Fidelio
Costume Design
1965 (made)
1965 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Costume design by Leslie Hurry for two unidentified female villagers in a version of Beethoven's Fidelio by Edward J. Dent and John Arden, Sadler's Wells, 1965. These characters were possibly performed by extras or members of the ballet.
Leslie Hurry (1909-1978) trained at the Royal Academy and during the 1930s became known as a surrealist painter. A one-man show in London in 1942 was seen by the theatre director, Michael Benthall, who recommended Hurry to the dancer and choreographer, Robert Helpmann, then planning a ballet based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The success of his designs set Hurry on a second career as one of the most distinguished theatre designers of his generation. He designed operas, ballets and plays, notably Swan Lake for the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1943, a production which stayed in the repertoire for thirty years; Venice Preserv'd for Peter Brook (1953); the Ring Cycle at Covent Garden (1954), and Troilus and Cressida at Stratford for Peter Hall (1960), famous for being staged in a sand pit.
Sadler’s Wells Opera’s production of Fidelio, an opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven with a libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner in an English version by Edward J. Dent with new dialogue by John Arden, was first performed at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, on 7 September 1965 and opened at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London, on 16 September 1965. It was produced by John Blatchley.
The costumes for Fidelio were described in The Times as’ coarse and rather seedy’.
Leslie Hurry (1909-1978) trained at the Royal Academy and during the 1930s became known as a surrealist painter. A one-man show in London in 1942 was seen by the theatre director, Michael Benthall, who recommended Hurry to the dancer and choreographer, Robert Helpmann, then planning a ballet based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The success of his designs set Hurry on a second career as one of the most distinguished theatre designers of his generation. He designed operas, ballets and plays, notably Swan Lake for the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1943, a production which stayed in the repertoire for thirty years; Venice Preserv'd for Peter Brook (1953); the Ring Cycle at Covent Garden (1954), and Troilus and Cressida at Stratford for Peter Hall (1960), famous for being staged in a sand pit.
Sadler’s Wells Opera’s production of Fidelio, an opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven with a libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner in an English version by Edward J. Dent with new dialogue by John Arden, was first performed at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, on 7 September 1965 and opened at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London, on 16 September 1965. It was produced by John Blatchley.
The costumes for Fidelio were described in The Times as’ coarse and rather seedy’.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Fidelio (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Pen, watercolour, crayon, coloured pencil and pencil on paper with fabric swatch |
| Brief description | Costume design by Leslie Hurry for two unidentified female villagers in a version of Beethoven's Fidelio by Edward J. Dent and John Arden, Sadler's Wells, 1965 |
| Physical description | Pen, crayon, watercolour and coloured pencil costume design on paper with pencil inscription and orange swatch in the bottom left corner. The design shows costumes for two unidentified female villagers in the 1965 production of Fidelio at Sadler's Wells Theatre. |
| Dimensions |
|
| Marks and inscriptions |
|
| Credit line | Given by Mrs Caro Rathbone |
| Summary | Costume design by Leslie Hurry for two unidentified female villagers in a version of Beethoven's Fidelio by Edward J. Dent and John Arden, Sadler's Wells, 1965. These characters were possibly performed by extras or members of the ballet. Leslie Hurry (1909-1978) trained at the Royal Academy and during the 1930s became known as a surrealist painter. A one-man show in London in 1942 was seen by the theatre director, Michael Benthall, who recommended Hurry to the dancer and choreographer, Robert Helpmann, then planning a ballet based on Shakespeare's Hamlet. The success of his designs set Hurry on a second career as one of the most distinguished theatre designers of his generation. He designed operas, ballets and plays, notably Swan Lake for the Sadler's Wells Ballet in 1943, a production which stayed in the repertoire for thirty years; Venice Preserv'd for Peter Brook (1953); the Ring Cycle at Covent Garden (1954), and Troilus and Cressida at Stratford for Peter Hall (1960), famous for being staged in a sand pit. Sadler’s Wells Opera’s production of Fidelio, an opera in two acts by Ludwig van Beethoven with a libretto by Joseph Sonnleithner in an English version by Edward J. Dent with new dialogue by John Arden, was first performed at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford, on 7 September 1965 and opened at Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London, on 16 September 1965. It was produced by John Blatchley. The costumes for Fidelio were described in The Times as’ coarse and rather seedy’. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | S.1626-2014 |
About this object record
Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.
Suggest feedback
| Record created | July 23, 2014 |
| Record URL |
Download as: JSON
