Opera in Monte Carlo

Written by Riviera Reporter

Salle Garnier Ceiling Before Bardot, beaches, bikinis and bronzed bathing beauties made summer the fashionable season on the Cote d’Azur, Monaco was one of Europe’s principal elite winter resorts, attracting visitors from northern Europe to gamble in its elegant casino. Wealthy gamblers were lodged in the elegant Hotel de Paris and entertained with music and dance in the casino’s charming little theatre, built in 1879 and designed by Charles Garnier, the famous French architect and recently completely refurbished and restored to its original glory.

The restoration work of Salle Garnier entailed painstaking research: the original designs and materials were meticulously reproduced: the firm in Lyons which made the fabric for the original curtains re-created them in all the glorious extravagance of the 19th century originals; the frescoed ceiling was carefully cleaned and restored; the huge Bohemian crystal chandelier and gilded sculptures were dismantled and professionally cleaned by experts from 50 firms in France and Italy; the backstage area was enlarged and state-of-the-art acoustics and air conditioning installed. Although it took Charles Garnier only 8 months to build the concert hall, the restoration work took over 2 years. It re-opened on the occasion of the coronation of Prince Albert II in November 2005 with a gala performance of Rossini’s opera ‘Il Viaggio a Reims’ by the Opera Monte Carlo, whose lavishly staged operas in the Salle Garnier bring opera lovers to the principality for the winter season.

The Salle Garnier has been home to the Monte Carlo Opera since its first production in 1893 of Berlioz’s ‘La Damnation de Faust’ and many important operas had their first performance in Monaco. The prestige and glory of the opera today owes much of its success to Raoul Gunsbourg who arranged for the world’s most illustrious singers to perform in the Salle Garnier from 1893-1951 including Adelina Patti, Nellie Melba, Feodor Chaliapine and Beniamino Gigli and Lily Pons and made Monte Carlo the cultural center it is today.