Sometimes compared to a giant wedding cake, this sumptuous building was designed by Charles Garnier for Napoleon III. The construction started in 1862, Its unique appearance is due to a mixture of materials, including stone, marble and bronze, and styles ranging from Classical to Baroque, with a multitude of columns, friezes ans sculptures on the exterior.
The building took 13 years to complete, with interruptions during the Prussian War and the uprising of 1871, finally it opened in 1875.
In 1858 Orsini ha attempted to assassinate the emperor outside the old opera house.
This promted Garnier to include a pavilion of on the west side of the new building, with a curved ramp leading up to it so that the sovereign could safely step out of his carriage into the suite of rooms adjoining the royal box.
The functions performed by each part of the building are reflected in the structure. Behind the flat-topped foyer, the cuppola sits above the auditorium, while teh triangular pediment that rises up behind the cuppola marks the front of the stage.
Underneath the building is a small lake, which provided inspiration for phantom's hiding place in Paul Leroux's Phantom of the Opera. rewieved in Kulturkompasset.
Inside, don't miss the magnificent Grand Staircase, made of white marble with balustrade of red an green marble, and the Grand Foyer, with its domed seiling covered with mosaics. The five-tiered auditorium is a riot of red velvet, plster cherubs and gold leaf, which contrast with the false ceiling painted by Marc Chagall in 1964.
Most opera are now performed in the new Opera Bastille, except f.ex. Handel operaer such as Ariodante in 2001 and Rameaus Les Indes Galantes, as rewieved above. But the ballet remains in Opera Garnier, except when it is avantgarde ballets, such as Nosferatu, rewieved in Kulturkompasset in 2001.
Credit: Dorling Kindersley: Travel Guides - Paris. etc.
Henning Hoholt, hoeholthus@c2i.net
www.opera-de-paris.fr
