Opera Garnier

December 29th, 2017

There are two main opera houses in Paris, the 19th century Opera Garnier and the modern Opera Bastille.  Opera Garnier is the famous, iconic one, featured in movies, literature, and drama, and that was where we saw Mozart's opera "La Clemence de Titus" on Christmas day.  The building was remarkably grand and opulent, worth a visit even if you aren't interested in attending an opera.  (I believe they give tours.)

The house itself was beautiful, with gilt-decorated balconies and a Chagall-painted ceiling. 

The most impressive part, though, was the lobby of the building.  It was a several-stories-high space with marble staircases and landings, columns and capitals, carved balconies and banisters, and elaborate light fixtures.

We enjoyed the performance tremendously, too.  The opera was artfully staged, in addition to being beautifully sung.  During the course of the opera, the stage was dominated by a huge marble block (or a facsimile) that was progressively carved into a massive bust of Titus.  We saw the bust emerging gradually as Titus evolved in his position as emperor and gained confidence in his decisions.  The set walls and the marble block were always askew, at awkward angles to the stage.  The lighting was interesting as well, with bright spots trained on the bust, illuminating it and creating dramatic shadows on the set walls.  The singers were often left dimly or indirectly lighted.  Their positions on stage were stylized and stilted.  Each character's costume was monochromatic, symbolic of attributes of the character:  Titus in white, the members of the senate in black, Vitellia in dark purple, Sextus in gray.  The members of the senate had outrageous and sculptural hairdos, sometimes towering a foot and a half above their heads.  It all combined for a dramatic ambiance, which I thought was very effective.