18 September 1809

The Royal Opera House in London opens.

The Royal Opera House (ROH) in Covent Garden, London, is one of the most prestigious and historic performing arts venues in the world.

Rich History: Established in 1732, the Royal Opera House has a long and illustrious history, initially functioning as a playhouse before transitioning into a world-class opera and ballet venue. Over the centuries, it has been rebuilt several times due to fires but has consistently remained a center for performing arts.

Home to Leading Companies: ROH is the home of both The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet, two of the most respected and internationally acclaimed opera and ballet companies. It is known for its high-caliber performances and artistic excellence.

Iconic Architecture: The building itself is architecturally significant, blending 19th-century elements with modern design following a major renovation in the 1990s. The auditorium, with its classical horseshoe shape, is renowned for its acoustics and grandeur. The Paul Hamlyn Hall, a beautiful glass atrium, is another iconic feature.

World-Class Productions: The ROH is renowned for staging not only classical works of opera and ballet but also innovative contemporary performances. It attracts some of the finest artists in the world, including singers, dancers, conductors, and directors.

Cultural Influence: It is a significant cultural institution, contributing to the development and promotion of both British and international opera and ballet. Many famous productions and premieres have taken place here, influencing global trends in these art forms.

Education and Outreach: The ROH is dedicated to engaging with the public, offering educational programs, outreach initiatives, and accessible performances. It is a vital part of London’s cultural life, supporting new talent and making the arts more inclusive.

18 September 1838

The Anti-Corn Law League is established by Richard Cobden.

The Corn Laws were a series of British trade regulations that were in place during the 18th and early 19th centuries. These laws primarily concerned the import and export of grain, especially wheat, and had a significant impact on agricultural and economic policies in Britain.

Import Tariffs: The Corn Laws imposed high tariffs (import duties) on foreign grains, making it more expensive for British consumers to purchase imported wheat and other grains. These tariffs were designed to protect domestic agriculture by ensuring that British farmers could sell their produce at higher prices.

Price Controls: The laws also included provisions that set a minimum price for domestically produced grain. If the market price fell below this minimum price, the government would take measures to restrict imports, thereby supporting the domestic grain market.

Benefited Landowners: The primary beneficiaries of the Corn Laws were wealthy landowners and aristocrats who owned agricultural land. These landowners lobbied for the laws because they wanted to maintain high prices for their grain and ensure a stable income.

Detrimental Effects: The Corn Laws were highly controversial and faced significant opposition, particularly from urban workers and manufacturers. The tariffs on grain led to higher food prices, which disproportionately affected the working class and contributed to social unrest.

Repeal: The campaign to repeal the Corn Laws gained momentum in the early 19th century, with notable figures like Sir Robert Peel supporting free trade principles. The Anti-Corn Law League, led by Richard Cobden and John Bright, played a crucial role in advocating for their repeal.

In 1846, Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel’s government successfully passed the Corn Laws Repeal Act, which effectively abolished the protectionist measures. This marked a significant shift toward free trade in Britain, as the country moved away from protectionist policies and embraced the principles of open markets and free trade.

18 September 1809

The Royal Opera House in London opens.

John Rich opened the first Covent Garden on 7 December 1732 with The Way of the World. Handel was the first renowned composer associated with this theatre, with performances of Atlanta, Alcina and Berenice. The theatre burned down on the night of 19 September 1808. The second Covent Garden opened its doors a year later, almost to the day. On 18 September 1809, with a double bill: Shakespeare’s Macbeth and a musical divertissement, The Quaker. Weber was asked to write an opera for this second theatre. This was Oberon, which premiered in April 1826, conducted by the composer himself. The following year, Beethoven’s Fidelio was staged.
In London in the first part of the 19th century, the Italian opera house was the King’s, later called His Majesty’s Theatre. The first English performances of Rossini were presented there, as well as works by Bellini and Donizetti and Verdi’s Nabucco, Ernani and l Lombardi. Around 1840, His Majesty’s company was under the musical direction of Michael Costa; Grisi, Persiani, Mario, Tamburini and Lablache were part of it. Its director, Benjamin Lumley, quarrelled with Costa and the singers about the repertoire, then hired new singers, which led to the departure of all those great artists, who set up a rival company.

As Covent Garden was also standing empty, composer Giuseppe Persani did everything he could to turn Covent Garden into the Royal Italian Opera, and it opened on 6 April 1847 with Rossini’s Semiramis. Between 1847 and 1856, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, Maria di Rohan, La Juive and Benvenuto Cellini, to mention only a few, were staged with artists whose names have become legend, like Grisi, Viardot, Bosio, Alboni, Cruvelli, Mario, Ronconi, Tamberlik, Tarnburini and Graziani.

