Opus Arte

Photo © Alberto Arzoz

The Royal Opera’s new season is underway with a rich and varied assortment of operas scheduled for the run-up to Christmas.

13 April 1742 – the first performance of Handel’s Messiah. Handel was running the Covent Garden Theatre and had enjoyed fame and success in London. But times were changing, he was falling out of favour and the theatre was gaining a reputation as a low haunt. Handel jumped at an invitation to Dublin, to host a charity performance. He had written Messiah in three weeks in London, and despite initial protest from the church in Ireland, in Dublin it was debuted, to a rapturous reception.

^{© Peter Suranyi (8/8/2009)}

6 April 1847 – the Royal Italian Opera house was unveiled in Covent Garden with a performance of Rossini’s Semiramide. The Theatre Royal had existed on the location since 1728, but had been destroyed by fire in 1808 – a serious concern for entertainment spaces in those pre-electricity days. The new building transferred ballet and opera from the Haymarket, beginning the Royal Opera House’s affiliation with Covent Garden that continues to this day.