Palais Garnier's Other Name

The Paris National Opera currently performs in two houses: Palais Garnier and Opéra Bastille. Garnier came first, and Bastille was built afterward. Until Opéra Bastille opened, Palais Garnier's official name was the Académie Nationale de Musique. Once Bastille opened, the older house took the name of its architect, Charles Garnier, to tell the two apart. It became known as Opéra Garnier or Palais Garnier, meaning "Garnier's palace."

The two venues differ in what they stage. Palais Garnier mainly hosts ballet, while Opéra Bastille presents opera and large-scale concerts.

Opéra Bastille was built by former French president François Mitterrand to mark the 200th anniversary of the French Revolution in 1989. It stands on the site of the Bastille prison, where the Revolution began, and the Bastille stands for liberty, fraternity and equality. In keeping with that symbolism, Mitterrand ordered that every discriminatory element be left out. So while Palais Garnier still has boxes, a relic of the old class system once used by aristocrats and the wealthy, Opéra Bastille has no boxes or other class-divided spaces at all, and ticket prices were set low.

The Paris Opera is world famous, and outstanding artists from around the globe want to perform there. Some of Korea's best-known artists have shown their talent there too. Myung-whun Chung, the world-renowned conductor, served as music director and principal conductor of Opéra Bastille, and ballerina Sae Eun Park is a principal dancer (étoile) with the Paris Opera Ballet. Videos of their performances are under "Learn More" at the bottom of this script, so take a look when you have time.