The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, which are known collectively as the Royal Ballet and Opera.
The first theatre on the site, the Theatre Royal (1732), served primarily as a playhouse for the first hundred years of its history. In 1734, the first ballet was presented. A year later, the first season of operas, by George Frideric Handel, began. Many of his operas and oratorios were specifically written for Covent Garden and had their premieres there.
The current building is the third theatre on the site, following disastrous fires in 1808 and 1856 to previous buildings. The façade, foyer, and auditorium date from 1858, but almost every other element of the present complex dates from an extensive reconstruction in the 1990s.
The main auditorium seats 2,256 people, making it the third largest in London, and consists of four tiers of boxes and balconies and the amphitheatre gallery. The proscenium is wide, with the stage of the same depth and high. The main auditorium is a Grade I listed building."Royal Opera House (London)" description on theatrestrust.org.uk Retrieved 10 May 2013
The Royal Opera House companies were rebranded as the Royal Ballet and Opera in 2024, but the building retains the title of The Royal Opera House."Royal Opera House Tours, 17 December 2024 – 31 March 2025", Royal Ballet and Opera. Retrieved 15 January 2025
History Davenant patent
The foundation of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden lies in the letters patent awarded by Charles II to Sir William Davenant in 1662, allowing Davenant to operate one of only two patent theatre companies (The Duke's Company) in London. The letters patent remained in the possession of the patentees' heirs until the 19th century. Their whereabouts were unknown for some time, but as of 2019 they are held in the Rosenbach Museum & Library, Philadelphia.
First theatre
In 1728, John Rich, actor-manager of the Duke's Company at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, commissioned The Beggar's Opera from John Gay. The success of this venture provided him with the capital to build the Theatre Royal (designed by Edward Shepherd) at the site of an ancient convent garden. Inigo Jones had developed part of this property in the 1630s with a piazza and St Paul's church (now known colloquially as the actors' church). In addition, a royal charter had created a fruit and vegetable market in the area, a market which survived in that location until 1974.
At the opening of the theatre on 7 December 1732, Rich was carried by his actors in procession into the building for its inaugural production of William Congreve's The Way of the World.Admission to the 55 boxes was five shillings (1/4 £), half a crown (1/8 £) to the 'pit', and one shilling (1/20 £) to the gallery. A seat on the stage cost ten shillings. The elite could send servants to arrive at three pm to save places on the stage for their masters and mistresses. Box office proceeds the first night totaled £115
During its first century, the theatre was operated primarily as a playhouse, with the Letters Patent granted by Charles II giving the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden and Theatre Royal, Drury Lane exclusive rights to present spoken drama in London. Despite the frequent interchangeability between the two companies, competition was intense, and the companies often presented the same plays at the same time. Rich introduced pantomime to the repertoire, performing himself, under the stage name John Lun, as Harlequin. A tradition of seasonal pantomime continued at the modern theatre until 1939.John Rich as Harlequin (PeoplePlayUK – Theatre Museum) accessed 22 July 2008.
In 1734, the theatre presented its first ballet, Pygmalion. Marie Sallé discarded tradition and her corset and danced in diaphanous robes.Early ballet history (North Eastern University), accessed 22 December 2006. Around the same time, the auditorium ceiling was painted by Jacopo Amigoni as The Muses presenting Shakespeare to Apollo, which prompted a brief press dispute: The Weekly Register criticised the work as obscure and over-ornamented, while the rival Grub Street Journal printed point-by-point replies defending Amigoni. George Frideric Handel was named musical director of the company at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1719, but his first season of opera for the theatre was not presented until 1734. His first opera was Il pastor fido, followed by Ariodante (1735), and the première of Alcina, and Atalanta the following year. In 1743 there was a royal performance of Messiah; its success resulted in a tradition of Lenten oratorio performances. From 1735 until his death in 1759, Handel gave regular seasons at the theatre; many of his operas and oratorios were written for that venue 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. It was among many valuable items lost in a fire that destroyed the theatre on 20 September 1808. In 1792 the architect Henry Holland rebuilt the auditorium; he expanded its capacity within the existing shell of the building.
Second theatre
Rebuilding began in December 1808, and the second Theatre Royal, Covent Garden (designed by Robert Smirke) opened on 18 September 1809 with a performance of Macbeth followed by a musical entertainment called The Quaker. The actor-manager John Philip Kemble, raised seat prices to help recoup the cost of rebuilding and the cost of an increased ground rent introduced by the landowner, John Russell, 6th Duke of Bedford, but the move was so unpopular that audiences disrupted performances by beating sticks, hissing, booing and dancing. The Old Price Riots lasted over two months, and the management was finally forced to accede to the audience's demands.
