Covent Garden

Covent Garden or Royal Opera House, theatre in London and the square in which it is located (formerly the garden of the medieval convent of St Peter's Abbey). The square was laid out as a market in 1632 by Inigo Jones, with Neo-classical arcades enclosing stalls in which fruit, vegetables, and flowers were sold until 1974, when the stalls were moved to a site near Vauxhall Bridge. In 1980 the market was redeveloped as a shopping centre with arcades, shops, cafes, and restaurants. The theatre, officially called the Royal Opera House, is the home of the Royal Opera and the Royal Ballet, which hold alternating seasons there. Both companies have international reputations, and have nurtured many stars.

The present Covent Garden is the third theatre on the site, the previous two having been destroyed by fire, and opened in 1858. The first theatre (1732-1808) was replaced by a second (1808-1856), which became known as the Royal Italian Opera from 1847 onwards. As the performance of opera in other languages increased later in the century, the theatre was renamed the Royal Opera House in 1892. It developed a fine reputation, and many celebrated singers appeared there. After a wartime period as a dance hall, Covent Garden reopened in 1946 with the Sadler's Wells Ballet (later called the Royal Ballet) as the resident ballet company. A new resident opera company was developed, called the Covent Garden Opera Company, which became the Royal Opera in 1969. It gave its first performance (Carmen, by Bizet) in 1947.

Covent Garden has a reputation for high standards of production, and for a wide range of repertory, including new and lesser-known works as well as the classics. It has held premieres of English operas including Billy Budd (1951) and Gloriana (1953) by Benjamin Britten and The Midsummer Marriage (1955) by Sir Michael Tippett, as well as British premieres of several foreign operas. The Royal Ballet has also premiered many newly choreographed ballets by its own luminaries, Sir Frederick Ashton and Sir Kenneth MacMillan and by newer talents.

As well as performances by the resident companies, Covent Garden has also hosted occasional visits from important foreign companies—La Scala in 1950 and the Kirov Opera in 1987, as well as the Ring cycle by the Welsh National Opera in 1986. A controversial innovation in the late 1980s was the displaying of surtitles in English to aid audience comprehension. From the summer of 1997 to December 1999, while the theatre underwent a £214 million redevelopment, both the ballet and the opera performed at a variety of venues in London, and toured throughout the UK. Perceived financial mismanagement by the board of the company over many years meant that the opera and ballet were forced to stage reduced programmes in 1999, despite an increase to their £15 million subsidy from the Arts Council, which provoked national debate on the future of public subsidy for 'high art'.

On December 1, 1999, Covent Garden reopened after a 29-month closure. Large amounts of public money and lottery funds had been made available to the renovation project, giving rise to considerable controversy.