The Toulon Opera (L'opéra de Toulon) is a French opera house located in

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

. The second-largest opera house in France, after the

Palais Garnier The Palais Garnier (, Garnier Palace), also known as Opéra Garnier (, Garnier Opera), is a 1,979-seatBeauvert 1996, p. 102. opera house at the Place de l'Opéra in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, France. It was built for the Paris Opera from ...

in Paris, it opened thirteen years before the Garnier. It is currently the home of the Opéra Toulon Provence Méditerranée, under the direction of Jérôme Brunetière. The opera company performs about eight operas a season in the opera houses of

Avignon Avignon (, ; ; oc, Avinhon, label=Provençal dialect, Provençal or , ; la, Avenio) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of So ...

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

and

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. The house seats 1,797 people on five levels. The theatre sits on 2,000 square metres of foundation and has a stage width of 22 metres 80 centimetres and a depth of . The permanent opera staff consists of over 200 people.

History

The Toulon Opera House (Fr: ''Le Grand Theâtre de Toulon'') was one of a wave of lyric opera houses built in France and Europe in the middle of the 19th century, and it represented the exuberant style of the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

. Its construction began on 5 March 1860, two years before the start of construction of the Palais Garnier. The designer was Léon Feuchéres, who had renovated the Marseille Opera House and built the opera house in

. He died in 1860, and the work was finished by Paris architects Charpentier, pére et fils. The 15-meter canvas on the ceiling was painted and its plaster ornament designed by

Louis Duveau The Abdication of Doge Foscari, 1850, Musée des Augustins Toulouse Louis-Jean-Noël Duveau, a French painter, who was born at St. Malo in 1818, studied history and genre painting under Léon Cogniet in Paris, and afterwards visited Italy. He ...

, who also created the ceiling of the Grand Salon of the Imperial Apartments in the Napoleon Wing of the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

. The house was inaugurated on 1 October 1862, with ''Les Mousquetaires de la reine'', a comic opera by

Fromental Halévy Jacques-François-Fromental-Élie Halévy, usually known as Fromental Halévy (; 27 May 179917 March 1862), was a French composer. He is known today largely for his opera '' La Juive''. Early career Halévy was born in Paris, son of the cantor ...

, followed a few days later by ''

La Juive ''La Juive'' () (''The Jewess'') is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra, Paris, on 23 February 1835. Composition history ''La Juive'' was one of t ...

'', Halévy's most famous opera. The opera house was the setting for the French film ' (''The Curse of Belphegor''), by

Georges Combret Georges Combret (1906–1998) was a French film director, producer and screenwriter.Hayward p.423 Selected filmography * '' Duel in Dakar'' (1951) * ''The Fighting Drummer'' (1953) * ''Rasputin'' (1954) * ''The Contessa's Secret'' (1954) * ''T ...

, in 1966. Past music directors of the company have included Giuliano Carella (2003-2018) and Jurjen Hempel (2018-2021). In June 2021, the company announced the appointments of Marzena Diakun and Valerio Galli as co-principal conductors of the company, effective 1 September 2021.

References

External links

Official website of the Opéra de Toulon
{{authority control Toulon Opera houses in France Buildings and structures in Var (department) Tourist attractions in Var (department) Music venues completed in 1862 Theatres completed in 1862 1862 establishments in France Musical groups from Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur