“ The Palais Garnier is rightly considered one of the most magnificent palaces ever offered to the combined arts of music, theater and dance”

In the mid-19th century under the aegis of Napoleon III and his prefect, George-Eugène Haussmann, Paris was undergoing vast transformations designed to modernize the French capital and establish it as a leading European metropolis. The Opera, a cultural institution and symbol of prestige, needed a home worthy of this new vision. Charles Garnier, a relatively unknown architect, won the competition for the new opera in 1860. His project impressed with its majesty and modernity. Construction began in 1862 and was completed in 1875 under the Third Republic.

Beyond its musical and theatrical vocation, the building turned out to be a dazzling “palace of the arts”, a showcase of French talent and sophistication. The best French artists, sculptors and craftsmen of the day participated in the decoration of the façades, foyers, auditorium and the celebrated staircase. The Beaux-Arts opulence and neo-Baroque style of the opera had, in turn, a great impact on the architecture of the later 19th century in France and beyond.

Our talk will trace the great operatic and choreographic moments, from Callas to Nureyev, of the Garnier Opera stage, as well as the story of the underground lake which inspired Gaston Leroux's novel The Phantom of the Opera.