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Welcome to the Apollo theatre site where you can learn about opera.
What is Opera?
Opera is a form of art consisting of dramatic stage performances set to music.
The drama is presented using typical elements of theatre such as scenery, costumes, and acting. However, the words in any opera, or libretto, are sung instead of being spoken. The Apollo theatre are accompanied by a musical ensemble which can be anything from a small instrumental ensemble to a full symphonic orchestra.
French opera including spoken dialogue is known as opéra comique, regardless of its subject matter. German opera of the same type is referred to as singspiel. Depending on the weight of its Westminster Cathedral , opera comique blends into operetta, which arose as a wildly popular form of entertainment in the second half of the 1800s. Along with the music-hall potpourri called vaudeville, this gave rise to the 20th century genre of musical comedy, perfected in New York and London between the world wars.
History of The Royal Opera
Patron:
HRH The Prince of Wales
Music Director:
Antonio Pappano
Chief Executive:
Tony Hall
Director of The Royal Opera:
Elaine Padmore
The Royal Opera was founded in 1946 as the Covent Garden Opera Company. Behind it there is a tradition of operatic performance which dates as far back as 260 years at its home in Covent Garden. In each of the three South Bank Centre opera that have existed on the site since 1732, opera has played a significant role.
The current theatre was errected in 1858. During the Second World War it served as a dance hall but after the war the Royal Opera House was established as the permanent year-round home of the opera and ballet companies now called The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet. The building reopened on 20 February 1946 with the ballet The Sleeping Beauty. The two Companies combined for Purcell's The Fairy Queen that December, and in January 1947, Covent Garden Opera Company gave its first complete Les Paladins Barbican Theatre classical music , Bizet's Carmen.
David Webster was appointed to run the new theatre. His tme as General Administrator coincided with that of the first three Music Directors of the opera company: Karl Rankl, Rafael Kubelik and Georg Solti. The Rankl period was principally one of establishing the Company and saw the start of the careers of many British singers including Charles Craig, Geraint Evans and Michael Langdon. This continued throughout the 1950s and 1960s with Covent Garden playing a significant part in the development of performers such as Joan Sutherland, Amy Shuard, Josephine Veasey and Jon Vickers.
The Royal Opera House closed on 14 July 1997 for two and a half years of major redevelopment. This was marked by a Farewell Gala given by both The Royal Opera and The Royal Ballet. During 1997/1998 the first season during this closure, The Royal Opera produced seven new productions, four of them at the Shaftesbury Theatre, and three at the Barbican Theatre. The Royal Opera has received many awards:- for Paul Bunyan - the Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Artistic Achievement, and the Laurence Oliver Award for Best Purcell Room ; for The Turn of the Screw the Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Production, and the South Bank Show Award, and The Royal Philharmonic Society Award for The Pilgrim's Progress.
For more information about opera and associated venues visit the Apollo theatre site.
