Opera at the Royal Opera House after 1945

The Royal Opera is London and the United Kingdom's most famous and most wealthy opera company. Generally it is also the most artistically important, although some of its productions disappoint, and other British opera companies sometimes receive better reviews.

Covent Garden Opera Company

In the immediate post-war years, the Covent Garden Opera Company (as it was originally named) planned only to present operas in English and to use the talents of British and Commonwealth singers. However, there were a few internationally-known singers of the calibre of Elizabeth Schwartzkopf and Hans Hotter who were willing to learn their roles in English and who did appear as Mimi in La Boheme) and as Wotan in 1948. Additionally, the ROH performed important works by British composers such as Benjamin Britten (Billy Budd, December 1951 and Gloriana, in 1953 for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II), Ralph Vaughan Williams, Arthur Bliss, and Michael Tippett.

Many English-speaking singers made their debuts in those years before about 1955, including such now-famous singers as Joan Sutherland, Jon Vickers, and Geraint Evans. But, "this flowering of native talent began at a time when the principle of opera in English was slowly being disregarded" (Drogheda et al), and, as it gradually became clear that Covent Garden could not attract international talent by being an English-only company "the retreat from the vernacular, never formally promulgated or announced, provoked some grumbling among the opera-in-English lobby.." but found little opposition elsewhere, notes Lebrecht. However, during the years under Rafael Kubelik as Music Director, a significant number of British singers did emerge. These included sopranos Amy Shuard, Joan Sutherland, Elsie Morrison, Marie Collier, Josephne Veasey, and Joan Carlyle; tenors Jon Vickers and Peter Pears; bass Michael Langdon and Geraint Evans.

By 1958, the present theatre's centenary, with the success of a major international production by Luchino Visconti of Verdi's Don Carlo, with singers of the quality of Tito Gobbi, Boris Christoff, Fedora Barbieri, and with Carlo Maria Giulini as conductor, the house was firmly established internationally. Maria Callas had appeared prior to this time, but was seen again in 1957 in La Traviata, in 1959 in Medea, and in 1964 in Tosca. Sutherland went on to world fame, as did Vickers and Evans.

By 1961, when Georg Solti became music director he claimed to know nothing about the original aims of the company and, in an interview in Opera magazine, stated that Sadler's Wells (now the ENO) has obviously taken over the task of being the national opera company and fulfills it with very great success" (quoted in Rosenthal, see below).

The Royal Opera

In October 1968, the Queen granted the company the right to be called "The Royal Opera" which, as noted by John Tooley, "was a fitting tribute to a company which from modest beginnings in 1947 had in the course of two decades achieved international status and acclaim". It is the only British opera company which regularly features the world's most famous opera singers. It performs operas in their original language and relies on guest artists to play the principal roles in all performances, in contrast to the other permanent opera company in London, the English National Opera, which performs in English and has contracted singers.

The Royal Opera shares the "Orchestra of the Royal Opera House", which is a permanent orchestra of full symphony orchestra size, with the Royal Ballet. It has its own permanent chorus with over forty five singers: the Royal Opera Chorus. A third group of musicians on salary are the members of the "Jette Parker Young Artists Programme", who receive advanced professional training. They are not students as the term is usually understood, as most of them have performed professionally at opera houses of some standing previously, but the programme is intended to accelerate their careers by gaining experience at one of the world's leading opera companies. The programme lasts for two years, with a new intake each summer. Most of the "Young Artists" are singers, but they also include conductors, répétiteurs and stage directors.

While essentially maintaining its pre-eminence in British operatic life, the Royal Opera has undergone a series of ups and downs over the succeeding thirty years. Its financial future was constantly in the balance, especially in the darker economic days of the 1970s and parts of the 1980s; it constantly faces the issue of artistic standards and performance quality, although under Anthony Pappano those standards seem to be pretty high; and it forever faces the issues of accessibility of segments of the public in the face of rising ticket prices.

It has been innovative in a variety of ways: the provision of large-screen relays of live performances not only to the public in the Covent Garden Market area, but also to other parts of the country, seems to have proved a success. Norman Lebrecht's book is probably the best overview of the vicissitudes suffered by the company since 1945, especially in relating it to the changing cultural and public funding climate of those years.

Music Directors of the Royal Opera

•1946-51 Karl Rankl
•1951-55 interregnum
•1955-58 Rafael Kubelik
•1958-61 interregnum
•1961-71 Sir George Solti
•1971-87 Sir Colin Davis
•1987-2002 Bernard Haitink
•2002-present Antonio Pappano
Ballet at the Royal Opera House After 1945

This section will cover the history of the Royal Ballet after it was created in the post-World War 2 era in London.