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The Théâtre National (), later the Théâtre des Arts, was a
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
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 Hau ...
from 1793 to 1806.Simeone 2000, p. 204. It was the 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 kn ...
from 1794 to 1820, after which it was demolished.


History

The theatre was built by the actress and theatre manageress Mademoiselle Montansier, 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 du Palais-Royal () is a 750-seat Parisian theatre at 38 rue de Montpensier, located at the northwest corner of the Palais-Royal in the Galerie de Montpensier at its intersection with the Galerie de Beaujolais. Brief history O ...
. 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 V ...
and had a capacity of 2,300 spectators. The management and audiences had several criticisms of the design of the theatre. Despite the high seating capacity, the building felt "cramped", the backstage areas were "miserable", and the lighting and ventilation inadequate. It was remodeled in 1808. 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 kn ...
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. Premieres included
Giovanni Paisiello Giovanni Paisiello (or Paesiello; 9 May 1740 – 5 June 1816) was an Italian composer of the Classical era, and was the most popular opera composer of the late 1700s. His operatic style influenced Mozart and Rossini. Life Paisiello was born i ...
's ''Proserpine'' (29 March 1803), Luigi Cherubini's ''
Anacreon Anacreon ( BC) was an Ancient Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and erotic poems. Later Greeks included him in the canonical list of Nine Lyric Poets. Anacreon wrote all of his poetry in the ancient Ionic dialect. Like all early ...
'' (4 October 1803), and Gaspare Spontini's ''
La vestale ''La vestale'' (''The Vestal Virgin'') is an opera composed by Gaspare Spontini to a French libretto by Étienne de Jouy. It takes the form of a '' tragédie lyrique'' in three acts. It was first performed on 15 December 1807 by the Académie Imp ...
'' (16 December 1807) and ''
Fernand Cortez ''Fernand Cortez, ou La conquête du Mexique '' (''Hernán Cortés, or The Conquest of Mexico'') is an opera in three acts by Gaspare Spontini with a French libretto by Étienne de Jouy and Joseph-Alphonse Esménard. It was first performed on 28 ...
'' (28 November 1809). Following the assassination of
Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry Charles Ferdinand d'Artois, Duke of Berry (24 January 1778 – 14 February 1820), was the third child and younger son of Charles, Count of Artois (later King Charles X of France), and Maria Theresa of Savoy. In 1820 he was assassinated at the P ...
in 1820, who had been leaving after a performance, King
Louis XVIII Louis XVIII (Louis Stanislas Xavier; 17 November 1755 – 16 September 1824), known as the Desired (), was King of France from 1814 to 1824, except for a brief interruption during the Hundred Days in 1815. Before his reign, he spent 23 y ...
ordered the theatre's closure and demolition. Its former site is now the Square Louvois.


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
13
an
14
Paris: Didot l'ainé. Scanned by
Google Books Google Books (previously known as Google Book Search, Google Print, and by its code-name Project Ocean) is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical charac ...
. 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
at
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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 Defunct opera houses