Toulon Opera

Toulon Opera
Opéra de Toulon
The sculptures on top of the Toulon Opera

The Toulon Opera (L'opéra de Toulon), inaugurated in 1862, is the second-largest opera house in France, after the Palais Garnier in Paris, and it is one of the country's national historic monuments. It is currently the home of the Opéra Toulon Provence Méditerranée, under the direction of Claude-Henri Bonnet. The opera company performs about eight operas a season in the opera houses of Toulon, Avignon, Nice and Marseille.

The house seats 1,797 people on five levels. The theatre sits on 2,000 square meters of foundation and has a stage width of 22 meters 80 centimeters and a depth of 12 metres (39 ft). The permanent opera staff consists of over 200 people.

History of the Toulon Opera House

The Toulon Opera House (Fr: Le Grand Theâtre de Toulon) was one of a wave of lyric opera houses built in France and Europe in the middle of the 19th century, and it represented the exuberant style of the Second Empire. Its construction began on 5 March 1860, two years before the start of construction of the Palais Garnier in Paris. Léon Feuchéres, who had renovated the Marseille Opera House and built the opera house in Avignon designed it. He died in 1860, and the work was finished by Paris architects Charpentier, pére et fils.

The 15-meter canvas on the ceiling was painted and its plaster ornament designed by Jean Noël Duveau, who also created the ceiling of the Grand Salon of the Imperial Apartments in the Napoleon Wing of the Louvre.

The Toulon Opera opened on 12 October 1862, thirteen years before the Palais Garnier in Paris. The inaugural performance was Les Mouquetaires de la reine, a comic opera by Fromental Halévy, followed a few days later by La Juive, the same composer's most famous opera.

The opera house was the setting for the French film La Malédiction de Belphégor (The Curse of Belphegor), by Georges Combret, in 1966.

External links



Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Opera de Toulon — Opéra de Toulon Opéra de Toulon Type Salle d’opéra Lieu Toulon Centre Architecte(s) Léon Feuchères Inauguration …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Opéra de toulon — Type Salle d’opéra Lieu Toulon Centre Architecte(s) Léon Feuchères Inauguration …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Opéra de Toulon — Type Salle d’opéra Lieu Toulon Centre Coordonnées …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Toulon — French commune nomcommune=Toulon caption=Tall ships in the old port of Toulon région=Provence Alpes Côte d Azur département=Var ( préfecture ) arrondissement=Toulon canton=Chief town of 9 cantons insee=83137 cp= 83000 gentilé=Toulonnais… …   Wikipedia

  • Opera (batiment) — Opéra (bâtiment) Pour les articles homonymes, voir Opéra. Opéra de Sydney En architecture, un opéra est un bâtiment spécialement …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Opéra de Vichy — Le palais des Congrès et l’Opéra de Vichy Type Opéra Lieu …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Toulon — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Toulon (homonymie). 43° 07′ 20″ N 5° 55′ 48″ E …   Wikipédia en Français

  • List of opera houses — Opera houses are listed by continent, then by country with the name of the opera house and city; the opera company is sometimes named for clarity. Note: there are many theatres whose name includes the words Opera House but which do not currently… …   Wikipedia

  • Opéra (bâtiment) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Opéra. Sommaire 1 Caractéristiques 2  Allemagne 3 …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Boulevard de Strasbourg (Toulon) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Boulevard de Strasbourg. Boulevard de Strasbourg Situation Coordonnées …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”