Covent Garden: The Untold Story : Dispatches from the English Culture War, 1945-2000UPNE, 2001 - 580ÆäÀÌÁö From 1732 until World War II, London's privately owned and operated Royal Opera House (ROH) at Covent Garden was reflective of the country it served -- the rich and noble enjoyed performances in the luxury of the theater and concert hall while the rest of the classes viewed the shows from the dimly-lit top gallery. In 1945, with Britain in financial crisis, its cities in ruins, and its citizens living on strict food and fuel rations, Covent Garden was reborn as a public company after economist Maynard Keynes called for state money to support an Arts Council and Royal Opera House, under his own chairmanship, that would resurrect the nation's fortunes and spirit through the preservation of English culture and performing arts. From that point on, says Norman Lebrecht, ROH, with its Royal Opera and Royal Ballet companies, purported to conduct this postwar national mission while attaching itself to the social elite, creating a recipe for disaster that finally exploded half a century later when the world-class Covent Garden was pushed to the brink of bankruptcy. In this comprehensive and unvarnished history, Lebrecht explains the astonishing failure of an institution that was designed to define a nation. Four chief executives came and went in eighteen months, and the off-stage dramas, catastrophes, misadventures, and infighting became comic fodder for the press and Parliament. Lebrecht's illuminating account of the rise, decline, and fall of the ROH during the second half of the twentieth century is situated within the broader context of upheavals and changes in English cultural life that have eroded the very notion of "Englishness" and transformed the country from heroic poverty to heartless wealth. With unprecedented access to private archives and key players, Lebrecht recounts an intriguing tale of special relationships between internal management and successive governments and arts councils, hidden public cash, corruption, anti-semitism, and campaigns against homosexuals. He also provides colorful details about the many celebrated performers and personalities, including Maria Callas, Rudolf Nureyev, Margot Fonteyn, Georg Solti, and Kiri te Kanawa, who helped shape Covent Garden's storied traditions. Lebrecht concludes by offering thoughts on what the future holds for this notable institution, arguing that Covent Garden should be privatized along the same lines as the Metropolitan Opera. |
¸ñÂ÷
Come into the Garden Awed | 1 |
Drinks at the Bar 6 45 1945 European time | 11 |
Enter the Leader 194647 | 48 |
Overture and Beginners 194751 | 87 |
First Act Forbidden Acts 195159 | 129 |
Champagne Canapés and Nature Calls | 192 |
Act Two Enter the Jew 196170 | 213 |
Propping Up the Crush Bar 197187 | 283 |
Act Three On a Spree 198796 | 359 |
Act Four Wheres the Door? January to August 1997 | 409 |
Coming Up for Eyre September 1997 | 424 |
And So to Bed December 1998 to December 1999 | 464 |
Lie Back and Think of England 2000 or 2100 | 479 |
Notes | 497 |
Bibliography | 529 |
±âŸ ÃâÆǺ» - ¸ðµÎ º¸±â
ÀÚÁÖ ³ª¿À´Â ´Ü¾î ¹× ±¸¹®
Anthony Dowell artistic Arts Council Ashton asked audience Author's interview Beecham British Britten Callas called cast Chadlington chairman choreographer chorus Clark Colin Colin Davis conduct conductor Covent Garden critics cultural Daily Telegraph dance dancers Davis Dowell Drogheda England English Eyre Findlay Fonteyn Geraint Evans Glyndebourne going Goodman Government Haitink Hall Harewood Isaacs Jeremy Isaacs Joan John John Tooley Kaiser Kaufman Kenneth MacMillan Keynes Kleiber knew Kubelik Labour later London look Lord Lottery MacMillan Madam manager Margot Mary Allen McIntosh million pounds months Moser music director National never night Ninette de Valois Nureyev opera and ballet opera company orchestra performance Peter première production Rankl rehearsal resignation ROH board role Royal Ballet Royal Opera House Sadler's Sainsbury season Secretary Sibley sing singers Smith Solti Southgate stage Sutherland television theatre told took Tooley Vivien Duffield wanted week Wilson wrote