Editing Palais Garnier (section)

==History==
===Selection of a site===
[[File:Two projected site sites for the new Paris Opera by Barnout - Gallica 2014.jpg|thumb|Two proposed sites for a new opera house, c. 1856, with alternative routes for a broad avenue leading from the [[Louvre Palace|Louvre]] to the new theatre (the future [[Avenue de l'Opéra]])]]

In 1821 the Opéra de Paris had moved into the temporary building known as the [[Salle Le Peletier]] on the {{Interlanguage link|Rue Le Peletier|fr|lt=rue Le Peletier|vertical-align=sup}}. Since then a new permanent building had been desired. [[Charles Rohault de Fleury]], who was appointed the opera's official architect in 1846, undertook various studies in suitable sites and designs.<ref>Mead 1991, p. 53.</ref> By 1847, the [[Prefect (France)|Prefect]] of the [[Seine (department)|Seine]], [[Claude-Philibert de Rambuteau]], had selected a site on the east side of the Place du Palais-Royal as part of an extension of the [[Rue de Rivoli, Paris|Rue de Rivoli]]. However, with the [[French Revolution of 1848|Revolution of 1848]], Rambuteau was dismissed, and interest in the construction of a new opera house waned. The site was later used for the [[Grand Hôtel du Louvre]] (designed in part by Charles Rohault de Fleury).<ref>Kirkland 2014, pp. 188–189.</ref>

With the establishment of the [[Second French Empire|Second Empire]] in 1852 and [[Georges-Eugène Haussmann]]'s appointment as Prefect of the Seine in June 1853, interest in a new opera house revived. There was an attempted assassination of [[Napoleon III of France|Emperor Napoleon III]] at the entrance to the Salle Le Peletier on 14 January 1858. The Salle Le Peletier's constricted street access highlighted the need for a separate, more secure entrance for the head of state. This concern and the inadequate facilities and temporary nature of the theatre gave added urgency to the building of a new state-funded opera house. By March, Haussmann settled on Rohault de Fleury's proposed site off the Boulevard des Capucines, although this decision was not announced publicly until 1860. A new building would help resolve the awkward convergence of streets at this location, and the site was economical in terms of the cost of land.<ref>Mead 1991, pp. 53–56.</ref>
 
On 29 September 1860 an Imperial Decree officially designated the site for the new Opéra,<ref>Mead 1991, p. 58; Kirkland. Page 190.</ref> which would eventually occupy {{convert|12000|m2|ha + sqft}}.<ref name="Beauvert 1996, p. 102"/> By November 1860 Rohault de Fleury had completed the design for what he thought would be the crowning work of his career and was also working on a commission from the city to design the façades of the other buildings lining the new square to ensure they were in harmony. However, that same month [[Achille Fould]] was replaced as Minister of State by Count [[Alexandre Colonna-Walewski]]. His wife Marie Anne de Ricci Poniatowska had used her position as mistress of Napoleon III to obtain her husband's appointment.<ref>Kirkland 2013, pp. 185–186.</ref> Aware of competing designs and under pressure to give the commission to [[Viollet-le-Duc]], who had the support of [[Eugénie de Montijo|Empress Eugénie]], Walewski escaped the need to make a decision by proposing to mount an [[architectural design competition]] to select the architect.<ref>Kirkland 2013, p. 191.</ref>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180">
File:Entrance elevation of a project for the Théâtre Impériale de l'Opéra by Rohault de Fleury, November 1860 - Mead 1991 p59.jpg|Entrance elevation of a project for the Théâtre Impériale de l'Opéra by Rohault de Fleury, November 1860
File:Plan of a project for the Théâtre Impériale de l'Opéra by Rohault de Fleury, November 1860 - Mead 1991 p59.jpg|Plan
</gallery>

===Design competition===
On 30 December 1860 the Second Empire of Emperor [[Napoleon III]] officially announced an architectural design competition for the design of the new opera house.

