Opéra Bastille, Contemporary opera house in Place de la Bastille, France
The opera house occupies a large site at Place de la Bastille in the 11th arrondissement, with a facade of metal, glass and steel. The architecture combines smooth exterior surfaces with open interior spaces that spread across several floors connected by wide staircases.
President François Mitterrand decided in 1982 to build a new opera house, and Carlos Ott won the 1983 competition. The former Gare de la Bastille, closed in 1969, was demolished in 1984. Mitterrand inaugurated the house on 13 July 1989, before the first opera performance, Berlioz's Les Troyens, on 17 March 1990.
The name recalls the former fortress that stood here before it was stormed during the Revolution. Today audiences from all parts of the city come to experience performances staged on modern stages with contemporary technology.
The building sits directly at the metro station of the same name and is easy to reach on foot or by public transport. Guided tours through technical rooms and rehearsal halls give insight into how the movable stages and acoustics work.
The opera stands on the site of the Gare de la Bastille, a station opened in 1859 and closed in 1969; its viaduct survives as the Coulée verte René-Dumont. The 2,745-seat main auditorium makes it one of the largest opera halls in the world, ahead of the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall (2,679) and Moscow's Bolshoi (1,720).
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