- •Сборник текстов для чтения, перевода и реферирования
- •Введение
- •Part I. Texts for reading
- •1.1. Superhero
- •1. 2. Don’t miss concert in conservatoire
- •1. 3. Information for visitors of the national gallery in london
- •1. 4. Weekly rep
- •1. 5. British tv
- •1. 6. Folk music
- •1. 7. Comic books
- •1. 8. How a hit song is written
- •1. 9. A london pantomime
- •1. 10. Abstract art
- •1. 11. Patricia kaas
- •1. 12. My favourite ballet
- •1. 13. Disneyland park
- •1. 14. Do you like music?
- •1. 15. Egyptian arts
- •1. 16. Freddie mercury
- •1. 17. Horror films
- •1. 18. Interview with a musician
- •1. 19. Tom hanks
- •1. 20. Jazz – a new era in music
- •1. 21. London’s museums
- •1. 22. Music awards
- •1. 23. Progressive rock
- •1. 24. Hippies and skinheads
- •1. 25. Rock music
- •1.26. Andersen. Traveller and theatre lover
- •1.27. Henry wood promenade concerts
- •1.28. Holding meetings
- •1.29. Punk rock is 30 years old
- •1.30. The guitar
- •1.31. Services for school. The national gallery, london
- •1.32. The wallace collection
- •1.33. Clowning
- •1.34. Music and musicians. Punk.
- •1.35. Theatre superstitions
- •1.36. Reggae
- •1.37. The british museum
- •1.38. The american greats
- •1.39. Summer camps in the united states
- •1.40. Compositions by bach’s second son performed in moscow
- •1.41. The russian museum
- •1.42. Rachmaninov
- •1.43. Gainsborough and music
- •1.44. Britain's unique puppet theatre
- •1.45. “Cats”
- •1.46. "The picture of dorian gray"
- •1.47. Lord of the rings
- •1.48. Benjamin britten
- •1. 49. Al pacino
- •1. 50. Can you think of a day without music?
- •1. 51. Chicago bluesman comes to moscow
- •1. 52. The globe theatre
- •1. 53. Chopin in britain
- •1. 54. Covent garden
- •1. 55. Diana ross
- •1. 56. "Oklahoma!"
- •1.57. Tarkovsky: a new look
- •Part II. Texts for rendering
- •2. 1. A miracle on the stage
- •2. 2. ‘’ Beauty and the beast'’ (1946)
- •2. 4. Valentin serov
- •2.5. Blockbuster films
- •2 .6. Charlie chaplin – early years
- •2. 7. English on the stage
- •2. 8. Harry porter
- •2. 9. Hippies
- •2. 10. Hollywood
- •2. 11. Kevin costner
- •12. Leonardo DiCaprio
- •2. 13. Libraries
- •2. 14. Mozart
- •2.15. Madam tussaud's
- •2. 16. Niccolo paganini - virtuoso or devil?
- •2.17. Russian winter in london
- •2.18. The birth of the "seventh art"
- •2.19. The little tramp
- •2. 20. Tretyakov gallery
- •2. 21. Television in modern life
- •2. 22. Types of music
- •2. 23. Walt disney's world
- •2. 43. Young musician of the year
- •Оглавление
- •Progressive rock...................................................................................................................................
- •The american greats............................................................................................................................
- •Summer camps in the united states.............................................................................................
1. 54. Covent garden
Read the text and find the information about the history of the theatre.
The Royal Opera House Covent Garden stands not far away from one of the most famous of London streets, The Strand, in the West End. Even so, a Visitor only realizes this and discovers the opera house with difficulty. There are no notices pointing the way towards Bow Street, and you have to go up and down small turnings to find it.
Yet there is nothing to apologize for at Covent Garden, except the approach to it. It is the best opera house in Europe, with one of the finest possible orchestras.
You may be wondering about the actual name. 'Covent' comes from 'Convent', a nunnery. In the Middle Ages the area near Bow Street was occupied by a convent and now the name alone keeps up the memory. After King Henry VIII closed the convent, the area was developed into a most beautiful piazza with fashionable houses all round it. This was still long before the theatre came. What came next was far worse and has still not been removed; the vegetable market. In 1671 one
of the owners in the district let property to a market gardener and the vegetables arrived. When the cabbages came the duchesses left, and the cabbages, cauliflowers and oranges are still on the pavement, giving a distinct smell to the whole quarter. Perhaps only in England could the national opera house be lost among sacks of potatoes and crates of bananas.
The theatre you see today was the third to be built: twice in two centuries Covent Garden has been burned down. Outside you see tall pillars, flags and lights. The inside is far more beautiful. The large auditorium is in the shape of a horseshoe. There you can see the great dark velvet curtains with the royal initials EIIR (Elizabeth II Regina) at the bottom and much more dark velvet and plush all round. The boxes and pink-shaded candles stretch around the horseshoe under a dome and a light-green ceiling. This is the real Covent Garden and on a gala night when there are flags, draperies and flowers in the boxes it asks you to forgive it for standing in so obscure a corner of the city.
Exercise
Find the correct ending:
1. The Royal Opera House Covent Garden stands a) in the West End.
b) in the East End
c) in the suburb of London.
2. It is the best opera house a) in Asia
b) in the world
c) in Europe
3. The theatre you see today was a) the second to be built.
b) the third
c) the first.