The World's Greatest Theatre
The Theatre Royal. Covent Garden, opened its doors on 7 December 1732 not with an opera or a ballet, but with a performance of Congreve's comedy The Way of the World.
Now, 250 years later, and known as the Royal
Opera House, Michael Oliver examines its reputation and its heritage of music, drama and dance in the light of a new production of Handel's opera Semele and the world premiere of Rudolph Nureyev 's ballet The Tempest, while Michael Billington goes behind the great red and gold curtain and plunges into the seemingly chaotic intricacies of the backstage world where the nightly miracle of turning fantasy into fact is somehow achieved. Producer JOHN POWELL Editor ROSEMARY HART
(A live relay of Semele on R3 next Sat, 7.0 pm)