The Perfect Fool

The Perfect Fool is an opera in one act with music and libretto by the English composer Gustav Holst. Holst composed the work over the period of 1918 to 1922. The opera received its premiere at the Covent Garden Theatre, London, on 14 May 1923. Holst had originally asked Clifford Bax to write the libretto, but Bax declined.

In the score, Holst pokes fun at the works of Verdi, Wagner's Parsifal and Debussy. In the opera, the part of the Fool consists of only one word. One interpretation of the possible symbolism of the opera, from Donald Tovey, is that the Princess symbolises the world of opera and the Fool represents the British public.

The opera was not a success, and audiences found the story confusing. Although the opera did receive a live BBC broadcast a year after its premiere, performed by the British National Opera Company and relayed from His Majesty's Theatre, London, revivals of the work have been rare. In 1995, Vernon Handley conducted a performance of the complete opera for the BBC, broadcast on 25 December.

The introductory ballet music is much more often performed, separately as a suite. The ballet music falls into the following sections:

Themes from the ballet music recur throughout the remainder of the opera.

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