The Opéra Garnier or the "Paris Opera," was the world's largest theater and opera house when it opened on January 5, 1875. The building, opulent inside and out, was designed by Charles Garnier, a young, unknown architect at the time. His winning proposal was one of 171 proposals submitted in an architectural competition in 1861. The Palais Garnier took 14 years to build, with its completion being delayed by money troubles, the Franco-Prussian War (when the building was used as a warehouse), and a fire that gutted the interior and killed a fireman in 1873.
The Opera Garnier’s notoriety was enhanced as the setting of Gaston Leroux’s 1909 novel, “The Phantom of the Opera,” considered to be a classic of French literature. It has been adapted for a variety of film and stage productions, and even after 25 years, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical version of the “Phantom” continues to attract audiences around the world. The legendary love story is the most financially successful theatrical show in history.
The plot of the “Phantom” was influenced by a number of real-life facts about the Opera, such as in 1896, when one of the counter-weights for the grand chandelier fell, killing a person. An underground lake and spring, the presence of which caused delays to its construction, was the setting for some of the most important scenes in the novel. The lake still exists and lies beneath the cellars of the building.
The entrance to the Opera Garnier, with a bust of Charles Garnier
A placard with Box Office information in four languages behind the sculpture at the entrance to the Opera
A close view of the head of the Pythia
“This figure was not made specifically for the Opera. The niche that receives it was intended to shelter a seated statue of Orpheus, which, for various reasons, had been postponed from purchase. It was in Rome that the Duchess Colonna modeled her Pythia, and it was in Rome that I saw her, when the sculpture was still in clay. I liked it a lot, but I did not think then that it should have a place in the theatre. It was not until two years later, while the Pythia was exhibited in Paris, after its casting in bronze, that, not seeing the Orpheus coming to fruition, I wanted to see the effect that it could produce under the staircase. This effect was satisfying to me and I asked the minister to acquire the sculpture. That is what took place, and in the place of a white marble figure, quietly representing a very calm god, I had a tormented bronze, representing a priestess of Apollo tormenting herself on her tripod! I do not regret this substitution and, it seems to me, the public is of the same opinion. (Garnier 2001, pp. 296–97)
Garnier was a man of many words, but I think he must have had a wicked sense of humor, too, judging by his comparison of the statue of Orpheus and the Pythia.
A candelabra designed by Garnier in the niche with the Pythia
A plan of the Opera as designed by Garnier
At the foot of the Grand Staircase are two bronze torchères, in the form of large topless female figures offering bouquets of light in their outstretched arms.
A salamander is crawling its way up the balustrade on the Grand Staircase.
“The entire building is theater. The spectators themselves become actors and perform, directed by the creative force of Garnier as soon as they walk on to the disguised stage that is the Grand Staircase.” (from Charles Garnier’s Opera by Gerard Fontaine)
Entry to the Auditorium
The ceiling above the Grand Staircase required four large, identically-shaped panels. The subjects were complex, filled with figures, horses and exotic animals. Because the four paintings are essentially viewed as a single unit from below, they are similar in design and pattern, all seen against a light sky. The result was astounding and pleased Garnier, who praised them and the artist, Isadore Pils, enthusiastically.
The Triumph of Apollo
The City of Paris receiving the Plan of the New Opera
The Enchantment of Music
Minerva Fighting Brutality
The staircase splits to the right and left about halfway up its elevation and each arm leads to the upper foyers and the different levels of the auditorium.
The Forward Foyer overlooks the Grand Staircase before one enters the Grand Foyer toward the front of the building. During intermission, people could mingle in the Forward Foyer and the Grand Foyer, go out into the Facade Loggia for fresh air, the Fumoir to smoke or the Glacier for refreshments.
The Opéra’s Auditorium seats about 2,000 people. Four tiers of balconies surround the ground floor, with elaborate boxes to the left and right of the stage, with their sculptured caryatids. The coloration is muted gold, set off by the red theater boxes and seats. Garnier intended the color of the Auditorium to tastefully set off the dress and appearance of fashionable ladies and to prepare the audience for the performance, putting them in a proper mood for the music and dance to follow.
The Forward Foyer
Entrance to boxes
View of the Proscenium arch. Even the arch has sculptural enhancements above it.
