In the late 19th and early 20th century opera and ballet in England were in the doldrums. Covent Garden was failing, and there was little prospect of a glittering future. Help came from the scandalous Gladys Herbert, who first married the dissolute 4th Earl of Lonsdale and, after his death, Earl de Grey, heir to the Marquess of Ripon and the best shot in Britain.
Between her many liaisons she found time to organise her aristocratic friends, including the Prince and Princess of Wales, to support and rescue opera in England, and promoted the interests of many of her friends – Nellie Melba and Enrico Caruso among them. Her attention then turned to ballet; she became acquainted with Diaghilev, Stravinsky and Nijinsky and was largely instrumental in bringing the Ballers Russe to England. When World War I broke out she turned her organising abilities to caring for wounded soldiers.
This talk looks at her colourful life, her friends and the influence she had on the cultural life of her time and of future generations.
