors of the 20th Century produced for EMI Classics. WARNING: All rights reserved. Unauthorised copying, reproduction, hiring, lending, public performance and broadcasting prohibited. Licences for public performance or broadcasting may be obtained from Phonographic Performance Ltd., 1 Upper James Street, London W1F 9DE. In the United States of America unauthorised reproduction of this recording is prohibited by Federal law and subject to criminal prosecution. Made in Austria Principal characters in Pineapple Poll are Pineapple Poll, a flower-seller, Jasper, the ‘pot boy’ at the local tavern and the dashing Captain Belaye of the H.M.S. Hot Cross Bun, which has just docked in Portsmouth. All the girls in town vie for the attention of Captain Belaye, including Pineapple Poll – much to the dismay of Jasper, who has a serious crush on her. But Belaye’s eye has been caught by Blanche, a local beauty shepherded by her aunt, Mrs Dimple. The besotted young ladies of Portsmouth resort to some extravagant shenanigans to get close to Belaye, including cross-dressing as sailors in order to board his ship. The next morning, when the Captain is taking his crew through their drill, he doesn’t seem to realise that they are much smaller in build, that there is quite a disparity in their heights and that Pineapple Poll is doing her exercises en pointe. He may well be distracted, for that very morning, with the approval of Mrs Dimple, he has married Blanche. Eventually, all is revealed. The Captain is promoted to Admiral, Jasper becomes the new Captain of H.M.S. Hot Cross Bun through the machinations of Mrs Dimple, Pineapple Poll immediately shifts her affections from Admiral Belaye to Captain Jasper, and the town’s girls reunite 6 7
with their disgruntled swains. David Blair, who danced the role of Captain Belaye at the ballet’s 1951 premiere, recreated his performance for the 1959 telecast seen on this DVD. For the musical setting for The Lady and the Fool, Mackerras turned to the music of Verdi, extracting less familiar music from fifteen of his operas. He managed to fashion a particularly effective score for the somewhat darker mood of this second collaboration with Cranko, who provided both the scenario and choreography. The Lady and the Fool premiered in Oxford on 25 February 1954, the London premiere taking place at Sadler’s Wells Theatre just a month later. It did not enjoy the immediate initial success of Pineapple Poll. Cranko’s choreography for the corps de ballet in the central ballroom scene lacked his usual inventiveness; he seemed to be creatively coasting. And he was not helped by his designer, who had worked mostly as a painter and had little experience in the theatre arts. Cranko had the opportunity to rework the ballet for a Covent Garden opening on 9 July 1955 and it was much more tightly focused. Some of the ancillary characters were dropped completely, helping to emphasise the relationships among the principal protagonists. The décor was also greatly improved, and the orchestra was augmented, resulting in a more luxurious soundscape. The three main charaters in The Lady and the Fool are two itinerant clowns, Moondog and Bootface, and La Capricciosa, a masked beauty. Moondog and Bootface have fallen asleep on a bench near the palace of Signor Midas. La Capricciosa passes the clowns on her way to the palace, where a ball is being held, and she invites them to join her. At the masked ball, the clowns entertain the guests while La Capricciosa is pursued by three of Signor Midas’ aristocratic guests, but she rejects them, and when she is finally alone, she removes her mask as Moondog enters the ballroom. He instantly falls in love with her and she with him, much to the consternation of her other suitors and of Bootface, who has unsuccessfully tried to attract some of the debutantes at the ball. La Capricciosa and Moondog leave together, but return to take Bootface with them. In the final scene, the trio returns to the bench where the clowns were sleeping earlier and curls up to sleep as the curtain falls. Both Pineapple Poll and The Lady and the Fool remained in the repertoire of the Sadler’s Wells Ballet with sporadic revivals and with productions in other companies, as well. When the company, by then the Royal Ballet, toured Russia, The Lady and the Fool was its most popular offering. Quite possibly, the plight of the homeless Moondog and Bootface and their ultimate embrace by the seemingly unattainable La Capricciosa struck a sympathetic chord with the Russian audiences. Cranko’s subsequent work for his Suttgart company embraced a much larger vision than these delightful diversions he created for London, and he was given all the resources he needed to realise it. He was just forty-five when he died on a transatlantic flight following a wildly successful New York engagement by his company. One can only conjecture what might have been had death not so rudely intervened. Ernie Gilbert PINEAPPLE POLL ET THE LADY AND THE FOOL John Cranko (1927–1973) était un maître du ballet narratif. Bien que son travail puisse être considéré comme anachronique à une époque où le néoclassicisme s’était imposé dans le monde de la danse avec la domination de George Balanchine, les drames dansés de Cranko ont connu un succès durable. Ce n’est pas simplement que ses meilleurs ballets étaient fondés sur certaines des plus grandes œuvres de Shakespeare et de Pouchkine; l’imagination fertile de Cranko donna le jour à des épisodes chorégraphiques d’un effet saisissant, jetant une lumière nouvelle sur des récits connus. L’excellente biographie de Cranko signée par John Percival est très justement intitulée Theatre in My Blood ! (Théâtre dans mon sang). La théâtralité est en effet l’essence du génie de Cranko. Les chefs-d’œuvre de Cranko qui remplissent toute une soirée, Roméo et Juliette (1962), Onéguine (1965) et La Mégère apprivoisée (1969), confirmaient que sa compagnie, le Ballet de Stuttgart, était un acteur majeur sur la scène chorégraphique mondiale. Le fait que ces œuvres soient ensuite entrées au répertoire de bon nombre des plus grandes compagnies de ballet au monde confirme l’universalité de leur valeur. Et même si elles étaient au départ conçues sur mesure pour les talents spécifiques des grands danseurs de Cranko à Stuttgart, elles ont trouvé d’éloquents interprètes ailleurs. Leur réussite tient à la danse, et non seulement aux danseurs. Avant que Cranko ne prenne la direction de sa troupe à Stuttgart, ses activités étaient confinées à Londres. Né en Afrique du Sud, il s’établit dans la capitale britannique à l’âge de dix-huit ans et rejoignit peu de temps après le Sadler’s Wells Ballet. Toutefois, lui-même et les directeurs de la compagnie comprirent bientôt clairement que ce n’était pas en tant que danseur qu’il était précieux pour la compagnie, mais en tant que chorégraphe. Son premier grand succès fut la comédie délirante Pineapple Poll, créée le 13 mars 1951 dans le cadre d’une soirée entièrement consacrée à Cranko – événement de taille pour le jeune chorégraphe! Pineapple Poll fut la première collaboration entre Cranko et Charles Mackerras, alors chef assistant du Sadler’s Wells Opera. Mackerras avait le sentiment que la musique de Sir Arthur Sullivan, qui venait de tomber dans le domaine public, conviendrait admirablement à une partition de ballet. Il avait dirigé d’innombrables représentations d’opérettes de Gilbert et Sullivan et, à partir de près d’une douzaine d’entre elles, assembla un charmant cadre musical pour l’exubérant ballet de Cranko. Les principaux personnages de Pineapple Poll sont Pineapple Poll, une marchande de fleurs, Jasper, le “garçon” de la taverne locale, et le fringant capitaine Belaye de H.M.S. Hot Cross Bun, qui vient d’accoster à Portsmouth. Toutes les jeunes filles de la ville se disputent l’attention du capitaine Belaye, y compris Pineapple Poll – au grand désarroi de Jasper, très épris d’elle. Mais c’est Blanche, une beauté locale chaperonnée par sa tante, Mrs Dimple, qui a capté le regard de Belaye. Les jeunes filles de Portsmouth entichées du capitaine recourent à d’extravagants stratagèmes pour 8 9
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