The
Palais Garnier, also known as the
Opéra de Paris or Opéra
Garnier, but more commonly as the Paris
Opéra, is a 2,200-seat opera
house on the Place de l'Opéra
in Paris
, France
. A
grand landmark designed by
Charles Garnier in the
Neo-Baroque style, it is regarded as one of the
architectural masterpieces of its time.
The
building is located in the 9th arrondissement of Paris
and is served by the metro station Opéra
.
Upon its
inauguration in
1875, the opera house was officially named the
Académie Nationale de Musique - Théâtre de l'Opéra. It
retained this title until 1978 when it was re-named the
Théâtre
National de l'Opéra de Paris.
After the opera company chose the
Opéra
Bastille
as their principal theatre upon its completion
in 1989, the theatre was re-named as the Palais Garnier,
though its more official name, the Académie Nationale de
Musique, is still sprawled above the columns of its front
façade. In spite of the change of names and the Opera
company's relocation to the
Opéra Bastille, the
Palais
Garnier is still known by many people as the
Paris
Opéra, as have all of the many theatres which have served as
the principal venues of the Parisian Opera and Ballet since its
founding.
History
The
Palais Garnier was designed as part of the great
Parisian reconstruction of the
Second Empire initiated by
Emperor Napoleon III, who chose the
Baron Haussmann to supervise the
reconstruction. In 1858 the Emperor authorized Haussmann to clear
the required of land on which to build a second theatre for the
world renowned Parisian Opera and Ballet companies. The project was
put out to open competition in 1861, and was won by the architect
Charles Garnier
(1825–1898). The foundation stone was laid in 1861, followed by the
start of construction in 1862. Legend has it that the Emperor's
wife, the
Empress Eugénie,
asked Garnier during the construction as to whether or not the
building would be built in the Greek or Roman style, to which he
replied: "It is in the Napoleon III style Madame!"
Setbacks
The construction of the opera house was plagued by numerous
setbacks. One major problem which postponed the laying of the
concrete foundation was the extremely swampy ground under which
flowed a subterranean lake, requiring the water to be removed by
eight months of continual pumping. More setbacks came as a result
of the disastrous
Franco-Prussian
War, the subsequent fall of the Second French Empire, and the
Paris Commune. During this time
construction continued sporadically, and it was even rumoured that
construction of the opera house might be abandoned.
Fire
On 29 October 1873, an incentive to complete the
Palais
Garnier came when the old
Paris Opéra, known as the
Théâtre
de l'Académie Royale de Musique, was destroyed by a fire
which raged for 27 hours, leaving the whole of Paris in
despair.
(From 1852 until 1855, during the beginnings of the Second French
Empire, the opera house was known as the
Théâtre de l'Académie
Impérial de Musique. In 1855 the opera house was re-named as
the
Théâtre Impérial de l'Opéra. Upon the fall of the
Second French Empire, the opera house was re-named simply as the
Théâtre de l´Opéra, a title it retained until its
destruction in 1873. )
The
Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique had been the
chief venue of the Parisian Opera and Ballet since 1821, and had
seen many of the world's greatest masterworks of opera and ballet
presented on its stage.
The Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de
Musique is also famous for playing host to the heyday of the
romantic ballet (along with Her Majesty's
Theatre
in London
).
Completion
By late 1874 Garnier and his massive workforce completed the
Palais Garnier, much to the celebration of Paris. The
Palais Garnier was formally inaugurated on January 15,
1875 with a lavish gala performance. The ball consisted of the
third act of
Fromental
Halévy's 1835 opera
La Juive,
along with excerpts from
Giacomo
Meyerbeer's 1836 opera
Les
Huguenots. The ballet company performed a
Grand
Divertissement staged by the
Paris Opéra's Maître de Ballet en Chef
Louis Méranté, which
consisted of the celebrated scene
Le Jardin Animé from
Joseph Mazilier's 1867 revival of
his ballet
Le Corsaire, set to
the music of
Léo Delibes.
The Grand Staircase
Phantom
In 1896, one of the
counter-weights
for the grand chandelier fell, killing one. This, as well as the
underground lake, cellars, and other elements of the Opera House,
inspired
Gaston Leroux in 1909 to
write his classic
Gothic novel,
The Phantom of the
Opera.
Recent history
In
1969, the theatre was given new electrical
facilities, and in 1978 part of the original
Foyer de la
Danse was converted into new rehearsal space for the Ballet
company by the architect
Jean-Loup
Roubert.
In
1994, restoration work began on the theatre,
which consisted of modernizing the stage machinery and electrical
facilities, while restoring and preserving the opulent décor, as
well as strengthening the frame and foundation of the building.
This restoration was completed in
2006.
Architecture and style
The Grand Foyer
Although slightly smaller in scale than its predecessor, the
Théâtre de l'Académie Royale de Musique, the
Palais
Garnier consists of 11,000 square metres (118,404 square
feet), seats an audience of roughly 2,200 under a central
chandelier which weighs over six tons, and has a huge stage with
room to accommodate up to 450 artists. An ornate building, the
style is monumental and considered typically
Beaux-Arts, with use of axial
symmetry in plan, and its exterior ornamentation.
