Paris Opera
 

OK, I really messed up by not knowing about the Opera earlier. Looking at tickets online, there's nothing playing at the Opera Garnier until the 18th, and we're leaving for London on the 17th. Doggone. Is the Opera Bastille just as good? Thanks.

To my knowledge, the Bastille Opera is THE opera house of Paris.

The Opera Bastille is newer and not as pretty.
The Garnier is the one you want to see a ballet in or at least a tour of.
This site provides the seasons events and operas and ballets.


http://www.opera-de-paris.fr/

Thanks Scarlett and everyone. I think I'll choose the ballet over a German (Strauss) Opera.

Quality depends on the company and performance, and the same company (Paris OPera Ballet, etc) will play at both, depending on scheduling. I choose based on conductor and the piece, myself.

The Bastille OPera HOuse is excellent and larger than the Garnier (good acoustics and sightlines) so all large scale works are performed there, ballet or opera (ie, Romeo and Juliet ballet will be at Bastille because it has large staging). Operas are still performed at the Garnier quite a bit, but only smaller scale works.

I would choose the ballet also, but I don't like most opera, so would only go if there were someone I really wanted to hear like Renee Fleming. Ballets are always cheaper, anyway.

I never really cared WHAT was at the Garnier, as long as I could go! It is an experience in all ways, good luck with getting tickets!

The Opera Garnier, as other posters have said, is just the total experience. It was there that I saw my first opera (Gounod's Faust). In 1970 I was barely 18 and staying with family friends in Paris. Everything about the experience from walking up the grand stairway to the weird juxtaposition of the Chagall ceiling and the 2nd Empire furnishings in the hall, to the music itself was magical. Gosh. Sigh. Sniffle. The memory is just wonderful...Ellen

YES! YES! The Opera Garnier is simply enchanting. I attended a ballet performance there this past October (George Balanchine 'Tribute'-3parts) and simply loved it! I can't wait to go back!

Persistence is the key to acquiring tickets through their website but it was worth it!

craisin, was that YOU I saw in the audience on Monday evening, Oct. 6? That was the evening it rained quite hard, remember?

Jeanneboca, I just looked at the Paris Opera web site (www.operadeparis.fr), and there is an opera at the Garnier on the 15th: Ariadne auf Naxos by Richard Strauss. Playing at the Bastille on the 13th and 15th is the Johann Strauss operetta Fledermaus (in French Chauve-souris). Also at the Bastille is Wagner's Flying Dutchman on the 14th and the ballet Ivan the Terrible on the 12th and 16th. Of these, Fledermaus would have the most popular appeal.

To Thomas Milligan, I believe the one at the Garnier is sold out. I went to tickets online (upper right corner) and when I clicked on "December" nothing at the Garnier came up. Doggone. Oh well, we'll make a decision tonight whether to see the ballet Ivan the Terrible or the Strauss opera. I am a little worried about listening to an opera that is in German. Thanks!

Don't be put off by Fledermaus being in German. It is a delightful piece with waltzes, brilliant singing, and a comic drunk jailer.

Get there early and purchase a libretto in English at the bookshop so that you will know what is going on.

I would certainly urge you to go to the Opera Bastille. Having seen a number of performances at both opera houses, I have to say that what the Bastille lacks in history and opulence, it makes up for in ergonomic design and quality!
You get an excellent view, even from the cheaper seats, the sound quality is very good, and the stage is huge, enabling them to put on some fantastic performances.

I found the seating at the Opéra Garnier to be cramped, the views were not wonderful (seats not tiered sharply enough to allow you to see over people's heads) and the sound was so-so. On the whole I tend to prefer old theatres to new ones, but the Paris opera is an exception for me!!

Remember that there will be surtitles in French for any opera you go and see.