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The first Covent Garden theatre as it was in 1791

on the London opera scene. Covent Garden presented the premieres of numerous operas by Handel including Ariodante, Alcina and Atalanta. Performances of plays were prohibited during Lent (the six weeks leading up to Easter), so Rich presented seasons of oratorio for which Handel composed several new works, including Samson, Judas Maccabeus and Solomon. In 1743 the first performance in England of Handel's Messiah – still the most performed oratorio in Britain today – was at Covent Garden.