The Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux is an

opera house An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically fo ...

Bordeaux, France Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture ...

, first inaugurated on 17 April 1780. It was in this theatre that the ballet '' La fille mal gardée'' premiered in 1789, and where a young

Marius Petipa Marius Ivanovich Petipa (russian: Мариус Иванович Петипа), born Victor Marius Alphonse Petipa (11 March 1818), was a French ballet dancer, pedagogue and choreographer. Petipa is one of the most influential ballet masters an ...

staged some of his first ballets. The theatre was designed by the architect Victor Louis (1731–1800). Louis later designed the galleries surrounding, the gardens of the Palais Royal, and the Théâtre Français in

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. Si ...

. The Grand Theatre of Bordeaux was conceived as a temple of the Arts and Light, with a neo-classical facade. It has a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cul ...

of 12 Corinthian style colossal columns which support an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

on which stand 12 statues that represent the nine

Muse In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in ...

s and three goddesses ( Juno,

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

and

Minerva Minerva (; ett, Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. Minerva is not a patron of violence such as Mars, but of strategic war. From the second century BC onward, the R ...

Pierre-François Berruer Pierre-François Berruer (1733 – 4 April 1797) was a French sculptor. He is known for the twelve statues that decorate the front of the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux. Early years Pierre François Berruer was born in Paris in 1733. In 1754 he won ...

made four of the statues, and his assistant Van den Drix carved the others from Berruer's models. The interior grand staircase served as a model for the grand staircase of the Opéra Garnier in Paris. On the ceiling of the auditorium, there is a large fresco painted by Jean-Baptiste-Claude Robin. It pays homage to the Arts, to the artisans that built the building, and to the city of Bordeaux. The late scene shows a woman, allegory of Bordeaux, protected by Hermes and Athena, and in the foreground, three wealth of the city : the

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

, the sea trade and the

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

.Éric Saugera, ''Bordeaux, port négrier : chronologie, économie, idéologie, XVIIe-XIXe siècles'', Éditions Karthala, Paris, 2002, File:Bordeaux grand theatre-1.jpg, Ceiling fresco. File:Détail de la fresque du Grand-Théâtre de Bordeaux.jpg, Scene of Bordeaux and her wealth. In 1871, the theatre was briefly the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

for the

French Parliament The French Parliament (french: Parlement français) is the bicameral legislature of the French Republic, consisting of the Senate () and the National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessions at separate locations in Paris ...

. The inside of the theatre was restored in 1991, and once again has its original colours of blue and gold. The Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux is one of the oldest wooden frame opera houses in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

not to have burnt or required rebuilding. Today, the theatre is home to the

Opéra National de Bordeaux This is a glossary list of opera genres, giving alternative names. "Opera" is an Italian word (short for "opera in musica"); it was not at first ''commonly'' used in Italy (or in other countries) to refer to the genre of particular works. Most c ...

, as well as the

Ballet National de Bordeaux Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form o ...

which has many international dancers.

Gallery

File:Grand Théâtre Bordeaux engraving by Poulleau NGO1p546.jpg, Auditorium File:Théâtre de Bordeaux plan au niveau des secondes loges - Marionneau 1881 - Google Books.jpg, Plan (1881) File:Bordeaux Grand Théâtre R03.jpg, Grand staircase File:Opéra de bordeaux .jpg, Grand staircase File:Le Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux.jpg, Portico File:Grand Théâtre Bordeaux.jpg, By night

Bibliography

Notes

External links

Opéra National de Bordeaux
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grand Theatre de Bordeaux Theatres in France Opera houses in France Neoclassical architecture in France Buildings and structures in Bordeaux Music venues completed in 1780 Tourist attractions in Bordeaux Theatres completed in 1780 1780 establishments in France