Royal Opera House

 

My destination in Covent Garden was to see the Royal Opera House.  I have a very close friend who has a PhD in Collaborative Piano.  He works very closely with opera performers and he has a vast knowledge of all operas and composers.  He studied in London for awhile and spent a lot of time at the Royal Opera House so I wanted to get a closer look. 

I was a little confused when I saw this modern entrance because it looked nothing like I remembered.  I went inside to find an open atrium with champagne bar, a restaurant and a gift shop.  There were also a number of displays all around the area.

There were several glass cases with costumes from the ballet "Manon" by Georgiadis.  I was curious as to when this performance took place and was surprised to find that it's playing right now.

There was a walkway that led into the main part of the opera house and along the wall was this display of some history of the building.  Each of those little 'windows' in the wall were displays of the inside of the opera house over the years.

Above is one of those little displays.

This bust was mounted on the lobby wall.  It is a tribute to Sir Thomas Beecham who was a conductor associated with both the London Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic.  

After exploring all the wonderful displays inside the building, I was back outside in front of the building I remembered from past visits.  This is the third opera house that has stood on this site.  The first two were both destroyed by fires.  This building with its wonderful corinthian columns has the look of a classic concert hall and opera house.  The atrium part to the far left was once a flower market and is now part of the hall serving food, drink and lots and lots of historical information.