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The Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, London, is arguably the most significant opera house in the UK. The current edifice is the third theatre on the site.
It is also home to The Royal Ballet.
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.
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.
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.
Rebuilding began in December of the same year, and the second Theatre Royal, Covent Garden 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.
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.
On March 5, 1856, the theatre was again destroyed by fire. Work on the third and present theatre (designed by Edward Middleton BarryEdward Middleton Barry ( 1830 27 January 1880) was an English architect of the 19th century. The third son of Sir Charles Barry, Edward completed his father’s work on the Palace of Westminster and Halifax Town Hall after his death in 1860, but was also re) eventually started in 1857 and the new building opened on May 15, 1858 with a performance of Meyerbeer'sGiacomo Meyerbeer ( September 5, 1791 May 2, 1864) was a noted opera composer. Meyerbeer was born to a Jewish family in Vogelsdorf, Germany with the name Yaakov Liebmann Beer . Meyer was the name of his mother's family. His brother was the astronomer Wilh 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.
During the First World WarWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of the theatre was requisitioned by the Ministry of Works for use as a furniture repository. During the Second World WarWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough 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. David Webster was appointed General Administrator and Sadler's Wells Ballet was invited to become the resident ballet company.
The Opera House reopened on February 20, 1946 with a performance of The Sleeping Beauty in an extravagant new production designed by Oliver Messel. There was no opera company suitable for transfer to the Royal Opera House, but Webster, with his music director Karl Rankl, immediately began to build a comparable resident company. In December, 1946, they shared their first production, Purcell'sHenry Purcell ( c1659 November 21, 1695), was an English Baroque music composer. He is considered to be one of England's greatest composers. Purcell was born in St Ann's Lane, Old Pye Street, Westminster. His father, Henry Purcell (or Pursell pronounced w The Fairy Queen, with the ballet company. On January 14, 1947 the Covent Garden Opera Company gave its first performance of Bizet'sGeorges Bizet ( October 25, 1838 June 3, 1875), was a French composer of the romantic era best known for his opera Carmen. Born Alexandre-Cesar-Leopold, but baptized Georges, Bizet, a child prodigy, entered the prestegious Paris Conservatory of Music at t CarmenCarmen is a French opera by Georges Bizet, with text by Meilhac and Halevy, based on the novel by Prosper Merimee. Its first production was in Paris in 1875. During its time, the opera was considered a failure, denounced as “immoral” and “superficial..
In 1975 the Labour government gave land adjacent to the Royal Opera House for a long-overdue modernisation, refurbishment and extension. By 1995, sufficient private funds had been raised to enable the company to embark upon a substantial renovation of the building between 1996 and 2000, during which period the theatre was closed.