The Floral Hall of the Royal Opera House

The Royal Opera House is a performing arts venue in London. It is also sometimes referred to as "Covent Garden" after the London neighbourhood in which it is located. The building serves as the home of the Royal Opera, the Royal Ballet and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Royal Opera House - Floral Hall - Bow Street - London - England - 240404 Photo taken by Tagishsimon on the 24th April 2004 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Royal Opera House - Floral Hall - Bow Street - London - England - 240404 Photo taken by Tagishsimon on the 24th April 2004 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the most populous city in the European Union, with an estimated population on 1 January 2005 of 7. ... Covent Garden is a shopping and entertainment complex in central London. ... The Royal Ballet, which is based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, is the leading ballet company in the United Kingdom. ...

The current edifice is the third theatre on the site. The facade, foyer and auditorium date from 1856, but almost every other element of the present complex dates from a reconstruction in the 1990s.

The main auditorium is a Grade I listed building. [1] [2] Buckingham Palace, a Grade I listed building. ...

History

The Davenant Patent

The foundation of the Royal Opera House lies in the letters patent awarded by King Charles II to Sir William Davenant in 1660, allowing Davenant to operate one of the only two theatre companies (The Duke's Company) in London. The letters patent remained in the possession of the Opera House until shortly after the First World War, when the document was sold to a north American university library. The name Charles II is used to refer to numerous persons in history: Kings: Charles the Fat (also known as Charles II of France and Charles III of the Holy Roman Empire) Charles II of England Charles II of Naples Charles II of Navarre Charles II of Romania Charles II... Events Expulsion of the Carib indigenous people from Martinique by French occupying forces. ... Ypres, 1917, in the vicinity of the Battle of Passchendaele. ...

The first theatre

In 1728, John Rich, an actor and manager, commissioned The Beggar's Opera from John Gay. The success of the venture provided the capital with its first Theatre Royal (designed by Edward Shepherd) at the site, which opened on December 7, 1732. John Rich (1682 - 1761) was an important theater manager in 18th century London. ... The Beggars Opera is a ballad opera, a satiric play using some of the conventions of opera, but without the recitative. ... John Gay John Gay (30 June 1685 - 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist. ... December 7 is the 341st day (342nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 23 - First performance of Handels Orlando, in London June 9 - James Oglethorpe is granted a royal charter for the colony of Georgia. ...

For the first hundred years or so of its history the theatre was primarily a playhouse; the Letters Patent granted by Charles II had given Covent Garden and Drury Lane virtually exclusive rights to present spoken drama in London. Charles II (29 May 1630–6 February 1685) was the King of England, King of Scots, and King of Ireland from 30 January 1649 (retrospectively de jure) or 29 May 1660 (de facto) until his death. ... Drury Lane is a street in the Covent Garden area of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. ...

The first serious musical works to be heard at Covent Garden were the operas of Handel. From 1735 until his death in 1759 he gave regular seasons there, and many of his operas and oratorios were written for Covent Garden or had their first London performances there. He bequeathed his organ to John Rich, and it was placed in a prominent position on the stage. Unfortunately, it was among many valuable items lost in a fire that destroyed the theatre in 1808. George Frideric Handel (German Georg Friedrich Händel), (February 23, 1685 – April 14, 1759) was a German Baroque music composer who lived much of his life in Great Britain, a leading composer of concerti grossi, operas and oratorios. ...

The second theatre

The Theatre Royal, Covent Garden in the 1820s.

Rebuilding began in December of the same year, and the second Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (designed by Robert Smirke) opened on September 18, 1809 with a performance of Macbeth followed by a musical entertainment called The Quaker. The management raised seat prices to help recoup the cost of rebuilding, but the move was so unpopular that audiences disrupted performances by beating sticks, hissing, booing and dancing. The Old Prices riots lasted over two months, and the management was finally forced to accede to the audience's demands. The Theatre Royal, Covent Garden by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd, published in 1827/8. ... The Theatre Royal, Covent Garden by Thomas Hosmer Shepherd, published in 1827/8. ... Sir Robert Smirke (1781-18 April 1867) was a leading 19th century British architect. ... Scene from Macbeth, depicting the witches conjuring of an apparition in Act IV, Scene I. Painting by William Rimmer This article is on the play Macbeth by Shakespeare. ...

