RESTORATION.(management of Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England)

Publication: The New Yorker

Publication Date: 11-NOV-02

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COPYRIGHT 2002 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.

English audiences produce an unmistakable noise at the end of a great night of theatre--a revved-up, rapid-fire applause that is almost caffeinating in its effect. That noise erupted after a recent performance of Alban Berg's "Wozzeck" at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, and it was a welcome sound, since England's leading opera company has too long been known as the place where everything goes wrong. In the nineties, as the rest of London enjoyed a cultural renaissance, Covent Garden dwelled in a state of chaos, each new cultural or bureaucratic horror sprayed across the morning papers. Executives came and went; productions were cancelled or curtailed on short notice; extensive renovations sucked up millions of pounds of public money; Labour politicians self-servingly denounced the house on behalf of the working class; and the London tabloids mocked the entire spectacle ("The Greedy Beggar's Opera," the Sun dubbed it). Several ugly backstage scenes, complete with screaming, swearing, and the hurling of a telephone, were broadcast to the nation via a merciless television documentary entitled "The House." At one point, it seemed possible that the Royal Opera and Ballet would simply go under.

This season, Covent Garden is a happier and healthier place. The critics are full of praise, and...

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