Palais Garnier is one of the most important buildings in Paris. The building was built in an eclectic style, and it is the thirteenth theatre that has hosted the Paris Opera since its founding in 1669. It is known as the Paris Opera, but since the construction of the Bastille Opera in 1989, it has been known as the Opera Garnier. Palais Garnier dates back to the time of Napoleon III, and it was part of an urban modernization plan. On December 30th, 1860, Napoleon III announced an architectural design competition for the new opera house. The famous architects Charles Rohault de Fleury and Eugene Viollet-de-Duc also participated in this competition. The contest took place in two phases. Charles Garnier’s project was one of the many admitted projects in the first phase. After that, each participant had to express his project through one motto. Garnier used “bramo assai, poco spero” (“Hope for much, expect little“). The second phase required the contestants to revise their original projects. Finally, on May 30th, 1861, Charles Garnier won the competition. A year later, work began on the new opera house. Officially, on July 21st, 1862, Count Walewski laid the foundation stone of the building.

Construction continued until 1868, when the works were interrupted, and in 1870 the Franco-German war broke out. During the war (1870-1871), the building was transformed into a warehouse and was damaged. On the night of October 28th-29th, 1873, a devastating fire destroyed the Opera Le Peletier. Under these conditions, the new French government was forced to resume construction of the Palais Garnier. The theatre was inaugurated on January 5th, 1875. The opening show was a gala attended by great officials such as Marshal MacMahon, the Lord Mayor of London and King Alfonso XII of Spain. The plan of the work developed a type of construction which was very common in France at that time. The exterior of the stage house reflects its interior structure, and it is designed to ensure the representation of the modern works of the time, such as Les Huguenots by Giacomo Meyerbeer or Faust by Charles Gounod, which required huge scenery and frequent stage changes. Palais Garnier was the main theatre in Paris. It was associated with the Paris Opera Ballet until 1989 when the Opera Bastille was inaugurated.

Since then, the company has used the Palais Garnier for ballet performances. Since 1923, the theatre has become one of France’s historical monuments, considered “probably the most famous opera house in the world, a symbol of Paris like Notre Dame Cathedral, the Louvre, or the Sacre Coeur Basilica”. This is partly due to its use as the setting for Gaston Leroux’s novel “Phantom of the Opera “and, especially, the novel’s subsequent adaptations in films and the 1986 musical. Another contributing factor is that, among the buildings constructed in Paris during the Second Empire, besides being the most expensive, it has been described as the only one “unquestionably a masterpiece of the first rank “. Opera Bastille The idea for a new “popular and modern” opera house in Paris came up in the 1880s, only years after the opening of the Palais Garnier. In 1981, the new president Francois Mitterrand included the construction of a new opera house in his program. Thus, shortly after, a contest was organized to select an architect. In November 1983, the contest was won by Carlos Ott. The construction began with the demolition of Bastille Station in 1984. Five years later, the new building was ready. The building was inaugurated by Francois Mitterrand on July 13th 1989, on the eve of the 200th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille. A semi-staged gala concert, directed by Robert Wilson under the title la Nuit avant le jour (The Night Before the Day), was conducted by Georges Pretre and featured singers such as Teresa Berganza and Placido Domingo. The first performance at Bastille Opera was Les Troyens by Hector Berlioz, directed by Pier Luigi Pizzi, on March 17th, 1990. However, even today, the building still draws criticism for its external appearance, just like the Pompidou Centre, The Louvre Pyramid, and the other modern iconic buildings in Paris do. Yet, seeing more than 900,000 spectators each year enjoying concerts, ballet, opera and other performances, the Opera Bastille also hosts some of the world’s greatest musicians, stage directors and choreographers, which will no doubt continue for many years to come.