During this time, entertainments were varied; opera and ballet were presented, but not exclusively. In 1843, the Theatres Act broke the patent theatres' monopoly of drama. At that time Her Majesty's Theatre in the Haymarket was the main centre of ballet and opera, but after a dispute with the management in 1846 Michael Costa, conductor at Her Majesty's, transferred his allegiance to Covent Garden, bringing most of the company with him. The auditorium was completely remodelled and the theatre reopened as the Royal Italian Opera on April 6, 1847 with a performance of Rossini's Semiramide. The Waltz of the Snowflakes from Tchaikovskys The Nutcracker Ballet is the name given to a specific dance form and technique. ... Portrait Gioacchino Antonio Rossini (February 29, 1792 — November 13, 1868) was an Italian musical composer who wrote more than 30 operas as well as sacred music and chamber music. ... Semiramide is an opera in two acts by Gioacchino Rossini. ...

The third theatre

On March 5, 1856, the theatre was again destroyed by fire. Work on the third and present theatre (designed by Edward Middleton Barry) eventually started in 1857 and the new building opened on May 15, 1858 with a performance of Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots. The theatre became the Royal Opera House in 1892 and the number of French and German works in the repertory increased. Winter and summer seasons of opera and ballet were given. Edward Middleton Barry (1830 - 27 January 1880) was an English architect of the 19th century. ... Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (September 5, 1791 – May 2, 1864) was a noted opera composer, and the first great exponent of Grand Opera. ... Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer. ...

During the First World War the theatre was requisitioned by the Ministry of Works for use as a furniture repository. During the Second World War it became a dance hall. There was a possibility that it would remain so after the war but, following lengthy negotiations, the music publishers Boosey and Hawkes acquired the lease of the building. Clockwise from top: Trenches in frontline, a British Mark I Tank, a Warship, a Machine gunner with Gas mask and a Biplane. ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a mid-20th century conflict that engulfed much of the globe and is accepted as the largest and deadliest...

David Webster was appointed General Administrator, and Sadler's Wells Ballet was invited to become the resident ballet company. The Covent Garden Opera Trust was created, which laid out plans to "to establish Covent Garden as the national centre of opera and ballet, employing British artists in all departments, wherever that is consistant with the maintenance of the best possible standards..." (as quoted in Rosenthal, below)

The Royal Opera House reopened on February 20, 1946 with a performance of The Sleeping Beauty in an extravagant new production designed by Oliver Messel. Webster, with his music director Karl Rankl, immediately began to build a resident company. In December, 1946, they shared their first production, Purcell's The Fairy Queen, with the ballet company. On January 14, 1947 the Covent Garden Opera Company gave its first performance of Bizet's Carmen. Henry Purcell (IPA: ; September 10 (?), 1659 (?)–November 21, 1695), a Baroque composer, is generally considered to be one of Englands greatest composers — indeed, he has often been called Englands finest native composer. ... Georges Bizet (October 25, 1838 – June 3, 1875), was a French composer of the romantic era best known for his opera Carmen. ... Poster from the 1875 premiere of Carmen Carmen is a French opera by Georges Bizet. ...

Reconstruction in the 1990s

Several renovations had taken place to parts of the house in the 1960s, including improvements to the amphitheatre and an extension in the rear, but it became increasingly clear that the House needed some major overhauling.

