Opera Garnier - Grand Opera in Paris

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The idea of founding a theatre in Paris belongs to the "Sun King" Louis XΙV. It came to the crown prince's mind in 1669. The poet P. Perrin and the composer R. Cambert were summoned to an audience and were granted a patent and a verbal carte blanche to found a theatre establishment. The French king at that moment already had a theatre called the Royal Academy of Music, but this did not seem enough for him.

The monarch's soul demanded a greater scope in the field of spectacle. The Royal Academy of Dance was added to the existing institution in 1671. The premiere performance was the tragedy Pomona. The authors are still the same: the writer Perrin (libretto) and the composer Cambert.

It should be noted the fact that the stage venues changed periodically. The royal theatre roamed around in different buildings:

• "Palais-Royal" hosted audiences from 1674 to 1763;

• "Salle Montancier" received standing ovations from 1794 to 1820;

• "Sal de la rue Le Peltier" witnessed a theatrical triumph from 1821 to 1973.

Along with moving from place to place, the names changed. The realm of magical vocals, splendid dances, and enchanting music became the "Theatre of Arts", "Theatre of the Republic and Arts", "Theatre of Opera", "Imperial Academy of Music" and "National Academy of Music and Dance". In 1871, the fireworks of names finally came to a "stop" and the theatre acquired its current name, "Grand OperaA", with an "A" at the end of the word."

The achievements of the Paris theatre in the world of musical art were so great that the decision to finally settle it in its own home was overdue. The construction of the facility lasted from 1862 to 1875. This building is still considered to be the most intricate representative of stone architecture in the French capital during the reign of Napoleon IIΙΙΙ. The style is neo-Baroque. The common name of the architectural masterpiece is "Palais Garnier".

To tell about the external and internal appearance of the building it is better to mention the details:

• picturesque façade with a mass of decorative elements in the spirit of the Napoleon IIΙΙΙΙ style;

• the theatre "soars" above the city by means of a pedestal of wide steps;

• the ground floor is crowned by pylons and high arches;

• sculptural compositions project forward towards the audience;

• on the first floor, impressive-sized windows gently "embrace" duets of columns;

• a grand staircase of snow-white marble with inlays of green and red marble, onyx, jasper, rhodonite leads to the temple of arts;

• on the way up or down, visitors are greeted by 30 marble columns handmade by master craftsmen;

• bronze floor lamps in the form of female figures with colourful "bouquets of light" in their hands share the illumination with everyone who follows the main staircase;

• the foyer of the theatre is decorated with intricate ornamentation, in some niches statues of nymphs and Greek gods keep the peace of the building;

• the graceful vault is adorned with frescoes by Isidore Pilz, the subject matter being musical fantasies;

• in the red-and-gold auditorium you can admire a charming plafond with a painting by Marc Chagall himself, done in 1966;

• a striking bronze chandelier with glass decorative elements, weighing 14,000 pounds and descending in bright splendour straight down to the comfortable seating;

• a separate feature is Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's sculpture "Dance", standing next to the second pilaster.

The main components of the interiors are gold and velvet. The Palais Garnier is so beautiful and grandiose that it could not fail to captivate the hearts of the maestro from the world of cinema. Not only did it itself become the owner of colourful bright scenery for many operas and ballets, but it was also chosen as the backdrop for a number of films. The most famous, best known to the general public, is probably the mystical film The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux.

Myths and Legends of the Grand Opera House

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Like every object of little or no interest to the public, the Parisian theatre has over the years grown mysterious secrets that stir the imagination of the audience. Gaston Leroux's gothic-tinged novel "The Phantom of the Opera" has added fuel to the fire of gossip and the most improbable concoctions.

The muse for the recognised master of the detective genre was the construction of the Garnier Palace. Individual chapters of the work, which saw the light of day on the pages of the newspaper "Le Gaulois", caused such a burning interest among readers that later they were collected in a book. The novel was surprisingly resilient, survived many reprints, became the basis for several screen adaptations and a musical staged on Broadway. The latest musical masterpiece, thanks to the marvellous music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, has become a bestseller for all time, which is well known all over the world.

All this, as well as other mystical events attributed to the Opéra Garnier theatre, have become the best advertisement for an institution whose tickets are always selling out like delicious croissants in Parisian bakeries.

