Théâtre de l'Opéra-Comique | |
_-_2021-06-14_-_1.jpg) Principal facade of the Salle Favart | |
 | |
| Address | Place Boïeldieu, 2nd arrondissement[1] Paris |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 48°52′15″N2°20′16″E / 48.8709°N 2.3378°E /48.8709; 2.3378 |
| Public transit | Richelieu – Drouot   |
| Type | Opera house |
| Capacity | 1200 seats[2] |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1898[1] |
| Architect | Louis Bernier |
| Tenants | |
| Opéra-Comique | |
| Website | |
| www.opera-comique.com | |
TheSalle Favart (French pronunciation:[salfavaʁ]), officially theThéâtre de l'Opéra-Comique ([teɑtʁdəlɔpeʁakɔmik]), is a Parisopera house and theatre, the current home of theOpéra-Comique. It was built from 1893 to 1898 in aneo-Baroque style to the designs of the French architectLouis Bernier and is located on the Place Boïeldieu just south of theBoulevard des Italiens.
The Salle Favart is the third theatre with this name on this site. The first Salle Favart, built to the designs ofJean-François Heurtier, opened on 28 April 1783.Charles Simon Favart was the company's director at the time. It was destroyed by fire on the night of 14 or 15 January 1838. The second Salle Favart, built to the designs ofThéodore Charpentier [fr], opened on 16 May 1840. It was destroyed by fire on 25 May 1887.[3]
After long deliberation following the second fire, a decision was finally reached to rebuild on the same constricted site. A competition was held, judged by five winners of the GrandPrix de Rome (includingCharles Garnier, the architect of theOpéra), which ensured the design would reflect academic and official tastes. Because of disputes within the profession, moreavant-garde architects did not participate.[1] The winner of the competition wasLouis Bernier (a former student ofHonoré Daumet at theÉcole des Beaux-Arts), who had won the Prix de Rome in 1872.[4]
The new Salle Favart, built from 1893 to 1898, is typical ofBeaux-Arts architecture. Theneo-Baroque facade is an adaptation of Garnier's design for theOpéra, and the elaborate exterior and interior decoration shows the influence of both Garnier and Daumet.[4] The auditorium has a horseshoe shape with four galleries, a traditional design with roots reaching as far back as the 17th century. The structure has iron framework for reasons of fire resistance (the use of iron in theatre construction began in the 1780s), but unlike more forward-looking architects, Bernier concealed the frame with heavy stone.[1]
In keeping with the neo-Baroque design, nearlyphoto-realisticallegorical paintings were commissioned to decorate the theatre's foyers, and in spite of budgetary constraints, the decorators "managed to produce an interior of overbearing opulence, especially in the lavishly histrionic, gilt-dripping stuccowork of the auditorium."[1] The critical reception was quite varied, with therationalists attacking the "delirious frivolity" of the design, and the traditionalists defending it as appropriate for theoperettas to be performed inside.[1]
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