With a week in Paris, I was thinking of taking the lady to the Paris Opera. Has anyone any experience in attending? All that I've found is content in French and I'm not doing well with that. Appreciate any comments and directions.

I checked out their web-site, and even the English language area is not very helpful. A yahoo search turned up some outside sources for tickets, but it looked like they add quite a premium for their tickets.

I would suggest contacting Paris Tourism and asking for printed information regarding the opera, it's schedule, how to get tickets, and any possibilities for discounted, day of performance tickets. Looks like with your line of work they could even comp you a couple.

I attended a concert in Salzburg a few years back during the Salzburg festival. It was a fine evening, and a very memorable experience. Good luck on your quest.

JP

Randy,
Your best source is your concierge. Attend an opera you know and love. Something quite magical about a familiar opera in an unfamiliar opera house. Tosca in Rome was certainly memorable--Don Giovanni in Sidney, also great. I am always either too early or too late for La Scala (or they are re-modeling)--or, in the case of Venice, La Fenice burned down (but not before we saw Sacre du Printemps at the time of Stravinsky's funeral. . Actually, I think that opera season is just about over in Paris (but, could be wrong). Just don't count on Pavarotti without an iron-clad money-back guarantee!!
Have a wonderful trip. Please feel free to e-mail me for any restaurant recommendations or questions.

First off, I agree with obscure2k about tickets: the concierge is your best bet. Most of the tickets to the Paris opera are sold as subscription, so you aren't likely to get decent seats (or sometimes any seats) through the box office.

Second, keep in mind that the opera is not performed at the Opéra any longer (at least not much). The Opéra is the ornate, gorgeous and recently-spruced-up building at the Place de l'Opéra, but the ONP (Paris Opera Company) puts on almost all its shows at the new opera house, at the Place Bastille. The new house is a much, much better venue for actually watching the opera, but it isn't close to the old place as a tourist attraction. They do still put on ballets at the old place -- if you can stand the ballet, you might want to check it out.

Finally (maybe), keep in mind that the surtitles for the opera (the little message boards that show the translation of what's being sung) would be in French, not English.

The opera season usually goes through early summer -- they're putting on Tosca right now.

[Tosca joke:

Q: What is Scarpia's first name?

A: Looie. "Avanti a Looie tremava tutta Roma!"]

Randy: for what's happening with opera in Paris, you should check out the Pariscope web site (http://txt.pariscope.fr/cgi-o2/MusiqueGenre?opera). It is in French, but the information is complete and up to date.

At the Paris Opera (Bastille):

Wagner's Le Vaisseau Fantôme (http://txt.pariscope.fr/cgi-o2/MusiqueConcert?227909) ("Der Fliegende Holländer" or "Flying Dutchman" - hmmmm, a miles tie-in ...) with performances on May 21 and 24 at 19:30

Bizet's Carmen (http://txt.pariscope.fr/cgi-o2/MusiqueConcert?230394) with performances on May 22 and 26 at 19:30

Puccini's Tosca (http://txt.pariscope.fr/cgi-o2/MusiqueConcert?233206) with performances on May 23 and 27 at 19:30.

Tickets are listed as between 10 and 105 euros.

I do not attend the opera very often. Tickets can be hard to come by and you have been well-advised by obscure2k and wideman about using the Concierge service at your hotel.

Personally, I would steer clear of Wagner and opt for Carmen or Tosca which are both traditional crowd pleasers. For synopses, the Metropolitan Opera is a good source:

http://www.metopera.org/synopses/

The Opéra de Paris web site (http://www.opera-de-paris.fr/) (horrible) is currently showing SOLD OUT for Carmen and Tosca and PLEASE CALL for the Flying Dutchman.

E-mail me if you want me to check availability by phone.

P.S. The Opéra Garnier, the "original" which wideman describes above, is currently "Evenings of Stravinsky" ballet performances (Dunn, Balanchine and Bausch).

"The Opéra Garnier, the "original" which wideman describes above, is currently "Evenings of Stravinsky" ballet performances (Dunn, Balanchine and Bausch). "

Randy, I think that the above-mentioned would make for a very memorable evening. You will have the opportunity to see very exciting, innovative ballet in a magnificent venue. The operas which are playing during your stay (Tosca, Carmen, Flying Dutchman) you can, basically see anytime-anywhere.