In 1975 the Labour government gave land adjacent to the Royal Opera House for a long-overdue modernisation, refurbishment and extension. By 1995, sufficient funds had been raised to enable the company to embark upon a major reconstruction of the building, which took place between 1996 and 2000. This involved the demolition of almost the whole site except for the auditorium itself, including several adjacent buildings to make room for a major increase in the overall scale of the complex. In terms of volume, well over half of the complex is new. The cost was over £220 million, £78 million of which came from the National Lottery. Accusations of poor management resulted from the 1995 documentary series The House; and in 1997, after less than six months in the post, the Chief Executive Genista McIntosh resigned and was replaced by Mary Allen who as Secretary General of the Arts Council of England had a leading role in authorising the Opera House's regular funding agreement and approving the National Lottery grant. A play here! sign outside a newsagent, incorporating the National Lotterys logo of a stylised hand with crossed fingers. ... The House is a political radio show in Canada. ... Mary Allen is a British arts administrator best know for controversial and turbulent period as Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House. ... The Arts Council of England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. ...

The new venue has the same traditional horseshoe-shaped auditorium as before, but with greatly improved technical, rehearsal, office and educational facilities, a new studio theatre called the Linbury Theatre, and much more public space. The inclusion of the adjacent old Floral Hall, long a part of the old Covent Garden Market but in general disrepair for many years, into the actual opera house created a new and extensive public gathering place. The venue is now claimed by the ROH to be the most modern theatre facility in Europe.

Opera at the Royal Opera House after 1945

The Royal Opera is London and the United Kingdom's most famous and most wealthy opera company. Generally it is also the most artistically important, although some of its productions disappoint, and other British opera companies sometimes receive better reviews.

Covent Garden Opera Company

In the immediate post-war years, the Covent Garden Opera Company (as it was originally named) planned only to present operas in English and to use the talents of British and Commonwealth singers. However, there were a few internationally-known singers of the calibre of Elizabeth Schwartzkopf and Hans Hotter who were willing to learn their roles in English and who did appear as Mimi in La Boheme) and as Wotan in 1948. Additionally, the ROH performed important works by British composers such as Benjamin Britten (Billy Budd, December 1951 and Gloriana, in 1953 for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II), Ralph Vaughan Williams, Arthur Bliss, and Michael Tippett. // Definition and linguistics The original phrase common wealth or the common weal is a calque translation of the Latin term res publica (public matters), from which the word republic comes, which was itself used as a synonym for the greek politeia as well as for the republican (i. ... Hans Hotter (January 19, 1909 – December 8, 2003) was a German bass-baritone. ... La Bohème, French for The Bohemian Life, is an opera in four acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on La Vie de Bohème by Henri Murger. ... For other meanings of Odin and Wotan see Odin (disambiguation) Odin (Old Norse Óðinn, Swedish Oden) is usually considered the supreme god of Germanic and Norse mythology. ... Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh, OM (November 22, 1913 – December 4, 1976) was a British composer, conductor and pianist. ... Billy Budd is a short novel written around 1891 by Herman Melville. ... Gloriana is an opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten to an English libretto by William Plomer, based on historical incidents. ... Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Windsor), born 21 April 1926, is the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda... Ralph Vaughan Williams, OM (October 12, 1872 – August 26, 1958) was an influential British composer. ... Arthur Bliss was a British composer. ... Sir Michael Kemp Tippett (2 January 1905 – 8 January 1998) was one of the foremost English composers of the 20th century. ...

Many English-speaking singers made their debuts in those years before about 1955, including such now-famous singers as Joan Sutherland, Jon Vickers, and Geraint Evans. But, "this flowering of native talent began at a time when the principle of opera in English was slowly being disregarded" (Drogheda et al), and, as it gradually became clear that Covent Garden could not attract international talent by being an English-only company "the retreat from the vernacular, never formally promulgated or announced, provoked some grumbling among the opera-in-English lobby.." but found little opposition elsewhere, notes Lebrecht. However, during the years under Rafael Kubelik as Music Director, a significant number of British singers did emerge. These included sopranos Amy Shuard, Joan Sutherland, Elsie Morrison, Marie Collier, Josephne Veasey, and Joan Carlyle; tenors Jon Vickers and Peter Pears; bass Michael Langdon and Geraint Evans. Dame Joan Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE is a great Australian opera singer noted for her contribution to the bel canto revival of the 1950s and 1960s. ... Jon Vickers (born October 29, 1926) is a Canadian tenor. ... The Welsh baritone Geraint Llewellyn Evans (16 February 1922 – 19 September 1992) was a well-known opera singer, noted for such roles as Papageno in The Magic Flute, Falstaff, and title-role of Wozzeck, among others. ... Rafael Jeroným Kubelík (June 29, 1914 – August 11, 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer. ... Marie Collier (Melbourne, Australia 16 April 1926 - London, 8 December 1971). ... // Her Career British opera singer (Born 6th April 1931 Wirrel, Cheshire). ... Peter Neville Luard Pears (June 22, 1910 – April 3, 1986) was an English tenor and life-long partner of the composer Benjamin Britten. ...