Rumours and gossip to this day around the theatre and the ghost that once lived in it are many, we tried to choose the most plausible of them. Here they are:

• A certain skilled craftsman with a disfigured face and body took part in the construction of the theatre. His character was soft and malleable, and he had a brilliant mind and golden hands. He never quarrelled with anyone or offended anyone. Given his good-natured disposition and terrible loneliness, the directorate of the theatre after the completion of the work allowed him to stay in the building and live in a small, secluded room in the basement. Once in a while he went upstairs to see people. Seeing his external ugliness, and he was also a dwarf, the audience considered him "a spirit, a ghost, the ghost of the theatre". An investigative story about this character was published in the French magazine Le Journal Illustre in 1893.

• The massive, outlandish bronze and glass chandelier hanging in the auditorium actually caused a tragedy at the Grand Opera House on one occasion. In May 1896, there was a malfunction with the counterweight holding this magnificent piece of interior decoration. Heavy discs weighing 360 kg fell down and crippled the audience. An elderly woman working as a concierge died on the spot as a result of this accident. In Gaston Leroux's novel, the fall of the chandelier was associated with a series of further events. In life, the accident ended there. The huge light fixture was put back in place after being repaired.

• In the writer's literary fantasy, the dungeon under the theatre plays a significant role. Next to it as if it were supposed to be a "torture room" belonging to the ghost. But neither city utilities nor speleologists have found anything of the kind under the building. There are catacombs, there is a pond about 55 metres long. A spectacular boat ride on it, as it is shown in the film and in the musical, is hardly technically possible. During tours of the Opera Garnier theatre, curious tourists are also brought here. But there are no underground horrors or adventures. After a quick tour of the accessible underground section, everyone wants to get "under the sun" again sooner".

Gaston Leroux stubbornly maintained that he did not create his book-legend from nothing. Before this he long questioned the workers of the theatre, was personally acquainted with the witnesses who personally saw the ghost. He also gave the events a romantic colouring, adding a love line involving Viscount Raoul de Chagny and the young actress Christine Daaé. The ghost in the author's interpretation is not a mystical character at all. He has a brilliant education, talent, a vulnerable soul.

An ugly face has made a gifted man into an outcast. Meanwhile, Eric excelled at illusion, was well versed in engineering and architecture, and wrote stunningly beautiful music. His infatuation with Christine leads him to do crazy things, but under the mask of seeming cruelty, his heart is actually kind and understanding. Christina's kiss awakens in him all the real things that are hiding inside. The terrible ghost, scaring the audience in the theatre, yields the girl to Raoul. He retreats into the shadows of life, away from the eternal festivities that reign at the Grand Opera House. His final request is sombre. It is within the walls of the theatre that he wishes to rest in time.

Interesting facts about the Opera Garnier theatre in Paris

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You can't get bored with the Paris Opera and Ballet Theatre. There's always a bunch of interesting events going on in it itself, nearby, in the immediate neighbourhood. Perhaps, under other circumstances, no one would pay attention to some of them, but not in this case. Everything about the Opéra Garnier immediately becomes public, gets into the press, is passed from mouth to mouth.

To collect a whole "tale" of ambiguous facts related to the "Grand Opera", we did not, in our list you can find only the most interesting:

• Louis XΙV, famous all over the world thanks to Alexandre Dumas for a series of intrigues at court and romances with favourites, turned out to be an avid theatre-goer. "The Opéra Garnier was the 13th theatre in his august collection.

• The number "13" has since haunted the theatre throughout its life. For example, during the collapse of the chandelier, a female spectator who was sitting in the 13th seat of the parterre was killed.

• Another French monarch Napoleon ΙΙΙΙ conceived the construction of the Palais Garnier after an unsuccessful attempt on his life by an Italian revolutionary on rue le Peletier, and endowed the building with his vision of Baroque architecture.

• During the 15 years that the building for the theatre was under construction, a lot of extraordinary events took place in France: the Franco-Prussian War, the Paris Commune, the overthrow of the imperial power.

• Pomp, luxury, beauty, pathos of the Opera building cost the French treasury 36 million francs, for this European country the cost of building a cultural institution was prohibitively astronomical.

