The Opera in gala dress on France 5

Paris, 1860. In the sky of the capital of the empire stands brand new the spire of Notre-Dame de Paris. At his feet, the entire city is a chaos of dust and noise. We cut down, we pierce, we dig. Two thirds of the Île de la Cité are razed. Everywhere, major roads are being expropriated and opened.

After five years of construction, the emperor's “New Louvre” is ready. The Boulevard de Sébastopol has just been inaugurated with great fanfare. A young architect who has just returned from the Academy of Rome has his first project there: Charles Garnier is building a rental house at 75.

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House of excellence

In this changing Paris, a jewel in the imperial crown is missing: an opera hall worthy of the name. Since 1821, the Royal Academy of Music, renamed “Imperial” in 1852, has found refuge in a theater built urgently on rue Le Pelletier. For the new room, a competition is launched. 171 projects have been submitted. Garnier wins. Everything must be ready for the Universal Exhibition of 1867. But the project will extend over fourteen years, going through numerous vicissitudes, from the drying up of the water tables to the fall of Napoleon III. On January 5, 1875, finally, Europe had an appointment with Paris for the inauguration of its new Opera. The King of Spain, the King of Hanover, the Count of Paris, the Duke of Chartres, the Mayor of London responded to the invitation of President Mac-Mahon and the very young III^e French Republic.

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To celebrate this anniversary, France 5 devotes an entire evening to Palais Garnier an exceptional monument that we imagine anchored in Paris for all eternity despite its short century and a half. Praised by tourists, who do not fail to admire its luxury and its daring, the Opera is valued first and foremost by those who live there and create some of the most beautiful shows in the world. An (extra)ordinary day: 24 hours at the Opéra Garniera documentary by Priscilla Pizzato, pays tribute to their work by following these actors in the shadows (stagehands, dressers, decorators) as well as those who are in full light, starting with the dancers. The director, who had already followed the Paris National Opera Ballet at the time of the Covid pandemic (A season [très] particular), finds the rehearsal studios, housed under the domes of the building, and lifts the veil behind the scenes of this house of excellence.

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The documentary is followed by the slightly delayed retransmission of the Palais Garnier anniversary gala. In the room, evening attire is required. On stage, all the troupes are mobilized: Orchestra and Choirs of the Opera, dancers from the Ballet, artists in residence at the Academy and students from the Dance School. The stars, Valentine Colasante, Marc Moreau and Hugo Marchand will alternate with some of the most beautiful voices of the moment, the soprano Lisette Oropesa, the mezzo Lea Desandre, the tenor Juan Diego Florez and the baritone Ludovic Tézier. In the pit, conductor Thomas Hengelbrock will lead the evening for a program that is still kept secret.