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.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
Built between 1862 and 1875 by Charles Garnier, the Paris opera is a baroque example of neoclassicism: It has an ornamented facade, monumental stairs and Italian type hall with Chagall paintings on the ceiling. Maria Callas and Rudolf Noureev are among the many artists who wrote its history as one of the world foremost scenic stages for opera and ballet alike. Since the opening of the Opéra Bastille in 1989, the Opéra Garnier is devoted to ballets.
In front of the opera, the Place de l'Opéra is a superb example of Haussman's urbanism. Baron Haussman completely reshaped Paris during the second half of the 19th century by opening large boulevards. The magnificent Grand Hôtel interior (3, place de l'Opéra) is another legacy from Haussman's days architecture.
The very animated district around the opera saw the world first movie projection by the Lumière brothers in 1895 (in what is now l'Hôtel Scribe, rue Scribe). In the district, brasseries like le Grand Café Capucines (4, boulevard des Capucines) will make you spend a delicious evening in Paris. And don't miss the Rue de la Paix near-by, its jewelleries and the Opera Lautrec.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Rue de la Paix in Paris
The Rue de la Paix (Peace street) is the most expensive street in the Paris version of the Monopoly game. It connects the Paris Garnier Opera to the 17th century Place Vendome where the famous Ritz hotel is located and the Hotel Opera Lautrec too.
The Rue de la Paix is above all famous for its very fashionable jewelleries like the world famous Cartier (look at the marvelous ring opposite) and fashion stores. In Rue de la Paix, you will find jewelleries like Cartier (13), the modern and very good Poiray (1), Boucheron and Van Cleef and Arpels (near-by Place Vendome).
Tati Or (19), a newcomer, is selling nice jewels at incredibly low prices.
You also find the classical Alfred Dunhill of London (15), the table arts of Christofle (24), the cristal of Daum (4). Charvet (Place Vendome) sells shirts in 6000 fabrics and a few ten thousands beautiful ties. Comptoir Sud Pacifique (17) sells clothes in the Turquoise color of Tahiti. The Rue de la Paix is near-by the Opera metro station.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________ The communications between cultural places seems to be, within sight of many Obscure searches in the field, an obviousness. A Passage place between two operas can thus be completely plausible. Moreover It appears increasingly probable that the music is a rather effective method which allows the passage between the worlds.
It is thus not astonishing that assumptions of Passage exist in connection with the Garnier operas of Paris and that of Pâhry in the obscure world. However, it is not from our world which come the majority from the rumours and the indices concerning this Passage place, but rather from that Obscur. Indeed, many accounts managed to us as for the sudden decision to make close the opera of Pâhry, decision taken by the Berthelot civil servant. Dark and quite futile reasons had been called upon like the outdatedness of the places and the need for modernism which had a city which wished to compete with its neighbors. The opera of Pâhry was thus evacuated in all haste and then definitively closed in spite of the protests of many artists and music lovers.
Some other more discrete rumours made state of a parallel circulation in the heart of the opera, dissimulated passages, of not-in conformity size of some parts of some rooms. This circulation thus did not fail to worry the civils servant of the city who made their decisions of closing them. For as astonishing as that is this assumption, it would seem that also in the obscure world, one can fear some passages...
Of course, the evidence coming from the clear world also exists such as for example this mysterious letter written by Albert Richard, the nephew of Jules Richard, the inventor of the Taxiphote. In this letter, Albert Richard lets know to his uncle that a particular image of the Garnier opera looked in the Taxiphote would reveal a Passage towards an Obscur world. This Passage would let foresee the underground river which runs under the opera and which would lead towards this world. If the accused image reached us, the letter remains untraceable. The image et the simple sight does not reveal anything in particular if it is not this man who seems to assemble the steps of the opera while running. It is true that that seems absurd on an image intended to make the promotion of the building and Paris. To date unfortunately, it was not possible to view the image by means of a Taxiphote which made it possible to see possible Passage again. Perhaps does one also need a special Taxiphote , undoubtedly manufactured by Jules Richard himself ?
______________________________________________________________________________________________
With its astounding wealth of productions, from masterpieces of the Baroque at the gorgeous Palais Garnier to freshly minted world premieres at the modern Bastille, the Opéra National de Paris offers an operatic menu to suit every taste. Meanwhile, the Chatelet Theatre's staging of Berlioz's Les Troyens , conducted by John Eliot Gardiner with Susan Graham as Dido and Gregory Kunde as Aeneas, promises to be one of the hightlights of the season. At the Palais Garnier, there is the unusual pairing of Ravel's charming comedy of sexual intrigue, L'Heure Espagnole and Puccini's comic masterpiece Gianni Schicchi , both with very strong casts. The ‘must-see' of the season, though, has to be the Garnier's new production of Strauss's sophisticated salon piece Capriccio , directed by the consistently excellent Robert Carsen. Renée Fleming as the Countess presides over the debate as to which is the more important – words or music; and Christian Thielemann, a supreme Straussian, conducts. The Bastille, meanwhile, has a new staging of Verdi's Otello by the ubiquitous Francesca Zambello, starring one of today's finest exponents of the title role, Vladimir Galouzine. Roberto Alagna features in Massenet's Manon – a work which could have been written with his voice in mind. And there's a very appealingly cast Die Zauberflöte , with some stunning new talent including Gordon Gietz as Tamino and Stéphane Degout as Papageno. For something more up-to-date, I would urge you to see Laura Aikin as Lulu – she's one of the finest interpreters of the role around. And for the adventurous, there is the world premiere of L'Espace Dernier , an opera by the young German composer Matthias Pintscher, based on the life and work of the French poet Rimbeau.
Charming Hotel in paris - Opera Lautrec
|