The Opéra Nouvel (Nouvel Opera House) in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, is the home of the

Opéra National de Lyon The Opéra National de Lyon, marketed as Opéra de Lyon during the last decade, is an opera company in Lyon, based and performing mostly at the Opéra Nouvel, an 1831 theater that was modernized and architecturally transformed in 1993. The inaugu ...

. The original

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 for o ...

was re-designed by the distinguished French architect,

Jean Nouvel Jean Nouvel (; born 12 August 1945) is a French architect. Nouvel studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and was a founding member of ''Mars 1976'' and ''Syndicat de l'Architecture'', France’s first labor union for architects. He has ob ...

between 1985 and 1993 in association with the agency of scenography

dUCKS scéno Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

and the acoustician Peutz. Serge Dorny was appointed general director in 2003.

History

In 1756, one of the first opera houses created inside an existing freestanding building was opened in Lyon. It was designed by

Jacques-Germain Soufflot Jacques-Germain Soufflot (, 22 July 1713 – 29 August 1780) was a French architect in the international circle that introduced neoclassicism. His most famous work is the Panthéon, Paris, Panthéon in Paris, built from 1755 onwards, original ...

, the architect of the

Panthéon The Panthéon (, from the Classical Greek word , , ' empleto all the gods') is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was b ...

in Paris. By early in the following century it was found to be too small, and

Antoine-Marie Chenavard Antoine-Marie Chenavard (4 March 1787 - 29 December 1883).. was a French architect, professor, and road inspector. Publications *''Voyage en Grèce et dans le Levant fait en 1843-1844'', 1849 *''Compositions historiques, esquisses'', 1862 *''S ...

and Jean-Marie Pollet erected the new Lyon theatre which opened on July 1, 1831. It was considered rather undistinguished, but served its purpose. It was not until 1985 that the City decided to once again re-build the opera house, but this time it was to be within the shell of the existing 1831 building. One of France's most distinguished architects was commissioned to create the house. The style of the house is essentially Italian with a horseshoe-shaped auditorium and tiers of boxes. Leaving only the existing foyer and the exterior façade, Nouvel tripled the space within the house by excavating below ground to create rehearsal space and, most strikingly, by doubling the height of the building by creating a steel and glass barrel vault which hid the

fly tower A fly system, or theatrical rigging system, is a system of rope lines, blocks (pulleys), counterweights and related devices within a theater (structure), theater that enables a stage crew to fly (hoist) quickly, quietly and safely components suc ...

as well as providing space for the ballet company. It has been noted that this achievement was "an architectural tour de force, in which the past has been successfully wedded to the future..",Beauvert, Thierry, ''Opera Houses of the World'', The Vendome Press, New York, 1995 albeit with the limited backstage space of the 19th-century theatre still remaining.

Main conductors

John Eliot Gardiner Sir John Eliot Gardiner (born 20 April 1943) is an English conductor, particularly known for his performances of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach. Life and career Born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset, son of Rolf Gardiner and Marabel Hodgkin, Gard ...

(1983–1988) *

Kent Nagano Kent George Nagano GOQ, MSM (born November 22, 1951) is an American conductor and opera administrator. Since 2015, he has been Music Director of the Hamburg State Opera and was Music Director of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra from 2006 to 20 ...

(1988–1998) *

Louis Langrée Louis Langrée (born 11 January 1961) is a French conductor. He is the son of organist and theorist Alain Langrée. One of his sisters is an amateur cellist. Biography Early years Langrée studied at the Strasbourg Conservatory, but had no fo ...

(1998–2000) *

Ivan Fischer Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

(2000–2003) * William Christie,

Lothar Koenigs Lothar Koenigs (born 1965 in Aachen, Germany) is a German conductor. Biography Koenigs grew up in Aachen, in West Germany; as a young boy, he was a chorister at Aachen Cathedral, where he sang all of Anton Bruckner's masses and motets, and dev ...

, Gerard Korsten,

Emmanuel Krivine Emmanuel Krivine (born 7 May 1947, Grenoble) is a French conductor. Biography The son of a Polish mother and a Russian father, Krivine studied the violin as a youth. He was a winner of the ''Premier Prix'' at the Paris Conservatoire, at age 16. ...

Kirill Petrenko Kirill Garrievich Petrenko (russian: Кирилл Гарриевич Петренко, Latin script: ; born 11 February 1972) is a Russian-Austrian conductor. He is chief conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic. Early life Petrenko was born in Omsk ...

, Evelino Pidò (2003–2008) *

Kazushi Ono Kazushi (written: 和志, 和司, 和士, 和史, 一志 or 一至) is a masculine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese manga artist *, Japanese rugby sevens player *, Japanese writer *, Japanese footballer *, Jap ...

(2008–2017) *

Daniele Rustioni Daniele Rustioni (born 1983) is an Italian conductor. Biography Rustioni was born in Milan, and studied piano, organ, and composition at the Milan Conservatory. He sang in the boys choir of the Teatro alla Scala in his youth. He studied cello f ...

(2017–present)

References

External links

Many interior photos of the House, text in French from Lyon Opera's web sitePhotos of the OpéraOpéra de Lyon website
(in French) {{DEFAULTSORT:Opera Nouvel 1st arrondissement of Lyon Opera houses in France Entertainment venues in Lyon Neoclassical architecture in France Modernist architecture in France Jean Nouvel buildings Theatres completed in 1831 Music venues completed in 1831 Theatres completed in 1993 Music venues completed in 1993

History

Main conductors

See also

References

External links