If you're interested in watching an opera in Paris, our Paris Opera House seating chart guide has all the answers you need.įrench Opera was first dreamt up by poet Pierre Perrin in 1655, almost a decade before the Paris Opera was officially established. Over its decades long existence, the Paris Opera has had many managing directors with Stephane Lisser, a renowned French theatre director, presently serving his term.

One of the most renowned opera companies in the world, the Paris Opera organises around 380+ performances of ballet, opera and other concerts annually to a massive audience of approximately 800,000 people! The company works off of an annual budget of 200 million euros which are used to run the two opera houses plus staff salaries. Opera Bastille is the other primary performance venue of Paris Opera and mainly hosts operas at its 2,723-seat theatre. The first is Palais Garnier which produces classic operas and ballets at its 1979-seat venue. Presently, the company is called Paris National Opera (Opera national de Paris) and operates out of two primary theatres.

The company originated classic opera as it's known today and it remains an integral part of the company's productions. Established as the Academie d'Opera in 1669 by Louis XIV, the company's ownership was transferred to Jean-Baptiste Lully and it was renamed the Royal Academy of Music.

The primary opera and ballet company of France, the Paris Opera is one of the most revered performance venues in the world.

Paris opera house period