• The red ribbon at the opening of the theatre was solemnly cut by the President of France, Marshal Mac Magon, and not at all by the founding father of the building, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte."

• The auditorium of the "great" theatre was conceived by Charles Garnier in the form of a horseshoe with the hope that it would bring good luck and happiness to both the artists and the audience.

• The miniature underground lake, which is hidden under the building, is hardly possible to take a ride even on the smallest boat, the ceiling is almost flush with water, but there are real fish in it.

• At the very top of the building, right on the roof, at the beginning of the 21st century for some reason installed several beehives, producing excellent quality honey.

• Box number 5 in the luxurious auditorium of the theatre is never busy, the seats in it are considered the property of the ghost of the opera, so no one wants to buy tickets here..

• The construction of the theatre not only changed the level of cultural life in the French capital, but also became, thanks to the efforts of the city's prefect, Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann, the centre of a new transport interchange.

• Like any other theatre, the Grand Opera House has a galley. This favourite corner of the hall, where you can get in for ridiculous money, always has its own atmosphere, moreover, tickets are thrown here 2-3 hours before the performance starts. Fortune can smile on everyone.

• The remaining tickets to the Opera Garnier are a kind of lottery. The playbill, announcements of performances are prepared in advance, more than a year in advance, at least several months in advance. Only the lucky ones who have shown diligence and patience manage to get seats.

Few people know that the design of the building, proposed to Napoleon by the then little-known architect Charles Garnier, was ridiculed by the Empress. Her verdict was harsh: "You have mixed in one place too many styles". To which the future resourceful maestro immediately replied: "This style will go down in history, madame, as an innovation and discovery in the architecture of Louis Bonaparte." And he was not mistaken.

In the fate of the theatre happened and tragic, harsh moments. During the war, the building was used as an ammunition depot. In the days of the revolutionary events, an aeronautical station was erected on the roof of the building. In the same days the cellars and catacombs were filled with pitiful groans. The revolutionaries equipped them with torture chambers for citizens disloyal to what was happening in the country.

Russian opera singers and ballet masters left a notable mark in the history of the Grand Opera House. In 1908, the famous "Russian Seasons" of the very same Sergei Diaghilev were held here. The Parisian beau monde was absolutely delighted with them. Rumour has it that there is even an idea to erect a monument to the great Russian entrepreneur near the theatre.

The Opera Garnier itself toured the USSR 3 times. These were 1958, 1969-70 and 1977. The success of the theatre with Soviet audiences was colossal.

National Paris Opera later

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The history of French opera is directly linked to several high-profile names of people who created in different eras in this genre. The pioneers in France regarding this theatre were undoubtedly P. Perrin and R. Cambert with their production of Pomona."

The theatre branch was further taken up by active followers of the classical French opera school, ballet-masters P. Beauchamp and L. Pecours, composer A. Charpentier. The most outstanding were the performances "Venetian Festivities", "Gallant Europe"."

In the field of creating productions, which combines both opera and ballet at the same time, distinguished A. Campra. J.F. Rameau contributed a lot to the bright flowering of theatre in the 18th century. The audience enthusiastically received the premieres of such musical works as "Gallant India", "Temple of Glory", "Castor and Pollux", "Anacreon", "Paladins".

A clear reformer in the life of the theatre was C.W. Gluck with his works "Orpheus and Eurydice" and "Alceste". Ballet mastery was multiplied by J.J. Noverre, who finally managed to separate this genre into a separate independent niche.

Among the talented, the audience's favourite performers of arias: M. Le Rochua, J.B. Martin, L.R. Dugazon. Enchanting dance pas dazzled ballerinas Delafontaine, M.A. Camargo, M. Salle, T. Vestris, M.M. Guimard.

Another interesting fact! At the time of the Paris Commune, the "tone" of the performances changed dramatically. An opera by F.J. Gossec called "The Gift of Liberty" was staged, and a production of "The Triumph of the Republic, or the Camp at Grandpré" was published. The ballet parts in them were performed to the bravura sounds of the "Marseillaise".

A peculiar reaction to the Great French Revolution were also creations of A. Gretry "The Tyrant Dionysius", "The Republican Chosen Woman, or the Feast of Reason". On the threshold of the 19th century, and in its very beginning there was a series of productions by L. Cherubini, J.F. Lesueur, G. Spontini.