The Palais is opulently decorated with elaborate multicolored
marble friezes, columns, and lavish statuary, many of which portray
the deities from
Greek mythology.
Between the columns of the theatre's front façade, there are bronze
busts of many of the great composers,
Mozart,
Rossini,
Daniel
Auber,
Beethoven,
Meyerbeer,
Fromental Halévy,
Spontini, and
Philippe
Quinault.
The central roof group,
Apollo, Poetry, and Music, was the
work of
Aimé Millet. The two gilded
figural groups
Harmony and
Poetry were both
designed by
Charles Gumery, and the
two smaller bronze Pegasus figures at either end of the gable are
from
Eugène-Louis
Lequesne. The facade incorporates major multifigure groups
sculpted by
François Jouffroy
(
Harmony),
Jean-Baptiste Claude
Eugène Guillaume (
Instrumental Music),
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux (
The
Dance, criticized for indecency),
Jean-Joseph Perraud (
Lyrical
Drama), and other work by Gumery,
Alexandre Falguière and
others.
The interior consists of interweaving corridors, stairwells,
alcoves and landings allowing the movement of large numbers of
people and space for socializing during intermission. Rich with
velvet, gold leaf, and cherubim and nymphs, the interior is
characteristic of Baroque sumptuousness.
The ceiling area, which surrounds the chandelier, was given a new
painting in 1964 by
Marc Chagall. This
painting proved controversial, with many people feeling Chagall's
work clashed with the style of the rest of the theatre. (It was
also installed directly onto the old mural, thereby destroying it.
The combined weight of both canvases has caused the 19th C.
adhesives to fail over time.)
Influence abroad
The building became one of the most inspirational architectural
prototypes for the next thirty years.
Several
buildings in Poland
were based
on the design of the Palais Garnier, and include the Juliusz
Słowacki Theatre
in Kraków
, built in
1893, and the Warsaw Philharmony edifice in Warsaw
, built
between 1900 and 1901.
In the
Ukraine, the influence of the Palais Garnier can be seen at the
The Lviv Theatre of Opera and
Ballet
in Lviv
, built
between 1897 and 1900 and also at the Kiev Opera
edifice in Kiev
, built in
1901.
The
Thomas
Jefferson Building
of the Library of Congress
in Washington, D.C.
is modeled after Palais Garnier, most notably the
facade and Great Hall.
The
Theatro
Municipal do Rio de Janeiro
(1909) was also modeled after Palais Garnier,
particularly and Great Hall and stairs.
The Amazonas theater in Manaus
The
Amazon
Theatre
in Manaus (Brazil) built from 1884 to 1896.
The overview is very similar, even if the decoration is more
simple.
Image:Krakow 71.jpg|Side view of the Juliusz Slowacki
theaterImage:WarsawFilharmonia.jpg|Warsaw Philharmony circa
1900Image:Lwów opera projekt elewacji bocznej 1896.png|Maquette of
the Lviv TheatreImage:Kiev Opera House - 005.jpg|Kiev
OperaImage:LibraryOfCongress 07130009.jpg|Thomas Jefferson
BuildingImage:Teatro Municipal.jpg|Municipal theater of Rio de
Janeiro
See also
Image gallery
Image:Paris Opera -circa 1900.jpg|The
Palais Garnier as
seen circa 1900File:Paris - Inaugurition de l'Opéra 1875.jpg|The
Inauguration ceremony held at the
Grand Escalier,
1875Image:PhotoB_062.jpg|
Apollo, Poetry and Music roof
sculpture by
Aimé
MilletImage:Apollon opera Garnier.jpg|
Apollo, Poetry and
Music; Apollo's lyre detailImage:Right roof sculptures Paris
Opera.jpg|
Liberty roof sculpture by
Charles GumeryImage:Lyrical drama
Perraud.jpg|
Lyrical Drama façade sculpture by
Jean-Joseph PerraudImage:Jean-Baptiste
Carpeaux La Danse.jpg|
The Dance by
Jean-Baptiste
CarpeauxImage:PhotoB_064.jpg|Bronze busts of Beethoven and
Mozart on the front façadeImage:Le grand foyer-2.jpg|The
Foyer
de la DanseImage:Palais garnier def.jpg|detail from the
front
References
- Allison, John (ed.), Great Opera Houses of the World,
supplement to Opera Magazine, London 2003
- Beauvert, Thierry, Opera Houses of the World, New
York: The Vendome Press, 1995. [ISBN 0-86565-978-8]
- Guest, Ivor Forbes, Ballet of the Second Empire,
London: Wesleyan University Press, 1974
- Guest, Ivor Forbes, The Paris Opera Ballet, London:
Wesleyan University Press, 2006
- Kleiner, Fred S., Gardner's Art Through The Ages,
Belmont: Thomsom Wadsworth, 2006 [ISBN 0-534-63640-3]
- Zeitz, Karyl Lynn, Opera: the Guide to Western Europe's
Great Houses, Santa Fe, New Mexico: John Muir Publications,
1991. [ISBN 0-945465-81-5]
Notes
External links