Balconies in the auditorium
The new ceiling frescoes of the Opera were conceived and painted in lively colors by Marc Chagall in 1964. They depict scenes from operas by 14 composers: Moussorgsky, Mozart, Wagner, Berlioz, Rameau, Debussy, Ravel, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Adam , Bizet, Verdi, Beethoven, and Gluck. Although praised by some, others feel Chagall's work doesn’t complement or harmonize with the baroque richness of the auditorium. Hanging in the center is an immense crystal chandelier weighing more than eight tons.
Prepare to be dazzled. This is the Grand Foyer. It is 177 feet long, 42 ½ feet wide and 59 feet high. It was the largest and most complex decorative program in the Opéra’s interior. A copy of Charles Garnier's bust by the sculptor Carpeaux stands in the center of the foyer.
Rows of chandeliers
To say that this foyer has excessive ornamentation is a huge understatement. The glitz is almost blinding, especially when sunlight hits the gold gilt. The Hall of Mirrors at the chateau of Versailles is the only thing I’ve ever seen that comes close to the opulence of Garnier’s Grand Foyer.
The flat ceiling contains a large, rectangular panel flanked by oval panels at each end. These are surrounded by a cove containing twenty irregularly shaped panels, nine on the sides and one on each end.
Above each of the ten doorways are painted oval medallions personifying the music of various countries and ethnic groups. Atop each of the twenty columns between the ten doors, separating the medallions, are sculptured figures.
The fireplace caryatids were done by the same artist who did the torcheres of the grand staircase, Albert Carrier-Belleuse. The painting “Apollo Receiving the Lyre,” was done by Elie Delaunay.
Ceiling painting by Paul Baudry, the major artist of the ceiling panels
These caryatids were sculpted by Charles Cordier, and the six-feet-high Sevres vase was done by Joseph Cheret.
Small circular salons acted as entrance vestibules connecting the Glacier and Fumoir to the Forward Foyer. Just before the Opéra’s inauguration, the Salons of the Moon and the Sun each had its own motif--ice (cold, for the sorbet room) and fire (heat, for the smoking room). Unfortunately, to Garnier’s frustration, the artist mistakenly reversed the schemes so that one had to go through the “ice room” to have a cigar and go through the “sun room” to have a sorbet.
Chandelier in the Moon Room
White gold streams silver rays sprinkled with gold constellations and platinum leaf decoration
Moon Room
Four mirrors set up Infinite reflections of the light of the chandelier.
Sun Room chandelier
Sun Room
As in the Moon Room, four mirrors set up infinite reflections of the light of the chandelier.
Two areas on opposite sides of the Opéra were left unfinished after the inauguration of the building, the Glacier (the gallery designed for sorbets and refreshments) and the Fumoir, (smoking lounge). The Glacier restaurant, intended for season ticket holders who wanted to eat before a performance, was never installed. In 1889, Georges-Jules-Victor Clairin decorated the ceiling of the Glacier with an airy painting of a bacchanal.
Chandelier in the Glacier
Bacchanal
Bacchanal
Bacchanal
Looking down the Avenue de l’Opera from the Grand Foyer
A bird’s eye view of the Opera Cafe. Check out the shape of the umbrellas.
A closer view of the cafe
The gift shop of the Opera
A ballet dress in the window of the gift shop
Ballet dress fashion
Fanciful ballerina lanterns in the gift shop
A gift shop ballerina lantern
The Paris Opera is the creation of one man, Charles Garnier, from start to finish. He designed and chose everything down to the last detail. He guided the work of collaborating artists and sculptors, many of whom were former fellow students from the art schools Garnier attended, as well as winners of prestigious grand prize art winners. There were 15 principal artists and 75 sculptors and an army of artisans who worked on the Opera. The building of the Opera was a monumental achievement for which Garnier proudly took credit and disdainfully took criticism. Although I think the Opera is a place of over-the-top opulence and stunning extravagance, in the final analysis, I have to agree with the following quote:
“Throughout his life, Garnier was criticized for his excessive use of ornament, as Napoleon and Haussman are still accused of being inspired by an out-of-date and imperialist showmanship expressed in a language already debased. Such critics forget that every city needs its occasional monuments and occasions of grandeur, and that thanks largely to these three men, Paris remains one of the most beautiful cities in the world."
— John Julius Norwich, ed. Great Architecture of the World. p214.
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