Opéra Bastille
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The Opéra Bastille (, "Bastille Opera House") is a modern
opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France. Inaugurated in 1989 as part of President
François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...
's '' Grands Travaux'', it became the main facility of the Paris National Opera, France's principal opera company, alongside the older Palais Garnier; most
opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
performances are shown at the Bastille along with some
ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
performances and symphony concerts, while Palais Garnier presents a mix of opera and ballet performances. Designed by Uruguayan architect
Carlos Ott Carlos Ott (born October 16, 1946, in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan architect who resides in Canada and many other countries. He became famous when he won his first prize in 1983 (among 744 architects from all over the world) for the construction ...
, it is situated facing
Place de la Bastille The Place de la Bastille is a square in Paris where the Bastille prison once stood, until the storming of the Bastille and its subsequent physical destruction between 14 July 1789 and 14 July 1790 during the French Revolution. No vestige of the ...
. It may seat 2,723 people in total, with a main theatre, concert hall and studio theatre.


History


Background and construction

The idea of a new "popular and modern"
opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...
in Paris first arose in the 1880s, only years after the opening of the Palais Garnier. It would remain virtual for a century and reemerge periodically due to the recurrent "crisis at the Opera" and to the limitations imposed on modern opera production by the palais Garnier. It was notably promoted in 1965–1968 by stage director
Jean Vilar Jean Vilar (25 March 1912– 28 May 1971) was a French actor and theatre director. Vilar trained under actor and theatre director Charles Dullin, then toured with an acting company throughout France. His directorial career began in 1943 in a sma ...
, the most prominent figure in "popular theatre" at the time, who had been commissioned a reform project for the National Opera Theatre and echoed composer
Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...
’ provocative appeal to "blow up opera houses", as well as by senior civil servant François Bloch-Lainé in a 1977 report on the Opera's management and perspectives. In 1981, the newly elected President
François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...
included a new opera house in his large monument-building programme known as the " ''Grands Travaux''". The project was originally part of the
Cité de la musique The Cité de la Musique ("City of Music"), also known as Philharmonie 2, is a group of institutions dedicated to music and situated in the Parc de la Villette, 19th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was designed with the nearby Conservatoire d ...
, a complex of musical institutions in North-Eastern Paris. It was quickly decided to separate it and to build it in the
Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stor ...
area of Paris, a relatively working-class district that also evoked the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
and was a traditional starting or ending point for demonstrations. The following year, an international competition was launched, under supervision of the Opéra Bastille Public Corporation (EPOB), to select an architect. 756 entries were received, and, in November 1983, the competition was won by little-known architect
Carlos Ott Carlos Ott (born October 16, 1946, in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan architect who resides in Canada and many other countries. He became famous when he won his first prize in 1983 (among 744 architects from all over the world) for the construction ...
, an
Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
