The Tours Opera (, ) is an

opera company Opera is a form of Western 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 lib ...

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It is housed in the , which is its main performance venue. The company administers a choir and the Orchestre Symphonique région

Centre-Val de Loire Centre-Val de Loire (; ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley in the interior ...

/Tours.

Laurent Campellone Laurent Campellone (born January 23, 1972) is a French conductor. Known around the world for his expertise in the French opera of the Romantic era, he is often compared to Michel Plasson. Critics consider him today as "one of the best defenders in ...

is its general manager since 2020.

History

In 1791, during the selling of the

biens nationaux The were Real property, properties confiscated during the French Revolution from the Catholic Church in France, Catholic Church, the list of French monarchs, monarchy, French emigration (1789–1815), émigrés, and suspected counter-revolutiona ...

, citizen Bucheron acquired the Cordeliers' Church and transformed it into a 800 seats theatre that opened in 1796. At the beginning, both operas (

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

Rossini Gioachino Antonio Rossini (29 February 1792 – 13 November 1868) was an Italian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. He gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber music and piano p ...

…) and plays (

Molière Jean-Baptiste Poquelin (; 15 January 1622 (baptised) – 17 February 1673), known by his stage name Molière (, ; ), was a French playwright, actor, and poet, widely regarded as one of the great writers in the French language and world liter ...

Marivaux Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux (; ; 4 February 1688 – 12 February 1763), commonly referred to as Marivaux, was a French playwright and novelist. Marivaux is considered one of the most important French playwrights of the 18th century, w ...

...) where performed. As numerous projects for a new municipal venue were abandoned due to a lack of resources, the city decided to buy Bucheron's theater in 1867. Leon Rohard supervised the renovation and achieved a modern building that burned to the ground eleven years after the inauguration. Following a competition in which Charles Garnier was a member of the jury, Jean-Marie Hardion and Stanislas Loison were commissioned by the municipality. Equipped to accommodate 973 spectators, the theater known today as the Grand Théâtre de Tour, opened in 1889. The Grand théâtre, adapting its schedule, remained open for much of both

world war A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

s and has known a peek of activity during the

années folles The ''Années folles'' (, "crazy years" in French) was the decade of the 1920s in France. It was coined to describe the social, artistic, and cultural collaborations of the period. The same period is also referred to as the Roaring Twenties ...

Programming

The Tours Opera produces, in average, six operas each season, recitals with renowned artists and offers over 30 symphonic concerts both in Tours and in the greater region.

References

External links

Official website

2022 season Opéra de Tours
{{Authority control

Opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

Opera houses in France French opera companies 1872 establishments in France Organizations established in 1872