Applicants were given a month to submit entries. There were two phases to the competition. [[Charles Garnier (architect)|Charles Garnier]]'s project was one of about 170 submitted in the first phase.<ref>Mead 1991, p. 60 ("170 projects"); Kirkland 2013, p. 192 ("171 designs").</ref> Each of the entrants was required to submit a motto that summarised their design. Garnier's was the quote "Bramo assai, poco spero" ("Hope for much, expect little") from the Italian poet [[Torquato Tasso]].
Garnier's project was awarded the fifth-place prize, and he became one of seven finalists selected for the second phase.<ref>Mead 1991, pp. 60–62. Only five projects were awarded prizes, but two were the result of collaborations.</ref> In addition to Garnier, among the others were his friend [[Leon Ginain]], {{ill|Alphonse-Nicolas Crépinet|fr}} and [[Joseph-Louis Duc]] (who subsequently withdrew due to other commitments).<ref>Kirkland 2013, p. 192.</ref> To the surprise of many, both Viollet-le-Duc and Charles Rohault de Fleury missed out.

<gallery mode="packed" heights="180" caption="Viollet-de-Duc's losing Opera Competition project of 1861">
File:Perspective view of Viollet-de-Duc's Opera Competition project, 1861 - Mead 1991 p66.jpg|Perspective view
File:Plan of Viollet-de-Duc's Opera Competition project, 1861 - Mead 1991 p74.jpg|Plan
File:Long section of Viollet-de-Duc's Opera Competition project, 1861 - Mead 1991 p75.jpg|Long section
</gallery>

The second phase required the contestants to revise their original projects and was more rigorous, with a 58-page program, written by the director of the Opéra, [[Alphonse Royer]], which the contestants received on 18 April. The new submissions were sent to the jury in the middle of May, and on 29 May 1861 Garnier's project was selected for its "rare and superior qualities in the beautiful distribution of the plans, the monumental and characteristic aspect of the façades and sections".<ref name=Mead76>Quoted and translated in Mead 1991, pp. 76, 290.</ref>

Garnier's wife Louise later wrote that the French architect [[Alphonse de Gisors]], who was on the jury, had commented to them that Garnier's project was "remarkable in its simplicity, clarity, logic, grandeur, and because of the exterior dispositions which distinguish the plan in three distinct parts—the public spaces, auditorium, and stage ... 'you have greatly improved your project since the first competition; whereas Ginain [the first-place winner in the first phase] has ruined his.'"<ref name=Mead76/>

Legend has it that the Emperor's wife, the [[Eugénie de Montijo|Empress Eugénie]], who was likely irritated that her own favoured candidate, Viollet-le-Duc, had not been selected, asked the relatively unknown Garnier: "What is this? It's not a style; it's neither Louis Quatorze, nor Louis Quinze, nor Louis Seize!" "Why Ma'am, it's Napoléon Trois" replied Garnier "and you're complaining!"<ref>Translated and quoted by Ayers 2004, pp. 172–174. The architectural styles mentioned by the empress were those which prevailed during the reigns of Louis XIV, XV, and XVI. For more information, see the sections on Baroque, Rococo, and Neoclassicism in [[French architecture#Baroque|French architecture]].</ref> Andrew Ayers has written that Garnier's definition "remains undisputed, so much does the Palais Garnier seem emblematic of its time and of the Second Empire that created it. A giddy mixture of up-to-the-minute technology, rather prescriptive rationalism, exuberant eclecticism and astonishing opulence, Garnier's opera encapsulated the divergent tendencies and political and social ambitions of its era."<ref name=Ayers>Ayers 2004, pp. 172–174.</ref> Ayers goes on to say that the judges of the competition in particular admired Garnier's design for "the clarity of his plan, which was a brilliant example of the [[Beaux-Arts architecture|''beaux-arts'']] design methods in which both he and they were thoroughly versed".<ref name=Ayers/>