an living in Canada. It was said that the jury, who—as it is common with architectural competitions—did not know the names or track-records of the entrants, mistakenly assumed the design was by the distinguished American architect Richard Meier. Construction began in 1984 with the demolition of the '' gare de la Bastille'' train station, which had opened in 1859 and closed in 1969, and where art expositions had been held thereafter. In 1986, the new right-wing government led by
Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...
considered canceling the project, but eventually decided it was too advanced and gave it the green light again. President Mitterrand remained personally involved throughout the building process, to the point that the planning team referred to him to decide on the seats’ colour following internal disagreement. (He chose black.) In the original project, the house also included a small concert hall and a multi-purpose hall ("''salle modulable''"). The latter was a public request by Pierre Boulez, who had long been publicly lamenting the lack of a proper venue for
contemporary music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included serial ...
and experimental performances in Paris. However, due to the
construction delay Construction delays are situations where project events occur at a later time than expected due to causes related to the client, consultant, and contractor etc. In residential and light construction, construction delays are often the result of misco ...
s, it was eventually shelved, much to Boulez’ irritation, and a similar facility was eventually built as part of the Cité de la musique. The concert hall, known as the Bastille Amphitheatre (''amphithéâtre Bastille''), was maintained and built. After massive budget overruns, the final construction cost was at 2.8 billion
French franc The franc (, ; sign: F or Fr), also commonly distinguished as the (FF), was a currency of France. Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money. It w ...
s. The building was inaugurated by François Mitterrand on 13 July 1989, on the eve of the 200th anniversary of the
storming of the Bastille The Storming of the Bastille (french: Prise de la Bastille ) occurred in Paris, France, on 14 July 1789, when revolutionary insurgents stormed and seized control of the medieval armoury, fortress, and political prison known as the Bastille. At ...
, in the presence of thirty-three foreign heads of state or heads of government. 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 Prêtre Georges Prêtre (; 14 August 1924 – 4 January 2017) was a French orchestral and opera conductor. Biography Prêtre was born in Waziers (Nord), and attended the Douai Conservatory and then studied harmony under Maurice Duruflé and conducting ...
and featured singers such as
Teresa Berganza Teresa Berganza Vargas OAXS (16 March 1933 – 13 May 2022) was a Spanish mezzo-soprano. She is most closely associated with roles such as Rossini's Rosina and La Cenerentola, and later Bizet's Carmen, admired for her technical virtuosity, m ...
and
Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...
. The Paris Opera's traditional
Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In French, it is formally called the (; "French National Celebration"); legally it is known as (; "t ...
free concert was given there the following day. The opera house was unfinished at the time of the official inauguration, and did not see its first opera performance until 17 March 1990, with Hector Berlioz’ ''
les Troyens ''Les Troyens'' (; in English: ''The Trojans'') is a French grand opera in five acts by Hector Berlioz. The libretto was written by Berlioz himself from Virgil's epic poem the ''Aeneid''; the score was composed between 1856 and 1858. ''Les Tro ...
'', directed by
Pier Luigi Pizzi Pier Luigi Pizzi (born 15 June 1930) is an Italian opera director, set and costume designer. Biography Pizzi was born in Milan, Italy, and earned a degree in architecture at the Politecnico of Milan. Against the will of his skeptical father, he ...
.


