The Opéra Garnier, A Place of Excellence and Legend
The Opéra Garnier is a leading venue for dance and opera, and is home to some of the most spectacular performances in the world.
In 1861, architect Charles Garnier presented his plans to a jury composed of Empress Eugénie and Napoleon III. His project was chosen from among 171 brilliant proposals to build the new opera house commissioned by the emperor himself.
The sumptuous building, the first of the Napoleon III style invented by Garnier, was inaugurated on January 5, 1875, in the presence of the President of the Republic, Mac-Mahon, and the Spanish royal family. However, the pavilion on the left, leading to the emperor's private box, remained unused because the emperor died two years before the construction was completed.
The acoustics of the hall were the result of its ingenious construction: a simple whisper on stage took on a grandiose scale that filled the entire opera house, while it was necessary to raise one's voice very loudly for the words spoken in the hall to be audible on stage.
The most famous opera house in France also has its own legend. In 1873, a fire devastated the conservatory on rue Peletier. The flames disfigured the face of a young pianist named Ernest, while his fiancée, a ballerina from the conservatory, died in the tragedy. Madly in love and inconsolable, Ernest took refuge in the basement of the opera house and never left it again. Mysterious events began to occur at the opera house as a result of this, incidents that had cost the lives of employees and spectators. All of these mysteries have since been attributed to the Phantom of the Opera, nicknamed Ernest, who haunted the depths of the building, wandering in search of his beloved.
Today, the Palais Garnier continues to welcome the public for performances as well as for visits to the splendor of this place, steeped in history and mystery.
