Attending the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in the 1700s
Attending a Covent Garden opera performance in the eighteenth century was a very different experience from what we know today.
So let’s step back in time, let’s say around 1735, and let me take you to a performance of Handel’s Italian opera ‘Rinaldo’, performed at the Theatre Royal Covent Garden.
I beg your Pardon? ‘Rinaldo’? Oh yes of course you know it. Not all of it maybe but surely you heard bits and pieces in commercials or movies, like this one from ‘Farinelli Il Castrato’ (1994):
The castrati at that time were a cultural phenomenon of unprecedented celebrity.
The first castrato to gain fame and wealth in London was Nicolini, who arrived in 1708, and three years later premiered Handel’s ‘Rinaldo’ (at the Queen’s Theatre in Haymarket). Farinelli performed in London between 1734 and 1737.
Their talent and popularity supported two opera companies, and they became established at the highest echelons of society.
Even if they (and operas in Italian) did not seem to suit everybody’s taste…
Illustration: Anon [attrib. Hubert-François Gravelot or Michael Vandegrucht], The Opera House or the Italian Eunuch’s Glory, 1735, ©Trustees of the British Museum
So you are going to see ‘Rinaldo’. And Farinelli! There is quite a buzz about it in town as you can imagine, and the Theatre Royal is really the place to be today.
If you are very well off, you arrive in your own horse-drawn carriage with liveried footmen. If you are not quite so wealthy, you arrive by hackney carriage or sedan chair.
You would try to get as close as possible to the entrance of the Royal Opera House, to minimise the distance you need to walk across the filthy and dangerous streets.
You are plagued by starving children, fallen women and limbless ex-soldiers trying to get a few pence from you, as you make our way toward the entrance foyer.
You are guided to your seats by ushers. The separation between the audience and the artists on the stage is not as clearly defined as it is today: there is no curtain, and the boxes extend alongside the stage: the luckiest (or most probably wealthiest!) patrons can sit right on the stage!
The many candles and oil lamps create a smoky, hot atmosphere, as the auditorium and the stage are both fully lit at all times.
Make no mistake, no one came here to listen to the opera. Good gracious no! You all have come to the opera to see, and be seen.
This evening will be a four hour performance. Throughout, people will come and go as they please.
At five o’clock, well before the opera commences, three pieces are played to entertain the audience. These are instrumental pieces or solos by up and coming singers.
You don’t take the slightest notice! You smoke cigars, eat food, drink fortified wine and all the time you look around to see who is in attendance.
The opera begins at six o’clock and you still don’t take much notice. You talk and gossip, and you might even play cards.
Occasionally, you stop what you are doing and listen to your favourite star on stage. You take sides in the rivalry between singers, booing the characters you don’t like, and cheering loudly our favourite artists.
Which one of Handel’s two divas do you prefer? Francesca Cuzzoni or Faustina Bodoni?
Of course you do need to pick a side in one of the most famous rivalries in the history of music. Neutrality is not an option here.
Famous castrato Senesino arriving in London in 1720, welcomed by the two primadonne Faustina Bordoni – on the right of the singer – and Francesca Cuzzoni –Faustina Bordoni on his left. Cut from the full caricature The most illustrious Signor Senesino’s landing in England
So, attending the opera is always a chaotic event, but the composition of the music, the quality of the orchestra and the professionalism of the singers is second to none.
London is the best place in the world to listen to opera!
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden
Nowadays the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, is a major performing arts venue and is home to The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet and the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. The main auditorium seats 2,256 people, making it the third largest in London.
The current building is the third theatre on the site.
In 1728, John Rich, actor-manager of the Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre, commissioned the building of the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, designed by Edward Shepherd.
The building was illuminated by candles and oil lamps and it is not surprising that the theatre was destroyed by fire in 1808.
The theatre was rebuilt to a design by Robert Smirke and opened in 1809 with a performance of Macbeth.
Sarah Siddons made her name during this time, playing the role of Lady Macbeth
Seat prices were raised to help recoup the cost of rebuilding and the cost of an increased ground rent introduced by the landowner, the Duke of Bedford. The move was so unpopular that audiences disrupted performances by beating sticks, hissing, booing and dancing. These ‘Old Price Riots’ lasted over two months, and the management was finally forced to meet the demands of the audience.
Old Price Riots, Cartoon by Cruickshank, 1809
In 1817, bare flame gas lighting replaced candles and in 1837 limelight was used for the first time. This involved mixing oxygen and hydrogen to produce a flame which then burnt a cylinder of calcium oxide or lime. This bright light or incandescence was focussed onto the stage by a simple lens.
Not surprisingly, the theatre was totally destroyed by fire for a second time in 1856.
The third building is the one we see today. It was designed by E.M. Barry (the son of Charles Barry, who designed the new Palace of Westminster), and opened in 1858.
Although the Royal Opera House was extensively reconstructed during the late 1990s, the neo-classical entrance portico, the foyer and the auditorium are part of E.M. Barry’s original 1858 building.
Beneath the portico is a frieze by John Flaxman. The frieze depicts tragedy and comedy and is made from Coade stone, an artificial material that is no longer made. The frieze survived the fire in 1856 and is the only remnant from the building designed by Robert Smirke in 1808.
The portico was originally a carriage entranceway until 1952, when it was closed to increase the foyer space.
To the left of the portico is the Paul Hamlyn Hall.
The Floral Hall and Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, circa 1910.
(Picture: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Originally known as the Floral Hall, it was designed by E.M. Barry and opened in 1859. Built to be used as a flower market during the day and a dance hall at night, it succeeded in neither and was largely used as a fruit and vegetable market and, later, as a warehouse for theatre scenery.
Photo: Paul Waddams
In 1999 it was fully refurbished and integrated to the theatre as a central hospitality space.
Paul
