Arlecchino (opera) of a double-bill. The first British staged performance of "Arlecchino" was in 1954 at Glyndebourne. However, Edward Clark had produced a concert version in London in 1939. The opera is in four movements with a corresponding representation of Arlecchino in each of them: The roles in "Arlecchino" are derived from the Italian "commedia dell'arte". It is unusual in that the title role of Arlecchino is primarily a speaking role. The composer has said that "Arlecchino" "has a tendency to ambiguity and hyperbole in order to place the listener momentarily in a position of slight doubt." Ronald Stevenson has described it
Pierrot demise in order to make way for "characters less conventional, more human." Marcel Marceau's Bip seems a natural, if deliberate, outgrowth of these developments, walking, as he does, a concessionary line between the early fantastic domain of Deburau's Pierrot and the so-called realistic world. In the 1880s and 1890s, the pantomime reached a kind of apogee, and Pierrot became ubiquitous. Moreover, he acquired a counterpart, Pierrette, who rivaled Columbine for his affections. (She seems to have been especially endearing to Xavier Privas, hailed in 1899 as the "prince of songwriters": several of his songs ["Pierrette Is Dead", "Pierrette's Christmas"] are