ROYAL OPERA HOUSE ON TRACK FOR FALL REOPENING.

LONDON--The Royal Opera House is on schedule to reopen in November of this year, after two years as a building site. A "topping out" ceremony was held on February 16 to mark the completion of the roof over the new structure--which is far from finished.

The press and invited guests, kitted out in protective clothing and hard hats, were taken on conducted tours before gathering in the rebuilt Floral Hall. This glass-encased area, once part of Covent Garden Market, will be a spacious new foyer for the theater, complete with bars and a restaurant. Patrons will no longer be segregated into upper and lower sections of the Opera House, unable to mingle during intermissions. Pressure on the famous Crush Bar adjoining the dress circle should be eased.

The interior of the theater, stripped bare for renovation and air-conditioning, will ultimately look much the same. The big difference is backstage: antiquated hoists have been replaced with state-of-the-art machinery; the scenery dock has been vastly enlarged; new dressing rooms and rehearsal studios have been provided for the ballet and opera companies. For the first time in its history, the Royal Ballet will be fully resident in its home theater, instead of having a separate base in West London.

Four new ballet studios (in addition to the two existing ones) already look spectacular, with generous skylights and windows giving views across the rooftops of London. The ballet company has its own private terrace outside the studios, to the envy of the opera staff. Executive director Michael Kaiser, in his address at the opening ceremony, was careful to honor both companies equally. The Royal Ballet dominated the occasion, however, with speeches by its director, Sir Anthony Dowell, and principal dancer Deborah Bull. At the time, the music director, Sir Bernard Haitink, was away and no opera director had yet been named.

Antonio Pappano's appointment as music director beginning in 2002 was announced March 24. Currently musical director of the Theatre Royale de la Monnaie in Brussels, Pappano will take over full responsibility for the Royal Opera and the orchestra (which also plays for the Royal Ballet) following Haitink's planned departure at the end of the 2001-02 season. Pappano and Dowell will have equal status as artistic directors, working in partnership with Kaiser.