Théâtre National de la rue de la Loi
Encyclopedia
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
ian theatre located across from the Bibliothèque National de France on the rue de la Loi, which was the name of the rue de Richelieu
Rue de Richelieu
Rue de Richelieu is a long street of Paris, starting in the south of the Ier arrondissement, ending in the IIe arrondissement. For the first half of the nineteenth century, before Baron Hausmann redefined Paris with grand boulevards, it was one of the most fashionable streets of Paris:The Rue de...
from 1793 to 1806. The theatre was built by the actress and theatre manageress Mademoiselle Montansier
Mademoiselle Montansier
Marguerite Brunet, known by her stage name of Mademoiselle Montansier , was a French actress and theatre director.-Background:...
, and opened on 15 August 1793. It was designed by the architect Victor Louis
Victor Louis
Victor Louis was a French architect, winner of the Prix de Rome in 1755.Louis was responsible for the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux of 1780 and the galleries of the Palais-Royal in Paris. A full biography was published in Bordeaux in 1881. In 1770 he married the pianist and composer .-References:...
and had a capacity of 2,300 spectators. The theatre was demolished in 1820, and its former site is now the Square Louvois.
The theatre served as the principal home of the Paris Opera
Paris Opera
The Paris Opera is the primary opera company of Paris, France. It was founded in 1669 by Louis XIV as the Académie d'Opéra and shortly thereafter was placed under the leadership of Jean-Baptiste Lully and renamed the Académie Royale de Musique...
from 26 July 1794 to 13 February 1820 during which time it was known variously as the Théâtre des Arts (1794), the Théâtre de la République et des Arts (1797), again as Théâtre des Arts (1803), the Académie Impériale de Musique (1804), the Académie Royale de Musique (1814), again as Académie Impériale de Musique during the Hundred Days of Napoleon, and finally again as the Académie Royale de Musique (1815–1820). The theatre has also been referred to as the Montansier opera house.
Other names have included Salle de la rue de la Loi, Salle de la rue de Richelieu, Salle Montansier, and Théâtre Montansier, although the latter two names have also been used to refer to several other theatres built or managed by Montansier.
Sources
- Pitou, Spire (1983) The Paris Opéra: an encyclopedia of operas, ballets, composers, and performers (3 volumes), vol. 1, p. 38. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwod Press. ISBN 9780686460367.
- Simeone, Nigel (2000). Paris: a musical gazateer. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300080537.
- Whitaker, G. B. (1827). The History of Paris from the earliest period to the present day: containing a description of its antiquities, public buildings, civil, religious, scientific, and commercial institutions (3 volumes). London: G. B. Whitaker. View volume 2 at Google Books.