Troubles and controversies

The Opéra Bastille's management and reputation were marred by a number of controversies and scandals in the house's first decade, from before its opening. In 1987, conductor
Daniel Barenboim Daniel Barenboim (; in he, דניאל בארנבוים, born 15 November 1942) is an Argentine-born classical pianist and conductor based in Berlin. He has been since 1992 General Music Director of the Berlin State Opera and "Staatskapellmeist ...
, who had previously led the
orchestre de Paris The Orchestre de Paris () is a French orchestra based in Paris. The orchestra currently performs most of its concerts at the Philharmonie de Paris. History In 1967, following the dissolution of the Orchestre de la Société des Concerts du ...
, was hired to become the house's first Artistic Director, and began planning the first seasons. In January 1989, six months before inauguration, the company's board chairman
Pierre Bergé Pierre Vital Georges Bergé (; 14 November 1930 – 8 September 2017) was a French industrialist and patron. He co-founded the fashion label Yves Saint Laurent, and was a longtime business partner (and onetime life partner) of its namesake des ...
, otherwise head of the Yves Saint Laurent fashion house, fired Barenboim, reportedly after the conductor's refusal to cut his pay by half as well as due to his modernist stance, which Bergé deemed unfit for a "popular" opera house. It was also noted that Barenboim had been hired by a right-wing government, while Bergé was a prominent supporter and donor of the
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...
. This decision proved extremely controversial in the artistic field:
Patrice Chéreau Patrice Chéreau (; 2 November 1944 – 7 October 2013) was a French opera and theatre director, filmmaker, actor and producer. In France he is best known for his work for the theatre, internationally for his films '' La Reine Margot'' and ...
backed off the staging of the inaugural gala, composer
Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music. Born in Mont ...
resigned from the Board of Directors, and
Herbert von Karajan Herbert von Karajan (; born Heribert Ritter von Karajan; 5 April 1908 – 16 July 1989) was an Austrian conductor. He was principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic for 34 years. During the Nazi era, he debuted at the Salzburg Festival, wit ...
and Georg Solti, along with several other prominent conductors, signed a letter of protest and called for a
boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...
of the opéra Bastille, canceling their own concerts there. This made the search for a new artistic director difficult; in May, Bergé was finally able to announce the appointment of Korean pianist and conductor Myung-whun Chung, then young and practically unknown in France. Chung took the pit for the first opera performance in May 1990. Although his term was later extended to last until 2000, Chung was fired in 1994 after the right-wing coalition's election victory, the end of Pierre Bergé's board tenure and a power play with the company's Director designate,
Hugues Gall Hugues Randolph Gall (born 18 March 1940) is a French opera manager, former head of the Grand Théâtre de Genève and the Paris Opera. Career Born in Honfleur, after his studies at the Institut d'études politiques de Paris and at the Sorbonne ...
, who cancelled his contract; at the height of the conflict, Chung was physically prevented from entering the building despite a judicial ruling in his favour. The building was as much a source of trouble as the leadership conflicts. As early as 1991, a few of the 36,000 Burgundy limestone panels covering the facade began to fall, which led to the installation of
safety net A safety net is a net to protect people from injury after falling from heights by limiting the distance they fall, and deflecting to dissipate the impact energy. The term also refers to devices for arresting falling or flying objects for the ...
s over some external walls in 1996; they were dubbed "condoms with holes" by the disgruntled Director. Several major alterations had to be carried out in the following years, including that of the
soundproofing Soundproofing is any means of impeding sound propagation. There are several basic approaches to reducing sound: increasing the distance between source and receiver, decoupling, using noise barriers to reflect or absorb the energy of the sound wav ...
structure and adjusting the
orchestra pit An orchestra pit is the area in a theater (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music (such as opera and ballet) or in cases when incide ...
's acoustics; each change proved complex and sometimes involved court proceedings to determine who was responsible. The facade problems were not solved until 2009 with the installation of new tiles made of composite material and attached differently. However, many nets are still in place on facades in 2022.


Operations

The Opéra Bastille was originally expected to become the company's sole opera venue, with the Palais Garnier turned into a dedicated
ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
venue. However, this strict division was abandoned in the 1990s when some operas were performed at the Palais Garnier and the company's ballet also danced at the Bastille. Since then, most opera performances take place at the modern house with some ballet performances and a few symphony concerts every season, while the traditional house presents a mix of opera and ballet performances. Hugues Gall, who took over as the Paris National Opera's Director in 1995, was originally an opponent of the Bastille project, famously quipping that the new opera house was "the wrong answer to a problem that did not exist". In his nine-year term, he is however credited with stabilising the company's administrative, artistic and financial situation, partly due to the possibilities offered by the modern theatre: higher revenues due to the larger
seating capacity Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
, wider range of technical means for stage directors, better working environment, higher scheduling flexibility.


