The La Monnaie opera house, also known as the Royal Theatre of La Monnaie is a renowned opera house in Brussels, Belgium. The National Opera of Belgium, a federal institution, takes the name of this theatre in which it is housed—La Monnaie in French or De Munt in Dutch—referring both to the building as well as the opera company.

Early History.

Gio Paolo Bombarda, the owner of the theatre at the Hooikaai, banker and financial counselor to Maximilian II Emmanuel of Bavaria, and governor of the Spanish Netherlands decided to build a public theatre for opera, theatre, and ballet performances. The first permanent public theatre for opera performances of the court and the City of Brussels was built between 1695 and 1700 by the Venetian architects Paolo and Pietro Bezzi. It was considered one of the most beautiful theatres outside Italy. The date of the first performance in 1700 remains unknown, but the first showing mentioned in the local newspapers was Jean-Baptiste Lully’s Atys, on November 19th, 1700. The French operatic repertoire would dominate the Brussels stage throughout the following century, although performances of other non-French repertoire were performed on a regular basis. Under the rule of Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine, who acted as a generous patron of the arts, the theatre flourished greatly. At that time, it housed an opera company, a ballet, and an orchestra. The splendor of the performances diminished during the last years of Austrian rule, due to the severe politics of the Austrian Emperor Joseph II.

Napoleon decided to build a new theatre.

During the time of Napoleon Bonaparte’s rule, the La Monnaie opera house in Brussels, Belgium, experienced several changes and transformations, as the city and its cultural institutions were affected by the political and social shifts of the era. After 1795, the theatre became a French departmental institution when the French revolutionary forces occupied the Belgian provinces. Amongst other cuts in its expenses, the theatre had to abolish its Corps de Ballet. Napoleon, visiting Brussels, judged the old theatre too dilapidated for one of the most prestigious cities of his future Empire. He ordered plans to replace the old building with a new and more monumental edifice, but the plans would only be carried out and Bombarda’s building demolished in 1818, under the auspices of the new United Kingodm of the Netherlands (King William of the Spanish Netherlands lifted the prohibition on the staging of Auber’s opera The Mute of Portici. This work played an important part in Belgium’s struggle for independence.)

The theatre of Louis Damesme

Unlike Bombarda’s building, which was situated along the street and completely surrounded by other buildings, the new theatre was placed in the middle of a newly constructed square. While this also made it monumental, the main concern was safety: the building was now more accessible to firemen, and the chance of any fire spreading was reduced. The new auditorium was inaugurated on 25 May 1819 with the opera La Caravane du Caire by the composer André Ernest Modeste Grétry.

The third theatre

After the fire of January 1855, the theatre was reconstructed after the designs of Joseph Poelaert within a period of fourteen months. The auditorium (with 1,200 seats) and the foyer were decorated in a then-popular Eclectic style; a mixture of neo-Baroque, neo-Rococo, and neo-Renaissance styles. The lavish decoration made excessive use of gilded carton-pierre decorations and sculptures, red velvet, and brocade. The auditorium was lit by a huge crystal chandelier made of gilded bronze and Venetian crystals, which still hang in the center of the domed ceiling today. The new Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie opened on 25 March 1856 with Fromental Halévy’s Jaguarita l’Indienne. In the middle of the 19th century, the repertoire was dominated by popular French composers such as Halévy, Daniel Auber, and Giacomo Meyerbeer, as well as Italian composers like Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, Vincenzo Bellini and Giuseppe Verdi.

The Façade.

Designed by Louis Damesme in a neo-classical style, the façade of the theatre dates from 1819. In 1854 Eugène Simonis put the finishing touch to the façade in the form of a pediment with a bas-relief representing ‘The Harmony of Human Passions’.

Main Auditorium.

Built by Joseph Poelaert in an eclectic style, the auditorium combines French and Italian features. It can seat 1,152 people and is a magnificent example of European theatre architecture. In 1999 the restored canvas by the Parisian set designers François-Joseph Nolau and Alfred Rubé was reinstalled on the cupola. It represents Belgium as the protector of the arts.

The Grand Foyer.

With the exception of the ceiling painting by Thierry Bosquet (ca. 1970), the interior decoration of the Grand Foyer dates from 1856. Designed by Poelaert, this room is a good example of the eclectic style. As well as being used for serving refreshments, the foyer is also used for chamber music concerts and as a lecture hall where introductions to the operas are given.