The Opéra Comique, officially called Salle Favart, is one of the oldest and most important music theatre institutions in France. Founded in 1714 as the Théâtre de la Foire, it was established by Napoléon in 1807 as an independent state institution. The current building at Place Boieldieu is the third Salle Favart, rebuilt in 1898 in Neo-Renaissance style after a devastating fire destroyed its predecessor. The Opéra Comique has an unparalleled premiere tradition: Bizet's Carmen (1875), Massenet's Manon (1884) and Werther (1893), Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande (1902), Offenbach's Les Contes d'Hoffmann (1881), and Ravel's L'Heure espagnole (1911) were all premiered here. Unlike the Opéra de Paris, the Salle Favart concentrates on French repertoire and music theatre with spoken dialogue — the opéra-comique tradition that gives it its name. The house seats 1,250, smaller than its Parisian sisters, and is praised for its exceptional acoustics. Artistic directors from John Eliot Gardiner through Jérôme Deschamps to Louis Langrée have established the house as a laboratory for historically informed French music theatre.
Bizet's Carmen was premiered here in 1875 — the audience reacted with such outrage at the title figure that Bizet died of illness and exhaustion three months later without ever seeing the opera's eventual worldwide success.
At a glance
- Type
- Opera house
- Location
- Paris, France
- Address
- Place Boieldieu, 75002
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