===Opéra Agence===
[[File:Louis-Emile Durandelle, Charles Garnier in the Drafting Room While Designing the New Paris Opera, ca. 1870.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The Opéra ''Agence'' drafting room: Garnier is second from the right, with Edmond Le Deschault on the far right, and Victor Louvet, second from the left<ref>Photo by [[Louis-Emile Durandelle]]. Mead 1991, p. 138, reproduces a different print (fig. 187) of the same photograph (from the [[Bibliothèque nationale]], see [[:File:Opéra Agence drafting room - Mead 1991 p138.jpg|a copy at Commons]]) and identifies the three men. This particular print is from the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]], whose annotator dates it to ca. 1870. The elevation of the opera house shown in the background is quite similar to a design dated to the spring of 1862 by Mead 1991, p. 90 (see [[:File:Palais Garnier elevation principal facade, spring 1862 - Bibliothèque de l'Opéra - Mead 1991 p90.jpg|copy]] at Commons).</ref>]]

After the initial funds to begin construction were voted on 2 July 1861, Garnier established the Opéra ''Agence'', his office on the construction site, and hired a team of architects and draftsmen. He selected as his second-in-command, Louis-Victor Louvet, followed by Jean Jourdain and Edmond Le Deschault.<ref>Mead 1991, p. 137.</ref>

===Laying of the foundation===
[[File:Palais Garnier foundation work 20 May 1862 - Mead 1991 p147.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Foundation work (20 May 1862)]]

The site was excavated between 27 August and 31 December 1861.<ref>Mead 1991, pp. 146–147.</ref> On 13 January 1862 the first concrete foundations were poured, starting at the front and progressing sequentially toward the back, with the laying of the substructure masonry beginning as soon as each section of concrete was cast. The opera house needed a much deeper basement in the substage area than other building types, but the level of the groundwater was unexpectedly high. Wells were sunk in February 1862 and eight steam pumps installed in March, but despite operating continuously 24 hours a day, the site would not dry up. To deal with this problem Garnier designed a double foundation to protect the superstructure from moisture. It incorporated a water course and an enormous concrete cistern (''cuve'') which would both relieve the pressure of the external groundwater on the basement walls and serve as a reservoir in case of fire. A contract for its construction was signed on 20 June. Soon a persistent legend arose that the opera house was built over a subterranean lake, inspiring Gaston Leroux to incorporate the idea into his novel ''[[The Phantom of the Opera (novel)|The Phantom of the Opera]]''. On 21 July the cornerstone was laid at the southeast angle of the building's façade. In October the pumps were removed,<!--source needed--> the brick vault of the ''cuve'' was finished by 8 November, and the substructure was essentially complete by the end of the year.<ref>Mead 1991, p. 147; Hanser 2006, p. 174; Ayers 2004, p. 174.</ref>

===Model===
[[File:Palais Garnier model by Villeminot - Mead 1991 p150.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|Villeminot model (May 1863)]]

The emperor expressed an interest in seeing a model of the building, and a plaster scale model (2&nbsp;cm per meter) was constructed by Louis Villeminot between April 1862 and April 1863 at a cost of more than 8,000 francs. After previewing it, the emperor requested several changes to the design of the building, the most important of which was the suppression of a balustraded terrace with corner groups at the top of the façade and its replacement with a massive attic story fronted by a continuous frieze surmounted by imperial ''[[quadriga]]e'' over the end bays.<ref name=Model>Mead 1991, pp. 149–151.</ref>

With the incorporated changes, the model was transported over specially installed rails to the [[Palais de l'Industrie]] for public display at the 1863 exhibition. [[Théophile Gautier]] wrote of the model (''Le Moniteur Universel'', 13 May 1863) that "the general arrangement becomes intelligible to all eyes and already acquires a sort of reality that better permits one to prejudge the final effect ... it attracts the crowd's curiosity; it is, in effect, the new Opéra seen through reversed opera glasses."<ref>Mead 1991, p. 303.</ref> The model is now lost, but it was photographed by J. B. Donas in 1863.<ref name=Model/>