I'm not certain when you're planning to go, but the ballet triple bill mentioned above is only on through May 21. I think the PO Ballet is a world-class company, the Opera co less so, but I'm not sure they'll be performing when you're there.
My understanding is that the PO allocates a certain number of tickets to be sold through each method (eg, Internet, phone, box office, agences), so if nothing's available on the web site, there may still be tickets available at the box office. I'd also recommend using a concierge. If that doesn't work for you, I can give you the number of an agency here in the US I have used several times successfully. They do charge a premium, however. Email me if you'd like it.

A day late and a dollar short! Did you have a good time? Have you gone?

My Opera News lists June performances of Ariadne auf Naxos, Lucia di Lammermoor, Tosca, Carmen, Rusalka and The Barber of Seville.

I've had good luck just stopping by the box office even for opening nights. I saw a Turandot with Jane Eaglen at Bastille on opening night with little or no advance planning!

I also have a mobile phone on the Mobicarte system which I'd be happy to lend you Randy!

Jim

[This message has been edited by Jim Quan (edited 06-01-2002).]

Sorry to be late for this post...
You may find tickets just before the performance, as at any Opera House, from people who have their tickets but won't assist... In Paris, they hold their "for sale" tickets in hand, and wait for you on the stairs, both at Garnier and Opera Bastille. But, though getting ONE ticket is quite easy (if the performance is not a much demanded one), getting two is much more difficult.
Always check the info on the ticket you buy, if you don't want to be the owner of a past performance one!!!

Also so sorry I didn't see this posting until now - I'll add some general information for your and others' future reference:

First of all, one has to realize that the OPERA NATIONAL DE PARIS, while the most well-known and most lavishly-funded (by the national government) company in the French capital, is by no means the ONLY opera-presenting organization in Paris.

Many observers consider the THEATRE DU CHATELET (funded by the paris city government) to offer more cutting edge, internationally-cast opera in the city. The recent world class productions of ARABELLA (Karita Matilla and Thomas Hampson) IL PIRATA (Renee Fleming) and the french-language LUCIE de LAMMEMOOR (not Lucia) were arguably the most sought-after performances of the season. Many of the Chatelet productions are shared with other major French cities.

The OPERA NATIONAL controls the Palais Garnier (ballet and smaller works, such as the baroque, but also Rossini's CENERENTOLA) and the Opera Bastille (large scale works).

Opera is also given on a sporadic basis at the Theatre des Champs Elysees (sp?) and the Opera Comique.

Note: The Chatelet is doing a "Russian" emphasized season in 2002-2003 including Tchaikovsky's YEVGENY ONEGIN and PIKOVAYA DAMA (with Placido Domingo) with the forces of the Kirov (St. Petersburg) under its whirlwind conductor Valery Gergiev

Edited for typos


[This message has been edited by Non-NonRev (edited 06-30-2002).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by obscure2k:
.....I am always either too early or too late for La Scala (or they are re-modeling)--or, in the case of Venice, La Fenice burned </font>
A couple of updates:

La Scala closed at the end of 2001 for about three years (it'll probably end up being more like four or five) years of badly-needed refurbishment. A newly built theatre in the notheren suburbs, the Teatro degli Arcimboldi is housing all productions until the Scala reopens.

The delays in rebuilding the Fenice are beyond scandalous. For a while they were performing (mostly semistaged events) in a glorified tent called the Palafenice, however, when it became apparent how long the Fenice delays would be, they sped up the remodeling of a smaller, beautiful old theatre, the Teatro Malibran, which is now open.

--Non-NonRev--Where is this theatre located? It is hard to believe that Fenice will ever be completed. Seems to me it took about 5 years just to get some scaffolding in place. (not that anyone is actually doing any work)! I quite agree that the Fenice reconstruction is scandalous.

Obscure2k - From the Fenice website, here's a page with history and backgrund (and photos of last year's opening) (text is in both italian and English):

http://www.teatrolafenice.it/daggior/malibran/pg1.htm

My wife and I just returned from Paris and, among other things, a wonderful performance of Dvorak's Rusalka, with Renee Fleming, at the Opera Bastille. Got great seats (4th row orchestra) the night of the performance, at the listed price, from someone selling them at the "door." The box office had no tickets available. A very interesting aspect of this performance was the total collapse of half of the set during a scene change midway thru the first act! Three singers had just exited stage left, and Renee was standing center stage, when a large piece of the set, stage left, came crashing to the stage floor during a change. Naturally, the main curtain came down immediately, and a few minutes later an announcement was made that there would be an entreact for an unknown length of time. About 30 min. later, the curtain was raised and the opera continued as if nothing had happened. All in all, a memorable evening!