The AAPA was offered a pre-opening tour of the exhibit celebrating 150 years of the Palais Garnier, the renowned Paris Opera house designed by Charles Garnier during the reign of Napoleon III and made famous not only by performance of such celebrated artists as Maria Callas, Luciano Pavarotti, the Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet Russe, etc. The exhibit was mounted by the Bibliotheque Nationale de France and housed in the Palais Garnier.
During our October 9, 2025 visit, conducted by Mathias Auclair and Benoit Cailmail (Director and Assistant Director,respectively, of the BNF Department of Music), we were told about the building’s architectural links with Versailles and its symbolism as a “republican palace,” its backdrop of the Belle Epoque and bearing the Nazi flag during the Occupation. And various iterations as home to the Phantom of the Opera!
Photo: Shellie Karabell