The emperor's quadrigae were never added, although they can be seen in the model. Instead [[Charles Gumery|Charles-Alphonse Guméry's]] gilded bronze sculptural groups ''Harmony'' and ''Poetry'' were installed in 1869.  The linear frieze seen in the model was also redesigned with alternating low- and high-relief decorative medallions bearing the gilded letters from the imperial monogram ("N" for Napoléon, "E" for Empereur). The custom-designed letters were not ready in time for the unveiling and were replaced with commercially available substitutes. After the fall of the empire in 1870, Garnier was relieved to be able to remove them from the medallions. Letters in Garnier's original design were finally installed during the restoration of the building in 2000.<ref>Fontaine 2000, pp. 91–92.</ref>

===Change in name===
{{Multiple image|direction=vertical |image1=Palais Garnier November 1866 covered facade - Delmaet and Durandelle - Mead 1991 p161.jpg |width1=220 |caption1=The façade in November 1866 |image2=Palais Garnier 15 August 1867 facade - Delmaet and Durandelle - Mead 1991 p185.jpg |width2=220 |caption2=The façade on 15 August 1867}}

The scaffolding concealing the façade was removed on 15 August 1867 in time for the [[Exposition Universelle (1867)|Paris Exposition of 1867]]. The official title of the Paris Opera was prominently displayed on the [[entablature]] of the giant [[Corinthian order]] of coupled columns fronting the main-floor [[loggia]]:  "ACADEMIE IMPERIALE DE MUSIQUE".<ref>Mead 1991, p. 185.</ref> When the emperor was deposed on 4 September 1870 as a result of the disastrous [[Franco-Prussian War]], the government was replaced by the [[French Third Republic|Third Republic]], and almost immediately, on 17 September 1870, the Opera was renamed Théâtre National de l'Opéra, a name it kept until 1939.<ref name=Levin>Levin, Alicia. "A documentary overview of musical theaters in Paris, 1830–1900" in Fauser (2009), p. 382.</ref> In spite of this, when it came time to change the name on the new opera house, only the first six letters of the word IMPERIALE were replaced, giving the now famous "ACADEMIE NATIONALE DE MUSIQUE", an official title which had actually only been used during the approximately two-year period of the [[French Second Republic|Second Republic]] which had preceded the Second Empire.<ref name=Levin/>

===1870–1871===
All work on the building came to a halt during the Franco-Prussian War due to the [[Siege of Paris (1870–1871)|siege of Paris]] (September 1870 – January 1871). Construction had so advanced that parts of the building could be used as a food warehouse and a hospital. After France's defeat Garnier became seriously ill from the deprivations of the siege and left Paris from March to June to recover on the [[Liguria]]n coast of Italy, while his assistant Louis Louvet remained behind during the turmoil of the [[Paris Commune]] which followed. Louvet wrote several letters to Garnier, which document events relating to the building. Because of the theatre's proximity to the fighting at the [[Place Vendôme]], troops of the [[National Guard (France)|National Guard]] bivouacked there and were in charge of its defence and distributing food to soldiers and civilians. The Commune authorities planned to replace Garnier with another architect, but this unnamed man had not yet appeared when Republican troops ousted the National Guard and gained control over the building on 23 May. By the end of the month the Commune had been severely defeated. The Third Republic had become sufficiently well established by the fall, that on 30 September construction work recommenced, and by late October a small amount of funds were voted by the new legislature for further construction.<ref>Mead 1991, pp. 142–143, 168–170.</ref>

===1872–1873===
The political leaders of the new government maintained an intense dislike of all things associated with the Second Empire, and many of them regarded the essentially apolitical Garnier as a holdover from that regime. This was especially true during the presidency of [[Adolphe Thiers]] who remained in office until May 1873, but also persisted under his successor [[Marshal MacMahon]]. Economies were demanded, and Garnier was forced to suppress the completion of sections of the building, in particular the Pavillon de l'Empereur (which later became the home of the Opera Library Museum). However, on 28–29 October an overwhelming incentive to complete the new theatre came when the Salle Le Peletier was destroyed by a fire which raged the entire night.<ref>Mead 1991, pp. 143–145. 170–172.</ref> Garnier was immediately instructed to complete the building as soon as possible.