Design

The Opéra Bastille is located on the
place de la Bastille The Place de la Bastille is a square in Paris where the Bastille prison once stood, until the storming of the Bastille and its subsequent physical destruction between 14 July 1789 and 14 July 1790 during the French Revolution. No vestige of the ...
. In order to make it "blend into" the landscape, the square was not remodelled to be aligned with it in a general parallel plan, but the left-hand side of the facade was left partly hidden behind an older and smaller building, which was expected to give the impression that the opera house had been part of the area for a very long time. The building then elongates itself behind the facade following a generally triangular shape, hidden by other buildings around. The theatre is "surmounted by the opaque cube of the stage building and wrapped in gridded walls of glass… the Opera stands sociably open to the world outside, whereas the foyers, with their broad overview of the city, have the slick, impersonal look of an airport lounge." These foyers run around the theatre's auditorium on several levels and give the external glass facade its round shape. Access to the entrance hall is directly from the square at street level. Although a monumental external staircase leading to the first-level foyer and a direct underground access from the Bastille subway station to the entrance hall were built, they were eventually closed. The theatre's auditorium was designed with 2,723 seats, later reduced to 2,703. It is organised in an
arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...
format with two huge
balconies A balcony (from it, balcone, "scaffold") is a platform projecting from the wall of a building, supported by columns or Corbel, console brackets, and enclosed with a balustrade, usually above the ground floor. Types The traditional Malta, Malte ...
at the back, with a few narrow balconies on the sides. It was a conscious, egalitarian, departure from the Palais Garnier, which has several dozen types of seats and does not offer stage visibility from all of them. Every seat at the Opéra Bastille offers an unrestricted view of the stage, it is the very same type of seat with the same level of comfort, and there are no
box A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and can ...
es. Subtitles are visible from every seat except for those at the very back of the arena and of the first balcony. In 2005, two small standing room areas were created at the back of the arena; tickets are sold for €5, only on the evening of the performance. There is no "royal" or "presidential box"; instead, one of the regular seats in the arena, on the "
VIP A very important person or personage (VIP or V.I.P.) is a person who is accorded special privileges due to their high social status, influence or importance. The term was not common until sometime after World War 2 by RAF pilots. Examples inc ...
" row (row 15) just after the central aisle, is considered the presidential seat, although not all Presidents since 1989 have been avid opera-goers. Bavelier, Ariane:
Les privilégiés du rang 15 de l’Opéra Bastille
. ''
Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French newspapers of reco ...
'', 2009-04-25.
Due to its size, the auditorium is frequently—and unfavourably—called a "vessel", and, compared to other world-class opera houses, the acoustics have been described as at best disappointing. One technical feature destined to make it better is that the floor of the
orchestra pit An orchestra pit is the area in a theater (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. Orchestral pits are utilized in forms of theatre that require music (such as opera and ballet) or in cases when incide ...
is actually a small elevator, which makes it possible to adapt the pit to the requirements of the performance, elevating it for a smaller orchestra and lowering it for a larger and louder one; in its largest configuration, the pit has room for 130 players. The hall is generally cold in colour due to the prominence of grey
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...
, black or white
stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
and black
fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...
in the structure and decoration as well as to the lightning from the giant white glass ceiling, although the use of
pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the p ...
wood for the seats and handrails and of
oak An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ''L ...
for the floor brings a warmer, light brown touch. This modern design has been controversial ever since the house's opening, with part of the audience preferring the elaborately ornate and gilded decoration of the traditional Palais Garnier. The backstage occupies an enormous area (5,000 m2), six times larger than the
stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...
: the stage area is flanked left and right with areas of the same size, and these three areas are replicated towards the back of the theatre. A system of rails and a rotating dock make it possible to roll entire sets on and off on giant motorised platforms in a few minutes and to store these platforms on the available backstage spots; quick changes of set enable the artists to rehearse a work in the afternoon and to perform another one in the evening within the same space, something impossible at the Palais Garnier. The use of such platforms also makes it considerably easier to use three-dimensional sets rather than traditional flat images. Under the stage is a giant elevator, which is used to lower unused set platforms to an underground storehouse as large as the backstage itself. The building also includes a rehearsal room that identical in size and shape to the theatre's pit and stage areas.


References

Notes Sources * Beauvert, Thierry: ''Opera Houses of the World''. New York: The Vendome Press, 1995. * Jourdaa, Frédérique: ''À l'Opéra aujourd’hui. De Garnier à Bastille''. Paris: Hachette, 2004. * Rémy, Pierre-Jean .k.a. Angrémy, Jean-Pierre ''Bastille, rêver un opéra''. Paris: Plon, 1989. * Saint-Pulgent, Maryvonne de: ''le Syndrome de l'opéra''. Paris: Robert Laffont, 1991. * Urfalino, Philippe (ed.): ''Quatre voix pour un opéra. Une histoire de l'opéra Bastille''. Paris: Métailié, 1990.


External links


Opéra Bastille on the Paris National Opera's website
(in English) {{DEFAULTSORT:Opera Bastille
Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known formally as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stor ...
Buildings and structures in the 12th arrondissement of Paris Place de la Bastille Carlos Ott buildings Music venues completed in 1989 Paris Opera Music venues in France