When Opera Garnier becomes more understandable to modern audiences

The late stages of the work of the celebrated theatre can easily be divided into certain milestones, periods, segments, here they are:

19th century

In the 20s of the 19th century, the repertoire of the theatre increasingly begins to gravitate towards more familiar for the current audience productions. The general name of the direction is "grand operas". The theme from tragedies with a "sweet taste of sentimentality" turns towards heroic epic, patriotism, love for the Motherland. In parallel, the romantic thread continues to grow and develop."

On the posters one could already find operas, ballets, authors whose names and titles are now familiar to any enlightened person:

• C. Saint-Saëns "Samson and Dalila", "Henry VΙΙΙΙ";

• R. Wagner's "Tannhäuser", "Lohengrin";

• Ch. Gounod "Faust", "Romeo and Juliet", "Queen of Sheba", "Sappho";

• G. Verdi "Otello", "Don Carlos", "Rigoletto";

• G. Massenet "Tais", "The King of Lahore";

• L. Delibes' "Sylvia."

In the artistic environment among opera singers, dancers, choreographers, conductors shone the following names: P.Viardot-Garcia, M.Malibran, A.Nurri, M.C.Falcon, M.Taglioni, F.Cerrito, L.Petipa, A.Saint-Leon, E.Colonna. All the stars of that era and can not list.

20th century

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At the beginning of the 20th century, until the unfolding of the Second World War, the range of great musical works that roamed the opera houses of the world, undoubtedly including the Paris Opera Garnier, expanded even further. Russian classics were represented in the theatre by the operas "Boris Godunov" by M. Mussorgsky and "The Golden Cockerel" by N.A. Rimsky-Korsakov. The line of ballet the French were greatly helped to develop and improve Sergei Diaghilev's Russian Seasons".

Among other planetary creations, the following stood out:

• R. Strauss's "Salome";

• "The Parma Abode" by A.Soge;

• "Oedipus" by G. Enescu;

• "Bolero" and "Waltz" by M. Ravel;

• Stravinsky's The Moor by I. Stravinsky;

• ballet "Exemplary Beasts" by F. Poulenc.

Now and then the famous stars of the world level took the stage of the Grand Opera House. The hall exploded with applause if it was E. Caruso, J. Thiel, F. Chaliapin, dancers L. Darsonval, O. Spesivtseva, K. Zambelli, A. Pavlova, dancer V. Nijinsky. With the company worked tirelessly conductors P. Montheux, R. Desormier, choreographers M. Fokin, S. Lifar, L. Staats.

Like the rest of the world, after World War II, the Opera Garnier returned to peaceful life, retaining its status as the largest academic theatre institution on the European continent. In the list of musical masterpieces, the administration tried to preserve all the best developments of the times of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, but the masters of the stage did not stop there."

To the performances already accepted by the public have been added:

• Mozart's The Magic Flute;

• Bizet's "Carmen";

• "Norma" by Bellini;

• "Romeo and Juliet" by Prokofiev;

• Jarre's "The Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris";

• "Daphnis et Chloé" by Ravel;

• "Tosca" by Puccini;

• "Dialogues of the Carmelites" by Poulenc;

• "The Trojans," Berlioz's "The Condemnation of Faust".

The list of operas and ballets was constantly replenished with new stage discoveries. I.Chauvire, J.Amiel, N.Puntua, K.Vlassy "soared above the floor" in dance on stage under the direction of choreographers J.Skibin, M.Bejar, R.Petit. The enchanting voices of R.Crespin, J.Giroudo, D.Duval, M.Robin, M.Callas still resounded. These lists include dozens of names of only the first cast. The public often did not even know much about the "reserve players."

Achievements of the theatre in the field of ballet

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Music critics cite the Grand Opera Ballet Company's most colourful legacy as works such as:

• "Butterfly", "Coppélia", Offenbach's "La Sylphide";
• Alicia Alonso's interpretation of portions of performances of "Giselle" and "Sleeping Beauty";
• Burmeister's Swan Lake revision;
• Nijinsky's version of Nijinsky's "Wedding Girl";
• Schubert's masterpiece Pas de Deux;
• Divertissement by the great Mozart;
• a whole kaleidoscope of ballets to Ravel's music - from "Sonatina" to "Gypsy".