===Completion===
[[File:Inauguration of the Paris Opera in 1875 by Detaille - Collections of the Château of Versailles (cropped).jpg|upright=1.2|thumb|''Inauguration of the Paris Opera in 1875'' ([[Édouard Detaille]], 1878)]]

The cost of completion of the new house during 1874 was more than 7.5&nbsp;million francs, a sum that greatly exceeded the amounts spent in any of the previous thirteen years. The cash-strapped government of the Third Republic resorted to borrowing 4.9&nbsp;million gold francs at an interest rate of six percent from [[François Blanc]], the wealthy financier who managed the [[Monte Carlo Casino]]. Subsequently (from 1876 to 1879) Garnier would oversee the design and construction of the Monte Carlo Casino concert hall, the Salle Garnier, which later became the home of the [[Opéra de Monte Carlo]].<ref>Mead 1991, pp. 145–146; Folli & Merello 2004, p. 116.</ref>

During 1874 Garnier and his construction team worked feverishly to complete the new Paris opera house, and by 17 October the orchestra was able to conduct an acoustical test of the new auditorium, followed by another on 2 December which was attended by officials, guests, and members of the press. The Paris Opera Ballet danced on the stage on 12 December, and six days later the famous chandelier was lit for the first time.<ref name=Simeone>Simeone 2000, pp. 177–180.</ref>

The theatre was formally inaugurated on 5 January 1875 with a lavish gala performance attended by Marshal MacMahon, the Lord Mayor of London and King [[Alfonso XII]] of Spain. The program included the overtures to Auber's ''[[La muette de Portici]]'' and Rossini's ''[[William Tell (opera)|William Tell]]'', the first two acts of [[Ludovic Halévy|Halévy]]'s 1835 opera ''[[La Juive]]'' (with [[Gabrielle Krauss]] in the title role), along with "The Consecration of the Swords" from [[Giacomo Meyerbeer|Meyerbeer]]'s 1836 opera ''[[Les Huguenots]]'' and the 1866 ballet ''[[La source (Saint-Léon)|La source]]'' with music by [[Léo Delibes|Delibes]] and [[Ludwig Minkus|Minkus]].<ref>Huebner 2003, [https://books.google.com/books?id=iqoVHY6OrjIC&pg=PA303 p. 303].</ref> As a soprano had fallen ill one act from [[Charles Gounod]]'s [[Faust (opera)|''Faust'']] and one from [[Ambroise Thomas]]'s [[Hamlet (opera)|''Hamlet'']] had to be omitted. During the intermission Garnier stepped out onto the landing of the grand staircase to receive the approving applause of the audience.

===History of the house since opening===
{{unreferenced section|date=January 2021}}
[[File:Paris, l'Opéra, Académie nationale de musique.jpg|thumb|View of the front, {{circa|1890}}]]

In 1881 electric lighting was installed.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.operadeparis.fr/en/magazine/350-years/chronology |title=Chronology |website=Opéra national de Paris |language=en |access-date=22 March 2022 }}</ref> In the 1950s new personnel and freight elevators were installed at the rear of stage, to facilitate the movement of employees in the administration building and the moving of stage scenery.

In 1969, the theatre was given new electrical facilities and, during 1978, part of the original Foyer de la Danse was converted into new rehearsal space for the Ballet company by the architect [[Jean-Loup Roubert]]. During 1994, restoration work began on the theatre. This consisted of modernizing the stage machinery and electrical facilities, while restoring and preserving the opulent décor, as well as strengthening the structure and foundation of the building. This restoration was completed in 2007.