| Description |
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Britten’s neo-Baroque figurations in his setting remind the listener that Rimbaud’s poem is about an artificial imagined state of royalty: a andscape of the mind perhaps, or a castle in the air. In such circumstances, an unidentified dream-palace may not be out of place. Nothing is known of this set design from an unknown production except that it appears to have been acquired in 1982 from The Royal Opera House. As a design it is likely to be more than a rumour, since the reverse bears annotations for the set builders and the division of the piece into three sections was probably done to aid their work; but as a vision it remains a gorgeous palace which, like Prospero’s tranquil reassurance—sadly not set by Britten after all—so far appears to have left not a rack behind.
Pastel, watercolour on paper: 3 fols, 35.5 x 18.5 cm. Mounted, framed, glazed: 52.7 x 71.8 cm. [GB-ALb 5–9800042] |
