Garnier opera

The Opera Garnier, also known as Garnier Palace or Paris Opera, is one of the most characteristic buildings in the 9th arrondissement of Paris and the urban landscape of the French capital. Napoleon III ordered its construction from the architect Charles Garnier, who designed it in the Second Empire or Napoleon III Style.

Since its inauguration in 1875, the opera house was officially called the National Academy of Music-Opera Theater. It retained its title until 1978, when it was renamed the National Opera House in Paris. In 1989 the Opera Company moved its headquarters to the recently built Bastille Theater and its old headquarters received the name of Palau Garnier, where the National Academy of Music remains. Despite the official name change and the transfer of the Opera Company, the Palais Garnier is still popularly known by the name of the Garnier Opera in Paris.

Inside Opera Garnier.

Background

King Louis XIV authorized the composer Jean-Baptiste Lully to establish the Royal Academy of Music in 1672, the French dramatic art institution comprising opera, ballet and music. Although the opera formed its own company until 1669, the ballet of that time was simply an extension of it, developing independently of the dramatic art. However, Louis XIV established the ballet school in 1661 as the Royal Academy of Dance. From 1671 until Lully's death, the school was run by dance master Pierre Beauchamp, the man who created the five foot positions.

In 1713 Louis XIV made the Opera Company a state institution, including a company of professional dancers known as the Opera Ballet. From that time until the inauguration of the Garnier Palace in 1875, the Royal Academy of Music had thirteen theaters as its main venue, many of which were destroyed by fire. Despite the "official" names they received until then, all these theaters were commonly known as Paris Opera .

History

Grand EscalierScaleras of the Opera.

Partial view of the room.

zSculptures of Apollo, and representations of poetry and music, work of Aimé Millet.

Construction

The Garnier Palace was designated part of the transformations of Paris during the Second Empire, promoted by Emperor Napoleon III, who chose Baron Haussmann to supervise the works. In 1858 the Emperor authorized Haussmann to tear down the 12,000 m² required to build the second theater for Paris's renowned opera and ballet companies. The project was put up for competition in 1861, and was awarded to Charles Garnier (1825-1898). The first stone was laid in 1861, followed by the start of work in 1862. It is said that the emperor's wife, Empress Eugenia de Montijo, asked Garnier during construction if the building would be in the Greek or Roman style, to which he replied: "It's in Napoleon III style, ma'am!"

The construction of the Opera had several setbacks. The work had to be interrupted when caves with groundwater were found during the excavations, which had to be absorbed with hydraulic pumps for eight months. It was also discontinued after the disaster of the Franco-Prussian War, the fall of the Second French Empire, and the Paris Commune of 1870.

An incentive to finish building this building appears when the old Paris Opera, known as the Theater of the Royal Academy of Music (also known as Theater of the Imperial Academy of Music), was destroyed by a fire that lasted 27 hours on October 29, 1873. This theater had been the headquarters of the Parisian opera and ballet since 1821, in which the greatest masterpieces had been presented, and it was the venue where he came to its heyday the romantic ballet, next door to Her Majesty's Theater in London. After 1874, Garnier and his team completed the theater.

Since 1875

The Palais Garnier was officially inaugurated on January 5, 1875, with a ceremony that included the presentation of the third act of the opera La Juive, by Halévy, and excerpts from the opera Les Huguenots, by Meyerbeer. The ballet company presented a diversion represented by the ballet master Louis Mérante that consisted of the famous scene from Le Jardin Animé by Joseph Mazilier, recreated from his ballet Le Corsaire.

In 1969 the theater received new electrical installations and in 1978 part of the original Foyer de la Danse was converted into a new space for rehearsals of the ballet Company, a work by the architect Jean-Loup Roubert. In 1994, the restoration of the theater began, which consisted of the modernization of the stage and electrical installations, while the decoration was restored and preserved, and the structure of the building was strengthened. The restoration was finished in 2006.

In 2011, a restaurant designed by the French architect Odile Decq opens.

Features

Slightly smaller in scale than its predecessor, the Royal Academy of Music Theatre, Garnier Palace comprises 11,000m², has a capacity of approximately 2,200 spectators and a stage for 450 artists.

It is a monumental-style building, opulently decorated with multicolored friezes made of marble, columns and statues, many of them representing deities from Greek mythology. Between the columns on the front façade of the theatre, there are bronze busts of many famous composers, such as Mozart and Beethoven. The interior is adorned in velvet, golden leaves, nymphs and cherubs. The chandelier in the central auditorium weighs more than six tons. The ceiling area around the chandelier has a 1964 painting by Marc Chagall.

Acoustics

In closed spaces, the preponderant phenomenon that must be taken into account is reflection. Both direct and reflected sound will reach the public, which if they go in different phases can produce reinforcements and in extreme cases lack of sound.

The theater reaches its highest peak with this play. The hidden structure of the building was made of iron. Its shape is the traditional horseshoe and has four rows of boxes. The large volume of La Ópera (just over eleven thousand cubic meters) made it necessary to use internal decoration, furniture, etc..., sufficiently absorbent so as not to generate an excessive increase in reverberation times. These properties were achieved thanks to the high absorption provided by the attendees, the thick upholstery of the furniture and, fundamentally, placing heavy curtains and tapestries, as well as large curtains and carpets. As mentioned above, reverberation and reverberation time are controlled through the placement of absorbent materials and acoustic reflectors, achieving optimal sound quality inside.