The 1901 Hackney Empire has turned out to be similarly adaptable on a smaller scale. With its new flytower and backstage areas and orchestra pit, it can now stage everything from stand-up shows to dance and, yes, opera. It is so grand - the main staircase leading up from the foyer is a match for anything at the Coliseum - because this was temporarily the flagship of Stoll's nationwide chain of Empires. Until he got the idea for the Coliseum, the Hackney Empire was earmarked as the company headquarters.

It is a happy coincidence that these two great Matcham theatres were not only built within three years of each other, but have been simultaneously restored a century later. The architects known as The Arts Team, under theatres specialist Nick Thompson, have done the £41m Coliseum rebuild while Tim Ronalds has tackled the £15m Empire project. Both are now back in glorious, over-the-top business, better equipped for both actors and audiences. At the Coliseum, it's a matter of squeezing bits of new space wherever possible - underground, and on top, especially the re-making of the rooftop conservatory bars lost in the 1950s. Now you can enjoy views straight across to Nelson's column.

Apart from the new bars, air conditioning, better staircases and generally sorted circulation that Thompson has introduced - 40 per cent more public space is claimed - what opera-goers will mostly notice is a new freshness. Much of it by interior designer Clare Ferraby, this is Matcham renewed: the mosaics and marble and gilding newly sparkling, the original rich predominantly deep red colour scheme restored and applied to new seating. An air of solemn expectation is given by an imperial-purple stage curtain. Modern insertions, such as a better box office, are done in contemporary style but using the same materials.