By 1958, the present theatre's centenary, with the success of a major international production by Luchino Visconti of Verdi's Don Carlo, with singers of the quality of Tito Gobbi, Boris Christoff, Fedora Barbieri, and with Carlo Maria Giulini as conductor, the house was firmly established internationally. Maria Callas had appeared prior to this time, but was seen again in 1957 in La Traviata, in 1959 in Medea, and in 1964 in Tosca. Sutherland went on to world fame, as did Vickers and Evans. Luchino Visconti, Duke of Modrone (November 2, 1906 - March 17, 1976) was an Italian theatre and cinema director and writer. ... VERDI is an acronym for the Italian unification movement, named after the composer Giuseppe Verdi (ardent supporter of the movement) VERDI stands for Vittorio Emmanuelle, Re D Italia (Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy) Categories: Historical stubs ... Don Carlos is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi. ... Tito Gobbi (October 24, 1913 – March 5, 1984) was an Italian baritone. ... Boris Christoff Boris Christoff (Bulgarian: ) (May 18, 1914, Plovdiv, Bulgaria – June 28, 1993, Rome, Italy) was a Bulgarian opera singer, one of the greatest basses of the 20th century. ... Carlo Maria Giulini (May 9, 1914 – June 14, 2005) was an Italian conductor. ... Maria Callas on book cover Maria Callas (Greek name: Μαρία Καλογεροπούλου; December 2, 1923 – September 16, 1977) was an American-born Greek soprano and perhaps the best-known opera singer of the post-World War II period. ... La traviata, an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave, takes as its basis the novel La dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, published in 1848. ... Sarah Bernhardt in Euripides Medea, poster by Alfons Mucha In Greek mythology Medea was the daughter of King Aeetes of Colchis (now a territory of modern Georgia) and niece of Circe, and later wife to Jason. ... Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Victorien Sardous drama, La Tosca. ...

By 1961, when Georg Solti became music director he claimed to know nothing about the original aims of the company and, in an interview in Opera magazine, stated that Sadler's Wells (now the ENO) has obviously taken over the task of being the national opera company and fulfills it with very great success" (quoted in Rosenthal, see below). Sir Georg Solti (October 21, 1912 - September 5, 1997) was a well-known orchestral and operatic conductor, who was still actively engaged in performing right up until his death. ... The London Coliseum, home of the English National Opera The English National Opera (ENO) is Londons second opera company, after the Royal Opera at Covent Garden. ...

The Royal Opera

In October 1968, the Queen granted the company the right to be called "The Royal Opera" which, as noted by John Tooley, "was a fitting tribute to a company which from modest beginnings in 1947 had in the course of two decades achieved international status and acclaim".

It is the only British opera company which regularly features the world's most famous opera singers. It performs operas in their original language and relies on guest artists to play the principal roles in all performances, in contrast to the other permanent opera company in London, the English National Opera, which performs in English and has contracted singers. The London Coliseum, home of the English National Opera English National Opera (ENO), located at the Coliseum Theatre on St. ...

