by Annette Rubery | Nov 29, 2023 | Opera, Theatre History
Bedford Row, London, November 2023. I wrote the other day (in Operatic foundations: A relic of the Haymarket theatre) about the curious stones in the front garden of a law office in Bedford Row and how I think they once formed the foundation of John Vanbrugh’s...
by Annette Rubery | Nov 12, 2023 | Opera, Theatre History
"Little Whig" in the front garden of a law office on Bedford Row. I had read there was an important relic of John Vanbrugh’s Italian opera house in the Haymarket to be seen in Bedford Row. The first Haymarket theatre was co-managed, at least in the first...
by Annette Rubery | Nov 11, 2023 | History
The Hercules Pillars pub: between Holborn and Covent Garden, London. Last night we went to see Handel’s Jephtha at Covent Garden. On the way, we stopped for a drink at the Hercules Pillars. On August 7th 1718, Sir John Vanbrugh wrote to the Duke of Newcastle: I...
by Annette Rubery | Nov 4, 2023 | Architecture, History
As we were in Oxford, we thought we’d have a look at a building on St Michael’s Street, close to the Oxford Union, that had the reputation of being by Sir John Vanbrugh. It probably isn’t, but it’s an intriguing bit of Baroque architecture that...
by Annette Rubery | Oct 18, 2023 | Architecture
The North Front: an interplay of Doric and Corinthian orders. I chose to spend my birthday this year visiting an architectural masterpiece by Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. One of the Baroque qualities of Blenheim Palace is the way it incorporates a sense...
