Paris Opera - Theatre de l'Opera 1794-1820

The Théâtre National was a

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

ian theatre located across from the on the rue de la Loi, which was the name of the

rue de Richelieu The Rue de Richelieu is a long street of Paris, starting in the south of the 1st arrondissement at the Comédie-Française and ending in the north of the 2nd arrondissement. For the first half of the 19th century, before Georges-Eugène Haussman ...

from 1793 to 1806. The theatre was built by the actress and theatre manageress

Mademoiselle Montansier Marguerite Brunet, known by her stage name of Mademoiselle Montansier (19 December 1730, in Bayonne – 13 July 1820, in Paris), was a French actress and theatre director. Background At 14 she fled from the Ursuline convent in Bordeaux, s ...

, and opened on 15 August 1793."Le Roman d'un Théatre - Théâtre des variétés de Paris"
at the Théâtre des Variétés web site. Accessed 30 April 2010. Other names have included Salle de la rue de la Loi, Salle de la rue de Richelieu, Salle Montansier, and Théâtre Montansier, although the latter two names have also been used to refer to two other theatres built and/or managed by Montansier: the Théâtre Montansier in Versailles and the Théâtre du Palais-Royal. The Théâtre National was designed by the architect

Victor Louis Victor Louis (10 May 1731, Paris – 2 July 1800, Paris) was a French architect, disqualified on a technicality from winning the Prix de Rome in architecture in 1755. Life He was born Louis-Nicolas Louis in Paris. He did not adopt the name Vic ...

and had a capacity of 2,300 spectators. The theatre was demolished in 1820, and its former site is now the Square Louvois. The theatre served as the principal home of the

Paris Opera The Paris Opera (, ) is the primary opera and ballet company of France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the , and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and officially renamed the , but continued to be ...

from 26 July 1794 to 13 February 1820 during which time it was known variously as the Théâtre des Arts (1794), the Théâtre de la République et des Arts (1797), again as Théâtre des Arts (1803), the Académie Impériale de Musique (1804), the Académie Royale de Musique (1814), again as Académie Impériale de Musique during the Hundred Days of Napoleon, and finally again as the Académie Royale de Musique (1815–1820). The theatre has also been referred to as the Montansier opera house.Pitou 1983, p. 38.

Architectural drawings

File:Théâtre des Arts 1791-93 - Auditorium - Mead p50.jpg, View of the auditorium (1821) File:Théâtre des Arts 1791-93 - elevation, section, plans - Mead p50.jpg, Elevation, section, and plans (1821)

References

Sources

* Donnet, Alexis; Orgiazzi, J. (1821). ''Architectonographie des théâtres de Paris'', plates volume, plate
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Paris: Didot l'ainé. Scanned by

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. Credit: Ghent University Library. * Pitou, Spire (1983) ''The Paris Opéra: an encyclopedia of operas, ballets, composers, and performers'' (3 volumes), vol. 1, p. 38. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. . * Simeone, Nigel (2000). ''Paris: a musical gazetteer''. Yale University Press. . * Whitaker, G. B. (1827). ''The History of Paris from the earliest period to the present day: containing a description of its antiquities, public buildings, civil, religious, scientific, and commercial institutions'' (3 volumes). London: G. B. Whitaker
View volume 2
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. {{DEFAULTSORT:Theatre National De La Rue De La Loi Music venues completed in 1793 Opera houses in Paris Former theatres in Paris Theatres completed in 1793 1793 establishments in France 18th-century architecture in France