The Royal Opera shares the "Orchestra of the Royal Opera House", which is a permanent orchestra of full symphony orchestra size, with the Royal Ballet. It has its own permanent chorus with over forty five singers: the Royal Opera Chorus. A third group of musicians on salary are the members of the "Jette Parker Young Artists Programme", who receive advanced professional training. They are not students as the term is usually understood, as most of them have performed professionally at opera houses of some standing previously, but the programme is intended to accelerate their careers by gaining experience at one of the world's leading opera companies. The programme lasts for two years, with a new intake each summer. Most of the "Young Artists" are singers, but they also include conductors, répétiteurs and stage directors. Orchestra at City Hall (Edmonton). ... See Conductor for other possible uses of the word. ... Répétiteur (Fr. ...

While essentially maintaining its pre-eminence in British operatic life, the Royal Opera has undergone a series of ups and downs over the succeeding thirty years. Its financial future was constantly in the balance, especially in the darker economic days of the 1970s and parts of the 1980s; it constantly faces the issue of artistic standards and performance quality, although under Anthony Pappano those standards seem to be pretty high; and it forever faces the issues of accessibility of segments of the public in the face of rising ticket prices.

It has been innovative in a variety of ways: the provision of large-screen relays of live performances not only to the public in the Covent Garden Market area, but also to other parts of the country, seems to have proved a success.

Norman Lebrecht's book is probably the best overview of the vicissitudes suffered by the company since 1945, especially in relating it to the changing cultural and public funding climate of those years.

Music Directors of the Royal Opera

• 1946-51 Karl Rankl
• 1951-55 interregnum
• 1955-58 Rafael Kubelik
• 1958-61 interregnum
• 1961-71 Sir George Solti
• 1971-87 Sir Colin Davis
• 1987-2002 Bernard Haitink
• 2002-present Antonio Pappano

Rafael Jeroným Kubelík (June 29, 1914 – August 11, 1996) was a Czech conductor and composer. ... Sir Georg Solti (October 21, 1912 - September 5, 1997) was a well-known orchestral and operatic conductor, who was still actively engaged in performing right up until his death. ... Sir Colin Rex Davis (born September 25, 1927) is a noted British conductor. ... Bernard Johan Herman Haitink (born March 4, Dutch conductor. ... Antonio Pappano is the music director for the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden since 2002. ...

Ballet at the Royal Opera House After 1945

This section will cover the history of the Royal Ballet after it was created in the post-World War 2 era in London. The Royal Ballet, which is based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, is the leading ballet company in the United Kingdom. ...

Further reading

• Donaldson, Frances, The Royal Opera House in the Twentieth Century, Weidenfeld and Nicholson, London, 1988.

• Haltrecht, Montague,The Quiet Showman: Sir David Webster and the Royal Opera House, Collins, London, 1975.

• Lebrecht, Norman, Covent Garden: The Untold Story: Dispatches from the English Culture War, 1945-2000, Northeastern University Press, 2001.

• Lord Drogheda, et al., The Covent Garden Album, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1981

• Moss, Kate, The House: Inside the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, BBC Books, London, 1995.

• Rosenthal, Harold, Opera at Covent Garden, A Short History, Victor Gollancz, London, 1967.

• Tooley, John, In House: Covent Garden, Fifty Years of Opera and Ballet, Faber and Faber, London, 1999.

• Thubron, Colin (text) and Boursnell, Clive (photos), The Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1982.

Trivia

• The opera house was used for shots in the movie The Fifth Element

• From the 1950s, it was common for long queues to form for opera tickets. The management eventually instituted a "queue ticket" system whereby, for each of the season's 8 week (or so) periods, patrons could queue up until 8am on the morning at which tickets would go on sale after 10am. These queues often formed days in advance of the box office opening. The "queue ticket" which was issued was timed for a specific hour of the day. During that time-period patrons could return to actually buy their performance tickets.

The Fifth Element (1997) is a science fiction action movie, directed by Luc Besson, starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich, Chris Tucker, Indra Ové and Al Matthews. ... For queueing people, see queue area. ...

External links

• Royal Opera House
• The Royal Ballet
• The Royal Ballet School