This second Covent Garden burned down in 1856. The third, and current, Covent Garden opened on 15 May 1858 with a performance of Meyerbeer’s Huguenots. A side note: only the first three acts were presented that evening! As Act III was not yet finished at midnight, the theatre manager got up on stage and announced: “It is already the Sabbath.” And so the last act was omitted.
From 1858 to 1939, aside from the period during World War I when the theatre was requisitioned, operas were presented every year, from April through July, at Covent Garden, the Royal Italian Theatre. Until the arrival of Sir August Harris, who led the theatre from 1888 to 1896, all operas were given in Italian. It was not until 1892 that the word “Italian” was stricken from its name. Then the works of Wagner and the French repertory went back to their original language. Sir Thomas Beecham, the conductor in 1910, introduced the operas of Richard Strauss to Coven Garden.
In 1920 and from 1924 to 1931, Covent Garden’s conductor was Bruno Walter; Beecham came back from 1932 to 1939. Between the two world wars, the Italian repertory was conducted by Vincenzo Bellezza, Tullio Serafin, Gino Marinuzzi and Vittorio Gur. During World War II, no operas were presented, and the theatre was transformed into a “Dance Palace”. Covent Garden reopened in 1946 and became the home of a permanent opera company, the Royal Opera, and that of Sadler’s Wells Ballet, the Royal Ballet.

After WWII, the Royal Opera welcomed a succession of great conductors: Karl Rankl 1946-1951, Rafael Kubelik 1955-1958, Georg Solti 1961-1971 and, since 1971, Colin Davis. Many guest conductors like John Pritchard, Otto Klemperer, Joseph Krips, etc., and more recently Claudio Abbado, Carlos Kleiber, etc., contributed to building Covent Garden’s prestige. Rankl, assisted by Sir David Webster, literally built the Covent Garden opera company from 1945 to 1970. Kleiber and Kempe put their faith in English artists and helped and encouraged them to perform abroad. Kubelik continued along the same lines and expanded the repertoire. Giulini and Klemperer did Covent Garden a great favour by conducting Don Carlos, La Traviata, Falstaff, The Barber of Seville, Fidelio, The Magic Flute and Lohengrin.

Solti’s tenure brought charm and excitement to the theatre, including in the repertoire Cosi Fan Tutte, Don Giovanni, Der Ring des Nibelungen, Orfeo, La Forza del Destino and Eugene Onegin. Also noteworthy were the performance of Tosca with Callas, Cioni and Gobbi, sets by Zeffirelli, the creator of Gobbi’s Simon Boccanegra, the Norma with Sutherland, Pelléas et Mélisande by Boulez, etc. And we should not forget the performances of English operas like King Priam, Billy Budd, etc. In the Solti period, artistic policy made possible the development of a company whose signers today perform all over the world.

Since then, directors have been encouraging young talents. Colin Davis, who is especially fond of Mozart, Berlioz and Wagner, gave Les Troyens, La Clemenza di Tito, Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. He also completed the new Ring, produced by Götz Friedrich who became the principal producer of the Royal Opera. Claudio Abbado conducted Un Ballo in Maschera, staged by Otto Schenk with Ricciarelli, Domingo and Cappuccilli in the principal roles. Britten’s Death in Venice and Maxwell Davies’ Taverner were added to the repertoire, along with Faust, which hadn’t been performed at à Covent Garden since 1938, and it was reprised in 1974. In thirty years, The Royal Opera House has become one of the world’s greatest opera houses.

In 1987, Bernard Haitink replaced Colin Davis as musical director. In the 1980s and 1990s, the Royal Opera enhanced its reputation with an imaginative repertoire and award-winning new productions.

In 1997 the opera closed for two-and-a-half years for a major renovation but still presented seven new productions during that time. In 1999, the Royal Opera reopened, and in 2002 Antonio Pappano took the helm as musical director.

The Royal Opera continues to invite great artists like Angela Gheorghiu, Roberto Alagna, Bryn Terfel, Simon Keenlyside and many others. Each season, from September through July, some 150 performances of twenty-odd operas are presented; about half are new productions.

18 September 1809

The Royal Opera House in London, UK opens.

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The First Theatre on the site opened as the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden on the 7th of December 1732 with ‘The Way of the World’ by William Congeve. This was a ‘Patent Theatre’ as granted to Sir William Devenant by Charles II, but this second Patent the first was granted to the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane actually originally applied to the Duke’s Theatre in Lincoln’s Inn and only ended up with the Theatre Royal in Covent Garden after the Patent was eventually handed down to John Rich, who began building the Covent Garden Theatre in March of 1731.

The Theatre was built on land leased to John Rich from the Duke of Bedford and designed by the architect James Shepherd. The interior being decorated by the Italian Artist, Amiconi, with a capacity of 1,897. Handel arrived here in 1734 and produced many Operas and Ballets. David Garrick appeared here in 1746, fresh from Drury Lane, and it was in this Theatre that a new invention called the ‘Piano Forte’ was first heard in 1767. ‘She Stoops To Conquer’ had its first performance here in March 1773, and the first production of Sheridan’s ‘The Rivals’ was produced at the Theatre in 1775.