Paris, as is known - the recognized cultural capital of the world, and the theatrical life here is infinitely diverse . But even against this background Opera Bastille is quite noticeable . This is the theater of modern opera, in fact - the home scene The National Parisian Opera House . It was built to satisfy the demands of opera lovers, who in musical Paris are more than can accept the Palais Garnier .In addition, it is designed for an elite audience, and today it takes performances that could add a wider audience to operatic art .

The idea of ​​building a new opera public theater in Paris appeared in 1968 . The authors of the idea - composers Pierre Bule, Maurice Bege and Jean Vilar .The then President of France François Mitterrand was inspired by the idea and decided to organize a competition for the best project of the new theater . The main condition was to create a project that was to become "modern and popular" aimed at involving the masses in the treasures of classical music . Competitive battles unfolded long, but in November 1983, having examined almost eight hundred applications, the authoritative jury chose the project of the unknown Uruguayan architect Carlo Ott .

As a result, the building was built for 2723 seats with an unlimited view of the scene . It is located on the Place de la Bastille in the 12th arrondissement of Paris . The theater building is crowned with a matte cubic construction for the stage and trimmed with mesh glass panels . "Zest" The idea is that the opera scaffolds are open for general viewing from the outside, and the foyer, on the contrary, has a smooth, opaque outside surface, while from the inside visitors can observe the panorama of the city . Backstage devices occupy an area 9 times larger than scene . They are made with the latest technology and move without contact . But, although the Opera of the Bastille is considered a world-class theater, its acoustics are worse than in many other less modern theaters .

Opera was opened 13 July 1989 on the bicentenary of the Bastille, an orchestra led by conductor Georges Pretra and famous singers, for example, Teresa Bergana and Placido Domingo, performed at the ceremony. The premiere took place on March 17, 1990, it was Berlioz's "Trojans" directed by Pier Luigi Pitsii.

The first years of the opera's work were restless - there were constant failures of ultramodern stage arrangements. This is a fairly ordinary situation for new theaters, but the capricious Parisian public, however, made several scandals. The management of the theater did the repairs, and without closing the stage. Now the mechanisms work quite satisfactorily.

The facade of the original building very quickly deteriorated, so the state began a lawsuit against the contractors, because it found them guilty of using poor-quality materials. The state won the process, but only in 2007, therefore it was not possible to update the facing of the building until this time. Now the theater is being reconstructed, as always, without closing.

Coordinates

Address: Place de la Bastille.

Directions: Bastille metro station, lines 1, 5 and 8, or bus number 20, 29, 65, 69, 76, 86, 87 and 91.

Opera Bastille

Opera Bastille at night