Ask the Chatbot Games & Quizzes History & Society Science & Tech Biographies Animals & Nature Geography & Travel Arts & Culture ProCon Money Videos
Paris Opéra
Introduction References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics
Quick Facts
Formally:
National Academy of Music
French:
Académie Nationale de Musique
Areas Of Involvement:
opera
Britannica AI Icon
Adding us as a Preferred Source tells Google you trust our content, so our articles show up more often in your Google Search, Discover feed, and AI Overviews.
verifiedCite
While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.
Select Citation Style
Feedback
Corrections? Updates? Omissions? Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login).
Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites

Paris Opéra

French opera company
Also known as: Académie Nationale de Musique, Académie Royale de Musique, National Academy of Music(Show More)
Written and fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

Paris Opéra, opera company in Paris that for more than two centuries was the chief performer of serious operas and musical dramas in the French language. It is one of the most venerable operatic institutions in the world.

The Paris OpĂ©ra was established as the Royal Academy of Music (AcadĂ©mie Royale de Musique) under a patent granted by Louis XIV in 1669. The company’s first performance was Pomone (1671), a pastoral by the composer Robert Cambert and the poet Pierre Perrin. In 1672 the Royal Academy of Dance was amalgamated with the Royal Academy of Music.

In the 17th and 18th centuries the Paris OpĂ©ra’s productions were dominated by a series of operatic giants. Jean-Baptiste Lully, who profoundly influenced the development of French opera, ruled the OpĂ©ra from 1672 until his death in 1687. In 1733 Jean-Philippe Rameau, Lully’s equal in the history of French opera, began his 30 years as the leading operatic figure in France with Hippolyte et Aricie. Christoph Gluck, the leader of the movement for operatic reform, was associated with the OpĂ©ra from 1773 to 1779.

The French Revolution of 1789 prompted the Paris OpĂ©ra to produce a series of operas on revolutionary subjects. In the middle and late 19th century, grand opera, exemplified in the works of Giacomo Meyerbeer, flourished in the company’s repertory. The OpĂ©ra underwent a decline in the 20th century, and attempts to rejuvenate it began at mid-century. Its administration was joined with that of the OpĂ©ra-Comique, which traditionally stages works with spoken dialogue. From 1875 to 1990 the Paris OpĂ©ra was housed in the ThĂ©Ăątre Nationale de l’OpĂ©ra, an architectural landmark that is better known simply as the OpĂ©ra. In the latter year the company occupied its new home in the OpĂ©ra de la Bastille building.