L'Opéra Garnier

Took a 2-hour long tour of the Opera Garnier - beautiful! Interesting tour as well:

-Designed by Charles Garnier, who was only 35 at the time, and not particularly well known. One of the key points was that his design really made it into a magical place.

-Constructed in 13 years.

-60m tall!

-Acoustics are perfect everywhere, but there are blind spots. Opéra Bastille is the opposite (visibility from everywhere, sound not always great).

-Current ceiling was painted by Marc Chagall in about 4 years as a gift. It caused a scandal when first unveiled.

-Apparently, the Phantom of the Opera story has its origins in a legend invented by Gaston Leroux at the Opéra Garnier.

Napoleon III's Loge

Ceiling by Marc Chagall

Costumes from Shéhérazade

Stravinsky's score

Mini-set

Stage

View from one of the balconies

Place de l'Opéra

Some photos didn't turn out well, I will retake them later. Student tickets are quite manageable - 6-10 euros - so I'll definitely be going there as often as possible. A little surprised that it's not a repertoire company, as they run the same production for a number of weeks. In the next few months: La Dame aux Camélias, La Bayadère, Siddharta, Tribute to Jerome Robbins, Kaguyahime, and La Petite Danseuse de Degas.

Saw another interesting gentleman - in a business suit, complete with tie, jacket, shoes, and with a flimsy non-business-looking Eastpak backpack.

Language note - the dismayed English "oh no!" does not translate as "oh non, non!" in French. Judging from our host parents from explaining "no, really, yes, that's what happened" when they hear "oh non!" Speaking of which, that translation wouldn't work in Russian either.