During this time, entertainment was varied; opera and ballet were presented, but not exclusively. Kemble engaged in a variety of acts, including the child performer Master Betty; the great clown Joseph Grimaldi made his name at Covent Garden. Many famous actors of the day appeared at the theatre, including the tragediennes Sarah Siddons and Eliza O'Neill, the Shakespearean actors William Macready, Edmund Kean and his son Charles. On 25 March 1833 Edmund Kean collapsed on stage while playing Othello, and died two months later.Edmund Kean (1789–1833) (NNDB) accessed 22 July 2008.
In 1806, the pantomime clown Joseph Grimaldi (The Garrick of Clowns) had performed his greatest success in Harlequin and Mother Goose; or the Golden Egg at Covent Garden, and this was subsequently revived, at the new theatre. Grimaldi was an innovator: his performance as Joey introduced the clown to the world, building on the existing role of Harlequin derived from the Commedia dell'arte. His father had been ballet-master at Drury Lane, and his physical comedy, his ability to invent visual tricks and buffoonery, and his ability to poke fun at the audience were extraordinary.Early Pantomime (PeoplePlayUK – the Theatre Museum (at the V & A) accessed 22 July 2008.
Early pantomimes were performed as mimes accompanied by music, but as Music hall became popular, Grimaldi introduced the pantomime dame to the theatre and was responsible for the tradition of audience singing. By 1821 dance and clowning had taken such a physical toll on Grimaldi that he could barely walk, and he retired from the theatre.Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi, "Boz" (ed.) (Charles Dickens), 1853 edition with Notes and Additions by Charles Whitehead, accessed 22 February 2007. By 1828, he was penniless; Drury Lane held a benefit concert for him after Covent Garden refused.Arundell, Dennis, The Story of Sadler's Wells
In 1817, bare flame gaslight had replaced the former candles and oil lamps that lighted the Covent Garden stage. This was an improvement, but in 1837 Macready employed limelight in the theatre for the first time, during a performance of a pantomime, Peeping Tom of Coventry. Limelight used a block of quicklime heated by an oxygen and hydrogen flame. This allowed the use of spotlights to highlight performers on the stage.
The Theatres Act 1843 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 remodeled after an 1856 fire, during the following 1856–57 seasons, the company performed at the Lyceum Theatre."Madame Parepa-Rosa", Illustrated London News, 7 February 1874, p. 129; and Obituary: "Madame Parepa Rosa", The Times, 23 January 1874, p. 10 The theatre reopened as the Royal Italian Opera on 6 April 1857 with a performance of Rossini's Semiramide.History (Royal Opera House) accessed 18 December 2012.
In 1852, Louis Antoine Jullien, the French eccentric composer of light music and conductor presented an opera of his own composition, Pietro il Grande. Five performances were given of the 'spectacular', including live horses on the stage and very loud music. Critics considered it a complete failure and Jullien was ruined and fled to America.Louis-Antoine Jullien (in French) accessed 21 December 2007.
Costa and his successors presented all operas in Italian, even those originally written in French, German or English, until 1892, when Gustav Mahler presented the debut of Wagner's Ring cycle at Covent Garden.Anton Seidl had conducted the very first Ring in England (sung in German) at Her Majesty's Theatre from 5–9 May 1882. Source: (Free registration required) The word "Italian" was then quietly dropped from the name of the opera house.Gordon-Powell, Robin. Ivanhoe, full score, Introduction, vol. I, p. VIII, 2008, The Amber Ring
The conjuror John Henry Anderson, who had exposed the Davenport brothers, leased the theatre to stage his shows which were critical of mediums and spiritualism. After a gala performance and bal masqué organised by Anderson, the theatre caught fire in the early hours of 5 March 1856 and was destroyed.
Third theatre Work on a third theatre, designed by Edward Middleton Barry, started in 1857, and the new building, which remains as the nucleus of the present theatre, was built by Lucas Brothers and opened on 15 May 1858 with a performance of Meyerbeer's Les Huguenots.
The Royal English Opera company under the management of Louisa Pyne and William Harrison, made their last performance at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on 11 December 1858 and took up residence at Covent Garden on 20 December 1858 with the premiere of Michael Balfe's SatanellaReviews, "Drury-Lane Theatre", The Times, 13 December 1858, p. 10. – the first opera to have its world premiere at the new theatre – and continued there until 1865.Kingsford, C L. "Harrison, William (1813–1868)" , rev. John Rosselli, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, retrieved 14 April 2015
The theatre became the Royal Opera House (ROH) in 1892, and the number of French and German works offered increased. Winter and summer seasons of opera and ballet were given, and the building was also used for pantomime, recitals and political meetings.
During the First World War, the theatre was requisitioned by the Ministry of Works for use as a furniture repository.
From 1934 to 1936, Geoffrey Toye was managing director, working alongside the artistic director Sir Thomas Beecham. Despite early successes, Toye and Beecham eventually fell out, and Toye resigned.