It was the custom during the 1930s for programmes at the Royal Opera House to bear the slogan: 'The world's greatest theatre.' It is not the purpose of this book to make that claim, but it is undeniable that the stage at Covent Garden has seen some supreme performances in its long history, in the three arts of theatre, opera and ballet.We have sought not to present a history of the theatre and its productions - an enterprise which would require a series of substantial volumes - but an evocation of its past and present. We have chosen to use, for the most part, visual images rather than the written word, partly because they are more immediate, but partly also because we wished to portray the theatre by means of a family album. In an album, the arrangement and contents are subjective, making no claim to tell every side of the story. Family albums are more concerned with success and happiness rather than with failure and despair, and so it is with our "Covent Garden Album."
