Music · Paris, Île-de-France
Opéra Bastille
The Opéra national de Paris’s modern main stage on the Place de la Bastille.
President François Mitterrand commissioned the Opéra Bastille as a modern opera house for a wide public. The Uruguayan-Canadian architect Carlos Ott designed it after winning an international competition. It was inaugurated on 13 July 1989, the eve of the 200th anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, and regular performances began in 1990.
Its main hall seats about 2,700, and it has huge backstage workshops and stage machinery. It is the larger of the Opéra national de Paris's two stages and puts on most of the company's big opera productions. The curved glass facade dominates the Place de la Bastille, and guided tours take visitors behind the scenes.
Highlights
- Glass and stone facade on Place de la Bastille
- Main auditorium of about 2,700 seats
- Huge backstage with movable stage platforms
- Large-scale opera productions, including Wagner's Ring
