The opera opens with a ballet, which is unusual for opera, and features a speaking part for The Fool, with no love duet for the princess.
Composer's Artistic Vision
The Perfect Fool is an opera with words and music by Gustav Holst, set in no particular country or period.
Composer Biography
Gustav Holst, the composer, was productive in almost every musical format except string quartets or sonatas in his maturity.
Critical Reception
The Perfect Fool is often seen as Holst poking fun at other composers like Verdi and Wagner, and also includes 'slaps' at G&S and Rutland Boughton.
Recording & Production
This recording of The Perfect Fool was taken from acetates made at home by Richard Itter from a BBC broadcast on 7 May 1967.
Critical Reception
The first-night audience for The Perfect Fool at Covent Garden in May 1923 was bewildered, as they were given no program notes and were unsure whether to laugh or find symbolic meaning.
Composition History
Holst wrote at least one opera in each decade from the 1890s until his death in 1934, with most being one-act and having libretti written by himself.
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