Salle Garnier, a red and gold Italian theatre built in the Second Empire style, plays host to the Monte-Carlo Opera’s productions every season.
Next door to the casino, this performance space is a miniature replica of the Paris Opera.
In 1879, Marie Blanc, who headed the Société des Bains de Mer, called on the talents of Charles Garnier, the renowned French architect who had just completed the Paris Opera. The iron beams in the roof were designed by Gustave Eiffel, father of the eponymous tower and the man behind the internal structure of the Statue of Liberty
Built in record time – barely eight months! – Salle Garnier was officially opened with a recital by actress Sarah Bernhardt. It has continued to welcome stars from the worlds of theatre and opera ever since: Enrico Caruso, Luciano Pavarotti, Ruggero Raimondi, Placido Domingo and more recently Cécilia Bartoli and Roberto Alagna…
The composers whose works are regularly featured on the stage include Jules Massenet, Georges Bizet, Gabriel Faure, Camille Saint-Saëns and Maurice Ravel.
It was also here that Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes took up residence.
Today, the space also hosts concerts by rock and pop stars such as Prince, Yes or Patti Smith, as well as leading jazz performers during the Monte-Carlo Jazz Festival.
Salle Garnier had to shut its doors in 2000.
Restored between 2003 and 2005, under the leadership of Alain-Charles Perrot, Chief Architect for France’s Historical Monuments, it reopened for Prince Albert II’s accession to the throne with a performance of The Journey to Reims, by Rossini, in November 2005.
