History

As with any institution, ballet in London was subject to several influences. Balletmasters such as William Thompson and Richard Hague would propose the format for new seasons: which ballets were to be revived, who was to be cast, which theatre would need to be paid for the score and rights, whether new costumes or sets would need to be created or whether old costumes or sets would need to be refreshed and so on. This led to prolonged discussions between the balletmaster and the theatre management, culminating in an agreed-upon plan with the necessary concessions.

The management itself was not a monolith but was made up of various people, committees, boards and patrons. Committees and boards ran the theatre and thus had influence on the ballet, particularly if they believed that the ballet would not be financially viable (i.e. whether the income generated by the ballet exceeded the cost required to stage the ballet). 

Patrons were often able to wield influence due to their financial support of the theatre and the ballet, though management did attempt to curb this influence where they were able. Additionally, Covent Garden was not owned but leased, as the family of the Duke of Bedford owned the land and continued to be the freeholders of the theatre until 1918. There were also those who donated financially to the theatre or to the ballet, either as one-off donations or as a recurring subscription, the latter of which afforded the subscriber certain privileges.

The most important figure could perhaps be said to be the Manager (also called General Manager) who was tasked with planning the season, engaging singers and everything that pertained to the artistic vision of the house. The general division of labour resulted in the operatic and dramatic vision usually lying with the manager and the balletic vision with the balletmaster. However, the manager still retained a great deal of influence over the balletmaster’s choices for ballets and casting as it was he, not the balletmaster, who was ultimately responsible for the theatre’s profitability in the eyes of the various boards and committees. 

Theatre Managers

Her Majesty’s Theatre

In 1877, William Thompson was invited to become the resident troupe at Her Majesty’s Theatre. This invitation was extended by James Henry Mapleson, the manager at the time. Mapleson would remain the manager until the theatre closed in 1890 due to the insolvency of its owners. 

Though initially aligned, Thompson’s vision and Mapleson’s vision for the ballet began to diverge, resulting in Thompson’s 1887 move of the troupe to The Royal Italian Opera at Covent Garden.

The theatre remained closed until 1896, when it was rebuilt by Herbert Beerbohm Tree (the new manager) and reopened in 1897. The ballet reopened with a revival of the Perrot-Pugni Catarina, a revival which turned out to be a success. 

Covent Garden

In 1887, Thompson accepted the invitation to move his troupe to Covent Garden. The invitation was extended by Signor Lago, manager of the theatre, who also wished to undermine Mapleson’s success at Her Majesty’s. In 1888 Lago was replaced by Augustus Harris, later Sir August Harris following his 1891 knighthood.

The years of 1897 to 1900 saw the management shared between Maurice Grau, the Director of Grand Opera Syndicate Ltd. (the sub-lessees of the theatre) and Neil Forsyth, the General Manager.

André Messager became the Musical Director of Grand Opera Syndicate Ltd. from 1901 to 1906 with Forsyth remaining in his role of General Manager, and Percy Pitt replaced Messager as musical director between 1907 and 1915 with Forsyth again remaining in his role.

As for the balletmaster, Thompson retired in 1896 and handed the mantle to Richard Hague, who became the new balletmaster. It was Hague who changed the name of his position from Balletmaster to Balletmaster in Chief. Thompson was referred to, and referred to himself simply as balletmaster, a translation of the French maître de ballet. This term was also applied to his team who staged rehearsals and taught classes, both for the troupe and for the Covent Garden School for Ballet (later the Royal Ballet School). The convention was to refer to any individual who taught a class or led a rehearsal as balletmasters, resulting in a situation where there were many balletmasters but Thompson himself was the balletmaster. By the 1900s Hague sought to clarify this confusion, creating the position of Balletmaster in Chief for himself for better distinction from the general balletmasters.

During the period of changing musical directors (1897-1915), Hague principally worked with Forsyth, who saw to the day-to-day running of the theatre. 

The Duchess of Connaught – Patroness of the Royal Ballet

The Duchess of Connaught was born Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia and was a member of the House of Hohenzollern who was the ruling house of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Emperors of Germany. In 1879 Princess Louise Margaret married Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn, the third son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. She accompanied her husband to Canada and served as Viceregal consort of Canada from 1911 to 1916.

A lover of music, the Duchess first attended the ballet in London in 1881, attending a performance of Thompson’s revival of The Corsair with Isabella Velluti as Médora. She was pleased enough with the ballet to return once more, an action which did not go unnoticed in London Society. The Duchess continued to attend and support the ballet, and so was approached by the management in late 1892 to inquire whether it would please her to become Patroness of the Royal Ballet. After a lengthy degree of correspondence with the Duchess’ office and the palace, it was decided that such an appointment would be able to be accepted by the Duchess. The Duchess was officially announced as Patroness in 1893 following a performance of Pygmalion, though the appointment had been announced in the Court Circular several days prior. 

Though the Duchess accompanied her husband on his various deployments throughout the British Empire, she would continue to be a supporter and attendee of the ballet. Her favourite ballet is believed to have been The Beauty of Ghent, as she inquired whether it would be possible for it to be revived (leading to the 1900 revival of the ballet) and commissioned a suite of piano music containing airs from the ballet for her private use.